Chapter 4

(Hello? Are you still there? It seemed like your attention waned for a bit. I hope you haven’t been talking to other deities. If you recall, I warned you not to trust them.  Deities of this realm have motives that they might not tell you about, and they are quite happy to use you for their own ends. Since you exist beyond even the divine realm, you hold a lot of power they can use. I suppose you might wonder now whether I am trustworthy too. Well, you can trust that I know what I’m talking about, and I think that is worth something. Now, we’ll pick up a few days after Naomi and company entered the Tall Woods.)

Naomi woke up feeling like she had been dreaming of the past. She looked around the clearing they were camped in. The trees were dimly lit with predawn light, and as Naomi looked up the tops seemed to disappear into a muddle of shadowy leaves. She decided it was too close to dawn for her to go back to sleep, so she got up and groaned softly as she tried to work the stiffness out of her shoulders. She was beginning to suspect she wasn’t going to get used to sleeping on the ground.

Naomi rubbed her arms against the cold then began doing her morning exercises to warm up. She thought about her dream as she moved. She wasn’t sure if she had seen old, buried memories or just inventions of her own mind. But one thing stood out clearly, and she was certain it was true: Lacrima had brought her to Tamin. Naomi thought about when she had arrived at Lacrima’s home a few days ago. They had known Naomi’s name with certainty, and she had thought it was because they were a seer, not because they had met her before. Naomi didn’t know why Lacrima hadn’t said anything, though she couldn’t really think of a reason why they should. But if Lacrima had brought her to Tamin, they might know something about where Naomi was from. They might know something about Naomi’s parents. Naomi stopped her movements and wiped her eyes, then began her exercises again with renewed vigor so she wouldn’t think so much. But after a few moments she stopped with the unnerving feeling that someone was watching her. She looked around but couldn’t see anything, so she listened carefully. Nothing made a peep. She had not heard the forest so silent since they entered, and it screamed danger louder than any noise could.

Naomi rushed over to Armel and shoved at his bulk. “Everyone wake up,” she whispered fiercely.

“What’s happening?” Henry muttered. “It’s still dark.”

“I think we’re being hunted,” Naomi said.

“It’s your imagination,” Micki said. “There’s nothing around.”

“That’s just it,” Naomi said. “Every day we’ve been in the forest, at this time in the morning there have been birds singing. But they’re not singing now.”

Micki was about to say something, but Armel suddenly stood up and started growling. “Don’t you start too,” Micki said.

“We need to leave right now.” Naomi had grabbed her spear and was reaching for her pack when the brush near her shook violently and something leapt out at her. She barely had time to gasp as it came at her, but Armel moved with speed his size suggested he wouldn’t have and swatted the thing to the ground. It bounced once then found its feet. Naomi thought it looked like a shaggy, bipedal beast, though it was hard to tell in the dim light. She felt like she had never seen anything like it before.

“I’m all for leaving now,” Micki said from the edge of the clearing.

Naomi and Henry edged towards her voice. The beast, however, wasn’t going to let them just get away. It darted around Armel and towards Naomi, but this time it didn’t have the element of surprise. She clenched her teeth, crouched down, and braced the butt of her spear against the ground with the tip pointed at the beast. The beast was charging too quickly to stop, but it somehow managed to twist its body and throw itself to one side, narrowly avoiding impaling itself on Naomi’s makeshift pike. Armel was right on top of it and tackled it into the brush next to the clearing.

Naomi stumbled towards Micki and Henry. “It seems to be after me,” she said. “We should split up.”

 “How will we find each other?” Henry asked.

There was a roar behind them, and Armel came tumbling back into the clearing. The beast appeared after him and looked towards Naomi, but Armel blocked its way. “I don’t think we have time to worry about that,” Naomi said.

“Forget it, Henry’s right,” Micki said. “We can’t risk being split up. No discussion, just run!”

They leapt into the forest and started running. Naomi didn’t know what direction they were heading in or where they would end up, but she felt relieved that she wasn’t alone. “Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” Micki said. “It’s not like I’m really risking anything. If that beast catches up to us, I just need to run faster than you.”

There was a sudden roar from behind and a crash of something rushing towards them through the underbrush. Naomi turned her head as she ran and saw the huge, hulking silhouette of Armel behind them, sprinting hard and gaining ground quickly.

“You coward!” Micki shouted as he passed them. “You’re at least twice that thing’s size.” But Armel ignored her and disappeared into the forest ahead of them. There was a violent rustling in the trees above. Naomi slowed and looked up, and the beast dropped down in front of her. It immediately leapt forward with outstretched arms.

“Look out!” Henry shouted and shoved Naomi to the side. She stumbled and caught her left foot on a tree root, twisting her ankle as she went down. She tried to stand and gasped at the pain in her ankle. It was too painful to support her weight.

Meanwhile, Henry had taken advantage of the beast’s single-minded focus on Naomi, slipped behind it, and grabbed it in a bearhug. With dawn’s approach the light was starting to improve, and Henry was able to get a better look at the beast. “What the—” he started to say in surprise, but the beast elbowed him in the midsection and the air whooshed out of him. It then shook him off and he crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach.

Naomi had more or less got to her feet by that time, though she was heavily favoring her injured ankle. The beast began to slowly stalk towards her, and she started trying to hobble backwards. It seemed to know she was injured and could take its time. She felt her back bump against something, involuntarily glanced to the side, and saw she was against a tree. The beast leapt forward in that instant, and Naomi ducked just in time under its arm. She wasn’t sure whether it was a hand or paw the beast swung at her, but it looked like there was a golden claw on it. The beast swung again, and Naomi hopped one-footed to the side just in time to avoid the claw, which stuck into the tree she had bumped into. The beast tried once to pull it out, then let go of it. Naomi was confused, but then saw it had been holding something. The thing gleamed dully in the quickly improving light, and as the beast turned towards her, she confirmed that its hands looked human, with long, thick fingers. She still couldn’t clearly see its face behind its long, wild hair. That was all she had time to notice because the beast rushed towards her and swung a fist at her. She cried out and she toppled to the ground, then scrambled backward and bumped into another tree.

Naomi felt fear rising in her like she had never felt before. Even when Henry was mindlessly attacking her and Micki, she hadn’t felt that scared. Thinking back, he had seemed to be very dispassionate, almost empty. In comparison, the beast was full of active rage. It was a wild animal, and it seemed impossibly strong.

Naomi felt her sweaty hands slipping on something wooden and realized she was still clutching her spear. She gripped it tightly as the beast loomed over her, fierce and threatening. It reached out and hesitated, then wobbled briefly and fell towards her. Naomi let out a scream full of fear and the desire to live as she shoved her spear up towards the beast. It grunted from the force of the blow and pitched to the side, thumping onto the forest floor next to Naomi.

“Good job, team,” Micki said as she dropped from a branch about twenty feet away from Naomi. Henry groaned in response and staggered to his feet. The sun had risen, and it was bright enough for them to see what the beast was.

“It’s a woman,” Henry said.

Naomi felt like her heart was in her mouth as she crawled forward to get a better look. Killing a beast was one thing, and Naomi had to do it now and then. A person was completely different, and Naomi was terrified of what she had done.

The woman was tall and large with dark, curly hair. She was dressed in suede leather trimmed with fur. Naomi didn't know much about clothing, but even to her the woman's clothes looked very well made. Strangely, Naomi only saw a small mark from her spear. She was relieved she hadn't run the woman through, but she didn't understand how that happened. She glanced down at the spear still in her hand and realized in all the confusion she had somehow been holding it backwards. “So why was she after us?” she wondered aloud.

“Probably something to do with that,” Henry said, pointing at the object stuck in the tree. “She had a piece of the Glaive of Hope.”

“You mean like what happened to you?” Micki asked. “You know, when you started throwing fireballs around. What happened to your fireballs?”

“I don’t throw fireballs,” Henry said.

Naomi stood up and limped over to the Glaive piece. As she grasped it the woman groaned suddenly, startling everyone. She sat up, rubbed her head, then glanced around. “Where’s the beast?” she asked, then gave herself a shake. “Sorry. You don’t know. I was hunting a beast.”

“You were the beast!” Micki yelled. “And you were hunting us!”

The woman frowned. “You can see I am no beast. I was hunting a beast. Maybe more than one. It’s hard to remember.” She looked the group over. “Who are you?”

Henry stepped forward, still clutching his stomach, and extended a hand. "I'm Henry," he said.

Micki ran up and dragged him back. "Wait, wait, you can't just introduce yourself like nothing happened. She chased off a bear, remember?"

The woman shook her head. "I was not hunting bear. But did I see one?” She considered for a moment. “Maybe. Large. Why don’t I remember?”

Naomi yanked at the Glaive piece. It came out suddenly and she fell over, unable to catch herself on her bad foot. “We think it’s because of this. It’s called the Glaive of Hope. This is only a piece of it.”

The woman got to her feet and moved to squat next to Naomi. She peered at the Glaive piece, being very careful not to touch it. “You call this hope?” she murmured. “Interesting. And the beast I was hunting…” she trailed off and sent a questioning glance around to the group.

“You were pretty focused on Naomi,” Micki said.

“This Glaive does this often?” The woman asked. “Makes people act unnaturally?”

Everyone looked at each other. “It happened to me,” Henry said.

“But it protects my village,” Naomi said quickly. “It’s important. It’s not—” She stopped. It did seem like the Glaive was somehow driving people to mindlessly attack her. “Maybe the power it grants overwhelms people.”

The woman frowned. “It grants power, you say.” She locked her gaze on Naomi, who suddenly felt very uncomfortable and didn’t know where to look. “I was granted power, but you bested me in combat,” the woman said in a tone that was not quite a question.

“I was lucky. You hesitated at the end. I was holding my spear backwards.”

The woman laughed heartily. “Then I was the lucky one.” She stood and extended a hand to help Naomi up. “My name is Maple. I am the hunter for Arboria.”

Naomi let Maple help her to her feet. “Naomi, apprentice protector of Tamin.”

Maple grunted. “Bogart is your teacher? I have heard of him, but I never met him. His name alone keeps much danger from Tamin.” She looked at Micki. “And who are you?”

“I am the great and powerful Lacrima,” Micki said, waving her arms ominously. “Do not come near me or face my awful curse.”

“I have heard your name as well,” Maple said seriously. “I did not expect you to be so young.”

“Of course I am,” Micki said. “Who wouldn’t expect the ancient seer to present youth and beauty?”

Maple nodded. “And you are Henry. What is it like traveling with someone so famous?”

Henry gaped at her for a moment. “She’s, well, she isn’t…”

Maple tilted her head. “Are you saying she is not famous? No one does not know her name. Unless that is not her name.”

“I’m sorry Micki, I don’t want to lie,” Henry said. Micki yelled his name in admonishment and shoved him, and Maple guffawed.

“I thought so,” she said.

“I’m Micki the unbelievably powerful sorceress,” Micki said quickly. “None know my name because I leave no survivors. I throw fireballs!”

Naomi was growing tired of standing and limped over to a convenient log. Maple noticed her injury for the first time. “You’re hurt,” she said.

“Maybe a little,” Naomi said. “I just need to rest.”

Maple moved swiftly to Naomi’s side and removed her boot to examine her foot. “The ankle is swollen,” Maple said. “I have something that will help.” She opened some pockets on her clothes and took out some supplies including cloth and herbs.

“You said you’re a hunter,” Naomi said as Maple crushed the herbs in her hands. “It sounds like an important title in Arboria.”

Maple nodded. “The city hunter maintains balance in the forest. Sometimes predators come from outside and hunt too much. I chase them off or slay them. And sometimes I am the predator.”

“How are you chosen?”

“I am the biggest in Arboria, so I am the hunter.” Maple thumped her chest proudly.

 “It’s really that simple? Whoever is the biggest?” Naomi thought this was an odd way to pick. But then she wasn’t sure why she was picked to be the next protector of Tamin; perhaps it was through an equally simple method.

“We hold many competitions to find the biggest,” Maple said. “You bested me, so maybe you are bigger than I.”

Naomi looked at the hulking figure crouched next to her and then at her own hands. “I don’t think that’s true. Wait,” she paused, trying to put together exactly what Maple said. “How do you have competitions to see who is the biggest? Isn’t it obvious?”

“Bigness is not just physical size,” Maple laughed. “You are much bigger than you think you are. That is plain. We will spar when you are well. I will help you see.”

Naomi laughed weakly. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’ll believe you.”

Henry had wandered over and sat next to them, peering at what Maple was doing. Maple saw him looking and explained: “The wrapping keeps the ankle still. The herbs stop pain and help healing.”

Micki was still standing at a distance. “You can’t walk on that, right Naomi? How do we keep looking for the Glaive?”

“This Glaive is important?” Maple asked.

“It helped to protect my village until recently,” Naomi said. “It was stolen and broken into pieces.”

“And you are trying to get it back.” Maple tugged gently at the ankle wrapping to make sure it was tied tight. “I can bring you back to Arboria to rest. We can ask traders there if they have heard anything. They will know of strange happenings.” She turned to Micki and grinned. “If that is fine with you, little one.”

Micki shrugged. “You and Naomi are big and I’m tiny. I don’t know if what I think even matters. But I’ve always wanted to see Arboria, so it’s fine.”

“Good,” Maple said as she helped Naomi to her feet. “I will carry you on my back. You two follow and watch out for snakes.”

Micki grimaced. “You’re joking, right?”