Ruveneska, Chapter 4: Problem in the Forest by Darro

Shuren looked around as he was surrounded. Circled around him were about a dozen trolls. He was poorly armed with one arrow and a hunting knife. The moon gave Shuren barley enough light to see the plains behind them.

The monstrous creatures were twice his size and Cotoz did not prepare Shuren for this. His hunting arrows were wasted. No effect seemed to undertake the trolls after firing his arrows.

He studied his situation carefully as is seemed like the one he recently read. Shuren was in the same condition as Craig from his novel. Instead of a boomerang, he had an arrow. Shuren shot his arrow high above the trolls’ heads. It was ineffective; they did not take a glance at it. Shuren had wasted his last arrow.

Shuren was left with just a knife. He unsheathed his half foot blade. They seemed intimidated. Suddenly, one troll took his club and ferociously swung. It didn’t hit him, leaving a counterattack open. Shuren dashed toward the troll and stabbed it at its chest, killing it. He was alarmed with his own action. An abrupt flow of energy erupted throughout him. He felt superior to the trolls and nearly invincible. He threw himself into the raging pile of trolls, defeating any that threatened him. One by one, the trolls fell to the ground, defeated.

There were then only four trolls left. Though trolls were unintelligent, they were wise to not battle Shuren. He kneeled down cleaned his knife with grass, he stood up and shot a glare that made the trolls flee.

"Wow that was amazing," thought Shuren," I didn’t think I could do that, those skills that Cotoz taught me must have paid off." The powerful aura left Shuren along with his energy.

Exhausted, he strolled into the forest, and instantly killed a Wouk. Shuren gathered a few logs like Blurton instructed and used his flint to light a fire. He struck the rock a few times, hoping to create a large enough spark for the dried leaved. When the leaves caught fire, Shuren placed it on the pile of logs he gathered.

He took washed his knife and prepared to skin the Wouk. He took the knife created a superficial cut. With the cut, he began to slice the fur off of its body. He cut hard enough to rid the fur, but not cutting the meat as well. He quickly pierced it with a stick and cooked it over the fire. Awaiting the meat to cook was torture to his hunger. The smell was taunting with him.

Though, after an hour of preparation and cooking, he ate. The Wouk meat was bitter, but it was satisfying. The chewiness of the meat made his jaw sore. After a few moments of eating, Shuren was full. He took a few sticks and fed the fire.

Shuren lied down and thought about his real mission: to find Rollan. He had no clues to rely on. The figure from the other day was nowhere to be found. He saw the figure run north, he decided to head in that direction. His eyes began to shut, and he fell asleep.

* * *

Shuren rose from his sleep the next day. The soreness of his muscles forced him to recall the events the day before. He looked at the blue sky above him for a few minutes. When he was wake enough, he shoved himself off of the ground.

He scavenged for the stream that ran by Hogony. The water was less clear than at home but it was proficient. He studied the body of water as he washed his face. The stream certainly got wider and deeper. After a few moments, Shuren felt the sun’s heat baking the back of his neck. He splashed water on nearly his whole body. Though his clothes were wet, he was cool.

Shuren packed up the remains of his camp and continued on his quest. He glared at the position of the sun. There was no way to tell which way it was setting or rising at the time. He grabbed a nearby stick and struck the ground. It stood tall in the patch of grass. A shadow was cast of the right side of the stick. Then, he grabbed a pebble and placed it on the opposite side of the stick, this way, he knew which position he was looking at the stick from. The survival tip that Blurton taught him seemed to be working.

In the meantime of waiting for directions from a twig, Shuren set traps around the area to catch a stash of meat. Near a small forest, Shuren found a pile of fallen rascleberries. He collected a few of them, while leaving some on the floor as bait. On a branch above it, he tied a piece of thin clear thread. At the end, he tied a noose like Blurton showed him. He placed the noosed on an open area where the bush forms an open tunnel with the ground. He placed many of these traps nearby.

By the time Shuren was finished with his last trap, he hear a cry by his first trap. He walked over and saw a dead Wouk. Shuren smiled for his trap was successful. He gathered the Wouk, skinned it and salted it. He placed it in a bag and in his sac along with a dried wood.

Overtime, his traps proved more effective, he caught even meat to last several days. After he filled his sacs, he went to check on his simple compass. Now the shadow was barley on the rock. Nearly an hour ago, it was facing opposite of the rock. Since it was moved that way, he knew that the sun was setting west. Directly in front of him was north. He decided to go north.

He hauled his load of items straight north. At times, he felt as if he was swerving towards the west, but he didn’t really care. He tried to occupy himself by humming a few tunes from Hogony. When that didn’t work, he began to rummage through random thoughts. He suddenly reached the thought of a beautiful that was running from him. The dream he had earlier in Hogony had come back to his mind. The thought of this woman encouraged Shuren to strive farther and succeed. Once this was over, he would go out to find her.

Eventually, Shuren noticed that the stream was growing farther and farther away from where he was. He was sure now that he was striding towards the west. Though he had no real destination, he felt uneasy about veering away from the stream. Though, he did not walk back towards the stream.

Shuren did not realize that it was dark until he could barely see his hand. He unloaded a few pieces of his dried wood and formed a teepee. He found a patch of dead grass and ripped it from the ground. Shuren took out his tinderbox and struck a few sparks with his flint, it missed the grass. Swiftly and cleanly, he scraped the flint and caused sparks again. The sparks landed on the dried grass, causing a puff of smoke. He quickly and lightly blew the sparked area, until a small flame rose from the grass. After that, Shuren placed the fire on the center of the pile of wood. Soon, the teepee of wood was burning in flames, crackling as it ate the wood. He scraped off the skin of a stick until it was clean and smooth and stabbed it into the ground. With it, he cooked some meat on it. The smell of burning wood in the air disturbed him, but was soon replaced with the sizzling smell of meat. While he waited for it to cook, took a swig of water from his canteen. After he filled his stomach, he gracefully fell asleep.

The next day, Shuren was sore not from fighting trolls, but from walking for hours at a time. He struggled to stand up, and standing was not very pleasant either. He managed though. He drank a sip of water and realized he was running low. Since he was far from the stream, he had to find another source of water. He looked up at the sky and found no clouds. There was not going to be any rainfall. Shuren studied the plains around him. To the right of him, there were more patches of dead grass. To the right, there was luscious grass.

He followed the healthy grass, just as Blurton taught. After a few minutes of walking, he noticed a smudge in the horizon. He began to think the heat was making him hallucinating, he continued to pursue it, however. Each step became harder as he walking toward the smudge. With each pace, he had to race his leg higher, as if something were grabbing his foot. Suddenly, when he stepped the ground, there was a faint slush sound. He looked at the ground and realized that he had been walking in muddy grass. He walked further and saw that the smudge was a ditch. At the bottom was a small pond of water. He was enlightened with joy. He hopped into the ditch and began drinking the water.

By the time he was finished filling his canteen, the hottest part of the day had past. Luckily for Shuren, he was near water when it showed. He soaked himself with water. The water almost made his body shiver, but the heat was around was balancing his body heat. It was enough to keep cool, so he began traveling through the plains again.

His wet clothes did not help for long. The clothes dried quickly, Shuren began taking frequent sips from his canteen. By the time Shuren had broke through the muddy areas of the grass, he had only half of his canteen left. He looked back at the muddy areas, if he wanted to survive the day, he would have to fill his canteen with the muddy water.

Shuren walked back a few yards and kneeled in the dry grass behind the border of muddy grass. He ripped off a part of his sleeve and began to stretch it lightly just as Blurton instructed. He placed his canteen in the grass and pulled off the cap. The fabric he ripped off was stretched over the mouth of the bottle. Shuren pulled put a piece of thread and tied the fabric to the canteen. He then cupped a handful of muddy water and poured it over the canteen, hoping that the fabric would filter most of it out. “Oh well, I can’t waste my time boiling it.”

Once Shuren was finished he tested the water. As it entered his mouth, it almost felt as if he was drinking water with tiny mineral rocks. The dirt made him shiver, but it wasn’t horrible. He closed the cap and moved on.

Dusk was drawing nearer and nearer, but Shuren seemed to be heading nowhere. He appeared to be leading a false path, even though he was not on a distinct path. He didn’t even have a destination; the last several days seemed more like a traveling trip rather than a rescue mission. The thought of this made Shuren feel guilty. He felt as if he used the mission to travel instead of search for Rollan.

Through all of this thought, Shuren continued to walk north. When dusk finally reached, Shuren camped near a forest. He burned his remaining wood to cook his remaining food. He had decided that he would hurt the next day, to start a new schedule: Every three days, Shuren would hunt for food. He would spend the entire day to gather enough to last four days, in case Shuren is in an emergency or this is no place to hunt. Every other day, Shuren would look for water, and gather enough for two days. He would have to find a way to carry more water with him.

The plan he came up with seemed decent, though he would be spending more than half of his time trying to survive. Now more than ever, he felt that he was straying from his mission. It was peculiar how Bastian sent him on a mission with no leads. He did not even point Shuren in a direction. He was beginning to think it was a plan to get Shuren from the village. “Oh well, I’m already here.”

Shuren finished the last piece of Wouk meet on his stick and attempted to make the ground a little more comfortable. He did not succeed very well, but it was better than his previous nights. He added a few more logs into the fire and closed his eyes. He focused on the sound in the air. The fire was crackling at the wood. The grass was being whisking as the gentle breeze blew over the ground. The nonchalant area made it possible for Shuren to fall asleep.

* * *

Shuren woke the next morning to an earsplitting roar. The shrill sound was from above. He looked up, there he saw a golden-red scaled fire-breathing Dragon! Twice the size of a troll, it circled the air above. It’s surprisingly small wings waved above the ground, though it did not seem to help it fly very much. Its gigantic chest heaved in and out as it roared. Shuren was clueless to why it would attack a Gippy, but he knew one thing to do; run.

He got up curious, but timid. Shuren got in a sprinting stance, and then it spat blazing red flames. It missed, igniting the forest neighboring him. It shot fire again. Miraculously, Shuren rolled out of its path. The Dragon swooped down toward Shuren. As it glided down, its wings flared up, causing the plains to catch fire. Shuren rolled to dodge, but only to be surrounded by flames. The Dragon gained height and roared repeatedly. Then Shuren realized; it was only playing. He, on the other hand, knew it was a life and death situation. Shuren ran and jumped over the waves of heat. He ran north as the Dragon followed behind. He sprinted breathlessly until the Dragon attacked again.

As it swooped down Shuren pulled out his knife and tried to strike the Dragon. His blade ricocheted off the beast and caused Shuren to lose his balance. He saw the Dragon nose dive toward him. Shuren raised his arms to shield himself. He thought of his arms as a barrier between him and the Dragon. He expected pain, but felt a painless force that sent him back several feet.

Suddenly, a light melody floated in the air. Soft, but loud music shot through Shuren’s ears. The Dragon roared, frustrated. Shuren began to feel drowsy. His consciousness faded away before he saw a womanly figure approached him.

Shuren woke in darkness still exhausted. His arm shot with pain as he moved, it was burnt and covered in bandages. He took a few moments to inspect what had happened. “I was attacked by a Dragon! Then, that girl, who was she?” thought Shuren.

Shuren looked around; he was in a large tent, lying on a hammock. He gently swung himself on the hammock, wondering where he was or how he arrived there.
Thoughts of the girl filled his mind. Shuren knew she wasn’t the one he had been dreaming of, but there was something about her Shuren was obsessed with. “She saved my life, that’s why I want to meet her,” Shuren lied to himself.
As Shuren peered out the crack of the tent, he realized there was another full moon outside. "Two full moons in one month. Is that possible?” He stretched out his moveable arm and yawned comfortably as he fell asleep.

Fire surrounded him. It was feeding on the tress of the forest he was in. He was helpless as a baby was. His small body was lying on grass as heat waves filled the air. Falling branches of timber struck the ground as Shuren began to wail even louder. His movement was limited to crawling. He tried to, but he was not fast enough to escape the fire that engulfed the grass he lied on.

Suddenly, Shuren was lifted into the air by a mysterious figure. He was carried past the burning forest.

Shuren woke up to a bright morning sun. Sweat slid down his face as if he were really heated by fire. Though he was awake, he did not feel relieved of his nightmare. “It was so real!”
He parted with his thought of the nightmare and looked around. It was now bright enough to look around the tent. There seemed to be another room in this tent divided by a light curtain. Shuren realized some of his clothes were missing and he was left in his shorts and his regular shirt. His new torso and travel pants were missing.

He got out of the hammock and stepped on the dewed grass. He walked toward the other room in the tent. Shuren was able to tell it was a female’s room. There was an ordinary mattress, but underneath of it were things unexpected girl’s bedroom. Shuren found two sharp steel daggers, sheathed. Alarmed, he wielded them. He wasn’t very experienced with these but they were light enough to swing around. After playing with the giant knives, Shuren placed them back in their original positions and left the tent.

Outside, Shuren found similar tents scattered throughout the area. Shuren saw a two men sparring with wooden swords. They were not Gippies. They were taller than an average Gippy. Their faces were delicate along with their structure. Their form seemed soft, but by the sparring, it was clear they were strong. Shuren saw many of these looking people walk about the area extent.

There was one large tent that stood out. Shuren spotted these creature walk in and out, so Shuren trotted in. Inside seemed like an army headquarters. A mattress lied on the side of the room next to a wooden desk. A map of Oryk lay on the desk.
"So you have awakened,” a mature voice startled Shuren. Shuren turned to see similar looking person to the others. His build was lean and he was a bit taller than Shuren. His hair was short and dark. His copper eyes peered at Shuren with intensity.

“Um, yes I have,” Shuren replied politely. Shuren opened his mouth to talk but he was interrupted.

“I understand you are confused,” he said. Shuren nodded. “I will explain. Karoline told me that you were attacked, she rescued you and you were unconscious when you got here.”

“Who is this Karoline? Who are you?” asked Shuren puzzled.

“I am Atlar, and we are Ingles of a rebellion,” Atlar answered.
Shuren was stunned. They were Ingles! Shuren only knew a little bit about them from books, but it was enough to draw back in fear. Ingles were known to be powerful and followers of the Ingolor heir.

“This is a rebellion?” Shuren asked.

“Yes, something you would not understand, I do not wish to tangle you with our affairs,” Atlar said. Shuren nodded. “Now please, tell me who you are.”

"My name is Shuren Willans, of Gippy village, Hogony,” Shuren introduced himself as he bowed politely.

“You are from the village of Hogony? You do not look like a Gippy. Though, you sure do speak like one,” he commented. “That does not matter; explain what you were doing to get you attacked.”

Shuren explained about his quest and everyone leading up to it. Before Shuren could finish, a beautiful Ingle girl walked into the room. She stood a little shorter than he did and seemed the same age. Her luscious brown hair was tied into a ponytail that dangled to her neck. Her body was slender and highly attractive. She had piercing red eyes that were perfectly position on her elegant face. She looked at Shuren and smiled.

“You’re finally awake,” she said.

“Yea,” said Shuren. She nodded. Shuren was breath taken by her. “I’m Shuren,” he said reintroducing himself.

“I am Karoline Cristino,” she said bowing in return. “Your battle clothes are near the pond, I‘m not finished repairing them yet, you will have to wait a day or two until I can completely finish.”

Shuren was shocked that she would do this. “Wow thank you,” Shuren said. She smiled in return. “You saved me from that Dragon. . . I am in great debt to you,” Shuren said.

“Karoline, do you know what kind of Dragon it was?” asked Atlar.

“Yes, a Demon Dragon,” she said.

Atlar was awestruck. “It was a Demon Dragon? Are you positive?” he asked alarmed.

Karoline nodded, “I was surprised also, I hadn‘t realize they would come here,” she said calmly.

“What is so unique about this Dragon?” asked Shuren baffled.

“It is the deadliest Dragon of all. No one has ever seen one, they were claimed to be just a myth. Not only did u see one, you were attacked by one, and somehow you lived,” said Karoline undergoing deep thought.

“You are an extremely lucky fellow,” Atlar said. Shuren did not care to explain his ‘unlucky’ life.

“Well, is there anything I can do to repay your hospitality?” Shuren asked Karoline politely.

“It is fine, you are a guest here, you are not required to do any work,” she said as she walked further into the room.

Atlar walked towards Shuren and said, “If you like, you may go spar with the Ingles outside.”

Shuren though for a moment, with his burned arm, he would be handicapped, and “I think I’ll go explore a bit first.” Atlar nodded with approval.

Shuren walked outside, still taken with Karoline’s beauty. He shook off his feelings and walked towards the sparring grounds. Two different Ingles were sparing this time.

Sparks flew in the air as the steel and black blades clashed. They were sparring with actual blades! The Ingle with the black blade aimed for the others neck, but it was blocked. He tried again but was countered. The other Ingle kicked him and forced him onto the floor. In three swift moves, the Ingle with the steel blade had won.

“That was remarkable,” Shuren said out loud.

The Ingle on the floor looked up. He laughed, “Look the Gippy wants to play.”

Shuren laughed as he helped him off of the floor. “I would if it weren’t for this arm.” He showed them the burn mark. The two of them stared with curiosity.

“This was caused by a real Dragon?” the Ingle with the steel blade asked. He stuck the tip of his blade into the ground and leaned on his pommel.

“I guess news travels fast around here,” Shuren remarked as he covered it with his undershirt.

The same Ingle asked, “Are you going to be in those all day?” He pointed to Shuren’s outfit. “Come on, I have something that might fit you.” He pulled his blade from the ground and led Shuren into a tent across from the one he woke up in.

The inside was filled with armor and weapons. Many of them were broken or rusted, though few of them seemed brand new. There was one mattress and a stool. The Ingle rummaged in a pile of armor and pulled out a gray metal torso. He handed it to Shuren, it was lighter than it seemed though it did not appear to be a very good armor. Though, without hesitation, Shuren accepted it. Along with it, he handed Shuren some firm and comfortable leather pants. “What is your name?” Shuren asked.

“I am Dijek of the Ingle rebellion,” he introduced himself.

“My name is Shuren Willans of the Gippy Village, Hogony,” Shuren said as he smiled. “Thank you for this.”

“This is no problem,” Dijek said. “I have to go take care of a few things, please excuse me.”

As he left the tent, Shuren went outside and began to explore more of the area. He noticed that neighboring the campsite was another forest. It could have been the same forest that he was attacked by. It seemed logical that Karoline found him nearby. Though he still wasn’t sure how he was knocked unconscious.
Shuren did not know what to do to past time in this foreign place. There was a low scratching sound that alarmed Shuren. He walked into the tent in which he woke up in and found Karoline on the hammock. She had a block of wood in her hand and was carving it. The wood was about the size of her arm, very long. Each stroke she took made the wood look even more defined. She looked up at Shuren and did not say a word.
He got the impression that she did not enjoy his company.

“What are you carving?”

She waited a few moments, as if she did not want to reply, “An instrument model.” She put it down and stood up.
Shuren backed up, “It’s ok, and I’ll leave if you want your privacy.”

Karoline stared at Shuren for a moment. She was gazing into his eyes, “You’ve never had much company have you?” Shuren stood there breathless. “I can see it in your eyes. The truth is, nobody wants to be alone, privacy may be pleasant sometimes, but most want privacy to get attention.” She turned her face away from Shuren and walked out of the tent.

“Ouch,” Shuren thought to himself. He felt that he should stay away from Karoline for a while, she seemed kind of irritated. He sat down on the hammock for a moment and thought about what she said. She was true, Shuren was very lonely. He thought about the rest of her speech. She said that privacy was a cry for attention. “Maybe she just wants attention, but a girl beautiful like should have plenty of it.” He walked outside and began looking for Karoline.

She was nowhere to be found. Shuren checked with Atlar, but had not seen her either. He looked around, expecting to find Karoline walking among the Ingles, but she wasn’t. Shuren looked up at the sky randomly. Dusk was already approaching. He must have overslept. He decided to walked out of the camp site and mildly explore his surroundings.

North east of the site Shuren found a small tree area. The trees were maple and very big. The braches were strong and plentiful. It provided a lot of shade, though the heat was not excruciating as before. On one particular tree on the corner of the area, there seemed to have had wood nailed into the branches, creating some sort of platform. There was a sound as if someone had been walking on there. “Hello?” Shuren called out.

The footsteps grew louder as he saw someone approached the edge. It was Karoline. “So you’ve found me,” she said as she lent Shuren a hand to climb.

Shuren firmly placed his feet on the tree bark and grabbed Karoline’s hand with his right. Her hand was soft and delicate, it made Shuren shiver. Quickly, he lifted off his foot and with the help of Karoline, Shuren climbed the tree platform. Shuren looked further up the tree. It was very big, and that was not the only platform. There were many of them each higher than the other. It was almost like a set of big stairs leading to something at the top. “This is amazing Karoline,” Shuren gasped.

“This is where I come to get my privacy,” she said as she smiled at Shuren, who could not tell if she wanted privacy or company. “Me and my . . .” she hesitated, “friend built it when we were younger.”

Shuren began walking up the platforms. The tree was even more gigantic inside of it. The platforms circled the trunk of the tree in a spiral as it gained height. At the very top, there was almost a floor-like platform. The leaves and branches above almost acted like a roof. The wood was polished and it had artistic hand rails. Karoline walked up behind Shuren. “You built all of this?” Shuren asked astounded.

“It took us a year for all of this, we were the only people who knew about it, and now you do,” Karoline explained. Shuren could not tell if he was welcomed in her secret now, or barging in.

He walked to the edge and leaned on the firm wooden rail. It was close to dark now, and the breeze was now picking up. Shuren closed his eyes and relaxed for a few moments. The smell of maple leaves calmed him with the light breeze blowing his hair back.

Karoline studied some of Shuren’s hair. She looked at it with interest. “You have abnormal hair. Is this a Gippy trait?” she asked referring to his hair that was slowly turning white.
“I’m not really sure, I only know one person with white hair, and that’s the Gippy I’m supposed to rescue. I figure it’s because of his old age that it’s white.” Shuren explained.
Karoline looked at Shuren awkwardly, “Hair turns white for Gippies?”

“I suppose so,” Shuren said slowly. He thought of all the elderly Gippies, but Rollan was the only one with white hair. It seemed odder now than ever. Though, soon he shook the idea from his head.

“We should leave now,” Karoline said. Shuren agreed. They walked down the platform.

An uneasy silence floated the air. Shuren was eager to say something to end the silence, though Karoline did not seem like the type to talk about herself very much. Too apprehensive to talk, Shuren just walked the entire way down in silence. When they climbed down, Shuren finally said something. “So, what is this rebellion about?”

They began walking towards the camp site. From afar, the many fires illuminated the prospect before them. “It is a long story, and we do not wish to tangle you with our affairs.”
“Ouch again,” Shuren thought. “Oh well, it’s ok, I understand about privacy with you Ingles.”

Karoline made a very surprising face. She had a smile on, almost as if she were about to laugh. She quickly turned her face away acting as if she were staring off in the distant. Shuren was surprised to see her do this.

“So you really have to rescue this Rollan Gippy, correct?” Karoline said, changing the subject.

“Yes, he just vanished from our village one night,” Shuren said as they entered the campsite.

Shuren saw Dijek approach them, “Shuren, you will be spending the night in my tent.”

Shuren nodded, “Thank you, I’ll be there soon.” Dijek walked back into his tent.

“It was right before I saw this guy in our forest.” Shuren continued. “His very presence caused me to shake. He had on a black coat, almost like a cloak-”

“You saw this?” Karoline asked very startled. Shuren nodded, “Why they show themselves?”

Shuren didn’t seem to care about what was going on. He looked around the campsite; everyone had seemed to be sleeping. A question popped into his that was off subject. “Karoline, where is your friend now? I mean the one who helped you build the tree platform.”

Karoline was struck by this question, her ponder about the man in the black coat seemed gone. She glared at Shuren furiously, though very calmly, she said, “He’s dead.” She turned around and stormed into her tent.

“Wow that one really hurt,” Shuren thought to himself. He frowned, that was not the answer he had expected. Shuren turned around and walked into Dijek’s tent, where a mattress had been laid out for him. Tired and confused, Shuren went to sleep.

* * *

Shuren woke the next morning, as he rolled over his left arm, he expected pain, but nothing happened. He lifted up his sleeve to realize that his burn was gone. He was sure that one of the Ingles had healed him. Shuren left the tent, hoping to apologize to Karoline. That morning, she was the first person he saw as he left.

“Hey Karoline, I’m sorry, about last night,” Shuren said.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I finished repairing your torso, its down near the pond. I’m going to a meeting with Atlar, I suggest you stay away.”

Shuren walked towards the big puddle of water he spotted near the forest. He saw even more Ingles out than earlier, but they seemed to be heading to Atlar‘s tent. They eyed Shuren as he walked by that made him uncomfortable.

There was a rack with Shuren’s tunic and travel pants on it. They were dry, so he took them off the rack and wore them; they felt even more comfortable than before. He then noticed something else, the holes and rips were replaced by strong thread.

A reflection shined on Shuren‘s face from the floor. He picked it up and it was a knife, he studied it and realized it was his, but different. The blade had been thoroughly sharpened and cleaned.

There was a rustle in the bush. He shot his knife and heard a faint cry. He silently crept towards the bush. The bush revealed a dead Wouk. Shuren sighed; he cleaned his knife and sheathed it.

Suddenly, Shuren heard swift deep in the forest. He wandered deeper. The sunlight fainted as he got deeper until he found himself in darkness. There was a roar nearby, Shuren followed the sound. He reached a group of gigantic creatures, trolls.
"Somebody killed our brothers! They will DIE!" said one troll.
"He was an Ingle I bet! We should attack those Ingles!" said the same troll.

“But master told us to kill the old wizard!” said another.

Shuren was traumatized, they were talking about Rollan!

“We attack them first, avenge our brothers, then we go to kill that old man!” roared the troll. The others roared with him in excitement.

Shuren was even more shocked. They were going to attack the Rebellion! He needed to go and warn them! He jetted out the tree-filled forest and found the pond. He ran his way back into Atlar’s tent where he found a group of Ingles.

“What is it Shuren?” asked Atlar worried.

"It’s an emergency! Trolls! They’re going to attack this place!" Shuren said rapidly.

"Why would trolls attack us?" asked Karoline from behind.

“Sure we don’t like them, but we’ve never had a problem with them.”

"Well... It’s actually my fault,” Shuren said guilty, “When I left my village a dozen trolls attacked me. I had to defend myself so I killed eight of them-"

"A Gippy like you killed eight trolls?" asked Karoline.

"Yes, and they’re going to attack!” Shuren shouted.
Shock crossed everyone’s face. “We have to stop them,” Atlar said. He began giving orders, “Everyone, go prepare yourselves for battle, take extra precaution.”

The crowd departed to arm themselves. Shuren was left with Karoline and Atlar. “I have to hold them off, I’m the only one armed as of now,” Shuren said bravely. Atlar and Karoline nodded.

Atlar reached under his mattress and pulled out a short sword. He handed it to him and said, “Take this, it will help more than your knife,” said Atlar with humor.

“Be careful Shuren,” Karoline said. Shuren’s face turned a slight pink as he smiled.

Shuren took the sword and ran off. Shuren reached the end of the camp area where he spotted a line of trolls approach. He stopped and waited for them to come. Shuren gripped the sword tightly and gulped.

Suddenly, he ran toward the trolls ready. The night before he was able to defeat eight trolls, but this was far more than eight; it was a herd.

The trolls were getting nearer and they had spotted Shuren. He knew how badly they wanted him dead.

“You want to kill me? Is that it?” shouted Shuren foolishly.
The trolls screamed and ran. They were close; he could hear them heaving for breath.

It was time for him to strike He swung his sword at the first troll that approached him with all of his available force while running. His arm continued to pick up momentum until it hit the troll, causing Shuren’s arms to rumble. It fell to the ground dead. Shuren saw a swing creep up on him. He used a method that Lorica taught him; he ducked, rolled and attacked.

Another troll fell to the floor dead. Shuren looked up to see a troll raise his arms to strike. He could not react fast enough to block it. Suddenly, a swift sound shot above Shuren’s head before an arrow pierced the troll’s chest.

Shuren turned around when he heard screams from the other side of the field. It was the entire Rebellion group. Shuren had a sudden boost of confidence as they ran down the field to join battle. Cries of battle filled the air along with sounds weapons clashing.

Shuren attacked a troll that approached him; he swung his sword but only to be blocked by its axe. He jumped to his left as it swung down, and then Shuren stabbed it. Shuren continued to exchange blows with surrounding trolls. The Ingles also battled with intensity.

There was a sudden scream; it was Karoline’s. Shuren ran toward her and found Atlar in her arms motionless; Atlar was dead. Shuren saw the wound on his back, it was a surprise shot.

Karoline pointed to the troll who did it, with tears streaming down her cheek. It was the biggest troll who appeared to be the leader. This enraged Shuren, in spite of how little he knew Atlar, he wanted to avenge his death. Shuren picked up Atlar’s sword and charged after the troll. Shuren chased him into the forest. Darkness swallowed up his sight as he stopped. He was about to fight in the dark.

“Why did you attack my brothers?” it said from behind. A noise from behind came towards him. Shuren ducked, barely missing the blow.

“You guys attacked me!!” replied Shuren swinging Atlar’s sword into the distance, hoping to hit something. There was another attack from his side, but he blocked it. Shuren could not fight in the dark. There was another swing that cut Shuren‘s let arm, which caused him to fall to the ground. Shuren felt a gust of wind as the troll’s weapon struck a tree. Shuren reached out to feel the spiked-club, he moved his hand along the club, and felt the trolls hand. This was his time to attack. He rolled over, stood up, and gripped the handle of Atlar’s sword. He swung at its arm. There was an ear popping cry as the troll fell to the ground wincing in pain.

“Where is Rollan?” Shuren demanded. He found the club and picked it up. He threw as far away from them as he could.

“Don’t kill me, please!” it begged. It kneeled on the floor and bowed to Shuren’s feet.

“Tell me where he is and I will spare you,” Shuren said trying to sound as cruel as he could.

“He is in the graveyard south of here!” It continued to bow and beg, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Who took him and why were you guys going to kill him?” Shuren asked, pointing the tip of Atlar’s blade at its neck.

“I don’t know, our master kidnapped him and hid him in the graveyard, he told us to meet him there and kill him. We don’t know why though, he never tells us anything, we haven’t even seen his face before!” the troll cried.

“When are they going to kill him?”

“In a few days I think, that’s when he expected us to kill him.”

“Is that all you know?” Shuren asked.

“Yes, it is, please spare me!” It begged again.

Shuren turned around and left it helplessly in the forest. He made his way out of the dark forest, running into a few trees along the way.

When Shuren walked out of the forest, there were corpses all over the floor; the battle was now over. Shuren had not recognized any of them, except for one: Dijek. Shuren froze at this site. He dashed over to his body that was motionless on the floor. Shuren put his ear to his bloody chest, slowly, he felt a small force heaving up and down. Dijek was still breathing.

“Help, somebody please help him!” screamed Shuren. After a few more yells, an Ingle finally came. He and one other came to pick him up.

“Don’t worry, he should live,” he said just before slowly carrying him away on a hammock.

Relieved, Shuren searched for Karoline. He saw that many Ingles were injured and some seemed to be dead, but each was quickly attended to. He spotted Karoline and walked to her. She was standing next to the injured Ingles that laid still on the floor, they were unconscious. After giving one a drink of water she came up to Shuren.

“When are you leaving?” she asked with a blank expression on her face.

“I have to rescue Rollan, he’s hidden somewhere in a graveyard and in a few days, he will be killed,” replied Shuren.

“At least stay long enough to be healed, you can’t journey injured,” Karoline said in between sobs. Shuren nodded.