Beating (Book 1: Acts of the Hearth)

Chapter 21

Long plant appendages wrap around the branches and trunk of trees in the familiar forest, embellishing them with a design similar to sleeves. The leaves of the tree are large and spade shaped, stemming from the fingers of the branches.

     The group of three travel to the vine covered tree where Vivian and the Fetching Owls first discovered their target: Travis. The young man in mention looks around the area from below the trees.

     “Why not be useful and use those wings of yours to scout out our route?” Damen ask of him. Travis nods and releases his wings that appear out of the back of his robe. The young man hops up and takes to the skies.

     Scanning the area from above he notices that the leaves are darker farther north. Vivian and Damen watch from under the shade of the leaves as they see a figure tumble through the trees. Travis falls from a branch and onto the ground as his wings disengage.

     “Well now, I certainly didn’t have a vision about that.” Damen remarks as Travis skids a bit through the grass. “Did you not get enough of the soil I served you when we were last here?” Vivian adds jokingly.

     Travis digs his fingers into the plush grass and soil. “Probably not a good idea to use things I barely know how to work…” the young man groans about. He dust off the grassy soil from his robe and rises to his feet.

     “We need to head north, that’s where the color of the leaves match what I remember from my Royal Venture.” the young man states as Vivian crosses her arms and disagrees. “Yeah, that sounds like a really bad idea. The Hollow Beat Woods are in that direction and it’s home to some deadly beast.”

     “Pfft, I was a kid and I survived there. And this was on my way to get the Blessing and I reeked of blood. Come on, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Travis comments walking in the direction he scouted.

     “Now he’s confident? Of course he is! He’s the only one here with superpowers…! Ugh!” Vivian mumbles furiously under her breath while reluctantly following him. Damen sighs and follows along.

     The group walk past a tree of dark green bark and violet colored leaves. As they pass it, a beastly howl sounds off in the distance.

     “Well, I did warn you about this place; but whatever.” Vivian complains as she unsheathes her saber. Travis looks back and smiles. “I’m just here to meet an old friend. I don’t imagine we’ll run into many problems.”

     “What type of friend do you have that they live in such a dangerous place?!” Damen ask frantically with his hand at the ready to grab his sword. Vivian instinctively comes to a sudden stop. “Guys, form up around me. Now!” the three fall into a triangle formation around each other.

     Sharp yellow eyes shine through the shadows of the trees and the ground in front of them. A chorus of howls begins to resound and echo one after another throughout the woods.

     “This place seems about as welcoming as it did when I was a kid…” Travis says as the sharp eyes scatter and move around.

     “You don’t say?” Damen remarks sarcastically.

     “So… You’re positive you have a friend that lives out here?” Vivian questions as she keeps her hand ready to strike. “Shouldn’t you have asked him that before we set foot in here?!” Damen berates angrily.

     From one of the trees, a wolf-like creature with an overbite of two fangs hanging down from its mouth, yellow spikes down its back and sharply smooth fur; jumps into the center of their formation. The group backs up from each other as the beast paces around in the center of the triangle.

     Vivian keeps an eye on the beast in front of her and the eyes behind her. “Form up around me, again!” Vivian shouts to the two. The beast before them lunges at Travis. The young man slaps it out of his way. Time seems to slow for him as he notices a second larger beast of the same kind dropping from a branch in a tree.

     The creature drops a strange looking firm and pink pod plant onto Travis’s head. “Cover your mouth!” Vivian shouts out to him. The pod splits open and explodes before he has a chance to follow the order given. The young man’s face is covered by a sticky yellow powder as some of it makes its way into his mouth.

     Travis coughs while trying to remove the powder. With a weak cough, he falls unconscious. The larger beast catches him on its back, retracting its spikes back into its spine, as the smaller one bites onto his legs.

     Vivian and Damen rush in to stop them as the ones in the trees shoot down pale yellow spikes from their backs into the ground; forming a barricade.

     The group above falls to the ground below and circles around Vivian and Damen. The two other beast make a quick getaway with Travis in tow.

The intelligence and instincts of beast…

 

     The beast circle around the two. The circle grows wider and further from Vivian and Damen. “What are they doing? The better strategy with their numbers would be to close in on us.” Vivian adds snapping from one direction to another, keeping her guard up.

     “Is that what they should be doing? Why do you want us to die so badly…?” Damen whines back. “Maybe they’re nothing, but stupid beast?”

     One of the beast turns its attention to Damen. It snarls and then barks loudly at him. “I think it took that personally! Seems like they can understand us.” Vivian remarks while scanning the beast over.

     Another of the creatures looks to the direction where two of its kind escaped with Travis. The beast lets out a low volume quick bark as they all suddenly scatter and run from Vivian and Damen.

     Vivian groans as she stabs her saber into the soil. “Those clever mutts, they outplayed me! Here I was assuming, that the Dire Wargs of the Hollow Beat Woods were some low-grade bounty!”

     Damen taps her shoulder. Vivian snaps her head back. “What?! What is it now?!” she yells. The young Seer fans her over and looks down at the soil. “Quit sulking. We can just track them to their den. I doubt that they are that smart.”

     Vivian begins following the tracks left behind by the two. “What makes you so sure?” Damen chuckles softly. “Because of my faith in The Only and his visions of that man’s future. We will find him.” he answers confidently.

     Vivian sighs in annoyance. “More about your faith in this god. You’ve really got to have some of that faith in yourself. Otherwise, what are you going to do when there aren’t any visions to guide you through uncertainty?” she says putting down his confident words.

     Damen ignores her comment, crouches down and continues to reanalyze the tracks that Vivian previously read.

     The young woman reaches a dead-end as the tracks no longer appear on the ground. “Those crafty bastards…they knew we’d follow their tracks.” she says both insulting and praising the beast for their wits.

     She begins to ponder how they could carry someone of Travis’s size up the trees.

     The woods echo with a gruff roar. “These mutts are really trying to throw us off their trail. You heard that roar?” Vivian says dragging Damen over to a tree. She then points up the tree, encouraging him to climb it.

     “More of this… Until last week, I had never even held a sword. I am not athletic like you!” Damen retorts, making excuses for his lack of upper body strength.

     “Just get up there! That’s the sound of a Bantess! You want to be mauled?!” the young woman exclaims.

     The young Seer pulls himself up the tree with more might than he knew he had, gripping the bark with all desperation. Vivian climbs up another tree herself with ease and watches from above.

     A black, silver-backed beast with rough fur walks by on all four. Continuously roaring softly below, it passes by the trees that house the two.