roque
Knight
- Local time
- Today 5:02 AM
- Messages
- 35
- Age
- 25
For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.
Bruce's initiation test was sudden and terrifying. He had not the experience nor the capability for battle. Yet, upon arriving at the Academy, they had sent him to this forest with four other people--*students*, pardon-- who were equally inexperienced. I've never seen an archfiend! he had pled. I can barely pull out my Spirit Tool! But they only looked at him with soap-glossed eyes. They had sent him anyway. The Ward Master had led the team to the north gate of the school and wished them luck. Bruce had silently shouted obscene profanities at the man, but this did no good. He was still terrified. From what he'd read in the history books, archfiends were a force to be reckoned with. They did not play around. And this forest was crawling with them.
The team stood at the entrance to the Academy, the Ward Master now gone, in bewilderment and anticipatory terror. The sky had been a light summer blue, devoid of clouds. The sun beamed down on them, mocking them, almost, although their faces did not seem to register the heat rays. Bruce thought of how on a day like this, his parents would be having a party, inviting long-time business partners, friends, family. A nice, friendly get-together. He would not be invited. This would not have been the first time he thought of home. Nor would it be the last.
The only person who had been briefed prior to the assembly of the team was a young man named Nathan Dawes. He was a shorter fellow, falling below Bruce's 6'4 stature by at least a foot. He was younger than Bruce as well, by a rough estimate of a year and a half. The other three students were named Jonas Hale, Lucy Oliver, and Adrian Stockley. The introductions between these students had proceeded much like in this narrative fashion, with little backstory. Bruce learned that this group of students had been friends since grade school. And, giving them all a second glance, he saw that such a statement made sense. They looked like they belonged together. It made him feel a tad left out, an emotion that was entirely new to him. He never had to assert his place in the hierarchy, has always been at the top of it. At this realization that feeling of exclusion was joined by jealousy. Then a sharp spike of anger. For a moment he forgot that he could be killed in the next three or four hours. Or less.
"We should get moving," said Nathan Dawes, and at that moment the daunting awareness that they were going to die came back, gut-wrenching fear and all. "You can't! We don't know what's out there. We can barely protect ourselves!" Bruce cried and stared back at Nathan, wide-eyed. The other three students looked at Bruce with contempt in their eyes. Nathan only smiled and went on as if Bruce had never spoken. "The Academy is why we're here. I don't know about you guys, but I trained my whole life to get to this point. This is it. There's no going back for me. If you don't want to go into that forest, you don't have to. You can leave. Anyone who leaves will not be thought a coward or uncommitted." He turned, walked down the steps. The others exchanged glances for a moment as if to reassure each other, telling themselves to trust Nathan. They followed him, reluctant but yielding. Bruce opened his mouth to protest, but before the words left his lips he knew it would be futile. They follow him, he thought, they won't follow me. They don't even know me. They look up to him, admire him. He didn't know that for sure, but his instincts were rarely wrong. He took a step towards the others, hesitated, then started down the steps. He caught up with them quickly enough. The fear still lingered, gurgling in his gut.
They arrived at the entrance of the forest by the afternoon. The trek had taken at least three hours. Before they entered the forest, the other students practiced with their Spirit Tools for another hour. Bruce sat on the sidelines, watching. He noticed that when the others needed help for anything, they all came to Nathan. Bruce would watch the look on his face, hoping to detect confusion, helplessness. But he would see none. It was like Nathan thought Nathan knew everything about everything, and he had these idiots follow him around to prove it.
*Check out the ego on this guy.* he thought, and a little smirk crept its way onto his lips.
For a moment he thought he might join them, to play along with Nathan's game. He did not much care for the idea. So he sat on his log, watching, envious.
When they had finished with their practice, they went into the forest. From that point on, they walked with caution. Nathan was in front--typical, Bruce thought--, the others trailing behind him, Bruce in the back. When they were around 100 meters away from the entrance, it was like night had fallen quickly and without warning. The change in scenery had made them all uneasy. It got so dark in some places they had to use their phones to see at all. Bruce, and he was sure the others as well, Nathan included, wondered what might be lurking in the shadows, hiding, waiting to shed blood when the time was right. He looked back, seeing the light from outside barely making it in before fading into darkness. He felt as if they were going into an unexplored cave, bound to get lost at some point. The thought made his spine shiver.
They had been in the forest thirty minutes before someone--it was Lucy, but Bruce had searched for her name despite having met her only a few hours ago--asked where in the world they were going. "We're just walking into the unknown," one of the boys said. Bruce forgot his name. He noticed something as they were walking, something that made him all the more uneasy. *There are no birds in this forest. No bugs, either. It's dead quiet.* Nathan stopped, and soon after so did the others. He turned, faced them all. The look on his face was of pleasant sympathy. He opened his mouth and…
And then Bruce saw something. He could've sworn the others saw it, too. Two glowing red dots, inches away from Nathan's left shoulder. It was behind him, maybe ten feet. Bruce thought it looked like the eye of some demon-possessed animal. It was gone just as soon as it came, as if whatever it was had just given them a glimpse of death. A fraction of a second later, they all saw an enormous jaw behind Nathan open, showing
(*two fangs those are two long fangs*)
two fangs, and then snap shut on half of his body with a loud CRACK!. Those red dots--Bruce saw that they were eyes now-- leered at them as they heard Nathan's bones snapping inside the creature's wide jaws.
Nobody moved. Bruce tried to scream but couldn't. Seconds that felt like *years* passed. Finally, Lucy Oliver shrieked so loud she ruptured her larynx. The creature raised its head, tearing off the half of Nathan's body, his lower abdomen and legs dangling. They fell to the floor with a thump. His intestines lay sprawled in the dirt, coated with a thick layer of blood. Lucy stared at them, wide-eyed with fear, frozen. The creature swallowed, and Bruce saw the body slide down the creature's throat and into its gut. It turned to face them. The other two boys had brought out their Spirit Tools. When Bruce didn't know. "*RUN, LUCY*" one of them bellowed. But Lucy did not run. She stayed there, unmoving, staring at Nathan's other half. "Nathan…" Bruce heard her whisper. And then she was gone. The creature--a snake. Bruce knew the breed well--had swallowed her whole in a time span of two seconds. It turned to Bruce.
"No!" one of the boys cried. He stood there in a daze, tears rolling down his cheeks. His only remaining friend had sprinted towards the snake, a giant war hammer in hand, and he brought the bludgeon down on its head. The snake staggered for a moment as the boy with the hammer landed roughly on the ground, and it then let out a stifled hiss. He had done nothing except anger it. The snake came back at him with full force. He had no time to react. Using it's head like a bludgeon of its own, the snake slammed into his body and sent him soaring through the air. 60 feet away, his unconscious body smashed into an inverted tree. Even from where he was standing, Bruce could hear all the bones in the boy's
(jonas his name was jonas)
body being crushed to powder.
The other boy, startled back into reality, moved closer to Bruce. Bruce realized that, after all of this, he hadn't moved an inch. "Hey! You need to get out of here! I'll hold it off!" he yelled. There was a pleading note in his voice. The snake had not forgotten about them, however. It came towards them both. The boy's Spirit Tool--a mace, it had been-- whipped out in front of him, catching the snake in the jaw. Bruce wasted no time. He turned in the opposite direction and ran as fast as he could manage. He had put a fair amount of distance between them before he dared to looked back in time to see the other boy's head rolling on the ground, his mouth open and ajar.
He turned his gaze back in front of him and ran even faster. Never in his life had he been so glad that he played a sport than he did now.
He ran until he could run no more. Out of breath and inches away from collapsing of exhaustion, he realized he had no idea where he was. This damn place was a maze. He was never going to get out of here alive. Then a sound like a hurricane came from his left, followed by vigorous vibrations in the ground. Bruce nearly lost his balance. For a moment a tinge of fear had risen is his tired mind. *What was that?* he thought, nearly aloud. He turned his head and saw an innocent looking bush. No danger here, it seemed to say. I'm just a bush. Come on over, maybe I've got berries. And he did. In all of the stupid, reckless meaning of the action, he did. Slowly, he walked over to the bush, beads of sweat rolling down his blood-rushed face. When he reached the bush, he pulled it aside. There were no berries, but there was a gigantic crater 30 feet away.
He sat behind the bush, looking into the crater. He had a perfect view from here. There was dust inside the crater, and he could not see into it. Whatever made this was very powerful. He fought the urge to get up from behind the bush and look into the crater from another angle. His instincts were screaming *You have to get out of here, Bruce! Find a way out!*. But he stayed there, unmoving, much like the late Lucy Oliver. Bruce thought of the boy who saved him. Adrian. His name was Adrian.
And with that thought, Bruce burst into tears.
Bruce's initiation test was sudden and terrifying. He had not the experience nor the capability for battle. Yet, upon arriving at the Academy, they had sent him to this forest with four other people--*students*, pardon-- who were equally inexperienced. I've never seen an archfiend! he had pled. I can barely pull out my Spirit Tool! But they only looked at him with soap-glossed eyes. They had sent him anyway. The Ward Master had led the team to the north gate of the school and wished them luck. Bruce had silently shouted obscene profanities at the man, but this did no good. He was still terrified. From what he'd read in the history books, archfiends were a force to be reckoned with. They did not play around. And this forest was crawling with them.
The team stood at the entrance to the Academy, the Ward Master now gone, in bewilderment and anticipatory terror. The sky had been a light summer blue, devoid of clouds. The sun beamed down on them, mocking them, almost, although their faces did not seem to register the heat rays. Bruce thought of how on a day like this, his parents would be having a party, inviting long-time business partners, friends, family. A nice, friendly get-together. He would not be invited. This would not have been the first time he thought of home. Nor would it be the last.
The only person who had been briefed prior to the assembly of the team was a young man named Nathan Dawes. He was a shorter fellow, falling below Bruce's 6'4 stature by at least a foot. He was younger than Bruce as well, by a rough estimate of a year and a half. The other three students were named Jonas Hale, Lucy Oliver, and Adrian Stockley. The introductions between these students had proceeded much like in this narrative fashion, with little backstory. Bruce learned that this group of students had been friends since grade school. And, giving them all a second glance, he saw that such a statement made sense. They looked like they belonged together. It made him feel a tad left out, an emotion that was entirely new to him. He never had to assert his place in the hierarchy, has always been at the top of it. At this realization that feeling of exclusion was joined by jealousy. Then a sharp spike of anger. For a moment he forgot that he could be killed in the next three or four hours. Or less.
"We should get moving," said Nathan Dawes, and at that moment the daunting awareness that they were going to die came back, gut-wrenching fear and all. "You can't! We don't know what's out there. We can barely protect ourselves!" Bruce cried and stared back at Nathan, wide-eyed. The other three students looked at Bruce with contempt in their eyes. Nathan only smiled and went on as if Bruce had never spoken. "The Academy is why we're here. I don't know about you guys, but I trained my whole life to get to this point. This is it. There's no going back for me. If you don't want to go into that forest, you don't have to. You can leave. Anyone who leaves will not be thought a coward or uncommitted." He turned, walked down the steps. The others exchanged glances for a moment as if to reassure each other, telling themselves to trust Nathan. They followed him, reluctant but yielding. Bruce opened his mouth to protest, but before the words left his lips he knew it would be futile. They follow him, he thought, they won't follow me. They don't even know me. They look up to him, admire him. He didn't know that for sure, but his instincts were rarely wrong. He took a step towards the others, hesitated, then started down the steps. He caught up with them quickly enough. The fear still lingered, gurgling in his gut.
They arrived at the entrance of the forest by the afternoon. The trek had taken at least three hours. Before they entered the forest, the other students practiced with their Spirit Tools for another hour. Bruce sat on the sidelines, watching. He noticed that when the others needed help for anything, they all came to Nathan. Bruce would watch the look on his face, hoping to detect confusion, helplessness. But he would see none. It was like Nathan thought Nathan knew everything about everything, and he had these idiots follow him around to prove it.
*Check out the ego on this guy.* he thought, and a little smirk crept its way onto his lips.
For a moment he thought he might join them, to play along with Nathan's game. He did not much care for the idea. So he sat on his log, watching, envious.
When they had finished with their practice, they went into the forest. From that point on, they walked with caution. Nathan was in front--typical, Bruce thought--, the others trailing behind him, Bruce in the back. When they were around 100 meters away from the entrance, it was like night had fallen quickly and without warning. The change in scenery had made them all uneasy. It got so dark in some places they had to use their phones to see at all. Bruce, and he was sure the others as well, Nathan included, wondered what might be lurking in the shadows, hiding, waiting to shed blood when the time was right. He looked back, seeing the light from outside barely making it in before fading into darkness. He felt as if they were going into an unexplored cave, bound to get lost at some point. The thought made his spine shiver.
They had been in the forest thirty minutes before someone--it was Lucy, but Bruce had searched for her name despite having met her only a few hours ago--asked where in the world they were going. "We're just walking into the unknown," one of the boys said. Bruce forgot his name. He noticed something as they were walking, something that made him all the more uneasy. *There are no birds in this forest. No bugs, either. It's dead quiet.* Nathan stopped, and soon after so did the others. He turned, faced them all. The look on his face was of pleasant sympathy. He opened his mouth and…
And then Bruce saw something. He could've sworn the others saw it, too. Two glowing red dots, inches away from Nathan's left shoulder. It was behind him, maybe ten feet. Bruce thought it looked like the eye of some demon-possessed animal. It was gone just as soon as it came, as if whatever it was had just given them a glimpse of death. A fraction of a second later, they all saw an enormous jaw behind Nathan open, showing
(*two fangs those are two long fangs*)
two fangs, and then snap shut on half of his body with a loud CRACK!. Those red dots--Bruce saw that they were eyes now-- leered at them as they heard Nathan's bones snapping inside the creature's wide jaws.
Nobody moved. Bruce tried to scream but couldn't. Seconds that felt like *years* passed. Finally, Lucy Oliver shrieked so loud she ruptured her larynx. The creature raised its head, tearing off the half of Nathan's body, his lower abdomen and legs dangling. They fell to the floor with a thump. His intestines lay sprawled in the dirt, coated with a thick layer of blood. Lucy stared at them, wide-eyed with fear, frozen. The creature swallowed, and Bruce saw the body slide down the creature's throat and into its gut. It turned to face them. The other two boys had brought out their Spirit Tools. When Bruce didn't know. "*RUN, LUCY*" one of them bellowed. But Lucy did not run. She stayed there, unmoving, staring at Nathan's other half. "Nathan…" Bruce heard her whisper. And then she was gone. The creature--a snake. Bruce knew the breed well--had swallowed her whole in a time span of two seconds. It turned to Bruce.
"No!" one of the boys cried. He stood there in a daze, tears rolling down his cheeks. His only remaining friend had sprinted towards the snake, a giant war hammer in hand, and he brought the bludgeon down on its head. The snake staggered for a moment as the boy with the hammer landed roughly on the ground, and it then let out a stifled hiss. He had done nothing except anger it. The snake came back at him with full force. He had no time to react. Using it's head like a bludgeon of its own, the snake slammed into his body and sent him soaring through the air. 60 feet away, his unconscious body smashed into an inverted tree. Even from where he was standing, Bruce could hear all the bones in the boy's
(jonas his name was jonas)
body being crushed to powder.
The other boy, startled back into reality, moved closer to Bruce. Bruce realized that, after all of this, he hadn't moved an inch. "Hey! You need to get out of here! I'll hold it off!" he yelled. There was a pleading note in his voice. The snake had not forgotten about them, however. It came towards them both. The boy's Spirit Tool--a mace, it had been-- whipped out in front of him, catching the snake in the jaw. Bruce wasted no time. He turned in the opposite direction and ran as fast as he could manage. He had put a fair amount of distance between them before he dared to looked back in time to see the other boy's head rolling on the ground, his mouth open and ajar.
He turned his gaze back in front of him and ran even faster. Never in his life had he been so glad that he played a sport than he did now.
He ran until he could run no more. Out of breath and inches away from collapsing of exhaustion, he realized he had no idea where he was. This damn place was a maze. He was never going to get out of here alive. Then a sound like a hurricane came from his left, followed by vigorous vibrations in the ground. Bruce nearly lost his balance. For a moment a tinge of fear had risen is his tired mind. *What was that?* he thought, nearly aloud. He turned his head and saw an innocent looking bush. No danger here, it seemed to say. I'm just a bush. Come on over, maybe I've got berries. And he did. In all of the stupid, reckless meaning of the action, he did. Slowly, he walked over to the bush, beads of sweat rolling down his blood-rushed face. When he reached the bush, he pulled it aside. There were no berries, but there was a gigantic crater 30 feet away.
He sat behind the bush, looking into the crater. He had a perfect view from here. There was dust inside the crater, and he could not see into it. Whatever made this was very powerful. He fought the urge to get up from behind the bush and look into the crater from another angle. His instincts were screaming *You have to get out of here, Bruce! Find a way out!*. But he stayed there, unmoving, much like the late Lucy Oliver. Bruce thought of the boy who saved him. Adrian. His name was Adrian.
And with that thought, Bruce burst into tears.
