VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Valerie’s eyes lingered on the sweet, crimson nectar oozing between Hazard’s fingers as he clutched helplessly at his throat. Her breath caught in her throat, letting the delicious scent linger in her nose.

It was different from the other metallic smell that was already in the air. This was fresh and warm, with the hint of adrenaline the body helplessly pumped out in an attempt to make things better. It was like spreading syrup on pancakes.

Many of the other soldiers also stared, however their faces were filled with fear and worry. Many of them wanted to run over and to help him, but none dared to move in case such movement was taken as another threat that could lead to all of them joining him in his demise.

So Hazard’s desperate and silent pleas went unanswered as he stared into Valerie’s eyes, as her pupils started to slowly enlarge and her eyes turned soulless and black.

Mouth salivating, heart thumping and every predatory instinct within her body screaming at her. Valerie took a step towards him, before she paused.

Her fists clenched, tight enough that her hands trembled. She closed her eyes, letting out a long low breath, before finally opening them as they slowly reverted back to normal, even if they did not leave the delectable sight.

She blindly rooted around in her pocket, pulling out her flask and quickly raised it to her lips with a shaking hand.

The enchantments she had placed on it made sure that the liquid inside stayed fresh. Fresh enough that as the taste of iron exploded across her tongue and the flasks contents spilled down her throat, it was enough to satisfy her cravings.

At least for the time being.

When she lowered the flask, which she had drained in its entirety and stained her lips red, her hand tremors were gone. Yet the pounding headache from the feral voice screaming in her mind remained, and refused to be silenced.

Switching the flask for a rolled up, beast-skin parchment, Valerie held out the scroll and wriggled it in the air slightly.

"Someone with magic take this. Inject mana into it, recite the words at the top while your hand is on him."

After a few precious moments, in which Hazard gurgled with even more desperation, Valerie scowled as she still held the scroll out and no one had even attempted to move.

"Well? Hurry up! It’s fine if you want to let him die. But if you want to avoid that, now is the time. You won’t be hurt, it’s fine."

Her insistence, or whatever part of her little speech it was, finally seemed to motivate them. The soldier closest to Valerie snatched the scroll and hurried over to Hazard. They quickly followed her instructions, as the intricate runes drawn across the scroll started to glow with a pale white light, as did the hand pressed against the injured man’s body.

The bleeding quickly stopped, and the wound started to stitch itself together, all whilst the words upon the page started to fade as they evaporated into wisps of white flames.

One of the soldiers let out a sharp gasp, but not at the healing in action.

"You spare these men of iron?"

Valerie turned to the Dryad, who had manifested from the ground. Her body formed from various vines, grass blades and tree roots wrapped and woven together to form a vaguely humanoid figure with a hauntingly beautiful face and pure golden eyes.

"Yes," Valerie said with a curt nod, "I do. I brought them here for a reason, and I would hope that they would not see harm."

"I am merely doing as we agreed to. Remove the intruders that did not help save this place. These are not just intruders, but the ones that destroyed it in the first place." The Dryad spoke softly, her voice like the wind carried between the trees. Even when she spoke, the face she wore as a mask did not move in the slightest.

"What? We did no such thing?!" One of the soldiers barked, his offence momentarily overriding the logical part of his brain that was screaming at him in danger.

The Dryads head whipped towards him, and in an instant a dozen more spears of wood burst from the ground before stopping mere centimetres from his face. Close enough that some of them were pushing up the slight pudge of his cheeks.

The soldier’s breath trembled as the Dryad moved over to him, gliding across the ground as the tendril-like roots that replaced her feet wriggled. She stopped in front of him, looming over him with her face nearly touching his as she stared into his eyes.

"There is an old human saying. The tree remembers what the axe forgets. I assure you, Man of Iron, that we do remember.

We remember every cut of your blades into our flesh. We remember screaming in pain, as entire forests were burned to the ground all for your ’Gender Reveals’.

We remember the warmth of the sun, before the Men of Iron blotted it out with the smoke of their machines. We remember being able to breathe before your poison filled the air and we remember the rain that did not burn.

You are Men of Iron. You were the ones that killed so many of our kin with your toys, your weapons and your innovation."

The entire forest around them shook, the wind picking up as the Dryad spat her venom laced words into the face of the soldier.

Her legs extended, causing her to loom over him and allow her to look down at him like the worthless ant that he was. Her body enlarged in mass, her fingers extending into wicked claws whilst her beautiful face cracked open, revealing a hellish visage of the true wrath of nature underneath.

The entire forest seemed like it was looking at them. Every tree, every blade of grass and every mushroom. Even the cluster of mushrooms that a tendril-root pulled from the soldiers bag and held above his head.

"And we see that you still have not changed. So why... Why should we spare the lives of those who murdered our kin?"

"Because the poison remains." Valerie answered matter-of-factly, seemingly uncaring for the man that was trembling underneath the raw power of nature, and was currently watering the plants against his own will.

It was a shame that her enhanced senses could pick out the smell of that before the stain started to appear on his pants.

The Dryad slowly turned to her, its colossal and monstrous body shifted so that it loomed over Valerie, drowning her in shadows and forcing her to look directly up into the golden eyes of the monster born of their own world.

"Explain." The Dryad rumbled.

"We found the other human. The one that the land remembered, and the one that carried the stench of the poison. Although there are many things that the Men of Iron have done, many misdeeds from hubris or stupidity,

But this new poison is not from them. They are here to help me fight it, in their own way, and they can even help you. If you can find a way to cooperate."

The Dryad remained silent, still looming over Valerie as it’s body let out a few subtle creaks and cracks as it forced the wood to move in ways that it wasn’t made for.

Although its empty gaze and horrifying visage made it seem like the Dryad was unconvinced and still overcome with rage, Valerie could feel the turmoil inside of it.

By looking into its eyes, although she was not planning on trying to hypnotise it, she could sense the thoughts racing through its head. They were confusing and multilayered, like there were hundreds of different streams of consciousness clashing against one and another and having a parliamentary discussion over what she had said.

But it was within that that Valerie could sense the doubt in their rage. All they needed was a little more of a push.

Perhaps the Gods were smiling down at her, or secretly pulling strings to help her, because the next moment the tear in reality made a thrumming noise before it spat something out into their world.

It was a wolf, one the size of an old American pick up truck. It looked around in confusion, glancing at its feet, before quickly lifting its head and growling at the people standing nearby.

Wooden spears burst from the ground from every angle, ready to turn the wolf into a horrific display of modern art.

But each one snapped like the twigs they were the moment they touched the wolf’s fur, which glistened with a silver sheen.

The wolf barked, bearing its teeth as a foaming mass of spittle dripped from its growling mouth. However when it tried to bark again, it froze its movements.

Its eyes widened in confusion and fear, before its head simply caved in on itself.

Valerie unclenched her fist and lazily flicked her hand to the side, casting the wolf’s corpse away from the portal with her bloodline.

"I see that you have done a wonderful job defending this... what did you call it again? Ah yes, Life River. But there are threats in this world and the next that you cannot handle alone. None can handle them alone.

More will come. The Other Human is making sure of it. They have betrayed us, betrayed this world. They bring destruction and poison, to kill men and nature alike. But we can solve that, together."

Valerie said, holding back the conniving smile that would make even Mister Bloom think she was sleazy, as the portal let out another low thrum.

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