The battle exploded into pure fucking mayhem.
Tree Imps swarmed from all sides—claws slashing, vines whipping, endless green bastards pouring out.
They slammed into the old people and Greyedge at the same time.
Greyedge was on a rampage too. Swinging. Scratching. Biting. Didn't matter who or what—Tree Imp or old person—if it got close, he attacked.
The old folks were outnumbered… man, they should’ve been done already. Rusty swords, old bodies, joints creaking—but they were fighting like they had nothing left to lose.
But yeah… there were just too many.
Imps kept coming.
Wave after wave.
The elders’ line started breaking bit by bit.
Little scratches turned into deep cuts.
Cuts started bleeding bad. Breathing sounded like shit.
Hands shaking, weapons slipping.
“Fuck… Chief, we can’t hold this much longer!” one of them yelled, voice all cracked and hoarse.
The chief just went “Tch.” Loud. Pissed.
She looked around quickly—Greyedge tearing everything apart, heading right for her, Imps piling on from every side.
“Get in here!” she barked. “Form up—only stop the ones going for Greyedge. Give me thirty seconds.
Buy me enough time to finish him off."
They didn’t argue.
Desperate as hell. One guy took a vine straight across the ribs to push an Imp away from her. Another one screaming through busted teeth, choking a monster with his bare hands so she could get past.
The chief ran right through the hole they made.
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Greyedge saw her. His head tilted slow, like he half-recognized her. Then that dead grin spread—wide, bloody, empty.
“Chief…” he rasped, voice wrong, deep and hollow.
She didn’t talk back.
Clenched her lips , her eyes filled with sadness.
Looking at someone she’d known forever, now lost inside his own body.
Greyedge lunged, claws out, slashing wild.
She dodged low, sliding through the ground.
The claws ripped air right over her head.
She came up swinging—faster than before. Blade flashed, cutting across his arm. Not deep enough to kill, just enough to hurt. To slow him.
Greyedge snarled and swiped again—claws raking sideways. She twisted, ducked under, then drove her sword into his side. Harder this time. Faster.
He attacked. She dodged.
He slashed. She rolled.
Every move he made, she answered with steel—quicker, stronger, even as her legs started shaking and her breaths came in short, painful gasps.
She didn’t care.
She kept pushing—determined to end this fast, to stop his suffering.
If she could just wear him down… maybe free whatever was left of the Greyedge she knew.
Meanwhile, the Tree Imps had spread deeper into the town.
They smashed doors, tore walls, ripped roofs like it was fun.
Grinning the whole time—sharp teeth flashing, low clicks and laughs echoing between the broken wood.
At the chief’s house, Dumdum woke up.
The big bulky horse jerked his head at the crashing outside. Ears flicked forward. He lumbered to the window, heavy hooves thumping.
Through the glass: Tree Imps right there, clustered, staring in, mocking him with twisted faces.
Dumdum blinked slowly.
The Imps tilted their heads. What was he looking at? Them? The sky? Something else?
They kept laughing anyway. One got bold—stepped right up to the window, pressing his bark-face close, grinning wide.
Dumdum stared back.
Then… he opened his mouth.
And started licking the window.
Long, slow, sloppy drags—tongue smearing wet streaks right over the Imp’s face on the other side.
The Imp froze.
The others stopped laughing.
They all stared, heads cocking the other way now. Weirded out.
Dumdum kept going. Slurp. Slurp. Big horse tongue leaving fog on the glass.
The Imp backed up quickly. The group muttered clicks to each other—like “what the fuck is this?”
Then they just… left. Shuffled off to smash another house, glancing back once like they didn’t want to deal with whatever that was.
Dumdum watched them go. Tongue still half out.
Snorted once. Shook his head. Went back to sleep.
