The tree crashed into the ground with a thunderous bang, sending a cloud of dust rolling over the forest. Lucen stood nearly upside on a tree, hanging from his water tail.
The impact shook the canopy, scattering startled birds into the air. A thousand tiny leaves spiraled down through the dust, glimmering faintly in the moonlight like dying embers.
He clung tightly to the tree with water tail, every muscle taut, his lungs drinking in the sharp tang of bark and burning sap.
The water rippled and glowed in the light, the forest grew quiet as the dust settled. Lucen's beating heart slowed and he watched the tree shake and tremble.
It obviously wouldn't be killed by a falling tree. Lucen dropped to the ground, watching the silhouette of the Withmare Fiend rise.
The Fiend's voice reverberated like it came from the hollow belly of a cave, a sound that belonged to something dead and rattling.
