To A Thief - Chapter 12: The Gauntlet

The adventurer's 'Rite of Passage'. The 'Test of Courage'.. it begins now. But all is not what it seems..

It didn't take too long to get to Jugner Forest. It was rather close from the path leading to Valkurm, so we had little time to catch our bearings before proceeding. 

Pulling out a map of the forest while we stood at the entrance, Salnar briefed on the path to the hills of Batallia Downs; which stretched out beyond Jugner. 

"Alright, le'see.. my pap says to me before, 'Once ye set foot inside Jugner.. DON'T STOP RUNNIN' NORTH EAST!'" He screamed as he started a sprint down the road into Jugner, causing Stiff to jump in surprise at his sudden booming voice. 

"Hey! Wha-- wait up! Shouldn't we be planning this out!?" Stiff stumbled after him.

"T'is called the Gauntlet fer a reason, Stiff! From'ere on out.. t'is every man fer himself!" He cackled, shoving the map back in his satchel. "Now hurry up, lest ye fall behind!" 

This guy is gonna get me killed. 

How could we run into hostile territory like this without so much as devising a plan? 

If I make it through this, it'll be a miracle.. 

"Are you crazy?" Stiff asked as he ran beside Salnar.

"Would ye rather walk the whole way? Be my guest, Stiff. The slower ye be, the higher the chance is mine ta' make it out of here once them beasties get at ya."  

"Alright, alright.. crap, this place is creepy." Stiff muttered as he looked around. 

It had grown incredibly quiet since they set foot in here. This forest was nothing like the one in Ronfaure.. 

Jugner was a lot more dim and looked like an illustration of a spooky forest in some scary story book, even though it was still early in the morning. 

It seemed every corner the two took, there was something that shuffled from within the trees. It didn't take long before they began running into leeches and living, overgrown hostile mushrooms that had gaping mouths that happened to be very poisonous.

But these native creatures of Jugner were the very least of their worries. At least they could just step away from the road and walk around to avoid such things. 

The area began to grow even foggier and colder the deeper they went in. 

"Oh man.." Stiff mumbled, turning around. "I can't even see the exit anymore.. we must be far in already." 

"Aye. That, or the forest itself has drawn us in.. I remember now of rumors of those that walked in ta' Jugner, never ta' return or be seen from again.. t'is said those who was lost now be the undead that wander these empty roads about.." Salnar spoke as he stopped running and slowed to a walk, tapping his chin in thought. 

"That's fricken' scary.." Stiff gulped. "You don't even look creeped out.. how do you do it, Salnar?" 

"Shh..!" Salnar suddenly froze, putting a hand to Stiff's chest to stop him from speaking. 

"What is it..?" Stiff shifted his eyes. 

"SHH!" Salnar shushed even louder, looking behind Stiff.

"..."

".. OH S**T'E!" He cried and began sprinting really fast, away from the road and into the trees to the east.

"What?!" Stiff called out in fright, immediately running after him. "What is it!?" 

"Run Stiff! It's gon' get ya!" Salnar replied, running even faster. 

"What's gonna get me!?" Stiff felt his heart race, too scared to look behind for fear of what he might see. 

Salnar just continued screaming as he ran into the trees. 

Stiff sprinted after the elvaan with all his might; eyes wide in fear. 

They ran like this for about two minutes before Stiff lost sight of Salnar somewhere within the trees. Looking ahead, he could see an opening leading to the road once again.

As Stiff was about to run through the opening, a screaming face shot out from behind one of the trees at him. 

"AHHHHHHHH!!" 

Stiff's feet skidded to a halt as he went petrified; eyes widened while screaming like some girl. It was Salnar, whom bent over wheezing slapping his own lap.

It was then that Stiff realized Salnar was actually laughing hard. 

"You a*****e! What the hell is so funny!?" He roared as he looked behind them, seeing nothing.

"T'was a lie, Stiff! I had ta' do it ta' get ye to take the detour into the trees.. otherwise I knew ye wouldn't agree ta' it." Salnar grinned wide as he stood back up straight. 

"No hard feelings, aye? At least we cut time in half and made it past the trees without running into anything.." 

Stiff clenched his fist tightly, eyebrows twitching and all as he glared at the stupid elvaan. 

"If you weren't my only guide outta' here, I would kill you." He growled. 

"S**t'e, that was hilarious.. ye was scared down-right out yer knickers!" Salnar cackled as they continued walking down the road. 

"Shut up." Stiff muttered and shoved the b*****d to the side. 

Yeah, I should have stayed with Jakky and Horis. 

Anyway, we continued down the road with not much anything else aside from leeches and funguar in our way which were easily avoided. 

After about 30 minutes of walking, we came across an outpost in an open area near a creek. We stopped there to wash our faces and have a rest despite how much in a hurry I was in to get out of there. 

Still, an outpost usually meant outpost guards.. so at least we'd be among company. 

Or so we thought. 

"Strange.. I don't see no guards.." Salnar muttered. 

"Yeah.. they're usually posted here for conquest purposes aren't they?" Stiff asked curiously. 

"Must be inside the outpost." Salnar replied. "Ye'd best let them know we're here. I'ma go wash up and get a drink at the creek." 

"Alright, sure." Stiff said, making his way over to the outpost. 

He didn't mind doing so as any other face aside from Salnar's right now would bring good peace of mind. 

Approaching the door of the small building, he knocked on it once. 

"Anyone there..?" He called out. 

No response. 

Furrowing his brows in thought, he reached for the handle to open it but was surprised to see the door was actually open. He stood there as it opened all the way before walking in slowly. 

"Hello..?" He called out once again. 

It had suddenly grown incredibly silent. 

Stiff's eyes widened as he saw countless streaks of blood splattered throughout the wooden walls of the outpost upon entering. Supplies were scattered everywhere, and among the heaps of trash.. were the two bodies of the outpost guards. 

Their steel armor was stained with blood and their bodies were quite mutilated. 

"What the.. hell?" Stiff whispered out loud. 

Hurrying over to the two bodies, he checked for any signs of pulse but felt nothing. They were still somewhat warm.. it hadn't been too long since they had been killed. 

"What the hell happened in here..!?" He asked himself as he scanned the room and the walls, stopping as he saw some messy letters on the wall. 

'THE TREES ARE ALIVE'

The message was written in blood. 

"The trees..?" Stiff echoed, feeling a jolt run down his spine. He realized his companion was still out there. 

"Salnar.. hey, Salnar!" 

Just as he began to make his way out, the outpost started shaking violently. It was as if an earthquake had just struck. 

"S**t! What is this!?" He called out. 

Something shot out of the wall right after towards him. It was too hard to see what it was because it had come in so fast, but it pierced through Stiff's shoulder pad and dug deep into his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. 

"A.. a root..?" Stiff groaned as he grabbed onto it. 

It was some kind of tree root that had broken through the outpost walls. 

 It retracted from his shoulder as more roots began to shoot through out the walls. Stiff was quick enough to avoid them once they got close enough, using his ears and the sounds of breaking wood to determine where they were coming from. 

Another grazed him in the back as he rolled under it, making his way out the door and diving outside as the attacks became more troublesome to avoid. 

He held onto his shoulder which was gushing a bit of blood, gritting his teeth as he looked around in a panic. It was quiet once more, as if nothing had happened. 

Backing up away from the outpost, he bumped into something hard behind him.

Turning around, he saw a tall, wide tree that stood before him looking entirely normal.. although something was off. 

"Has this tree.. always been here?" He asked himself, unable to recall seeing it there before. 

Upon asking himself that, the tree suddenly opened its "eye lids", revealing two massive and menacing black eyes glaring directly at the small hume that stood in before it. 

What appeared to be a mouth broke open just under the eyes. It let out a strange roar that was simply indescribable for words. 

Shooting out a set of thin roots from its sides, the living tree took hold of Stiff, wrapping him around in its hard tendrils and attempting to crush him right there. 

Groaning out in pain, Stiff could feel his bones nearly crackling just before the sudden shape of a shadow landed before him, cutting the tendrils swiftly away from his body. 

"You really are hopeless, aren't you..?" A familiar voice said to him as he was set free from the roots' grasp. 

The living tree roared out in pain.

"That voice.." Stiff said as he looked up from the ground. 

"Draven!" 

Draven stood there with a helpless smirk on his face as he looked down at Stiff, yanking the fool back onto his feet. 

He looked different than when Stiff last saw him, despite it only having been just over three weeks. He looked stronger. 

Draven wore a new set of armor that looked a lot higher in quality than his last, definitely a lot more valuable looking and more sturdy. He had Moku's dagger sheathed at the back of his belt, wielding a thin sword instead in his left hand which he had used to cut through the tree's tendrils. 

"What're you doing here..?" Stiff asked in astonishment. 

"Not now." Draven replied, turning to the treant. "So, this is what it was.." 

Stiff quickly nodded as he recalled the situation they were in and pulled out his dagger. "Yeah.. it came out of nowhere. I think it killed the outpost guards.. it's a mess in there." 

"Oi, Stiff!" Salnar called out as he ran over to the group but shortly stopped in his tracks upon seeing the living tree. "Bloody hell, what is that!?" 

The tree roared out angrily as it began to unroot itself from the ground, causing the earth around them to shake. 

"It doesn't matter.. It's going down, either way." Draven stated, holding out his sword and dashing at incredibly fast speeds behind the tree, slicing off some of its thick roots with swift strikes from his sword. 

This caused the tree to stagger a bit in pain, losing its balance for a moment. 

"Attack!" Draven ordered the other two in front of it. 

Salnar and Stiff had been watching in surprise but were snapped back to reality by Draven's call. Glancing at each other and giving a quick nod, they unsheathed their weapons and ran for the staggered tree. 

Jumping up into the air, the two thrust their blades into the tree's black bulging eyes, hoping to render it blind. 

"That won't work." Draven said. "These trees don't need their eyes to see.. they use the earth for that." 

"So we go for the roots?" Stiff asked anxiously. 

"Yes." 

"Right, then..!" Salnar acknowledged and began chopping away at the thick roots. 

The treant shot out a thicker set of tendrils from its sides, swiping hard at them all in a circle and sending both Stiff and Salnar tumbling backwards. 

Draven had simply jumped out of the way, turning his body like some acrobat in midair. 

Stiff was beginning to get frustrated by the tree's stubbornness. He began clutching his dagger tightly just as before.

The treant used its newer set of tendrils to shove itself back onto its roots, able to feel all of their positions just by their feet being against the dirt. 

It began its charge towards Stiff, who was just now beginning to feel the energy coursing through his dagger. 

"Almost.." He whispered to himself. "Come on..!" 

Just before his ability set off, Draven dashed in front of Stiff to face the treant with some kind of explosive in his hand. 

Bouncing it in his palm as the treant roared out, he chucked the bomb into its large gaping mouth and backed away. 

The explosion went off with a loud bang, much like the one from the goblin's bomb back in Valkurm. This caused the walking treant to thrash about wildly. The blast had been quite effective. 

"Now!" Draven called out. 

The scene had disrupted Stiff's ability, but he shrugged it off and dashed forward upon Draven's signal with Salnar. All three began to cut down every last root belonging to the treant before it could get back up.

It wasn't long before the tree fell dead in a cloud of smoke that came out of its mouth. 

The three had succeeded in taking it down although mainly thanks to Draven. 

"We owe ya one, stranger." Salnar smirked as he approached Draven and offered his hand to shake with a grin. "Dunno what the bloody hell that was, but I'm sure as hell glad it's dead." 

Draven simply smirked as he sheathed his sword. 

"Salnar, I'd like you to meet Draven.. he's a friend of mine who I trained in Ghelsba with." Stiff said with a light smile as he turned to his friend. 

"Draven, this is Salnar.. I trained with him and a few others in Valkurm. I should introduce you to them sometime.. but they had some other business to-" 

"Valkurm? You're just now leaving that place?" Draven asked with a raised brow. "After three weeks.."

Stiff stopped and blinked. 

"You need to pick up the pace." He stated.

"Err.. so, we was heading to Jeuno.." Salnar started, tapping his chin. "Ye wouldn't happen ta' be headin' that way would ye?" 

Stiff simply stared blankly at Draven, ignoring the pain in his shoulder.

How could he have come so far in just three weeks? 

We were pretty much equals in ability at Ghelsba..

Could he have gone through Valkurm so fast that even I didn't see him? Or had he simply skipped the white sands altogether..?

The questions seemed endless. 

The fact of the matter was: me and Draven didn't appear to be equals anymore. He was way ahead of me now.. 

I dunno why.. but it bothered me a little. 

I kinda felt like I was left behind. 

"You're still wearing Moku's old junk too, moron.. no wonder that treant got you so bad." Draven muttered, slightly lifting Stiff's shoulder pad to examine the wound and placing a gauge on it. 

"You'll have to get that checked- and yes, I just came from Jeuno. My linkshell received a distress call from this outpost so they sent me here to scout the area out to see what was wrong. Now that we know, I'll be reporting to them.. I guess I can escort you guys back to Jeuno." 

He was in a linkshell now, too.. 

If I recall, linkshells are small guilds of adventurers that stuck together and basically lived off of one another's skills, using them for anything and everything. 

"Since it's Stiff and all.." He added with a light smirk.

Stiff snapped out of his thoughts and was brought back to reality by Draven's generosity being the cause of their friendship. 

"Heh, thanks a lot! We could use the extra guidance.. Salnar here is the worst ever." Stiff grinned. 

"Oi, nothin' wrong with attempting ta' toughen ye up!" Salnar exclaimed, giving him a wink. 

"T'is a pleasure, Draven. We owe it to ye. What are the odds that two friends like yerselves be meetin' in a place like this, aye?" 

"Yeah, you're telling me.." Stiff said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ow, crap.." He twitched as he felt the wound stretch. 

"Huh, whatever.." Draven shrugged. 

Surprisingly, me and Salnar had made quite some progress through the forest. We weren't too far off from the exit. Now we walked through the hills of Batallia Downs.

This was more like it.. 

Open fields, clear skies, grassy plains.. although the grass and trees did seem a bit.. dead. 

Come to think of it, this whole place seemed pretty dead.

According to Draven, the tunnels leading into some of these hills were actually many entrances into a necropolis known as Eldieme that lay underground. That had to be what was causing all this dead plant life.. I mean really, a necropolis under these grassy hills? 

I sure as hell wasn't going down there any time soon. 

So after a bit more traveling, the great city of Jeuno finally came into view. 

This was basically "the city" of our side of the world. Everyone and anyone happened to find their way here some time, some way or another. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

From here on out, The Grand Duchy of Jeuno will be the foundation of my adventuring career. 

Let's see what kind of endeavors await for me in such a city next time on Chapter 13: Arrival of the Fittest

Author's Note

Comments and Reviews MUCH appreciated! :)