After harassing Military leader Unicy for supplies, the dwarfs thought they needed the twelve dwarfs headed to the gated entranceway. Along the way Reaver and Wind mage Emu talked with both of them equally bewildered.

“I wonder what the boss sees in that kind of man. He seems pretty simple-minded. Do you think he made the wrong choice?” Said Emu as he moved as he tested out his new shoes.

Flanked by her four tigers Reaver casually twirled her finger in her hair that had grown more wild-like of late. “I don’t think he would do something like that. We haven’t yet seen him put someone foolish in charge so we can assume that this man is of some skill.  Although his communication seems to be pretty terrible, he should have great hunting skills to teach us.”

“Don’t worry about that. After a bit of time, you will get used to big bros talking mannerisms. Instead, what you should be worried about is what's about to happen. I don’t know if you frail ladies can keep up."

“Oh?” Reaver turned to the person who interrupted her discussion with Emu in displeasure.

Picking up on their masters' mood the four lazy tigers turned and growled at the skinny dwarf who seemed unfazed by the hostility.

“Um, I don’t know who you are but I’m actually a man…” Said with a blank stare from Emu.

It was that statement that threw off the skinny dwarf, “Eh? Sorry, you just looked too girly to be a man my mistake. Names Blink I’m a hunter what about you lioness and... windy.”

Petting her largest tiger Rama Reaver looked the young hunter in the eyes, “My name is Reaver and I’m a Magic Tamer. My good friend here is Emu, a wind mage. So Blink, what do you know about this Vaikus fellow?”

Hearing the conversation of the three the other nine listened intently carious about what Blinks response would be.

Putting his fingers on his chin Blick put on a thoughtful face before answering. “Well if I remember correctly we belonged to a village and I was an orphan. My real parents were eaten by the wendigo and it was Vaikus and his mother who took me in and showed me how to earn my keep. Although he lacks speech don’t let that fool you, my big brother is smart. Really smart. I won’t say anymore since I don’t want to spoil the fun, but I’m pretty excited to run through a gauntlet just like old times.”

Emu became bewildered, “Gauntlet? What do you mean?”

With a smile Blink broke away from the two he was speaking with and walked faster. “You’ll see,'' were the words he left behind as he exited the gate. Just to see Vaikus standing with a spear in hand and a short bow and closed quiver on his back.

Without turning around Vaikus waited for everyone to stop before giving his order. “Follow. Rely upon. Self.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

And just like that Vaikus started jogging barefoot into the thick brush causing the flustered dwarfs to sprint a bit to catch up. Through the bushwork, the dwarfs moved in difficult and bumpy terrain by using animal trails. They jogged northward further and further away from home, following right behind him Reaver became amazed at how nimble the large dwarf could move in the thick brush. That and how little noise he made through the forest while her footsteps were clunky even with her forest walk skill to help her.

How does he shift his weight around like that?

Her curiosity piqued she started watching how he placed his feet down on the ground and which areas and tried to mimic them. Although she made mistakes here and there and almost fell into the muddy ground she was making progress.

Through as a bit of time passed another thought came to her mind. 

How long are we going for exactly? 

…

One hour later.

Hmmm. Those fellows did pick out some good ones for me. Keeping up with this unreasonable jog. Only two dropped out and headed back to camp. Time to switch gears this should be a good spot for the next phase of the examination. I’ll give them a five-minute break before starting.

Was what Vaikus assessed as he gave a glance back seeing the exhausted and heavily breathing dwarfs. 

Stopping his movement Vaikus turned around and waited for his would-be scouts to come into the clearing. 

He was quite surprised by what he saw in a few of them. The frost mage Acar had used his magic to control his temperature and wasn’t that out of breath. He also noticed as she came in that Reaver had copied some of his footwork and hadn’t relied on riding a tiger who lazily kept up. The others weren’t that exceptional as he already knew that Blink would keep up.

“Five. Minutes. Wait. Hunt. Food. Next. Meet. Back. Here.”

Without another word, Vaikus sat down in the middle of the clearing and closed his eyes to rest. Leaving the slightly irritated dwarfs to catch their breaths, except for one who couldn’t handle Vaikus’s lackluster words. 

In irritation, a peasant pointed his spear at Vaikus. “Hey. I’m getting tired of how you speak. Why don’t you talk like a normal person like the rest of us.”

Without opening his eyes or moving Vaikus simply replied. “Failure. Leave.”

Vaikus’ response had agitated the peasant dwarf and in anger swung the butt of his spear at the sitting dwarf. 

Some of the dwarfs watching the display were shocked, others were quite happy to see the silent dwarf about to get his face smashed in. 

Only Blink shook his head and headed out into the forest with a whisper. “What an idiot.”

Reaching out with one of his hands Vaikus grabbed the butt of the spear and pulled the angry peasant towards him. With his other hand, he grabbed the peasants throat and pushed the unbalanced dwarf forward with arm strength alone. In a few quick motions, he had mounted the angry dwarf who was quickly growing confused.

Letting go of the angry dwarf's throat Vaikus pulled back his hand and made a fist. Coldness flashed in his eyes as he sent his fist smashing straight towards the dwarf who new felt fear.

Death.

That’s what flashed through his mind. He was going to die from the bloodlust directed at him by this behemoth of a dwarf.

Is he for real?! We’re of the same race is he going to murder me? I don’t want to die like this!

He tried to dodge but it was too late to move as the fist smashed next to his head deep into the ground causing it to crack.

“No. Second. Chance. Leave. Or. Die.”