Immortal Druid

“What do you mean by nasty seeds?” I asked, stretching my senses outward. The moment I did, that familiar druidic impulse surged within me again, hot and insistent, demanding that I purge the corruption wherever it hid.

A wiser-sounding crow, perched on a half-collapsed roof beam, tilted its head and spoke with an almost grandfatherly rasp. “Caw… some of our brothers got greedy, young Silver One. They pecked at the black-robed cultivators, the ones who reeked of death! Inside those corpses were ominous seeds, dark and pulsing like living curses. A few of us swallowed pieces. Now, those fools lie sick in the old shed, wings limp and eyes glassy. Not even the tastiest eyes can fix what those seeds do.”

I followed the source of my growing discomfort, the revulsion in my chest pulling me like an invisible thread. I pushed open the creaking door of a half-burned shed at the edge of the village.

Immediately, a chorus of raucous voices exploded from the rooftops and nearby branches.

“Look at that! Pointy-ears is poking around again!”

“Hah! What’s the stick-wielding freak doing now? Snooping in our turf?”

“Oi, long-nosed tree-hugger! That’s our spot! Go find your own food!”

I ignored the barrage of names and stepped inside. In front of me were over a dozen crows lying pathetically on their backs, wings sprawled open like broken fans. Their beady eyes were half-lidded and unfocused. A crow followed me in, perching boldly on the edge of the doorframe.

“They’ve been like that since they ate those nasty seeds,” the perched crow explained, voice low. “Won’t move, won’t caw. Just breathing funny.”

I walked deeper into the shed. More crows gathered on my shoulders and along the edges of the roof, their claws pricking lightly through my robes.

“What’s the big-eared one doing now?” one whispered curiously.

“Oi, don’t disturb our stupid brothers! They’re resting!”

“Shh, maybe he’s here to steal our food. Typical two-legs.”

“Look at him, all serious. Bet he thinks he can fix them with his shiny stick. Hah!”

“Quiet, featherbrain, or he’ll turn you into a nest ornament!”

There were over a dozen of them in total, seemingly comatose and reeking of that same unnatural corruption I had felt earlier.

“Lifepulse,” I intoned softly.

A gentle wave of verdant energy washed over the fallen crows. Their bodies twitched as the healing-over-time effect took hold.

The newly roused crows immediately began crying out in pain and confusion, their voices delirious and broken.

“Caw… my insides… burning… why is everything spinning…?”

“Mother… the seeds… they’re eating me from inside… make it stop…!”

“Everything tastes like ash… I’m dying… I’m already dead…!”

I thumped my staff and cast a spell.

“Thorn Whip.”

Thorny vines erupted from the ground around me, controlled precisely by my will. The crows beside me panicked instantly.

“W-what is he doing?! Those thorns look evil!”

“He’s going to kill us all! Run, brothers—run!”

“Shit! Shit! The pointy-ears has gone mad! We’re next!”

“Calm down,” I said firmly, voice steady. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

The vines moved with surgical precision, piercing the bodies of the afflicted crows, wrapping around the dark seeds lodged inside them, and crushing the foul things into harmless pulp before retracting. Black ichor dripped onto the shed floor and quickly withered away under my phytokinesis.

As for the inflicted crows? They slowly healed from Lifepulse.

I turned to the worried flock still perched on me and said, “These fellows should recover in some time. Give them rest and water. The corruption is gone now.”

The newly recovered crows blinked in confusion, slowly righting themselves and shaking out their wings. They began making idle, dazed talk among themselves.

“…What just happened? Did I dream about flying through fire?”

“My stomach feels… empty. Too empty. Where’s the feast?”

“Brother, you look like shit. Did you really eat the bad seed too?”

“Yeah… thought I was gonna join the ancestors. Everything was spinning like a typhoon…”

I walked out of the shed, brushing a few stray feathers from my shoulder. A crow that seemed calmer than the rest, with deeper, more knowing eyes and an air of gravitas, landed on a nearby post and called out to me.

“Silver One, I thank you for saving my kin. We will not forget this kindness you’ve shown us.”

I remarked simply, “I only did what I think is right.” And in part, my druid instincts had demanded it be done, the urge to restore balance had been almost unbearable.

Just then, a younger crow on the roof started doing a noisy headcount, flapping around in circles.

“Wait… someone’s missing! One, two, three… yeah, we’re short!”

“Was it the idiot one? The one who always steals the best eyes?”

“Nah, you featherbrain, it was the fat one! The greedy bastard who ate twice as much!”

“No, no, it was the loudmouth with the crooked beak!”

“Idiot! The loudmouth is right here. Maybe it was the skinny one who always brags about his dives?”

“You’re all wrong! It was definitely the fat one, he was the greediest!”

I realized then that crows, like most beasts, didn’t seem to have proper naming conventions. I thought back briefly to that certain kangaroo who had actually possessed a name and shrugged. Some things in this world were just strange.

I turned back to the wise-sounding crow. “Could you and your kin help me track the black-robed cultivators who attacked this village? Any help would be appreciated.”

Before the crow could answer, a huge monstrous crow with patchy, shedding feathers swooped down from the dark sky above. Its eyes were bloodshot and glowed with an unnatural, wrong light. It let out a ear-piercing screech that rattled the air.

“CAW-CAW-CAAAAW! HUNGRY! SO HUNGRY! EVERYTHING MUST BE EATEN!”

A crow behind me muttered in sudden recognition, “Oh! It’s the fat one!”

The monstrous crow landed heavily in the middle of the ruined street, wings twitching erratically as it stared at us with pure, mindless hunger. The other crows scattered in panic, but I stood my ground, staff already glowing with verdant power.

A crow called out to the monstrous crow with a hesitant tone, “Hey, buddy, you okay?”

The monstrous crow answered with blinding speed. Its massive beak slammed down like a war hammer, nearly crushing the curious crow into the dirt.

“Verdant Barrier!”

I waved my staff sharply. Thick walls of living wood and thorny vines exploded upward from the ground, forming a protective dome around the smaller crow just in time. The monstrous crow’s beak bounced off the reinforced barrier with a dull thud.

Without hesitation, I slammed the butt of my staff into the earth. “Ironwood Spike!”

A razor-sharp spike of hardened ironwood erupted violently from beneath the monstrous crow, piercing straight through its body and pinning it to the ground. The corrupted bird let out a blood-curdling cry of agony, wings thrashing wildly for a few seconds before its movements stilled and it finally died.

I canceled the Verdant Barrier with a flick of my wrist. The saved crow inside stumbled out, feathers ruffled, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

An eerie silence fell over the ruined village as the rest of the crows slowly gathered around the now-dead monstrous crow, their usual noisy chatter replaced by solemn quiet.

I felt a pang of genuine regret. This crow hadn’t asked for any of this; it had simply become another victim of whatever foul corruption the black-robed attackers had brought.

“Revive Life,” I uttered, channeling the powerful restoration spell toward the fallen bird.

Nothing happened. The body remained limp and cold. Whatever corruption had taken root inside it had left the crow truly and irreversibly dead, beyond even my strongest life magic.

The crows around me suddenly burst into a chorus of mournful cawing.

“Caw… our brother… gone forever…”

“He was always the greediest, but he didn’t deserve this…”

“Taken by those cursed seeds… when will it end?”

This was terrible, and even the druid part deep inside me mourned the loss of life, feeling the broken balance like a wound in my own soul.

One of the younger crows suddenly flapped its wings angrily and pointed its beak at me. “It’s your fault! You killed our friend with that spike! Murderer!”

Before I could respond, the wise-sounding crow hopped forward and scolded the accuser harshly. “Silence, you fool! This is the way of the world. The circle of life turns for all creatures… sometimes you eat, sometimes you are eaten. The Silver One ended the suffering. Blame not the hand that freed him, but the ones who twisted him into that abomination.”

I found it strange how a mere crow would know about the circle of life, a concept I had always thought unique to druids and nature guardians. Yet before I could dwell on it, indignant fury lit up in my heart. The druid part of me and the old gamer part united at a rare moment, burning with righteous anger at the needless corruption and death.

The wise crow wasn’t finished. It puffed out its chest, eyes gleaming with cold grudge as it addressed the entire flock in a surprisingly powerful speech.

“Brothers and sisters! Kin of the sky, hear me! Someone is responsible for this atrocity. They came in the night, sowed their vile seeds of darkness, and turned our kin into monsters. They must pay! For it is the way of the world! Let it come to full circle! Let it be known far and wide: when you hurt one of our own, we will hurt you back tenfold! The murder of our brother will not go unanswered!”

I didn’t expect the crow to burst off like that. The entire murder erupted into agitated caws, their earlier mourning transforming into vengeful energy.

The wise crow turned its sharp gaze back to me. “Silver One, if you seek those who wrought this evil, we shall lend you our wings and sight. Give the word, and we will guide you to their trail.”

“Thank you, wise crow,” I said, my voice calm but carrying an edge of iron. “Those who defile life and twist it against its nature have already stepped beyond the bounds of nature. Such sins cannot be left to fester. If you are willing to lend me your sight and wings, then I will not refuse. I seek these culprits not for vengeance alone, but to uproot the rot they have planted. No creature should suffer such corruption.”

A faint pause followed before I added, more solemnly,

“Hear me well. From this moment on, I shall stand as your fang and claw beneath the canopy leaves. Where your wings cannot strike, I shall descend. Where your cries cannot reach, my fury shall answer.”

I thumped my staff heavily on the blood-soaked ground, feeling power surge through my veins.

“Wild Shape: Tiger.”

The transformation took hold instantly. My body expanded and shifted, muscles rippling with raw primal strength as orange-and-black striped fur sprouted across my skin. Claws extended from my paws, fangs lengthened in my powerful jaws, and the bestial instinct roused from the most primal part of me. A deep, rumbling growl escaped my throat, vibrating through the night air.

Unexpectedly, I was looking forward to this hunt.

I lifted my massive tiger head and roared out a short, fierce speech that echoed with both druidic resolve and cold promise. Despite being in this form, I was strangely able to speak through the qi of this world, creating a deep and rumbling call.

“Listen well, my feathered allies! We will hunt down these black-robed devils who dared defile this land with their corruption. We will track them through forest and ridge, tear through their defenses, and make them regret ever setting foot in this village. Their seeds of darkness will wither under my thorns, their bodies will feed the earth, and their screams will become the new song of the night. Balance will be restored by tooth, claw, and vine!”

The crows cawed wildly in approval, a storm of black wings rising into the sky just above me. They circled once before flying forward, guiding the way toward the east and the old ridge path with eager, vengeful cries.

With a final powerful growl, I bounded after them, muscles surging with predatory energy. The night wind whipped through my fur as the hunt truly began. Whatever awaited us at the end of this trail, the black-robed cultivators would soon learn that they had awakened something far more dangerous than they ever imagined.

The circle of life was about to turn and this time, it would turn against them.

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