Quest of Theyral Forest 13

Chapter 13: The Shade

Seth looked up at the shroud of green leaves that still kept the forest floor lightly shadowed. When he had first started on this quest, he would stare up at it in wonder for hours without stopping, often resulting in a stiff neck. A few days ago, he would have scanned the forest like a hawk, trying to find the location of the Forest Sword with every fiber of his being. Now, however, his resolve had dulled with the repetition of seeing nothing but trees.

“All week, it's been nothing, nothing, nothing, and, for a change of pace, MORE NOTHING!” Nunkish shouted. The frustration and boredom of constant failure made Seth seriously consider crushing the foot-tall fairy under his boot and slowly smear him into the forest floor.

"Um..., in more polite terms, Mister Willthor what exactly are we looking for?" Luun asked, jumping from Seth's shoulder onto Willthor's, “I do not doubt that you have something planned, but if you would be as kind as to inform the rest of us...?”

"You see, Luun, on the very first quest I went on, my group found the Forest Sword." Willthor said, "However, most of them were killed by one Dark Tribesman or another, so I had the foresight to hide it somewhere around here."

"Well, isn't this great?" Nunkish asked, irritably, from the head of Yukai's lizadro, "Stuck in the middle of nowhere, no sign of civilization in sight, and HOPE this munchkin knows where we're goin'..."

"You're not one to criticize when it comes to size, fairy." Yukai stated, equally irritably.

"Shut up, pointy-ears!" Nunkish snapped, flying up to the elf's eye.

"Or what?" Yukai asked, mockingly, "You'll throw some of your dust at me?"

"I'LL SHOW YOU DUST!" Nunkish yelled, sending a burst of magic at Yukai. The elf flinched and scratched at a spot just over his left eyebrow.

“Is that the best you can do?” Yukai challenged, grabbing the hilt of his vi-blade.

"Stop it you two!" Willthor barked, "I know where to go! We just haven't found the right trail!"

"Yeah and we'll be lucky to find the trail this century!" Nunkish snapped.

"SILENCE, FAIRY!" Luun barked. This was a shock to see an angry Luun, who was usually bright and cheery. His fur stood on end as he glowered at the fairy fluttering nearby, "Ever since we started the quest, all you have done is complain every single day! This is not easy for ANY OF US, Nunkish. so we have to complete the great quest QUICKLY!"

"And by 'quickly', do you mean in this decade or next?!" Nunkish asked, angrily, "Why did Hevan Joh have to HIDE the sacred crystals?! He could've just poofed them all right into our hands and be done with this whole thing! But NO. He had to hide 'em in EVERY SINGLE STINKING REALM! If the guy's even there, I don't think he's right in the head!"

Bracken, who had been trying to rest, suddenly sprung to his full height, ears pointing up as he bared his teeth and growled at Nunkish, "You QUESTION the Great Father who created us?!"

"Yeah, I guess I AM." Nunkish replied with a rather nasty-looking smirk. He knew he hit a nerve with the werewolf.

Bracken's response was to swat Nunkish out of the air and onto the ground. The other questers halted their lizadros and wheeled over to the fairy and werewolf. Nunkish fluttered up to Bracken's face.

"Smack ME outta the air, will ya, dog-breath?!" the fairy asked, angrily, his fluttering rapidly changing to a light buzzing noise, making him seem more and more like a hornet. He thrust out his arms and sent a blast of shining, gold-colored dust into Bracken's eyes. The dust seemed to be rather...painful to get in the eyes, as Bracken let out a wolfish howl in pain as he clutched at his eyes before snapping his jaws at random, missing Nunkish by mere inches.

"You two, STOP!" Seth barked. The two refused to stop, seeing as Nunkish continued to send blasts at Bracken's fur and the blinded werewolf continued lashing at the air. Seth growled before pulling out his pistol and firing into the air. The sudden noise caused the two immediately stopped and they looked over, "I know that this quest is getting all of us impatient and irritable! But Willthor is the only one who knows the way! So, shut up and keep in line!"

"Wanna kiss the dwarf's saggy butt anymore or have ya had enough of the smell?" Nunkish muttered.

"What was that?" Seth asked, walking up to the fairy with an angry expression on his face.

"Why are YOU listening to the dwarf?" Nunkish asked, snidely, "You've probably caught PLENTY of his kind, Mr. Professional Cleaner."

"If you were a Cleaner, Nunkish, you would have been immediately dismissed from the force for intentionally aggravating a fellow officer." Seth warned. His temper surprised even him. Not even his stepbrother could get him this angry.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm NOT a Cleaner, isn't it?" Nunkish replied, coolly.

"STOP IT!" Hamane screamed, jumping between Seth and the fairy, "I trapped Yukai and Seth in a tree for a day! I'd be willing to do it again!"

"Tough talk Huh-huh-huh-hamane." Nunkish said, mocking Hamane's stutter.

"Th-that's...not n-nice!" Hamane defended, lamely.

"An entire universe of comebacks and that's yours?" Nunkish asked, "WHY does your tribe control a larger piece of the Forest Realm than mine again? If they're all like you, I think your tribe just lucked out."

"Be-because w-we ca-can d-do st-stuff f-fairies can-can't." Hamane stammered, "Ou-our mag-magic is super-superior an-and w-we have-have a m-more org-organized mil-military."

"And, out of the two of us, I'M the one who can talk coherently." Nunkish said with a shrug.

"Y-you'd stut-stutter too i-if your-your au-auntie ha-had s-so muh-much rid-riding on-on yo-you." Hamane stammered, trying to regain her composure and sound threatening.

"Yeah and I'm only here because I couldn't get a job. Not because Pannon's got a lot riding on ME." Nunkish said, sarcastically, "Seriously, between the two of us, YOU'RE the one stuttering like you have no idea what you're talking about."

"That's ENOUGH." Seth growled, "Nunkish, that's going TOO-"

"Who put YOU in charge, human?" Yukai asked, walking over with his usual scowl on his face, "Out of this entire group, I should be the one-"

"I should be considered the leader of this group!" Bracken barked, walking over with his eyes  looking red from Nunkish's previous attack and he was apparently still ticked off about it, "I was learning how to hold my own in combat while you were all still pups!"

“You don't know much about other tribes, do you, Bracken?” Nunkish asked.

"Now is NOT the time to argue over the heirarchy, either of you!" Luun snapped, climbing up a tree and glaring at the elf, “If I were leader, you two would be sent back to-”

“I thought now wasn't the time to be arguing about who leads.” Nunkish said, snidely.

Boredom, irritation, and exhaustion had caused the group of questers to degenerate into a bickering mob. It was now all but impossible to discern one voice from the rest as Seth and Hamane got into the argument, their voices becoming mixed in with the others,

"SILENCE!" Willthor roared, pulling out his claymore and bringing it smashing into a nearby stone, making a shrill CLANG noise that ceased all argument. The six younger questers looked over at the dwarf, who was breathing heavily. He took in a deep breath before saying, "This is hardly the FIRST time I've dealt with questers losing patience with each other and lashing out. I can understand why you're impatient. I can even understand why you're frustrated, but we won't get anywhere by arguing with each other! If you have ANY problems with this, keep your traps SHUT about it! We're stuck here together for Joh knows how long and we'd best get used to each other. Or, you can continue arguing and you can deal with me, whichever you prefer!"

The group looked at Willfors' giant sword, which he was pointing at them with one hand. Judging by the fact that he could still wield the claymore with that much ease, even in his old age, it became apparent to all present that it would be a very, VERY bad idea to cross him. They began to quiet down, Seth looking at his boots.

“I...I'm sorry.” He said.

“Apologies.” Bracken growled.

“I give my sincerest apologies as well.” Luun said.

“What he said.” Nunkish murmured. Yukai simply grunted and Seth knew that would probably be the best they would get out of him.

“I...I...I...” Hamane's eyes began tearing up before she turned around and began running away from the other questers.

"Hamane!" Seth called as he immediately began running after her with Luun on his heels. The nymph continued running through the forest and the former Cleaner and imp followed after her, not far behind. The two came to a stop when Hamane tripped over a stone and fell onto her chest. She then curled up and began to weep softly.

Seth ran over and helped her to sit up. She did so, shakily, but didn't make eye-contact with her two fellow questers.

“Hamane, why did you run away like that?” Luun asked.

“I-it w-was nothing...” Hamane sniffled.

“Suddenly deciding to run off isn't nothing.” Seth said, deciding that he should take a more polite approach to this problem, “Please, Hamane, could you tell us why you ran away?”

"Be-be-be-because..." Hamane stuttered. She took a shaky breath before yelling, "BECAUSE I'M OF NO USE TO THE QUEST!"

"Hamane, we both know that's not true." Seth said, "You have that healing thing and..."

"But I-I can't fuh-fight." Hamane stuttered as she continued weeping, "I-I don-don't ha-have a s-sword, I don-don't ev-even ha-have a guh-gun."

"Do not make yourself seem unimportant, my good nymph. I know that I would not want to face your staff, especially considering how you use it with such skill." Luun said with a small laugh. When Hamane didn't laugh as well, the imp crawled onto her shoulder and said, "Look, Hamane, just because you do not like fighting does not mean you are weak or unimportant. Your skills with medical magic are vital to this quest and were the one who stopped Seth and Yukai from killing each other. THAT is what true strength is."

Hamane continued weeping, but it seemed to improve to just ragged breathing. She looked at Luun before stroking his scruffy fur. She then looked at Seth, eyes a little green from the tears.

"Wh-why d-did y-you com-come af-after muh-me?" she asked.

"Because..." Seth said, trying to think of the best way to approach the subject, "Because you're a good person and the group has to stick together. The quest wouldn't ask for all the different members to go on it together if we weren't supposed to look out for each other. Also, not to hit any sore spots, but as a Cleaner, I was told never to leave anyone behind if I could help it."

There was a long silence as Seth's explanation sank in. Hamane brushed one of her bright green bangs as she tried to gather herself. She took a shuddering breath before making eye-contact with Seth again.

"H-h-humans..." Hamane said, turning bright green in embarrassment again as she searched for the right words, "Humans di-did som-some foo-foolish th-th-things."

"You too?" Seth asked, standing up and turning to leave.

"B-but tha-that do-doesn't muh-mean th-they're a-all b-bad." Hamane added, hurriedly. She breathed, “Y-you...I ex-expected t-to h-hate yuh-you. B-but, I...don't. Y-you're...nice a-and fr-friendly...”

Seth froze before looking over at Hamane, who turned a vivid shade of green before looking away again. He thought it was very strange that both Nunkish and Hamane, both tribes with very strong ties to the natural world and would have had every right to hate him just for being human, held nothing against him. He looked over to see Hamane had shifted her gaze and was now looking rather intently at her knees. He immediately walked over in front of her, knelt until he was on the same level as she was, and embraced her in a warm hug. Hamane looked a bit confused before wrapping her arms around Seth's back as she returned the hug.

"Thanks. After all this time, that means a lot." Seth said in a low voice.

"You...you're v-very welcome." Hamane replied in a quiet voice.

"Well, this is a most touching scene." Luun grinned.

Seth looked up from his embrace with Hamane and caught sight of something moving amongst the trees. The fact that the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up made him think that it couldn't be anything friendly. He then saw a patch of black amongst the trees in the shape of some monkey-like creature with a long tail.

"Hamane, the Shade's here." Seth said in a low voice as he quietly moved his left hand and began to slowly lower it toward his pistol.

"Wh-what?" Hamane asked, eyes going wide as she stiffened.

"The Shade. It's back. Don't look at it. I've got a clear shot." Seth whispered, trying not to look at it, "I'm going to try and get it from here. Just stay still..."

Seth saw the shadow grow larger as the Shade jumped from the tree and landed, silently, on the ground. The Shade slunk towards them, silent as a shadow. Seth suddenly moved his arm and began firing his pistol. Six shots were fired, but none hit. The Shade let out an ear-piercing shriek as it ran away. Seth stood up and bolted off after it. He pointed his pistol left, right, and up, trying to catch sight of the creature. He found nothing of the Shade...

Suddenly, the Shade sprung out from behind a tree. Seth aimed his pistol right between the eyes. It was a few inches when he pulled the trigger...

CLICK.

Seth only had enough time to realize that he had just used the last rounds in his gun. The Shade tackled him in the face and began to claw at his face. One lash across the face drew blood, but the former cleaner grabbed the Shade's face before bringing his fist into its gut again and again, knocking the Shade off. The creature shrieked as Seth stood up and sprung at it. The Shade then opened its mouth and dug its razor-sharp teeth into Seth's shoulder.

The former Cleaner screamed in pain as he released the Shade. It then sprung forward and hit him, full in the chest with a short, scarlet horn on its forehead. Seth's tri-weave vest blocked the worst of the attack, but the horn still penetrated the skin and the force of the blow bowled him over and knocked the air out of his lungs. He rolled away as the Shade tried slashing at him again and went behind a tree to catch his breath. His break was cut short as the Shade darted around the tree and bared its fifty razor-sharp teeth at him.

The Shade raised its paw, claws extended, but was halted by a sudden blow from Hamane's staff. She spun it around before jabbing her pole into the Shade's chest, knocking it away from Seth. She slammed the butt of it onto the ground, causing four trees to lean in close and wrap their branches around the Shade's arms and legs. Hamane leaned down and helped Seth to his feet.

"Thanks." Seth said, gasping for breath.

"I-in thi-this quest...I-I don-don't wa-want to-to luh-leave any...one be-behi-behind either." Hamane stuttered.

The Shade pulled at the branches. A rather loud series of cracking sounds told that it was breaking through. Seth stood up and pulled out his vi-blade. He glared at the Shade, right in the eye. He would not back down when it broke free, no matter what.

The Shade screeched as it pulled itself free of the branches that were keeping it restrained. It spread long, bat-like wings. It flapped them before taking flight. It flew over to the two and Seth swung his sword. He missed by an inch as the Shade landed on a branch. It wheeled over and flew at Seth again. The former cleaner swung his sword and grazed its elbow. The Shade landed on another branch before flying at Seth again. This time, his strike cut off its left wing. The Shade screeched before falling to the ground in a heap. It stood up and snarled at the two.

SPLAT!

A bright red berry flew from out of nowhere to hit the Shade in the face, splattering as it made contact with the Shade's face, releasing a burst of bright red juice. It screeched in pain and began to claw at its eyes as Luun jumped down with his sack of berries slung over his shoulder. He grinned as he held up a berry similar to the one he threw.

"Calul berries." Luun said, "You DON'T wanna get its juices in your eyes."

The Shade blundered around, still clawing at its eyes. There was a loud bark as Bracken sprung out of nowhere and tackled the Shade. It snarled as it struggled free and wiped the juices from its eyes.

"You and I have unfinished business, foul scum of the darkness." Bracken growled as he bared his teeth.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the Shade responded in a low, hoarse voice that reminded Seth of something that would probably belong in a deep, dark cave, "My business is not with you, mountain dog!"

"So, this thing has a tongue after all." Commented Yukai as he walked over to Seth with Nunkish and Willthor right next to him.

The elf grabbed his vi-blade before drawing it and charging at the Shade. Yukai's blade flew across and cut off the Shade's right wing, grounding the Dark Tribesman and essentially preventing an escape from flying. The Shade growled before getting on all-fours and running for a thicket.

“QUICK!” Seth shouted, “ENCIRCLE IT!”

Bracken snarled as he sprung in front of the Shade, blocking that route. The Shade changed directions only to have its remaining escape routes cut off by Seth, Yukai, Willthor, and Hamane. Nunkish and Luun were just behind them, golden dust appearing in Nunkish's hands as Luun held out another Calul berry. If the Shade tried jumping over them, it would be hit in the eyes and knocked back down to the ground.

The Shade screeched in what Seth could clearly tell was a combination of fury and fear before it slashed Yukai across the face, shedding blood. The elf snarled as the Shade got onto his shoulders and tried jumping to freedom, but Nunkish flew right at it, throwing golden powder into its' face. The Shade shrieked in pain as it fell off of Yukai's shoulders, but not before it managed to swat Nunkish out of the air.

"Wow, THIS seems familiar..." the fairy moaned as he staggered to his feet, looking rather punchdrunk.

The Shade wheeled around to deliver a punch to the side of Bracken's face, but that did not seem to affect the werewolf in the slightest. Bracken grabbed the Shade's arm and sank his fangs into it before slashing at its' chest. The Shade fell down as blood began rushing out of the open wounds and remained still. Willthor walked over and nudged it with his foot. When the Shade gave no response, the elderly dwarf grinned before turning around to walk away.

Everyone saw the Shade stand up and run towards the dwarf even as its blood poured out to stain the grass scarlet. It sprung at Willthor, claws and fangs ready to tear the elderly dwarf to pieces.

"WILLTHOR!" everyone shouted.

Willthor heard the warning and wheeled around with a firm grip on his claymore sword. He let out a loud yell as he slashed out with the sword just as the Shade was a foot away. The radius of the slash turned into a four-foot-wide buzz-saw as the blade sheared through the Shade's left elbow, then its neck, and then its right hand with no difficulty at all. The decapitated torso fell to the ground before writhing on the ground for a few seconds as the last signals from its cut-off nervous system. The body then became still as a sigh escaped the Shade's trachea. Yukai stepped over to the Shade's head and scoffed as he saw the bright yellow eye, which was glazed over in death. He kicked the head into a bush.

Everyone stopped to recover from what had just happened. Seth looked at his fellow questers before asking, "Why did you follow us?"

"We stopped to try and work things out with each other." Willthor answered, "After a bit of a rest, the others were surprisingly agreeable. Nunkish apologized to Bracken and I finally remembered where I hid the Forest Sword on my first quest."

"Well, where is it?" Nunkish asked, flying into the air, albeit in a shaky manner.

"Right here." Willthor answered, walking over to a rather large elm tree. He looked at Hamane before asking, "Would you mind...?"

"Th-the tuh-tree does-doesn't ha-have a n-nymph." Hamane answered, putting a hand on the elm, "You...you may."

"Alright." Willthor said, bringing his claymore slashing through the tree. Whether it was something about the sword or his physical strength as a dwarf, Seth never knew, but the blade cut deep into the tree before ripping through it. Willthor pulled the sword free before reaching into the tree and pulling out something, "I had the first nymph I travelled with hide the Forest Sword in that tree before she died."

“And, uh, how did she die?” Nunkish asked.

“Do you honestly think I'll tell you?” Willthor asked, giving the fairy an expression that said 'I'm not telling you'.

Willthor opened his hand, showing a bright, green gem in the center of his palm. It was about six inches in diameter, was giving off a faint glow even though there wasn't any sunlight to cause it, and had a small carving on it. Seth reached over and took the gem to examined it closer. He saw an emblem shaped like curved sword carved into the center of it. The shape resembled Yukai's vi-blade.

"One down." Yukai said as he sheathed his sword.

"M-may I?" Hamane asked as she looked at everyone's injuries.

"My wounds have healed enough." Bracken said, sitting down and waiting for Hamane, “You may.”

The nymph walked over and placed her right hand on a nearby tree before reaching her left hand to Bracken's side. She hesitated for a second, as if afraid the werewolf would try to bite her before touching the wound. Green light began to come from her hands as the werewolf's skin began repairing itself and black fur grew to replace it.

Hamane then walked over to Yukai and did the same thing to his face. She then did the same to Nunkish, who sighed in relief as he seemed to regain his equilibrium. Finally, she walked over to Seth. She put a hand on a nearby tree before touching the hole in his tri-weave shirt.

It was an odd sensation. It felt like being touched by cool breeze and being spritzed by a warm shower at the same time. It felt odd, but it was still a pleasant feeling.

"Well, how about we rest in this spot for the night?" Willthor asked as he planted his claymore down, "We deserve a good break."

"Yeah, we should." Seth nodded in agreement.

"So, do ya know where the other amulets are, Willie?" Nunkish asked.

"Nope. Sorry, lad." Willthor replied, "When it comes to the amulets of the Desert, Mountain, Jungle, and Ocean Realms, we'll be relying on pure guesswork."

"Cranberries." Nunkish swore, looking disappointed.

"So, that means you might be needing someone else to lead the quest." Willthor said. He put his pipe into his mouth, but didn't light it. He then looked over at Seth and asked, "How about Seth?"

There was a long silence as the questers stared at Seth. He gulped before standing up and holding up his vi-blade.

"To the best of my ability, I will lead." Seth said, trying to give his speech a heroic and dramatic tone, "If I succeed, I will take only what glory is due to me. If I fail, I shall accept full responsibility. To the best of my ability, I will see this quest through."

"That sounds good to me." Luun said, running over to Seth and saying, "You have unwavering support from the imp side of the quest."

"And you've got the fairies." Nunkish grinned as he fluttered over to Seth's shoulder.

"As w-well a-as th-the nymphs." Hamane said, walking over to Seth.

"You have my support as well." Bracken stated, standing up and walking over to Hamane's left.

"And the dwarves." Willthor said, walking to Bracken's left. Seth noticed that the pattern in which they were standing was forming a circle. They only needed one more person to complete it—Yukai.

The elf stood with his trademark scowl on his face. He folded his arms before saying, "The fate of this world rests on this quest. If this is what the popular vote is, I shall vote the same, regardless of my opinion."

Yukai walked to Willthors' right, forming a complete circle. Willthor put his hand in the center. Nunkish followed, then Luun, then Hamane, then Bracken, then Yukai, and finally Seth.

"FOR THE QUEST!" they all shouted, united as one.

Seth then realized that they were counting on him. Him, the Human, whom some of them had some form of hate against in one way or another. The Humans, who had ravaged the earth. The Humans, which had a small spark of light left inside of them, as creations of the highest of all high beings, Hevan Joh himself. Now, he had to prove it by leading this group of Hevan Joh's people to try and heal the injury the world received centuries ago. But for now, they had to rest and regain their strength.

Then the quest could contiue...