Fool of Knight 1: Strength

Chapter 4

A frail border of red grass separated the clay from the forest. Massive trees with pale white trunks stood more than a hundred feet tall, weeping downwards close to the top. Four hefty branches hung from them, splitting into two thinner branches with spherical tips that wildly grew long red stringy leaves. The dry grass lightly pricked into my raw feet before bending to my weight, crunching as it met with the dry clay beneath.

Gingerly touching my neck, I checked for further signs of blood. "I guess she didn't hit anything important," I thought, wiping the dried blood from my hand.

"It should be somewhere around here." Zelle searched the area, digging herself into large bushes and jumping over 10-foot-tall roots.

"She can jump really high..." The surreal accomplishment of every depth defying leap she performed bewildered me. "Is there a doorway out?"

"Something like that, but it's not the last 'out' we need."

"What does that mean?"

"You're asking questions again, just sit still and focus on manifesting!"

I stood still, taking a breath and picturing a ball above my finger. "Not the last out we need..." It felt as though a gentle stream of water bathed over me, engulfing my body in a dense vibration. "This-"

"I found em!"

I looked to her waving almost 40 feet away, standing beside a cluster of bushes that matched the roots' height.

"Is this it?!" I eagerly marched to her, unable to avoid the thin patches of the stiff grass. My breathing grew frantic as I gulped, following as she plunged into the bushes and out the other side.

Giant roots inter laced, making four nearly identical paths that sank into narrow pitch-black voids at their 13-foot-tall entrances.

"Stay close," Zelle instructed, allowing me to catch up before continuing.

Moving deeper in, the trees blocked the suns red rays, replacing its radiance with an eerie overcast of shadows. The roots more than twice my height made me feel like an insect.

"And keep trying, okay?"

"I thought the grass would be softer but, I guess the trial doesn't end..." I held my left hand up, hopelessly staring.

My feet buzzed lightly, creeping on the cusp of numbness.

"Feel anything yet?"

"Unfortunately..." I dropped my gaze. "N-no," I nodded.

She took the path to the farthest right.

Smaller roots sprouted from the larger ones, making the ground extremely uneven as we proceeded, doubling as a path.

"Don't lose focus, if it hurts keep moving," she yelled, carelessly stepping on the barrage of clay and brittle roots.

"Keep moving?!" I watched in horror as she a bundle of roots under her foot.

Avoiding them, I followed, examining the loosely spiraled pattern of white vine on its pale border.

"It only gets 'worse' from here," she stated, cutting her eyes to my awkward stride.

Thick black aura fell from its frame, rising back to the top in an ongoing cycle and hypnotizing me as its unpredictable pattern swirled.

"Worse," I muttered.

As Zelle stepped through its mysterious way, small streams welcomingly wrapped around her.

I hesitated, holding my breath as I passed through.