CHAPTER 3

We only stopped our trek back to their camp long enough for me to gather some of the fruit we had grown and picked for the Seelie to enjoy at Draughtby’s request and also some of the wood that we had harvested.

With my parents being able to sing to the trees to support their growth, as long as a whole tree wasn’t felled, they could regrow whole limbs and sections of the tree without killing it.

Draughtby, relaxed and easygoing out of the eye of the other Seelie didn’t feel like he needed to have his hand on my shoulder now that we had been walking for the third hour or so and merely hummed a soft tune to himself.

After working up the courage to speak, I finally managed, “What’s going on?”

Her raised a bemused eyebrow at me and replied, “The Unseelie have begun to move against us again. It’s time for us to put them back in their place out of the light.”

“I meant more for me.” I gulped and wished that he had let me gather some of my own supplies, but he had warned me not to.

“You’ll be entered into the academy with Revina’s blessing and sponsorship, though that won’t mean much as she’s just a lowly officer of the black leaf.” He took out one of the fruits I’d gathered and huffed on it, then rubbed it on his cloak before biting into it. A look of bliss took his face and he sighed before adding, “You’ll be trained to enter one of the branches of the Seelie military.”

“There are multiple branches?” He nodded. “But you said something about leaves?”

He nodded again and motioned to a badge on his belt, “This is an insignia.” He pulled it off his belt and tossed it to me. I looked it over and saw that it was black as midnight and etched into it were three bands that rose to a point and then another two that dipped under and connected to the bands on top. “That’s my rank. Each different branch, tied to a leaf color, has it’s own duties and use, but our ranks are the same.”

“So what is the black leaf for?”

He smiled and pointed to himself, “For people like me to make creatures like that disappear for good.” He left it at that despite me trying to pry more out of him. Finally, he grew bored of evading me and said, “Listen, they’ll teach you all of this when you arrive at the academy. Just enjoy your life as it is now, starting on a new adventure!”

He stayed quiet for a second then chuckled to himself, “Just don’t expect to be treated too nicely this evening by Brantley, the man who’s knee you kicked from under him? He might be pretty upset.”

I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat and instead found myself dreading what was to come.

**

It was well past dark and the only thing that kept me from shivering in the cool air after the rain was the burning fire some ten feet away. The others had brought another child of seventeen back with them and though they gave us food, there was little other interaction other than receiving orders not to try and run.

Of course, the voice gave me the quested and I muttered my acceptance and stayed where I was as Brantley shot murderous glances my way. Draughtby brought both of us something light eat, a small piece of bread that he called a ration. The crust was thick, but the inside of it was good and when washed down with some of the water that one of the other Seelie passed to us, it filled me up enough that I could have passed out then and there.

After the night grew too dark and exhaustion over took me, I was almost fully asleep when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I blinked and sat up a little bit against the log that would be my pillow for the night and saw something dark moving toward me.

“Dad?” My whispered excitement was too hard to contain and as the figure closed the distance between us, I realized it was a man, but it wasn’t my father. It was Brantley.

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His smile was vicious as he lurched forward and shoved a leaf into my mouth and his hand over my mouth to keep me quiet. I didn’t know what the leaf was but I tried to keep my jaw as relaxed as I could and kicked out as hard as I could.

“Not going to work again while I’m paying attention, boy.” He hissed and pulled e by my head and neck away from the rest of the camp. My legs moved and I made no attempt to be quiet. Eventually in my struggles I felt the leaf tear in my mouth and my eyes began to water.

Muttroot. It was a root that would help numb pain, but it was supposed to be ground down and put into a poultice. Consumed in leaf form could cause someone to hallucinate, or lose the ability to function for a few minutes as the muscles in the body relaxed fully.

My lower body went completely limp first as he dragged me out of the camp, but he made the mistake of turning to carry me with his hand away from my mouth. I could still feel my jaw and upper body. I turned and opened my mouth as he adjusted his grip and tried to tongue the dangerous leaf from my mouth.

The zingy flavor touched my tongue, saliva dripping from my lips as I fought to get the offending foliage from my mouth.

Brantley realized something was wrong and forced me to close my mouth. I couldn’t feel my tongue anymore, so I had to hope that the leaf was out.

We moved for a few more minutes before he stopped and threw me onto the ground roughly. I stopped a foot or so away as he listened to the night air, then turned back to me. I could only see his boots so I could only assume he was turning back to me.

“You think it’s funny to attack your betters, middling elf?” He spat on me, I could feel an impact on my cheek that made me instantly angry, but I couldn’t move. “Think it’s okay to lash out at the Seelie? I’ll show you why you have no court. Then Revina will have no choice but to allow me the honor of going to Sidhe!”

Hands grabbed my shoulder and flipped me, his wooden canteen swam into my vision and he grinned evilly at me. “They’ll find you drowned in the creek nearby and that will be the end of your little journey, you pathetic tree-spawned scum.”

He started to pour the water onto my face, “So why don’t you just go ahead and die, huh?”

I had paid no mind to the voice of the quest giver in my head, since it was all I could do to remain breathing through my nose. I couldn’t move but it seemed like he didn’t know what he was doing, because he clearly didn’t expect the water to go into my nostrils while hitting my chin, right?

He growled low to himself and opened my mouth, started to pour water down my throat. The water hit the back of my mouth and my throat began convulsing on its own, trying to work the water down but it wasn’t the easiest solution with trying to remain breathing. As soon as I started to involuntarily cough and spasm, he shoved his hand over my mouth to keep me from making too much noise.

Then the heat returned to my body and I could have smiled if it weren’t for the fact that I was trying to swallow past the fear and my body’s natural responses.

While he was paying more attention to his surroundings and if he was going to be caught or not, I moved my arm to his waist and took the small belt knife on his hip. He froze, but it was too late.

I stabbed down into his leg and his scream reverberated off the trees and into the cloudy night sky over head.

His fist crashed into the side of my head and I could have sworn I heard and felt something snap with the immense pain I felt as my vision swam.

“You little middling tw—” I groaned and he seethed as he pulled the knife from the meaty part of his leg.

I turned my head and saw the glint of glass above my head covered in blood and flinched as it fell toward me. My arm raised up and the pain that flared in my forearm was the most intense I had ever felt in my life. I choked on the water still in my lungs, tears springing to my eyes as I fought for my life.

A hooting noise made the man flinch, then he threw himself backward as something whistled between us. The sound of shuffling feet and grunting grew closer and I still didn’t know what was going on.

But I wasn’t going to stay where I was.

I turned and threw myself forward, the knife still lodged into my arm agonizingly brushing against the ground as I tried to crawl away from my tormentor.

Something grabbed my ankled and yanked me backward. I cried out, turning to see Brantley moving toward me with single-minded purpose. He was going to kill me.

I stupidly used my injured left arm and he grabbed the knife blade and pulled savagely. Something collided with him as he shoved the blade toward me and I realized it was Revina.

I looked around to try and find a way to help her save my life, and found my prize.

My fingers fumbled furiously while the two of the fought ferociously for control of the weapon in Brantley’s grasp. Finally I succeeded and slowly crawled forward, grunting as I had to use my injured left arm to support myself.

She had him on his back and rained down jabs and elbows with her left hand and arm as her right controlled the arm that held the blade. Still distracted, they didn’t pay me much mind as I slipped the Muttroot leaf into the wound I’d made.

He grunted and kicked out at me with his good leg, catching me in the bad arm and flinging me to the side of them. Foot steps drew my attention as one of the other Seelie had joined us and threw themselves onto his legs to help. There was a painful snap and Brantley screamed, his grip loosening and I watched as the knife thudded into the ground in front of me as voices raised in the distance.

“You’re going away for a long time, private Brantley.” Revina sneered, the first emotion I had ever seen on her face being contempt. “You’ll be lucky to see the light of day again!”

They’re going to keep this crazy person alive after he tried to kill me? I glanced at the knife, the blade glinting red in the little moonlight showing through the clouds. No.

I pulled myself up, grabbing the knife in my good hand and clenched my fist hard enough that my knuckles popped from it. Slowly, as the other Seelie closed on us, I grew close enough to try for it.

Revina moved back in time to avoid the slash meant for him, the blade just missing his throat. She shoved me backward with a palm strike to my chin that hurt more than it should have given how little effort it took to do on her part.

She subdued his arm and then sighed loudly, leaning back as the elf beneath her slowly turned his head toward me. His mouth opened and closed but there was no sound that I could hear as my eyes beheld the darkness spilling from the side of his neck and into the grass and rock laden Ed ground.

The voice of the quest giver rang through my mind with an odd sense of finality as it said, Quest failed, did not die. I failed a quest? The voice came back, Catalyst accepted.

My eyes widened as information flooded my head that I had no idea what it all mean while the quest giver stated, Welcome to the system.