Chapter 4 - To Write an Ending

 Skyle’s arrow hit its mark, but the troll simply ignored the shaft stuck in its arm as it rushed forward in an avalanche of violence and blood.

“Back!” Leon shouted, using his one good arm to physically shove Skyle aside, his eyes already shining with scarlet elemental power. Skyle went tumbling a good five feet to the side, but far from complaining, he was almost inclined to thank the other boy. A mere instant later, several thousand pounds of furious muscle crashed against the protective fiery barrier Leon had summoned at the last instant.

The barrier shattered with a loud crackling sound, and a loud explosion knocked back the troll on its steps while it shook its head in a daze. Smoke rose out of its blackened arms, but the worst out of the exchange had definitely been Leon. As the barrier shattered, he had been knocked into the air and sent flying a good twenty paces, eventually slamming against a tree with a bone-shuddering crash.

Skyle swiftly rolled on the ground as he sought to gain as much distance as he could from the troll before regaining his feet. Pain from his broken limb began to throb and gnaw at the outer edges of his conscious mind, but for now the adrenaline was pumping in his ears so fiercely that it drowned the agony out.

Springing into a kneeling position, Skyle had already knocked one of his last three remaining arrows and was ready to stare death in the face, exchanging one final shot for his life. However, he was met with the receding back of the troll as it slowly staggered its way in Leon’s direction. The other youth seemed to be hanging on to consciousness, if only just barely, but he was definitely in no shape to deal with the troll’s retribution at the moment.

The arrow in his hand drooped slightly as the strength leaked out from Skyle’s arms and the bowstring lost its tension. Unbidden, a new plan sprang into life within his mind. The troll seemed obsessed with Leon. As a matter of fact, before Skyle had foolishly decided to give chase to its tracks, the troll had passed him by and had clearly been heading away from him. For whatever reason and in spite of its natural aversion to fire, this troll seemed drawn inexorably towards the young noble. If Skyle could manage a decent headstart while the troll sated its bloodlust on the other youth, perhaps he could lose it in the woods. After all, these had been Skyle’s hunting grounds for all his life.

It surely wasn’t his fault if a stupid young noble wandered in far too deep for his own good, and got killed by a rare beast. It would be far better than both of them dying, which seemed to be the most likely end result. There was simply nothing Skyle could do about it. He was just a 12 year old boy who couldn’t even use his own heartwood bow at full draw, let alone wield the power of the elements like every other person could.

He was powerless, and could only resign himself to his fate, just the same as the other doomed youth. Skyle would forever be a cripple, and Leon, supremely gifted as a legendary elemental summoner, would die alone in this dark corner of the Forbidden Forest.

That’s just life, Skyle realized, as he slowly put his hand back in the quiver he wore on his back.

“Yes, that’s life. It’s just not my life,” Skyle vowed to himself. “I will write my own end in my story.”

Kendric Farrow had not raised a cripple, and he sure didn’t pamper Skyle like one. Adrienne Farrow would never allow her son to believe such nonsense either, not for a second. Her arguments went beyond words, or even actions. With just one look, Skyle found the strength and courage to continuously, fiercely assault his limits. Else, he wouldn’t be one of the most accomplished trackers in the forest, nor would he stubbornly continue to attempt to summon his elemental spirit day after day. In fact, if he weren’t possessed of such strength of will and courage, he wouldn’t be Skyle Farrow at all.

Sighing deeply and with a fierce, almost self-mocking smile, Skyle withdrew his last two arrows from the quiver and placed them upright in the dirt below him, then breathed deeply as he nocked the first arrow and carefully took aim.

The troll seemed to have regained some of its balance, and its steps were much more steady as it rumbled towards Leon, who was just now beginning to shake his head as though awakening from a stupor.

“I write my own endings!” Skyle shouted at the top of his lungs as he drew the arrow back as far back as he could. His hands were steady and his eyes blazed with a singular focus as he sought the most vulnerable area he could.

The troll seemed to ignore all else as it closed in on Leon, and Skyle’s lips quirked slightly as he shrugged. Usually, when faced with such formidable defenses an archer like Skyle would have no choice but to aim for the vulnerable, vital spots. Spine? Kidneys? Hamstring? Back of the neck? Skyle knew the troll’s skin was too thick and it would be near impossible for him to wound, or even slow it down.

Well, if all else fails, then there was only one target left.

Skyle carefully sighted down, and though at roughly ten paces he could hardly miss his target, he still needed to carefully wait until the troll’s movement revealed his objective. Then, he released.

The arrow unerringly found its mark, and the troll howled in renewed agony as the arrowhead managed to weave right past the massively muscled ass cheeks, and buried itself deeply in the narrow, tightly puckered up hole in the middle of its ass.

The troll jolted forward from the impact, and animalistic cries of pain and fury shook its lungs as both its hands clawed towards the intrusive arrow, all else forgotten for the moment. Leon finally seemed to return to his senses and frowned in confusion as he watched the troll’s reaction, as though he couldn’t comprehend how Skyle would have caused such a huge reaction with a mere arrow.

Finally, the troll seemed unwilling to risk messing with the arrow shaft, and instead turned around to stare balefully at Skyle. Leon’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he saw the results of Skyle’s exquisite marksmanship.

“Ugh, I feel sick,” Leon muttered, not bothering to hide his disgust.

Skyle didn’t have to to appreciate such, however, since his hand had rapidly reached out to snatch up a second arrow as soon as the first one had left his bow. Then, he had waited, slowly releasing his breath as he aimed the arrow directly at the back of the troll’s head.

As soon as the troll turned around and brought its baleful gaze to bear upon its attacker, Skyle had unceremoniously released his second arrow before the troll could even react to the new threat.

From this close, and presented with a practically still, unmoving target, there was simply no way for Skyle to miss his target, even as small and challenging as it was. The shot pierced into the troll’s eye with a sickening squelching sound, as green blood and a clear, viscous liquid splattered down its face. Screaming in pain, the troll lifted its massive hands away from its ass in an instinctive bid to protect its vulnerable, wounded eye. However, it was too late as Skyle had already nocked and released his third and final arrow.

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This final shot did miss, if only barely and because of the troll’s sudden, frenzied movements as it writed in agony. However, Skyle was already content with the results and came to his feet, trying to limp away in a last ditch effort to gain some distance from Leon before the troll would catch up to him and tear him limb from limb.

Shockingly, the troll surged forward in one violent lunge as it blindly thrashed its massive arm in Skyle’s general direction. Even without the broken leg, Skyle would have had no chance to avoid such a rush of speed, and though he desperately attempted to dive away from the incoming blow, a massive fist connected with a loud, snapping sound. A new surge of agony flooeded Skyle’s mind as all the air was punched from his lungs and he was violently thrown spinning through the air at a dizzying speed. He crashed through several bushes and branches before finally grinding to a painful, wheezing halt against the ground, where he lay in a boneless heap.

The troll let out one final roar at Skyle’s writhing body, sending flecks of green spittle flying, before once again turning around in Leon’s direction, whereupon it was promptly greeted with yet another fire blast to the face.

An intense heat seared Skyle’s skin even from where he lay, a good fifteen paces from the explosion, as small globs of fire flew in the air from the ferocious impact. The troll once more stumbled unsteadily on its feet as it was rocked back by the explosion. Leon stood with his back against the tree, breathing heavily with his one good hand lifted in the troll’s direction and still smoking from the release of fire energy.

Suddenly, as the troll was still staggering in pain, a great roar rang out through the air, and the entire forest seemed to shake under its might. It came from a beast that even Skyle was unfamiliar with, but it seemed both ancient and powerful, full of rage and frustration. Even the troll froze for an instant, as its agonized howls were infinitely dwarfed by the might of this new entity. It was this ferocious cry that woke Skyle from his stupor, as he finally came back to his senses.

“Another monster in the forest?” Skyle wondered, then snapped back to reality as he realized the one they were currently facing was more than enough to push him into an early grave.

“Such a fool,” Leon panted heavily, pushing himself off the tree and swaying on his feet for a moment before steadying himself. Blood trickled slowly from his lips, and his face scrunched up in agony as he clutched at his ribs.

“It’s winning this fight,” Skyle grunted, as he dazedly pushed himself to his feet. In his hands lay his precious heartwood bow, or what remained of it. The exquisitely crafted bow had snapped in half and lay sad and broken in his hands.

“I was referring to you. You should have run, Skyle Farrow,” Leon stated somberly, locking eyes with Skyle while lifting a trembling hand skyward. “It’s obviously after me, and only a fool would have stayed behind.”

“Speak for yourself, highness,” Skyle bit back, shaking his head in order to clear it, hoping the world would stop tumbling around sometime soon so he could at least take a good look at the place where he would die.

As soon as the stars faded from his vision, Skyle froze and stared at the ancient stone monument standing ten paces in front of him, and his skin crawled as he realized he had finally done what his father had repeatedly told him to never, ever do.

He had entered the inner reaches of the Forbidden Forest.

It seemed strange to Skyle that he still cared so much, even as the troll was once again recovering and getting ready to kill him and Leon both.

The ground trembled under Skyle’s feet as the enraged troll lifted arms corded with massive muscles and pounded the ground fiercely, roaring in a grim combination of pain and rage.

“I need that source weapon,” Leon growled, his face gaining an even more unhealthy sheen to it as he began to silently move his lips and lifted a slightly trembling fist above his head, summoning a deep red glow above his head. “My spirit vein is severely spent.”

Skyle glanced back towards the sword lying ten feet away. The energy of the elements was boundless as the skies and the seas, but each individual could only channel as much as their spirit veins would allow. As more elemental energy was channeled, spirit veins would be depleted to the point where any more channeling would result in the elements wielder to seriously injure himself, to the point where he could burn their spirit veins out, effectively crippling themselves, or even dying from extreme spirit depletion.

Ideally, a source weapon would relieve much of the stress placed upon Leon. Still, there were simply too many variables in place. Why had the sword moved? Unless it had suddenly grown feet, it would not have done so out of its own initiative. Also, where had that strange object come from, and what exactly was it? All Skyle could tell was that he had somehow wandered within the borders of the Forbidden Forest, and his senses shouted danger at him even without the troll ready to pound him into a bloody meat paste.

Now that Skyle took a second, more careful look, the troll made even less sense. Its chest was battered into a blackened mess, but its head looked even worse. One side of it was a nightmarish mask of melted flesh and exposed bones, and the scorched remains of an arrow shaft protruded slightly from a vacant eye socket. Wounds this severe should force it to back off, but the troll seemed fixated on Leon. Its one remaining eye was glazed over with bloodlust, and its mouth was overflowing with more of that green sludge. It almost seemed like some sort of trance had taken over it.

Trying his best to ignore the agonizing pain, Skyle limped towards the sword. After all, the sword was most likely a trap, but the worst end result would be death. On the other hand, without the sword the troll would likely eat a couple more of Leon’s fire bolts, then proceed to the main course and eat Skyle and Leon for good measure.

A ball of fire swirled into place within Leon’s upraised fist, but it was visibly smaller than the previous missiles. It flickered with intermittent tongues of flame that hissed and crackled as it spun in place. With a visible effort of will, Leon launched the fire bolt at the troll, but this time the troll lifted its hands in time to shield its vulnerable head. A loud explosion rocked the air, and the troll let out another ear-piercing howl. Its body swayed visibly, then fell to its knees while flames eagerly licked at its flesh. Still, the flames soon began to die as great streams of green blood began to pour forth from its many wounds.

“It’s already beginning to heal,” Skyle whispered, shocked. “I thought flames were supposed to suppress their abilities.”

“Sword,” Leon said while breathing heavily, clammy sweat dotting his brow. Still, in his eyes Skyle could find no hint of fear, nor weakness, but rather only a grim resolve shone within. “Now.”

Skyle almost spit out a scathing reply about sending him to fetch a sword with a broken leg, but one look at Leon’s drawn face let him know the fire summoner was reaching his limits.

As he finally reached the sword, he kept his wary gaze on the strange stone monument. Though its outline lay crumbling under the weight of time, complex symbols were etched onto its borders, while the middle of it seemed strangely smooth and unbroken.

“Almost like a gate of some kind,” Skyle thought to himself.

Another earth-rumbling growl shook Skyle into action, as he finally went against his every instinct and clenching his teeth, he snatched the sword from the ground as quickly as he could, all the while staring at the strange stone arch. It felt strangely cool in his grip, and much heavier than he had expected from watching Leon hefting it so easily earlier. Still holding his breath, Skyle limped back a couple steps without even daring to turn around, as every hair in his body stood on end and goosebumps rose on his skin.

“SWORD!” Leon yelled hoarsely, urgency clear in his voice, as rumbling steps could be heard rapidly approaching.

With one final glance at the inert gate, Skyle screamed in pain and fear as he twisted his body around and hurled the sword towards Leon as hard as he could. The sword drew a smooth arch in the air as it slowly spun on its way forward. Skyle’s eyes were glued on to the movement of the sword, completely riveted in it, which is why he almost jumped out of his skin when Leon suddenly shouted a frantic warning.

“Watch out! Behind you!”

Too little, too late. By the time Skyle turned his head around, the only thing he could see were twin claws, dark and smooth as obsidian, firmly grasp hold of his arm. Reflexively following the claws to their origin, Skyle was dumbfounded to see that the symbols on the stone arch had lit up abruptly, and a pitch black mist was swirling in the middle of the archway. It was from this bizarre portal that the claws had reached out and taken hold of him.

Skyle didn’t even have the time to move his hand towards the dagger he kept sheathed by his side, when an irresistible strength yanked him back, in the direction of the swirling darkness within the gate.

The last thing Skyle saw over his shoulder was that of Leon frantically shouting in his direction, with the monstrous silhouette of the troll charging at his back.

At that moment, that mighty roar shook the entire forest once again, seeming to be infinitely closer than before.

Then, the darkness swallowed it all.