Chapter 6

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“One, two. Snake in my shoe.”

The familiar nursery rhyme came instinctually to Jack’s lips as he worked. Humming a little tune under his breath he patted down his vest for one last time, checking all his gear. There was a faint metallic cling, barely perceptible to the ear every time he touched his vest.

“Three, four. Slither some more.”

His hands moved automatically as he double checked each item's placements. He had done this so many times now that his moves were almost a reflex. It was only when he added something new to his arsenal that he could be thrown off his routine. Jack was brought back from his distracted musing when he felt the handle of the hunting knife in his hand.

The weapon rested heavily in his hands. The well worn blade looked like it was used frequently. Removing the blade from his sheathe Jack stared at the purple edge dripping with poison. The knife gleamed sinisterly as Jack remembered the last few minutes.

Tanner’s contorted face as he brought down the knife on Flame-boy. His own racing heart as he stopped Tanner. Soja’s terrified look as they wrestled Tanner down. They had nearly committed the unthinkable and it was only through Soja’s and his intervention that Tanner hadn’t embarked on a much darker path.

“Five, Six. Pick up sticks.”

Jack looked up at Tanner who was now standing a lot further away from Flame-boy as though he wanted nothing to do with him. The tall boy had an intense look on his dark face as he clutched the pendant around his neck. His head was bent down in prayer and his lips moved soundlessly as he sought guidance.

Jack still didn’t know whether he did the right thing. The warrior’s path was pretty clear in its teachings but he didn’t put much stock in religion anyway. Was it truly wise to offer mercy to your enemies? Humans were dubious, irrational creatures driven by emotion. Though Tanner’s path was more militant than most it still demanded that he be sure of the enemy’s guilt. A ‘Just War’ they called it.

Jack turned his head towards Flame-boy who was the cause of all their troubles. The redhead was still unconscious with his head lolling to one side. The thick mists of the forest partially obscured him as he laid still unmoving.

A ‘Just War’ they called it. Did justice even matter when you are dead with a knife behind your back? He was quite sure of Flame-boy’s guilt but he lacked proof. It was merely conjecture that the redhead had any intention of killing them. It would be safer to just gut the little wichser and be done with him.

“I’m ready!” said Soja, breaking Jack away from his musings.

Jack turned towards his plump friend. “All set?”

“Yup,” said Soja as he flexed his fingers. The gloves had finally synced up and were ready for use. Thin glowing lines brightened underneath the gloves as Soja moved his hands. It had perfectly melded with his mana channels now and would boost his casting to a considerable degree.

The short plump boy shook his wrists to limber them up. There was a good chance that he will be doing a lot of castings in the journey up ahead.

“Good.” Jack nodded. “We will follow the original plan. Follow the river upstream and find the waterfall. Climbing the cliff will be the tricky part. We will be kinda exposed out there.”

Soja shrugged. “We got an hour to do it. We’ll figure out something.”

“Yeah,” Jack said quietly. “It's that something that I'm worried about.”

Muttering under his breath he quickly memorized each item's location in a hurry.

They had lingered in this place for far too long and time left for them to complete the exam was slowly ticking by. Jack returned the hunting knife back into its sheath and secured it to his back. The knife’s gleam was still lingering in his mind as his hands left the blade handle. Perhaps this was for the best.

Whether their decision to spare Flame-boy was right or wrong he didn’t know. What he did know was that they weren’t ready to take that next step yet. To judge whether a person needs to live or die. He didn’t want that burden weighing on Tanner, scarring him for the rest of his life.

Securing his last item which was a pair of zip ties, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Now they only had to wait for Tanner to finish his prayers before they could start moving. The tall boy looked like he was nearly done as he took the pendant in his hands and touched his forehead with it.

“Namo.”

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Jack and Soja looked over towards Tanner who had just finished his prayer. The tall boy looked up as he tucked his pendant back into his shirt. He looked a lot more somber than usual as he walked towards the two of them.

“Hey, Tan.” Soja waved. “You ready?”

Tanner walked up and stood in front of the two of them.

“You alright?” asked Jack looking up at his silent friend.

Tanner bent down slightly and enveloped Jack and Soja in a hug. Jack was stunned at the sudden display of affection. The hug tightened around the two boys and Jack awkwardly patted Tanner on the back.

“Can’t breathe!” Soja’s muffled voice came from Tanner’s chest. The plump boy had his face squished up against Tanner and was slowly getting blue in the face from the lack of oxygen. Tanner loosened his grip but still held on.

“And…. we are still hugging,” Jack said with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow. Tanner must have been more shaken up than he thought. He sometimes tend to forget how fragile his two friends were. Tanner might act flippant about his faith but it meant a lot to him. His mother was a devout believer and hearing her own son might have strayed so far from his path would have left the woman in tears. Jack continued patting the taller boys back as he poured out his feelings.

Muffled sounds came from Tanner’s chest as Soja spoke. “Let go before I drool all over your shirt.”

Tanner hugged the two of them for a second longer before releasing them. He looked at both boys and spoke sincerely. “Thank you.”

Jack clapped Tanner on the shoulder. “Alright, don’t make this weirder than it already is.”

“Yeah.” Soja chimed in. “Don't make us worry so much next time. And if you want to thank me, buy me something nice for New Year.”

“Something nice?” Tanner blanched, immediately calculating the expense of the said gift.

“Yeah, buy me like a new pair of gloves or something,” said Soja, waving his hands in front of him.

Tanner scoffed hearing him. “I’m thankful Soja, but not that thankful.”

“Why am I not surprised, Benjamin Scrooge Tanner.”

“Alright, alright!” Jack interrupted both of them. “We both will eagerly await Tanner’s expensive gift that will never come. For now, let’s focus on the task at hand.”

“Which is?” asked Soja distractedly looking into the distance.

“River, waterfall, climb.” Jack deadpanned.

“Great.” Soja frowned. He turned his head left and right listening for something. “You guys hear that?”

“What?” asked Jack perplexed. He looked around but couldn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. The forest seemed normal.

“That sound,” said Soja, cupping one hand behind his ear. “I thought I heard something.”

Tanner squatted and touched the forest floor. There was a frown on his face as he focused all his senses. Jack scanned the area for enemies but he still couldn’t hear anything.

“There is something here. It's faint but it is there.” Tanner confirmed. “Wait! It is getting louder.”

Jack was frowning as he focused. He had always been terrible at recon. He could hear something in the distance but it was so faint that he didn't know if it was really a threat or his mind was playing tricks on him. Just as he was about to give up the ground shook with a faint rumble.

“There is fighting going on,” said Soja. “Up the hill. LIttle further away from us.”

Jack could hear it now. The ground shook as though two titans were crashing against each other. The forest around the boys came alive because of the abrupt commotion. Several terrified forest critters fled the area like their tails were on fire. Jack watched a murder of crows take to the air, cawing with protest at the sudden noise.

“What’s that?!” exclaimed Soja pointing up at the sky.

It was high up in the air, but Jack could see a trail of flame in the sky behind the flying crows. It looked like some kind of jet exhaust. The thing was as subtle as a shout in the night. The air rumbled as it flew overhead and the tail exhaust was so luminous that it lit up the forest in a sudden flash of light as it passed by.

Jack's eyes widened as he traced the contours of the flying object. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized what it was. The object traced a parabolic arc through the air and started falling towards the forest up ahead.

“Tanner!”

“Hold on.” The tall boy said as he raced up a tree to get a better look.

“A missile?” Soja was flabbergasted. “They are shooting missiles?”

“Quiet, Soja! We don't know that.”

Jack felt a sweat drop trickle down from his forehead. He had accounted for many things but this situation wasn’t remotely even close to the possible scenarios he had pictured in his head. Letting out a long breath he sat down cross-legged on the forest floor.

“What the hell?” exclaimed Soja. “They are insane. This is crazy!”

“Calm down, Soja.”

“Calm down?! After that? What?!” He kept pointing at the sky, unable to even get the words out.

“I’ll do some recon on the others and check out the competition. You keep watch while I’m gone.” Jack looked up the tree that Tanner had climbed. “Tanner! You got a lock on … that thing?”

“Yeah,” Tanner replied. “It landed a bit further ahead. Didn’t explode though. Released some kind of green gas.”

“Alright,” said Jack relieved, looking at Soja. “See? It’s not a warhead.”

It wasn’t as bad as he thought. At least it wasn’t an explosive. He was about to let out the breath that he was holding when a sudden thought struck him. “How do you know it's green? It's dark out.”

“The gas is glowing.”

“Verdammt!” Jack cursed. This wasn’t good. In fact, this could be really, really bad. Letting out a calming breath he turned to Soja who was about to enter a full blown panic mode. He had been good until now but Jack could see the plump boy was about to lose it.

“Soja.” Jack called out. “Soja, Soja!”

Soja startled awake and looked at Jack, shell shocked. The plump boy’s eyes were wide with barely concealed hysteria.

“Look after me while I'm out,” instructed Jack. “I’ll check things out. Got it?”

Soja nodded mutely.

Jack smiled reassuringly and assumed a meditative pose. He left Soja with something distracting so he wouldn’t worry needlessly. Better do something than sit around worrying about everything.

Jack breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. He was sitting cross-legged on the forest floor with his eyes closed. The ground shook once again but he ignored it and reached for his Gift once again.