What the fuck. Where did they all come from, were surrounded. Fuck. I swear I did my blessing right. This should be possible. Fuck, the roads are blocked. There's too many of them to fight, oh fuck.

With Rohl’s panic once again rising and a repeat of the road ambush threatening to happen again, Rohl found himself unable to do anything more than stand still and shakily hold his sword out in front of him.

He knew deep down that if he stood and fought, he’d be cut down by the encroaching swarm of spirits and yet Rohl found himself unable to move. That was until he felt a hand grip him hard on his shoulder and yank him away.

The elf’s hand had gripped him hard and pulled him with her as they ran further into the forest, to where the swarm seemed thinnest.

Despite her sudden yank snapping Rohl out of his stupor and allowing him to follow, the elf's grip was still tight on him, as if she still didn’t believe he had the sense to follow.

“I knew you were a fucking idiot, but this exceeds even my expectations. I can’t fight this many; we must lose them and circle back to the road. Don’t get lost because I won’t search for you.” With her warning given and her own breath beginning to increase, the elf finally let go of him and began to pick up her own pace.

Her steps were far more graceful than his as they sprinted across the forest floor, but Rohl was hardly a stranger to running in a forest either. He may not have been as fast as the elf, but he could at least follow closely enough to not lose track of her as they ran from the encroaching horde.

Their sudden retreat may have put the worst of the horde behind them, but Rohl knew they were still following. They were as silent as the forest but somehow Rohl could sense their presence, they were still following, still emerging from every they sprinted past.

The urge to look back was overwhelming but yet, Rohl’s eyes remained glued to the forest floor and occasionally the path ahead of him. They had to be, one missed step or uprooted branch could send him sprawling to the ground, a fate Rohl was keen to avoid or even think about for that matter. He could not risk any distractions, not when he was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other and carefully balancing himself as he did so.

Given the dense foliage of the forest, Rohl knew the elf must be doing the same and as long as he followed her steps, he would be okay, as long as he made sure to jump over any fallen logs or small boulders, he would be okay.

It was far from an easy task and one that took up a lot of focus, so much so that Rohl was barely able to notice the elf’s sudden halt and in doing so barely avoid colliding into the back of her.

Whilst he had narrowly avoided the impact, the sudden halt of his momentum was enough to send him spiralling onto the ground, landing harshly on his back.

With adrenaline still flooding his body, Rohl jolted himself up from his back and quickly scoured the area, much to his relief, they were alone. Whether they had escaped the spirits or simply had a lead, on them, Rohl was unsure. But that didn't stop him from taking this precious moment to lie down, catch his breath and try to rest a few of his aching muscles.

It was a nice and much-needed break, if it wasn’t for the looming peril he was in, Rohl was quite sure he’d have laid back, closed his eyes and relaxed himself by listening to the gentle flow of water coming from a nearby stream.

But now was not the time for such a luxury, they may have survived that ambush and escaped by running further into the forest, but they were hardly safe yet. And that realisation was enough to get Rohl back on his feet.

He still wanted to rest but would content himself by simply doing so by sitting upon a small boulder near the water's edge, anything to give him a few more seconds' warning should any spirits or other monsters appear.

There are far worse things than spirits this far into the forest. I still don’t know where so many spirits came from, I had checked those trees, they had been empty, most of the trees further in had been clear of spirits.

With his memories of the ambush still replaying in his mind, Rohl finally realised there was still one more thing he needed to do other than rest. Thank his mentor for saving him.

“Ell, uhhh, thank you for what you did back there.” Given everything the elf had done and said, the words didn’t come easy to him, even saying her name felt rather unnatural.

She did save me, maybe she’s not that bad, least I can do is stop referring to her as the elf.

It took a moment for the elf to reply, most likely since she too was attempting to catch her breath and recover what energy she could by resting her weight upon a small outcrop of rock.

“It’s fine, can’t have the guild punishing me because you were too stupid to run. But tell me, why did we have to run in the first place? What happened to you doing your job? The one you so adamantly claimed you were capable of.” Despite her words being full of anger and posed as a question, the elf gave him no chance to respond.

“You were supposed to be clearing the trees. One simple task, that’s all, simple even for a human. You almost got us killed. Idiot. From here you better follow my lead exactly, once we’re free, you can be someone else’s problem.”

As hurt and angered as Rohl was by her words, he couldn’t argue against them. Not only was it rather fruitless to attempt to argue with the angry pacing elf, but the simple truth was Rohl couldn’t exactly say she was wrong. He had failed them, he had misused his blessing and he had almost got them trapped, surrounded, and killed in a tree spirit ambush.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Maybe I did rush into joining the guild, maybe I should have trained more before my trial, just done simple work till I was ready. Kind of pathetic really. I’m going to die before I even get the chance to see the silence again.

With the truth of his failure beginning to sink in and the worst of his exhaustion beginning to fade, Rohl did the only thing he could. That being stand up, check his gear and ready himself to depart whenever Ell told him to.

“By now they should have either given up the chase or be closing in on us, we’ll loop left and go around them. Silently and slowly. Let’s see if you can screw that up as well.” Without so much as waiting for a reply, Ell pushed herself off her resting place and made several quick glances towards the two directions on either side of them. After a moment’s thought, it seemed she had decided their path and almost immediately began to make her way out of the clearing and back into the forest.

It took Rohl a quick second’s jog to catch up with her and take his place just behind her. That way he could trace her steps exactly and make sure not to do anything that would further endanger their mission.

Instead of moving through the forest easily and checking each tree one by one, their journey through the forest was done far more carefully and slowly than the day before. Their steps were far more calculated and precise, their eyes constantly scanned the forest around them, and they kept a clear distance between themselves and the trees around them.

Given the fact he was now the one being hunted, Rohl was far more aware of his surroundings, after every step he took, his eyes immediately scanned every far-off tree, every patch of foliage and even the dirt beneath him. He had to be aware of any sudden movements or any piece of nature that could be concealing a hidden foe. Spirits were far from their only threat this far in into the forest, and there were far deadlier monsters who liked to call the deep forest home.

It was possible the large mass of tree spirits had thinned down other monster populations within this area but that was not something Rohl was going to rely on and given how Ell seemed to be scouring the area with a keen eye, it seemed she wasn’t going to rely on it either.

The ambush had clearly put them both on edge, even with the threat having vanished and his energy refreshed, Rohl still felt as tense and jumpy as he had during the chase. Every step he took was done with so much care and silence, that Rohl doubted he had ever moved so stealthily in his life. However, that was most likely due to him tracing the elf’s steps over choosing his own path.

Just by following her tracks exactly, Rohl knew he wouldn’t end up stepping on a broken twig and alerting any spirits to his presence and without that worry, Rohl was free to stare at every tree they passed with the utmost suspicion. Should even the slightest sign of a spirit appear, then Rohl was ready to rush forward and strike.

Masters of ambush, they definitely earned that title, if any do emerge it won’t be where I can see, surely, they’d try to emerge behind me and attack from the back.

It was a worrying thought and one that made Rohl constantly look over his shoulder at even the slightest sound or tingle that something was wrong. Given their new change in speed and more cautious progress, the constant turning as he walked was easily enough to make his neck ache.

By the time Rohl hoped and assumed they were nearing the edge of the forest, his neck had already begun to strain against even the smallest movements, never mind him fully looking over his shoulder.

A small price to pay to make sure I don’t get stabbed in the back as I walk. I haven’t seen any yet and we must be nearing the edge soon, the sky’s already beginning to dim, and we’ve been walking for hours at least.

Rohl knew their progress had been slowed, and that taking the extra care to choose their path had slowed them down even further, but still, he hadn't fought they’d run for that long. Even accounting for the zigzagging they did as they avoided any nearby trees didn’t account for how long the return journey seemed to be taking.

I suppose we did loop left for a while first, maybe further than I realised and we only recently started heading back to the road.

It was one possible explanation but still, it didn’t change the fact that if they didn’t reach the road soon, they would be forced to make camp in the woods. A huge risk Rohl was quite keen to avoid, any camp placed this far into the woods would be incredibly vulnerable. The class of monsters would be far greater this far into the forest compared to where they had camped the previous night.

It would be dangerous… but so would attempting to traverse the woods in darkness. A fire would only give us away to the spirits.

Neither option seemed ideal, and it was surely a decision Rohl would have struggled to make, but fortunately for him, his companion made it for him.

Without warning, Ell stopped in her tracks and turned on her heel to face him. “Here will have to do, if we travel any further during night, you’ll surely get us killed.”

“Here will do for what?” Rohl was fairly sure she meant settle in for the night but what exactly that entailed he was rather unsure, the small patch of forest she had chosen didn’t seem particularly special to him. That was until the elf took a handful of steps to her left, drew her a sword and jabbed it inside a long dead tree trunk.

“Oh.”

The trunk had been surprisingly well camouflaged within the thick foliage and moss that covered its small section of dirt. So much so that Rohl could have quite easily been passed over in his distracted state. However, with Ell’s not-so-subtle stabbing of its inside, Rohl could quite easily discern what she had planned, something Rohl wasn’t exactly looking forward to.

It was hardly a small log but even with its hollowed-out insides, the tree wouldn’t exactly hold them both comfily. Especially once the gear they held was stored in there with them, the chance of him getting any sleep without something stabbing into him was small but they didn’t have any other choice. Camping out in the open was far too dangerous and the log would not only hide their presence from any wandering monster but also provide shelter from the elements.

With the night sky only getting darker and barely any moonlight able to penetrate the forest, Rohl saw no reason to hesitate, he quickly choked down the few rations Ell offered to him and took a quick sip from his water canteen before crawling into his resting place. An action soon repeated by his companion.

I get it’s necessary, but she could at least do it without the disdained and disgusted look.

With the elf’s gear placed in between them and his blocking the entrance, there was little more for Rohl to do but snuggle up against the wooden edges and attempt to get some precious hours of sleep.

“Touch me and I’ll kill you.”

“Same to you.”

That… that was not a good comeback.

With that exchange apparently serving as a replacement goodnight, Rohl closed his eyes and did his best to once again enter Morpheus’ realm, but with the forest already beginning to come alive with sounds. Rohl’s belief that he would get any sleep was dwindling quickly.

What has my life become?