I awoke to the sounds of exotic birds squawking, greeted by the sight of majestically towering grey-barked trees meters upon meters above; their canopy shielding me from the rays of dim sunlight. I lay there on the grass covered ground, collecting myself and my memories. I sat up and examined myself. She outfitted me according to my desires. I awoke wearing black pants, and a teal, long-sleeved button down shirt, and black dress shoes. This outfit, she said, was most comfortable for me.

She was right but, “There’s something missing…”

I stood up and dusted myself off. Closing my eyes, I reached into myself; extending a hand made of thought and focused to the black wisp enveloped red core I visualized inside of myself; the core of my being, what she had told me was my cultivated power. With my imaginal hand I grasped my power and let it explode into the real world. Black wisps erupted from my chest and swirled around me. From within the swirl I stepped out, moderately changed.

I now wore a black suit over top of my blue shirt, woven from the black wisps that were latched onto the red core.

“She was right,” I said as I pulled at the suit’s arm, ”this power, this substance, does feel like second nature to me.” I brought my suit covered arm in front of my face and kept taking stock of it. “This feels right; wrapping myself in my desires.” I tucked my hands into my pockets and swung my head up towards the sky, “I’ll have to remember to thank her.” A devious smile greeted the gentle sunlight.

Black hair tied back into a ponytail that reached my mid back, accented with a thin blue string, and decked out in all black sans my shirt, I closed my eyes in this strange forest. I thanked my good fortunes with a smile for many minutes until a sudden remembrance woke me up from my moment of gratitude.

I pulled out my left arm and quickly pulled back the sleeves to reveal my inner arm. Red numbers plastered on my arm began counting down.

“Seven hours and sixty-nine minutes left. What a sick joke.”

Seeing the timer on my life counting down, I could practically hear her voice.

“I need to see if you’re worthy of my investing in you,” she said before justifying this short time limit as a trial run. “If you can’t conquer spectacularly, in the way only you can, then why should you be given a spectacular opportunity,” she said.

“Right, my conquest; at the end of it, is her.” I tucked my hands back into my pocket and looked at the ground below me. “This game of yours, hope you don’t get too jealous.” I walked forward into the dense forest before me, “Conquesting; it’s all I can think about, hopefully that means I’m good at it.”

The first steps to succeeding in this trial run would be to find another person. She was sadistic, that much I would bet my short life on, but she wouldn’t waste her time dropping me somewhere no one was around.

“Eight hours. There must be someone I can reach in eight hours.” I looked in all directions in smooth motions as I continued my stroll into the forest. “Conquering her will require some luck, so here’s hoping I’ve seduced lady luck onto my side,” I joked to myself. I chose a direction and prayed someone would be at the end of it.

My stroll went by, uneventfully, for what was about five hours. Not a single appropriate soul had yet to appear before me. There were however many of the local wildlife wandering about, ranging from colorful birds, to heavenly looking white, shaggy deer to timid bunnies. Their occasional visit and prancing kept me company as I traversed this forest of overgrown trees and roots. It eventually became clear to me that the deer no longer feared my presence, as they would nary flinch by the fifth hour.

“She-is she wanting me to violate a deer?” I mused to myself, grinning at the prank. The deer I was looking at scurried away, as if the thought offended it.

“Who would want that?”

At the sound of the voice that came from above, my feet came to a full stop. I couldn’t, however, stop myself from looking up with a toothy grin.

“Sounds like a real piece of work,” said the brown skinned, hooded woman sitting on a massive tree’s branch, reclining against the trunk without a care in the world.

“Heh, shouldn’t have revealed yourself. The course of your life is now forever altered.” I let my intentions slip out for a small moment.

“You say something down there, little man?” the woman replied, having missed my muttering.

“No, no. Just admiring the view from here.”

“Hoho? You a bit of a creepo, aren’t you?” the woman replied, wincing at my grin. The disgust was palpable.

I hid my face behind my hand for a moment as I composed myself and only then spoke, “No, no, I just am overjoyed to see someone else,” I said, smiling, I’ve been wandering in these woods for hours, without a soul in sight.”

“Sounds like my unlucky day.”

“I agree.”

The woman paused at my nonchalant response and stared at me before continuing, “Well, be off with you then. Go wander somewhere else.”

“Actually, I would like to trouble you for some assistance. You see, I have been branded,” I said, rolling up my sleeve to show her the proof of my curse, “I’ve only a few hours to live. So I would like your help in extending my life.”

The woman seemed to be mildly amused as she glanced at me before returning to sky gazing, or rather, was it canopy gazing?

“There’s nothing there, I’m afraid.”

The sudden response wasn’t what I expected. It seemed only I could see the numbers. A divine prank to be sure. “Oh. Hmm. Embarrassing.”

“Not as embarrassing as it is for me.”

“Well, I would still appreciate help. Would you kindly, have sex with me?”

Quiet descended upon the forest. The stranger had definitely heard what I said, I felt as much. Perhaps she was taking time to process what she had heard.

“Haauhh?” she sounded, looking down at me with disgust once more. “Where do you come from, that you think you could just proposition that?”

“Don’t know, but I did believe that it would be nice to start the legend of my conquest with an act of kindness and understanding from both parties.”

The stranger’s disgust did not subside, and eventually, after seeing that my slight grin would not change, she shook her head, frustrated. ”Get out of here. Before I shoot you.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

At her threat, I took a closer look at her and saw that a quill of arrows was dangling from her hip. On the other, there seemed to be a sword’s hilt poking out from her cloak. Looking closer, I could make the faint impression of longer-than-human ears poking against the hood.

“Some type of elf perhaps? How enticing.” I muttered to myself. I looked back to the elf and formulated my next question. “Perhaps we could work something ou-”

“Hey! Didn’t you hear me lord creep? Get out of here!” She barked back.

“Please hear me out!” As she pulled out her bow from behind her, I accelerated my speaking and my request, “A wager! Could we perhaps make a wager?”

The elf stopped short of notching her arrow, and I took that as the sign to continue.

“Let’s make a wager, if I win it, we fornicate, and you save my life,” I paused to try to make out her reaction. She was unmoving. “If I lose, I am your servant, slave, or whatnot. Whatever form of servitude serves your sensibilities,” I said, shooing the idea over to her.

Making a wager that indentured me to another, on first thought, tasted repulsive, but it carried with it an exhilarating thrill. I found myself looking forward to flirting so closely with disaster. My risky gamble seemed to have paid off however as the elf seemed to be pondering my request in response.

“You give me full access to your mana and sign yourself off to me, soul and all.”

She came back with an excessive demand that I couldn’t help but to express momentary stupefaction at the implications of the request. But of course, that wore off; life was too short to worry about the details.

“Won’t you hear the wager first?” I replied, trying to take back control of the conversation.

“Of course!” she replied quickly before trying to think of what to say next. “I wouldn’t take a wager so easily and irresponsibly.”

She was lying. The damage was done. She was practically salivating at the prospect of having someone beneath her. I could relate somewhat.

I chuckled at the good fortune in presenting such a tantalizing bait, and having someone so hungry before me. I looked at her affectionately and continued, “I think you will like the terms of the wager.” I looked around to find trees suitable for my scheme. “An archery contest. Two trees side by side. We will make some type of target. Mine and yours. Perhaps a leaf on the trunk or something similar. We have up to three shots to hit a target. We alternate between shots. If my target is hit, I win. If your target is hit you win.”

“Hah! Creepo, do you know what I am?”

“A woman in a tree.”

“Huuh?!” The woman jumped down from the tree as gracefully as a bird would and walked up to me, “I’m a Wildland Elf. A member of a race renowned for their marksmanship among other things. You’re either stupid or a master so far ahead of myself I cannot even begin to comprehend the magnitude of your skill.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Neither; I am a dying man.”

My declaration seemed to provoke silence and a look of concern from her for a second before she spoke, “Hmph? Any more conditions? You might need them. No offense.”

“None taken, I do have one however.” The elf nodded and I continued, “I would like to go first.”

The elf sized me up for a few moments before stifling a laugh and consenting to my condition.

“Alright, let’s do it.” she said, her laugh rebelling against her attempts to police it.

“Excellent, my name is Auroro,” I replied, extending my hand out. “A handshake to cement this deal.”

The elf took a few moments to look at my hand and then me. She knocked her hood back to reveal the face hidden within. Sharp looking grey-blue eyes, and a straight nose were the first things that caught my attention. Her face had soft edges, a contrast to the bold talker. Her lips were thin and painted a dark blue, most likely dyed by some substance. Her dirty chestnut hair, tied into a messy ponytail that reached her shoulders, framed her soft, marked face. She grasped my hand while I was enthralled. “My name is Rynissie. And you consent to the conditions I set out?”

“Only if you consent to mine.”

“Then, by the authority of the elder spirits of this forest, the pact is set, the contract is made. May the elder spirits of the forest bear witness to our competition and the results thereof.”

A strange breeze blew through the forest as if in response to our deal. Along with the wind around us, it seemed as if a wind blew through me, invigorating me, marking me.

She was right. Contracts are serious business.

I looked to Rynissie to see if this was all normal, but what I saw was something that filled me with a strange sense of relief and concern.

Her face; there was not a shred of fear or doubt, only hunger. She looked down on me as prey, she the predator. She could barely hide it as she released my hand. In her mind, I was walking to my doom.

From my perspective however, there was only a fifty-fifty chance I was doomed. From my perspective, she fell for my trap the moment she touched my hand. Experimenting during such an important wager; definitely foolish but also exhilarating.

“May I use your bow and three arrows?”

“Why of course, dear creepo.”

Together, we went to set up the targets on two equidistant trees, during which I took a better look at this wildland elf. She wore a brown hooded cape, that in multiple spots looked like it had been clawed and bit by beasts. She had thrown it off as we began working, revealing the beautifully toned body hidden within it. Beneath the hood she wore various disconnected garments. On her arms, she had thin, brown, fingerless gloves that extended up to mid arm. They seemed to be fashioned from leather straps. Her midriff was exposed, showcasing the toned abs you’d expect from someone who could jump from a tree so easily. Her chest was covered by an absurdly tight crop top that extended to and covered her neck but revealed her shoulders and her upper back. It seemed to be made from the same material as her gloves. Her lower body was covered by a silver fur, mid-length skirt, her legs covered in leather straps, and her feet, again, wrapped in thin straps, her toes however exposed to the bare ground. She had the air of someone close to nature. The tools she had strapped to her gave her the air of someone who knew of nature’s terrors. On her right hip, a quiver of many arrows of different colored feathers. On her left hip, and shortsword. Strapped around her waist, next to the quiver, a beaten pouch.

The most noteworthy thing about her however, was that she was covered in mahogany-red tattoos. The tattoos looked like they were angular vines that crawled all over her body. Her cheeks were encroached by two vines, one on each cheek, and from those cheeks the vines spread down her body passing over her torso and slithering down her arms. It was a heavenly accent, made for tracing.

It was one thing to hear of something calling themselves a wildland-anything, it was another to see something dressing the part so well. I could barely contain myself as we walked back to our standing area. She handed me the bow, which I graciously received, lightly grazing her hand in the process. She lightly jolted upwards at the touch.

I did my best to hide my grin; already it seemed like I had won. But I couldn’t get ahead of myself. My plot here required a nebulous move that there was no telling I would be able to pull off. But it was just so exciting to even be able to try it.

This is it, my power; show me how much you will allow me to take.

I notched the arrow as best as I could- I couldn’t help but lament not asking Rynissie to show off her incredible skill before we began. I could have tricked her to do it just fine. Perhaps if I had, we would not have had to have seen such a pathetic display. What I didn, could not be called “shooting” an arrow, as it barely flew even two meters away.

“I guess I really am useless on my own.” I dejectedly muttered, slumping forward, recalling what that woman had told me before sending me here.

“So, it turns out you’re just foolish,” Rynissie said from behind, at which I stiffened up again, remembering where I was.

“Haha, can’t win them all I suppose.”

“You got that right,” she replied, extending her hand to receive the bow. I handed it over, grazing her again, to confirm that she would still jolt. Confirming the involuntary response, I put my hand on her shoulder as I walked past her and she prepared.

“Don’t go too hard on me now. Perhaps you could pity this dying man and let me win.” I whispered, loudly enough for her to hear.

She jolted and squirmed again beneath my touch before turning to look at me, “Too late for that,” she said smiling triumphantly. We locked eyes for a few beats, my hand having run down her arm before departing at her elbow. “I’ll have this done without breaking a sweat,” she said, her voice sweetening.

“Without looking?” I playfully egged on.

“Don’t be stupid, I need at least a glance,” she said, before quickly whipping her head back towards the trees, notching and releasing an arrow and turning back to face me.

Swwk.

The sound of an arrow piercing a tree sounded out beneath the chorus of the forest.

“So,” she said, looking at me again with dreamy eyes, “on target, Mr Dying Man?”

“Wow, yeah,” I said, sincerely impressed.

“I told y-”

“Thanks for letting me win,” I said, patting her on the back.