The Forest Of Riodhir (BWWM)

Chapter 4: Aren't You Supposed To Be Dead, Arya Sartori?

Arya
Present day

I awoke from the sound of a twig snapping somewhere northeast of my position against the tree, not more than a couple hundred feet away. I glanced in that direction, preparing my body for whatever horrors were about to appear... yet nothing came.

I tried to call out "who's there" but my voice had long since left me. My stomach cried from hunger as I regained consciousness, reminding me of the fact that I hadn't eaten anything in days. Looking around, I searched for anything edible but came up short. All that resided around me were trees and shrubs that bore no fruit.

My mind traveled back to the memory of Daemon and I, when we were being prepped to do our first run through Riodhir. We had just finished our two weeks of intense training. Everything from advance combatant skills to basic survival; things like building a fire, gathering food, and finding a water source. No one told us exactly what the forest was, all anyone knew was that the remaining sorcerers used the forest as some kind of defense mechanism against Men.

The Order, under the ruling of Lord Darkmore, sent waves of guards in to map the trails. But after the first, then second, and third final wave never came back, Darkmore put the plans of The Wall into action.

We were put through initiation, they would send us in the forest for periods of time to see how long we could last. Sometimes hours, sometimes days. The gate would remain closed until we arrived on or after our expected time, not a second earlier. We never asked questions, the mission was the sole purpose of our existence and we were obligated to successfully carry out each one as they came.

This group had started with twenty of the most agile people Lord Darkmore could find. Now it was just Daemon and I.

We had guards stationed at the wall to keep constant watch over the forest and any straying sorcerers wandering too close to the entrance. A few days ago, a guard reported seeing a child performing enchantments on the trees near the opening of the forest; that alarmed Lord Darkmore and resulted in Daemon and I being sent out to capture and detain the boy. Up until a few nights ago, we were only ever ordered to kill adult sorcerers, never children.

I was brought back to present time by the sounds of the wind passing through the tree leaves above me. There was something oddly beautiful about the forest as I looked around, really taking it all in. The sky had began to lighten, turning a shade of deep lilac as it illuminated the flowers that had started blossoming from tree branches.

Using the tree I was leaning against, I applied pressure to my feet and the ground in order to push my back against the trunk. Slowly but surely I managed to shimmy up to a standing position. My head throbbed as I stood, trying to maintain my conscious state while my vision darkened. I began walking in what I hoped was north as the sky lightened up around me, revealing a path ahead. With every step I took, I winced from the jolt of pain that would shoot up my spine.

My body froze when I heard another twig snap somewhere ahead of me. I squinted, attempting to refocus my vision as a figure slowly emerged from the darkness ahead. I recognized his uniform instantly, the distinct emerald green handprint was now a bloodied mess, but still blatantly visible. This man was a guard for The Order.

"Well what do we have here?" The man asked as he walked closer, staggering slightly from what looked like a leg injury. "Aren't you supposed to be dead, Arya Sartori?"

My mouth opened to reply but no sound came out from how dry my throat was. I could feel my vision deteriorating. The guard took another threatening step towards me as he drew his broken sword. I backed up till my body hit the large oak. Staring at the blade, I did my best to silence my thoughts and think of a plan to get myself out of this mess. I saw his body lean as he prepared himself for his first attack, noticing how little weight he could put on his right foot.

Making my mind up, I took a step forward, concealing the pain I was currently in, in hopes of not showcasing any weaknesses. His arm moved out quicker than I thought it would as he swung his sword but I used any momentum I could muster to move my body out of the blades path, directly towards him. My left hand went out to open palm strike his wrist in a fluid movement, shattering his joints and making him drop his weapon as my right leg came up and kicked his knee inward, destroying the knee cap.

His body fell forward as he yelled out in pain. As soon as his neck came mid level to my arm, I pulled both arms forward and grabbed his face. With a quick flick of my wrists, I heard the fatal snap of his neck as his body fell lifelessly to the ground.

That attack took the last of my energy and my body staggered back, tripping over the uplifted roots before collapsing against the base of the tree. As my vision darkened, the last thing I could make out was a pair of hands catching my head before it could hit the ground.

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