"Better play it safe, I suppose."
The witch begins to breeze around her workshop, hopping from table to table and collecting a piece of jewelry here, a book there, a strange artifact there. She spends a few minutes sorting through to find what, exactly, she needs, before turning to Ty. "You'll be performing a very important job here, today, 'apprentice'." She still said the words with a little sneer, as if it was all some inside joke. In the vampire's hands was an odd cube, made entirely of some dark stone- obsidian, perhaps- and covered in purple, glowing runes. It shimmered with some dark power. As the vampire thrust it into Ty's hands, he felt a horrible shudder run down his spine. He averted his eyes and couldn't help himself but look away, and the skin on his fingertips tingled wherever it made contact with the magical cube. Something about it was simply...wrong. Unpleasant.
"The ritual's quite simple, my boy," the vampire states, sweeping her hair over her shoulder as casually as if they were speaking of the recent weather. "See, we use that cube to suck the negative energy from the forest. All plagues, droughts, wildfires, any kind of disaster...it typically feeds upon that energy, sustains itself upon it. When we drain the negative power from these woods, they become vibrant, abundant, and ceaselessly healthy. Over the years, this ritual left the forest overgrown and wild- completely impossible to settle by any simple village. This serves our purposes, hm? Following along with me, boy?"
Ty found himself gazing into the depths of the cube, gradually tuning out the witch's instructions. He feels it: the power, the energy, coursing underneath its surface. He can almost reach out and take it into himself...but then, another wave of repulsion rushes through him, and he wrinkles his nose, averting his gaze in distaste. "It's already negative," he mumbles. The tight collar on his neck leaves him wary of contradicting his mistress' wishes.
"Astute." The vampire chuckles with the confidence of a woman five steps ahead in a curb stomp game of chess. "Yes, dear apprentice. I used that same cube to drain the negative magic from these woods a century ago. Should it be released, before or after the ritual, two hundred years' worth of evil power would rush through the forest, corrupting anything it touched. And we don't want that, do we?" The witch runs her fingertip under Ty's chin, forcing him to look up and into her eyes. "So you're going to be a good boy, and be careful not to drop the pretty cube, hm?"
The trek out to the depths of the woods was simple enough. Ty felt his throat tighten when they first entered, remembering his last encounter beyond the castle's limits, but, fortunately, the wolf pack was nowhere to be found. The two hiked deep into the forest, with trees and shrubs growing noticeably thicker with each passing mile. As the sun began to set- although, to be fair, it was growing difficult to see with the roof of leaves overhead- they came upon a small clearing.
Already waiting was a huge ensemble of nature spirits. Primary among them, standing in the middle of the clearing, was some kind of deity. He was built like a centaur, with the body of a huge elk from the waist down, and a man upward. Calling him a centaur, however, would be a disservice. He's far larger than any common beastman could be. Ty, at his full height, didn't even come up higher than the elk-man's lower half. His upper body was broad and muscular, but much of it was covered in a dressing of vines, mosses, and grasses, woven together into a thick cloak. His face was covered completely in a wooden battle mask, with green moss growing on the upper left portion, concealing one of the carved eyeholes. Huge elk's antlers emerged from his forehead, branching and splitting above him. Ty got a small look at the thick sheath and low-hanging balls between the beast's hind legs, but quickly looked away, cheeks flooding pink.
The deity wasn't alone in the clearing. A number of satyr-men scattered around as well, keeping a respectful distance from the centaur. They varied from teenagers to middle-aged men, but all bore goat legs, horns, muscular builds, and abundant body hair across their chests, abdomens, underarms, and faces. They wore a variety of cloth loincloths, though they did little to conceal their manhoods. Ty caught the eye of one of them, a young-looking fellow with scrappy black stubble who appeared to be about Ty's own age. The satyr winked at him, sending a new wave of embarrassment to his cheeks.
"Great spirit, hear my call." The witch steps forward and raises her arms to the sky. A low rumble emerges from the depths of the woods, as if a mild earth tremor was rocking its very foundations. "Today, we renew the covenant. We agree to serve as the wardens of these words, in exchange for your protection of this castle from the eyes and armies of man." The witch glances over at Ty, giving him a sharp nod. "Raise the cube, boy. Hold still, even when it starts to shake."
The witch began to chant in an ancient, lyrical language. She speaks slowly at first, but soon whips into a frenzy, chanting and calling and spinning. Tendrils of darkness creep out from the corners of the clearing as she does, inching their way towards Ty. He cringes at the sight of the negative energy, and the box in his hands begins to rumble and shake, growing so raucous he could barely keep it contained in his two hands. The tendrils began to seep into the cube, slowly but surely. The ritual was working.
Suddenly, Ty, with complete clarity, realized this was his chance. His chance to avenge his friends' misfortune, to fulfill his contract, and to exact revenge for his mistreatment. If he dropped the cube, and released the energy, the forest would be ruined. The castle would no longer be safe for the vampires, and perhaps they could be brought to justice at last.