Chapter 11
Ryan:
We were soon put together on a mock patrol team. The Forbidden Forest was small, but we were given access to a detailed map of where patrols were allowed to go. The map demarcated the territory of the goblins, ogres, elves, and human tribes, and the few mixed factions. Our orders were to keep our eyes and ears open for anything unusual, and stay away from hostile camps, where territory was literally staked out. If the thought of pointed stakes weren’t ominous enough, such spears were often topped with skulls, and removing them out of respect for the dead could be a dangerous gamble. There was always the possibility of an assault, and we were reminded repeatedly and explicitly of the need to protect ourselves at all times. Ganic skipped what he described as the typical speech discouraging unnecessary violence, since, he said, we had proven ourselves to be a calm group. We were then given the opportunity to choose our route. When the rest of us shrugged indifference, Erin insisted that we head directly to the closest edge of the canyon.
Once Fain had suggested a relatively clear and straight path to the cliffs, we packed our supplies. Though the goblin fire talent wouldn’t be joining us, Ganic and Cor completed our party at six members. The teachers made it clear, however, that they had come to supervise as a last resort, and would be the last to speak or jump into any theoretical battle.
“Who’s holding the map, leading the way?” I asked, just as we were about to shoulder our packs.
None of my three friends said anything. No one was anxious to be leader, out in front. I grabbed the map from Fain and handed it to Jason, “You have the best sense of direction, stone talent,” I said.
“I guess that, uh, makes sense,” Jason said.
“I’m sure Ganic and Cor will refuse to be rearguard, so I’ll take that job,” I said. “How about if we keep the teachers in the middle?”
“I’ll follow after Jason,” Kris said.
“I’ll hold the line in front of you, Ryan,” Erin said. The bright look in her pretty eyes told me she had some faith in my suggestion. I broke our locked gaze, slightly embarrassed by the attention.
“Since we’ve got that settled, you’d better take your weapons.” When Fain stepped aside, she revealed the arms that we had carried on our first day to the top of Sun Tower, as polished and shiny as I remembered them.
I found myself unable to suppress an excited smile as we strapped on our equipment, the works of martial art, followed by our packs. I turned to the wide main door of the Sun Tower. Though we had used it many times before, I was reminded of the feeling I had when I first stepped through the portal, a feeling of apprehension and wonder.
And thus we set out, six marching in a line that weaved between practicing classes, our fellow trainees watching us, not without some envy, I knew: the way I had watched older groups before. With the weapons from our first day finally strapped to our backs, I felt useful and important as we stepped beyond the Sun Tower Field. We had been judged worthy, truly deserving of the attention Sensei had offered us at first glance.
The teachers had been hard on us, treated us differently, because they expected something extra from us, I told myself. That’s what they said, and I believed it. I wasn’t sure why they wanted us to complete our courses so quickly, but I wasn’t going to be quick to complain about the welcome change in the tough routine, the decrease in drills in favor of a little adventure.
The walk toward the canyon wall was hot, humid, and uneventful. It felt strange that, in a few hundred steps, we were the further than we had been away from the Sun Tower since we had first arrived. For all that, though, there were more trees… and that was about the only difference. I had been surprised to learn, initially, that there were no poisonous plans, for example, in the immediate area. Still, I kept my eyes and ears open toward anything that moved.
Birds chirped and fluttered, and a monkey or two moved somewhere in the distance. Our boots tread quietly between leaves and twigs in the dirt of the path. The wind was calm—nothing unusual—all the way until the shadows of the trees opened toward the sky, and the canyon wall was plain and clear, a shadow stretching beyond the green canopy. I suddenly felt tired, like I was carrying much more weight.
“It’s definitely done with some kind of stone talent,” Jason said, staring up at the bare walls of the canyon. “It really is… a gravity field?”
“It’s far too powerful for simple ol’ me to understand,” Ganic said, shaking his massive head. “It’s there. It keeps us here.”
It felt as if I was carrying one of Jason’s boulders on my back. “We should play it safe on our first outing,” I suggested. “Let’s stop and rest here.”
“I’m fine,” Jason countered. “Let’s keep going.”
Cor seemed about to say something, but stopped himself, and instead exchanged a meaningful look with Ganic. Conflict… not good for a team. That’s what they must have been thinking. A simple solution popped into my head.
“Jason, you’re the strongest. If you want to go on, go for it. I’ll wait here. Erin and Kris… and Ganic and Cor, you can choose. If everyone else wants to keep going, though, I’ll go as well.”
Kris stepped out of line, toward me, and dropped to a crouch, giving her back a break. “No, I think this is far enough for me. I don’t want us to be needing a rescue on our first outing,” she said. It was obvious that she was feeling the gravity more than the rest of us.
Ganic and Cor gave Erin a look as Jason took a few excited steps forward. His eyes, though, were still on us. Erin joined Kris and I at the side of the path.
“We’ll stay with Ryan, and we’ll be here when you get back,” Erin told Jason. “If you need help, give a shout.”
“Hmm… I don’t like the idea of the party breaking up,” Cor said. I got the feeling that his jelly-like constitution was giving him at least as much trouble as Kris was having, though the seasoned expert would be hiding it better.
“You stay here, and I’ll go with Jason. This is good for a stone talent,” Ganic said, offering an indulgent smile on his craggy face to the water talent expert.
“Alright.” Cor nodded, tentacles waggling. “The four of us will go back a few steps and wait for you. I don’t like our chances in a high gravity fight.”
“Good,” Ganic said. He followed Jason, saying, “But if it were only the four of you, you would have been wise to go no further.”
A look of shame crossed Jason’s face briefly, before Ganic gave him an encouraging smile. “Good thing I’m here, huh?” the elder stone talent said.
Both men started jogging closer to the wall. The four of us, left behind, moved back a few paces, and the difference in gravity was striking. Kris had a look of relief on her face, but now Erin was the one looking low.
“Are you OK?” I asked, coming in next to her.
She forced a smile, but the corners of her eyes wet. “I’m fine,” Erin said. “It’s nothing.”
Feeling powerless, I immediately turned to the talent expert. “Is this far back enough?” I asked Cor.
“Well, it looks like you’re the leader,” he said cryptically. I was no expert on the body language of squid-people, but he looked to be slouching, relaxed and indifferent. “You tell me.”
Trying to ignore the implications of the word “leader,” I turned back to the girls.
“Erin, are you OK resting here? Is it the gravity that’s—?” I started to ask.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. Just give me a moment,” she said, huddled next to Kris.
“I’ll be a few steps closer to Ganic and Jason,” Cor said. “Call out if anything happens.”
Crunching leaves underfoot, he moved toward the canyon wall. I glanced at Erin and Kris, and scanned the forest, remembering to keep my guard up. Erin had me worried, though. I took a deep breath and approached the two girls.
“Oh, really. Don’t worry, Ryan,” Erin said with a bit of a sigh. “You always do that. I’m just being silly.”
Lookin
g at Kris, she added, “I’m a little sad, and a little bit happy that the canyon wall and the gravity field are just like they said they are. Sensei and Fain and the rest of them have been honest with us… but we really are trapped. This is about the farthest we can get from the Sun Tower, and maybe the closest to home. It’s all so… strange.” She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes.
I racked my brain for a proper response, but the best I had to offer was a nod. I didn’t know what else to say.
“Let’s not think too much about it,” Erin said. “Let’s just focus on keeping ourselves safe out here. We’ll stay busy. We’ll watch the trees while we wait for Jason and Ganic.”
“I’m rearguard, so I’ll watch the rear,” I said with a helpless sigh, turning back in the direction of Sun Tower.
“Of course, oh fearless leader,” Erin said. Both girls giggled, teasing me. I was glad that, with my back to them, they didn’t see the blood rushing to my cheeks.
A few minutes later, Jason and Ganic returned, sweaty and wheezing.
“It’s amazing,” the stone talent expert bragged to Cor. “We went as close as I’ve ever been to the wall… and it’s his first time.”
Ganic’s heavy hand clapped Jason on the back. His deep voice was flush with pride. “That’s my student.”
“Then it’s about time we head back to the tower?” Kris asked.
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on me. “I’m ready to go,” I said.
“Then let’s go,” Jason said. “I could use some time out of this gravity field.”
We reformed our original line. This time, we were basically going backwards, and that meant I was in the lead. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. A great first mission.
Then, suddenly, Kris called out, “Wolves!”
“Packs in the center, weapons out!” Ganic said.
We tossed our supplies at the teachers’ feet. The double-scythe seemed stuck in the sling on my back for a painfully long moment. The wild dogs, a dozen of them, at least, appeared from the shadow of the trees. The creatures had surrounded us, snarling. I pulled again, and the double-scythe was in my hands. Too short. The edge of panic set in. How had I extended it before?
A spitting growl came from behind me. I pivoted back to see Jason knocking the blur of teeth and fur away with his heavy hammer, and I almost missed the second wolf, jumping at me. I whipped my scythe down, and the beast was on the ground in a pool of blood, almost cleaved in half. Gripping the double-scythe with both hands, I remembered the break in the metal, and gave the weapon a twist-pull-twist. There! That was the right length.
A third wolf jumped, far too slow. I easily lined up my swipe, and impaled the beast on my scythe. The body was still stuck there when the other wolf leaped. I ducked and turned, letting my momentum free the fresh corpse from my bloody blade. The pouncing wolf sailed overhead, landing off-center, and stumbling. With more wolves behind me, I continued my spin, and sliced through two of the dangerous beasts in one wide swing. The body I had thrown had distracted another wolf, and Kris took it down with the slash of her A-blade.
I stood up, facing my friends; all of them seemed to be waiting. I set my back to them and stared into the darkening woods. There were no more growls, and the wind suggested there were only six friendly breaths being taken.
“Is that all of them?” Jason asked.
“Looks like it,” Erin said.
“Is anyone hurt?” Kris asked.
Erin stepped over to the water talent. “I got nicked, a little,” the fire talent said.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Jason?”
“I’m good,” he said. “That was… fun.”
Looking at the teachers, I saw no blood on either of their weapons. “It looks like we—I mean, you—won the battle,” Cor said. “What now?”
“Kris, once you’re done with Erin’s cut, you two help us skin the wolves. They’ll make some warm coats… or blankets, at least,” Jason said, examining some deep cuts in the bodies. His hammer was at his side; his knife was now in his hand.
“There are, uh, a lot of wolves here,” Ganic said. “We’ll help you skin them. Two wolves each, I think.”
With darkness descending, we quickly separated the fur from the flesh, wiped off our weapons, gathered our supplies, and continued back to the tower.
“We’re late,” Kris said. “Let’s go, double pace!”