It was about an hour after dawn. Gloe was still dozing. That was one of the advantages of being a drifting vagabond trapper. Unlike a hunter, he didn’t have to be up before the sun.

One of the disadvantages was that he hadn’t gotten been able to build up much. Since he moved every couple days he couldn’t maintain anything in the way of housing or infrastructure, and his possessions were limited to what he could carry. More troubling was his inability to make any substantial kills.

Large animals required large, fairly elaborate traps. Those took time and effort, more than a couple days’ worth. Killing small animals didn’t really strengthen him very much.

The squirrel lizards he’d been catching didn’t taste too great either. They weren’t actually called squirrel lizards of course, but since he was deliberately trapping outside the confines of society he’d resigned himself to never knowing the true names of anything he caught. Since they certainly already had official appellations though he also wasn’t going to go to the trouble of coming up with appropriate clever names either.

At least the squirrel lizard hides were easy to cure. He only had a few makeshift tanning frames, so he’d had to work a little at a time, but now most of his clothing was self-made. Actually accomplishing something, however small, felt good, and it was reassuring to know he could repair and replace clothes as they wore out. There were other advantages too.

All in all, things were looking…Gloe abruptly sat upright and looked behind him. His eyes defocused as his head twitched side to side, then he nodded.

Standing, he hurriedly gathered his meager possessions (into a sack made from stitched together squirrel lizard hides, naturally,) and took off at a run. From time to time he turned his head back behind him and made a puzzled face, but he kept running regardless. His form was practiced if unpolished, and although he was not quite sprinting he was able to maintain pace well.

Despite that a figure emerged behind and steadily began to catch up with him. It was troubling. Gloe grinned and tried to put on a little extra speed.

Still the figure gained. He was dressed in red, and seemed a natural born runner. Gloe’s mouth quirked slightly. “Hopefully not…” he muttered under his breath. The figure drew closer. It became clear that Gloe was not going to be able to get away.

The next time he neared a tree he whirled, setting his back to it and standing at bay. The man drew near and laughed. “Gotcha! No one can outrun me!”

“Yes, you’re very fast.” Gloe’s voice was pleasant.

“Compliments won’t save you. Come quietly or there will be trouble.”

“Come where?”

“You’re under arrest.” At Gloe’s confused look the stranger elaborated. “For poaching.”

“Ah.” Gloe peered past the man for a moment. Sure enough, there was another dot on the horizon. “Did he tell you that I don’t consider myself a poacher?”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up and come with me.”

“No.”

Now the man grinned. “You’ll regret that decision.” He charged forward.

He was fast. Very fast. His strikes flew in from all directions. Gloe couldn’t block them all. In fact he couldn’t block very many. His face and chest were pummeled continuously. “I’m terrible at this” he said conversationally as he slumped back against the tree. “Why aren’t you using weapons? This fight would be over already.”

The stranger sneered. “I don’t need weapons to fight someone like you.” He continued to press the assault.

“Do you even have weapons? It doesn’t look like you’re carrying any.”

“With speed like this my fists are all the weapons I need.”

Gloe sighed, making an odd sound as the blows continued to rain down. “That’s lame. You’re lame. This is why I hate sojourners.” He took a step to the left, then ran up the side of the tree. “Grow an imagination!”

“What…” the stranger stared in disbelief. “…what just happened?” He pounded on the tree. “Hey, come back down here and fight you coward!”

“Don’t want to.” Gloe laid down on a broad tree branch and closed his eyes.

“You slow piece of shit!” The man in red hammered the tree with blows, but its trunk was thick and sturdy. He couldn’t even cause it to sway.

After a few minutes he flew into a rage, dashing back and forth, screaming and launching haphazard attacks on the tree. There were no branches low enough for him to try to climb up with, and the trunk was too thick to wrap his arms arounds. He tried to throwing things up at Gloe, but there weren’t any loose stones lying around, and fallen branches were tangled or deflected on their way up.

This continued for some time, until finally the far figure drew near. “What’s going on? Where is he?”

Gloe sat up. “Warden! I thought it was you.” He shook his head. “I’m very disappointed in your choice of agents. You couldn’t find anyone original to help you?”

The man in red was furious. He whirled and poked the warden in the chest. “You said all he was good at was running away Clary!”

“Pssst.” A sotto voco hiss came from the tree’s crown. “Clary, tell him I acquired magic boots. How could you have foreseen that?”

“Shut up you.” The warden wouldn’t even glance up. “We’ll work this out. Tell me what happened.”

“I had him cornered, and I was wearing him down, when suddenly he was up in the tree.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“True, but I would have said I ‘lickety-splitted up the tree.’ I think that sounds better.”

“Shut up. But you’re faster than him, right?”

“Of course! Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“A derivative hack, albeit one who is faster than me.”

“I said shut up! If you’re faster than him then he’s stuck. He can’t rest properly up in the tree. Since he can’t outfight us he’ll have to run eventually, and then you can run him down. Keep watch for a bit. I’ll make camp, then we can relax and take turns watching until he makes a break for it.”

“That’s pretty good thinking.”

“Shut up.”

...

“Clary.”

“What?”

“He’s snoring up there. I thought you said he wouldn’t be able to rest.”

“Son of a…fine, we’ll try to smoke him out. I’ll gather the wood. It’s hours before sundown, so we have time.”

After about twenty minutes the warden had gathered everything that was needed, and started a good-sized fire. “Okay, this is pretty good. Let’s allow it to blaze up a bit more, then we’ll apply the wet leaves. I’ll keep the fire going and use the blanket to fan the smoke upward. You keep an eye out. When he makes a run for it, nail him.”

“I’ll break his damn leg this time.”

“Fine, but remember you have to help me get him back to an outpost to claim your reward. I can’t carry him by myself.”

“It’s fine, we’ll make him a crutch and he can hobble. Serves him right for messing with…” something fell from the tree with a crash.

Right on the newly roaring fire. Pestilent smoke began to billow forth. Red and the warden stumbled back in confusion, coughing and trying to simultaneously cover their eyes, noses and mouths. Eventually they got far enough way and managed to violently clear their airways.

“What was wrong with those leaves?”

“I didn’t even put them in yet!”

“Well something started smoking! I heard a crash, and then…”

“Shit, he threw something in the fire, the little rat bastard!”

“I’m seriously going to kill him the second he steps down from that tree.”

“He’s already down! There he goes!”

“He’s dead.” And he would have been if he hadn’t made it to another tree.

...

Gloe ran out to the end of the flimsy branch and bounced, but instead of leaping to the ground he flipped sideways to another branch, changing directions entirely without leaving the tree. Red wasn’t buying it. Not again. He stared up, determined to take off the moment his target came down for real.

“How’s he doing that?” he growled.

The warden sighed. “Magic boots. He really was telling the truth. He must have some minor magical ability, and those boots are made out of leath-skin. It’s much easier to cast an enchantment if you have sympathetic material. Those boots seem to be giving him the agility and climbing ability of a leath.”

“How did he get such powerful boots?”

“They’re not powerful. In terms of magic output they’re far weaker than the speed, durability and agility enchantments on your boots. To say nothing of the rest of your gear.”

Red glared at the warden, but remained silent and let him continue. “They are however extremely focused. He’s great at climbing and such, but it’s not as if they help him much in a fight, as you’ve seen. His running ability seems to have come from training…I think.”

“Wish you had mentioned this beforehand” Red grumbled.

“I told you about the running! And I assessed the boots as soon as I caught sight of them! If I could have caught up to him without your help I would have warned you!”

“Fine, fine. Well put your assessing abilities to work. What’s he doing?”

“Obviously he’s trying to frustrate you and wear you out. He’s been able to hop from tree to tree several times, but now he’s running out of gambits.”

“So what do we do? If he waits up there until dark he might slip away.”

“I doubt he can see in the dark, and even if he manages to sneak away I should be able to track him. We just need to be patient. Time is on our side, not his.”

Red kicked the dirt. “That’s frustrating, but I guess you’re right.”

The warden nodded, then pointed in excitement. “There he goes!”

Immediately Red whirled into a sprint, pursuing. Gloe had a lead, but it wasn’t much of one. Red’s features twisted into a grin and he put on speed. “Got him this time!”

It was close. Very close, but Red was just as fast as he boasted. Right before Gloe reached the next tree Red caught up to him and threw a savage strike at his knee. There was an audible ‘crack’ and Gloe’s leg twisted unnaturally. He tumbled to the ground and Red raced past, braking hard and circling back.

Before he could make it back Gloe managed to stagger up using his good leg and the tree trunk as a brace. He flexed low and leapt. His good leg left the ground and secured purchase on the tree trunk, allowing him to leap again. It didn’t give him a lot of extra height, but it was enough to snag a branch and pull himself up. Once there he didn’t let up, using the same technique to rapidly gain altitude.

Red couldn’t believe his eyes. “What! The Actual! Fuck?” Losing his temper he began hammering on the tree with his fists.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, you got him.” The warden finally got close enough to be heard. “Sure, his magic boots saved him, but you really nailed that leg. He won’t be running again for a long time. Maybe ever.”

One last fist hit the tree, then Red turned. “You’re right. I just…shit.” He plopped down on the ground, lying back and stretching.

“I know. There’s something wrong with that boy. I have no idea how he can still move given the pain he must be in, but there’s no way he can run, certainly not fast enough to elude you.”

“No. Of course not. I’m the fastest, after all.”

“You really are. You proved that just now. Rest for a bit. Once I’ve caught my breath I’ll climb up and get him. He can’t evade me for long in the shape he’s in.”

“You sure? He’s a jumpy little bastard.”

“At this point I’ll knock him out of the tree if I have to. Take my chances on him breaking his neck. I just want to be done with him.”

“That’s the spirit! Fuck him.”

They shared a savage grin, then rested for a bit, relaxing for the first time in over an hour. Finally the warden began to rise. “Welp, reckon I should get to it.” He stretched, then looked up in the tree to find a good spot to begin his climb.

“Wait, where did he go?”

Red sprang to his feet. “We should have heard him if he fell.” He circled the tree.

“Son of a bitch!” the warden suddenly raged. “There are tracks leading this way. The bastard somehow quietly snuck down while we were resting!”

“I see him! He’s dead this time!” Red took off like a cyclone in pursuit.

Again Gloe had a lead, but it wasn’t much of one, and he wasn’t running this time. Red closed fast. “You’re dead asshole!”

Gloe stopped hobbling away, turning and drawing himself up. As Red closed he leapt into the air once more, twisting out of reach like a pole-vaulter before kicking off of Red’s back. The sudden impact caused Red to stumble and he had to focus on recovering given his high speed. He regained control and turned just in time to see Gloe zip up into a nearby tree.

His rage flared up again, then he realized he had lost sight of his quarry. Frantically he conducted a visual search of the tree’s crown. Nothing. He circled the tree in vain, until a flicker of motion caught his eye. Gloe must have immediately dropped back out of the tree, using the trunk to cover his escape.

Red’s body screamed back to full speed. Even as he focused on running he began to feel that something was wrong. It didn’t really dawn on him until Gloe reached the next tree though. It didn’t leave him happy.

He was still raging when the warden finally caught up to them. “The bastard’s back to full speed!” he roared.

“What? That’s not possible!”

“I got better” the call came down from the tree.

“Shut up!” they both roared.

“Can’t, it would be rude to leave without saying good-bye.”

“You’re not going anywhere you prick! Each trick will only work once, and you’re running out of luck.”

“And even if you manage to escape momentarily I’ll just track you down again!”

Gloe laughed. “But we’re at the edge of the deep wyld. That means the trees are close enough…” his voice ceased, finally re-emanating from the next tree over “…for me to do this. You can’t track me if I run from tree to tree. So good-bye, and have a great day!” His voice faded as he leapt from branch to branch.

“Son of a bitch!”