The Shift Chronicles

Chapter Two- "Need any help?"

           

Getting ready for my day, I filled my canteen with water, put on my fall-away leather armor, strapped my short sword to my belt, and set out to check my traps. It has become a routine of mine ever since I started living in the Cotrar forest, checking my traps and scouting the area around my home. Some days I would come back with a deer, some days I came back with little more than a handful of berries. But today, I had a feeling, Beck Lyall would be lucky.

So, after getting ready and heading out, there was no sign of game nor was there any change in the traps. In fact, there didn't seem to be any life at all at the moment. It seemed almost as if the silence could be cut with a dull dagger. "I wonder why there isn't anything around here," I pondered out loud, something I seemed to be doing more and more often. "Maybe, Maybe there's a-"

"AAAH!" At that moment, a high-pitched scream penetrated the silence, more effectively than any blade or animal could. I was a bit startled at first, but quickly took off in the direction it seemed to be coming from. "AAAH!" Again, the person screamed, and from what I could gather, more in pain than fear. I quickened my speed, heading to the west, towards the Mountains and Swamps border.

"Good thing it sounds close." I started getting ready for a battle, readying my mind in case I had to draw on the wolf for help. I heard the scream one more time, but it seemed to be cut short by a loud THUD. "That cant be good."

Finally getting to the clearing where the action was, I took it all in. There was a small figure hunched over by a fallen tree. The reason the figure was hunched over would probably be the mountain ogre, currently brandishing a giant wooden club, standing over them. It appears there had been a big scuffle, according to all the dents and splintered wood littering the ground. I, rhetorically, asked, "Need any help?" which only succeeded in getting the attention of the ogre. The mountain ogre looked at me slightly confused, then he raised his club and charged at me.

I truly envy people that have never seen a mountain ogre in the flesh because mountain ogres, put simply, are horrendous. They have grey, brown, and white mottled skin, pockmarks all over their entire body, a big gut, and an ugly, gnarled face. And if their visual appearance wasn't already enough to keep you away, their stench would surely be enough to knock you out. The only separation from their skin to the outside world is a ragged patchwork of goat hides. All of that comes in the form of a nine-foot buffoon with an old wooden club.

Then I realized my sword wasn't going to be very effective against the thick skin and long reach of the ogre. "Well this isn't very good." I stated, matter-of-factually. I glanced at the figure to make sure they were fine when I realized that the figure was a girl about my age. The girl also seemed to have a sprained ankle, due to how she was limping away to safety. At least I hoped it was a sprained ankle, and not a broken bone or anything serious, because in this type of situation, it could be deadly.

While I was examining the figure, the ogre got closer and closer until I was well within striking distance of his giant club. One good thing about ogres is that they may be strong, but they have trouble being very accurate when they wield their giant clubs. This was one such case because when I leapt to the side, the ogre tried hitting me, but missed and hit the ground over five feet away from me, a feat I would have thought impossible. It would have even been funny, if the circumstances were different of course.

Drawing on the wolf, I ran to the other side of the clearing, thankfully away from the figure, and used my heightened senses to try to find anything I could use to defeat him. Nothing but some rocks, chunks of sharp wood, and lots of dirt was surrounding me. "I wonder what I can use... Wait, I got it. HEY UGLY! COME GET ME!" I antagonized it, and based on the loud bellow that came from it, it understood what I said.

"Okay, lets see how well this works." I scooped up dirt in my hands, and right before Ugly the Ogre got to me, I threw the dirt in his eyes and jumped to the side. The ogre dropped his club and started to rub his eyes. One other good thing about ogres is that they are normally pretty dumb, so even though he couldn't see, he didn't slow down. Then he reached the edge of the clearing and ran into the woods, and wasn't too far until a loud THUD! resounded throughout the clearing, signaling that he ran into a tree.

"That worked better than I expected. Now, which way did that girl go?"

Author's Note

I know that these chapters are short and I hope to extend them in the future, but right now there isn't much to work off of. I plan on gradually lengthening the chapters as the story progresses. And speaking of chapters, I will try but will probably fail to have frequent updates. I have homework even in the summer and have family events, so hopefully I can write a chapter every week or two. My goal is to update once a week, but we'll see how that turns out. Suggestions/constructive criticism is very much appreciated. And please vote and share!

P.S. If there are any mistakes let me know. For some reason, some of the punctuation was removed when I moved my story here. I think I have gotten it all but please tell me if I missed anything.