Maela gave Darla a huge hug, and the two danced around after Darla explained the plan. They went outside to test it. Maela held up her bare arm. “So if we pretend this is invisible, what happens if you throw flour at it?”
Darla did so, and the thin film of white on Maela’s arm was a convincing demonstration. “See! If your arm was invisible, and all we could see was the flour, it would outline your arm, showing its shape.”
Maela nodded while she slapped her arm, removing the powder. “But what if everything that touches the guardian becomes invisible.
“It is a risk,” Darla conceded, “But think of the blood on your knife. That was inside the guardian, and yet it was visible. I am guessing that there is some kind of spell or element to this thing that makes it invisible, and things that aren’t it visible. So, the flour will work!”
“That would explain why it didn’t have a weapon… only its fists, mighty as they were,” replied Maela. “Anyway, we don’t have any other option.”
“That’s not true. We could stay,” Darla replied, which elicited a glare from Maela. Flashing a smile in return, Darla added. “You know I’m kidding. I love it here with you, but we are warriors and thieves. We have responsibilities, and there is so much of your world that I want to see!”
Darla’s sincere enthusiasm was infectious, and the two of them went on a tangential discussion of their favorite parts of Ness that they missed the most. As night fell, Darla blurted out, “We should try to escape tomorrow.”
It wasn’t that Maela wasn’t prepared or didn’t want to try, but the suddenness of Darla’s pronouncement threw her off balance. “Yes. I think that’s a good idea,” Maela replied. But her words came out awkward, and she felt like she wasn’t showing enough excitement. Reaching over, she took Darla’s hands in hers. “Not try to escape. Escape.”
The next morning they prepared for the difficult combination of being encumbered for a long journey and nimble for a sudden fight. They also had to prepare for launching a large amount of flour at an opponent that they couldn’t see and may come upon them at any moment.
As they started along the lane, Maela noted, “You know we are going to get attacked before we have a chance of tossing the flour?”
Darla shook her head. “No, when we get close to where you feel the guardian is, we’ll go step-by-step. Didn’t you say that you could see the depression of its steps?”
“Yes, but that was when I had already been struck, and it was attacking me.”
“This is a new sensation,” Darla replied after a short silence.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m the one pushing us forward with a vision of success, and you’re the one questioning whether we have a chance.” The comment was sharp and perhaps a little hurtful, but Maela realized it was accurate. She stopped, and Darla turned to look at her.
“You’re right. I guess I’m still a little nervous about it. I’m very used to managing all the various things that could go wrong. That’s my specialty—knowing all the possibilities and assessing a solution. But an invisible guardian? How can I assess that? I don’t even know what it looks like.”
Darla touched Maela’s arm. “Well, you’re thinking of one big possibility. You escaped the guardian. How did you do that? What did you see? What did you feel or smell? There has to be something.”
Maela took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “You’re right. I haven’t thought of the pieces.” After a long moment of silence, Maela opened her eyes.
“Have something?”
Nodding, Maela began, “It is large and heavy. I could tell when it struck me. Now, look at the path.” The both looked down. “This hasn’t been traveled since we were dropped off. The grass looks like it doesn’t grow high, which makes it look well-manicured, but look there and there—” Maela pointed at strips of dirt and a small bush that was growing at the edge of the lane but amongst the grass. “This is not a maintained lane. It is a wild path that was created with a grass that makes it remain clear and even.”
“Yes, I can see that,” Darla replied.
“So, the guardian is large and heavy, and is patrolling a lane of wild grass. That is the key. If we keep an eye out for grass that is depressed or a line of worn grass where someone or something may have walked in a regular pattern it will indicate the presence of the guardian.”
“Of course, we should be able to identify a change in the nature of the path when we reach the guardian!”
“When I first escaped the guardian, what saved me was seeing the grass depress without anything stepping upon it. If we look for something like that as we approach, we should be able to prepare for the guardian before it attacks us.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Darla turned back up the lane. “So sharp observation is critical.”
Maela nodded and the two of them moved forward slowly, examine the path in the distance with each step.
Maela noticed it first. Grabbing Darla’s arm, she stopped her and whispered, “There!” She pointed down the lane to the edge of the path.
“I don’t see anything different about the path,” Darla whispered.
“It’s not the path. Look at the brush on the side of the path.” Maela saw it clearly—a gap in the brush that wasn’t at all natural—it was bent over and crushed in a spot a few feet wide.
Darla was squinting but then her eyes went wide. “I see it!”
Maela pulled out her axe, while Darla didn’t need to be asked and pulled out a large thin sack, which was bulging at weakly sewn seams leaking a white powder. With her good eye at hurling knives, the thought was that she would be the better choice at hurling the flour.
“Keep an eye on the grass. I’ll shout if I see anything, and you do the same. The moment you have an idea of its location, throw the flour at it.” Darla nodded after Maela’s whispered instructions.
The crept forward, staring at the grass. The good news was that the grass was high and not beaten down at all. If the guardian approached, they would have some warning. Maela glanced at the gap in the brush, as it continued to make her nervous, when Darla’s bag of flour flew through the air while Darla yelled out, “There it is!”
Maela crouched and followed Darla’s pointed finger. Rushing toward them was something flattening grass as it approached. To Maela’s horror, Darla’s bag of flour landed on the ground, exploding into a puff of white smoke. A moment later, Darla was tossed clear across the path to Maela’s right, as if a giant had simple pushed her aside. She crumpled to the ground.
Maela wasted little time, she could see where the guardian was by the depression on the grass. Spinning and approach low, she swung her axe. It hit home in an arcing gash, which resulted in a piercing howl and an invisible blow knocking Maela back a few feet, staggering her to her knees.
Looking at the ground, she noticed two things: The footsteps of the guardian approaching slowly but inexorably and the red drops of blood that fell next to the depressions in the grass. Using surprise as her weapon, Maela leapt forward, swinging her axe again.
It was for naught as she couldn’t see her opponent, who must have easily twisted out of the way. Maela’s axe swung through air, leaving her slightly off balance. Another mighty blow knocked Maela to the left side of the path. Her off balance momentum had saved her, however, for her body was already moving in the direction of the blow, and while it was powerful, her body absorbed it by simply flinging her further.
Maela had been flown so far that she had time to stand, and as she did she once again focused on the grass. She saw a footstep and swung the axe with all her force. It missed the guardian completely and knocked her off balance again. A glancing blow knocked her to the ground again.
Spinning to her feet, Maela tried to desperately figure out how she could battle an invisible opponent. Once again it approached with the slow certainty of death. Looking for the next footstep, her vision was suddenly filled with an explosion of white.
Not five feet in front of her, surrounded by a spreading corona of white powder, was a giant being, its torso defined by a white outline. Without any hesitation, Maela stepped forward and swung with all her might right at the center of the thing’s chest. With a soft thunk her axe hit home, embedding itself in the creature’s torso.
Another, smaller, explosion of white spread from behind the guardian, and Maela could see it clearly. As she attempted to wrench the axe free, she heard a thunk, thunk, thunk, one after another. She knew that sound.
Maela retreated, not knowing what would happen. Was the creature magical and able to shrug off such a deadly attack? Would it launch a desperate dying counter-attack? Crouching in preparation for the worst, Maela watched as the powdery white guardian stumbled a bit to the left, then to the right, and then fell to its knees and then face down into the path.
Behind it was Darla, her face and chest bloody, and her hands and body covered in flour. Maela ran to her. “Darla, are you okay? Are you injured?”
“I think my nose is broken,” Darla replied, covering it with her hand.
“Let me see,” Maela replied, taking Darla’s hand and kissing it as she moved it aside. “If it’s broken, it isn’t bad. You should be okay. Are you bleeding into your throat?”
“No. Just what you see.” Darla looked behind Maela. “You killed it!” She squeezed Maela’s hand, as Maela had not let go.
“I wounded it. You killed it!”
“Well, we killed it, and it wouldn’t have been so difficult if I hadn’t missed,” Darla said sheepishly. “The good thing is that it ignored me after it knocked me to the ground and broke my nose. So while you were fighting it, I gathered up the flour in the ripped bag and was able to carry enough to make a difference, I guess.”
“You made all the difference!”
Darla looked at Maela. “Are you okay?’
“A little bruised, but nothing bad.” Turning around, Maela looked at the outline on the ground. “What do you think it is?”
“A giant? A large man? A forest creature? I don’t know.”
Nodding, Maela said, “It wasn’t a giant or human. Look at its hands. Those are huge and seem like clubs more than hands. Maybe it is a being created by the wizards?”
Darla shrugged. “We can ask Traville.”
“He’ll be so surprised to see us he just might answer,” Maela replied with a smile. “So what next? We need to get back to the tunnel, but we’ll need to find it, get supplies, and do it all in secrecy.”
Darla started slapping her clothes, billowing out flour. Maela took a step back. “I don’t want to travel through that tunnel without food, water, and a cart full of torches.”
“Well, now that we know a cart is a workable solution, that will make things easier. So, we’ll need supplies, but I also think we should see whatever we can find out. I have a feeling that the wizards weren’t telling us everything.”
“Me, too!” Darla exclaimed. “So let’s continue down the path, make up a story of being lost and attacked by brigands or something, and then see if we can pick up information about this city while we gather supplies.”
“You make it sound easy.”
Darla shrugged. “Can it be much harder than defeating an invisible giant guardian?”
Maela laughed, and the two started walking down the path that led home, but how long that journey would take, neither of them knew.