Living Life on Purpose - Chapter 2

The woman on the right stepped forward, addressing the young man who had helped him up, “Look, you’ve found your brother and we’ve recovered what he stole.  We need to get the hell out of here, these woods aren’t safe right now.  The mana pools are getting worse.  And, I doubt the panther was the only danger out here.”

Frank had no idea what the woman was talking about, but that didn't stop him from staring at her.  She was wearing twin swords on her hips, along with a quiver of arrows strapped to her back, while carrying a short bow in her hands.  With her functional leather armor, she woman looked like an incredibly dedicated cos-player, who was also unnaturally attractive.  Frank couldn’t stop staring at her bright blue eyes, their intensity offset the harshness of her face which seemed to be set in a permanent frown.

The man shook Frank's shoulder, forcing him to pay attention.  With a serious tone he said, "Brandon, she's right.  We need to head back to town.  Our conversation can wait until we’re safe behind the walls of Nettleshire.”

After quickly picking up a shield from the ground, the man walked over to the three women.  Together, they fell into formation. The man was at the front with two of the woman flanking him, while the woman with the blue eyes placed herself behind them, making a diamond.  Frank just watched in confusion, not knowing what he was supposed to be doing.

The blue-eyed woman looked over her shoulder, and harshly whispered, “Get your ass over here boy.  Stand in the middle and try not to get anyone killed.”

Frank rushed to stand where she pointed.  Their apparent fear was starting to freak him out.  He wondered what was in these woods that had them all so concerned.

As the group started moving, they stayed within arms length of each other and walked at a careful pace.  Frank saw that they were all focusing on their assigned areas.  The man had his shield up and his head was on a constant swivel.  The two flanking archers had arrows on their bows, ready to draw and shoot at a moments notice.  Keeping his steps as quiet as possible, he tried to follow what they were doing.  His panic growing as they moved through the dense forest.

Looking around, he thought it looked like a typical Midwestern American forest.  The ground was full of green plants, hiding the forest floor.  The trees were at most a few feet wide.  The canopy was blocking out most of the light, and it was hard to see more than 20 feet without something obstructing the view.  Dead branches were hidden by the brush, and Frank had to keep looking down to watch his steps.

The group moved through the forest in silence.  Occasionally, the man in front would pause, and the group would pause with him.  Too afraid to say anything, Frank kept looking around.  But eventually, the complete absence of anything dangerous caused Frank to lower his guard.

He whispered, “Do you have any idea where we are going?”

The woman behind Frank whispered harshly, “Keep quiet you idiot.  You’ve already died once today, are you so eager to do it again?”

Frank grimaced at the rebuke.  Looking over his shoulder he said, “I don’t see what you -”

“Contact Right!” shouted one of the flankers, and then all hell broke loose.

Frank heard a roar that shook the forest, and leaves started falling from the limbs hanging above them.  He couldn’t see what they were shooting at, but every second more arrows were flying from the women’s bows.  The man had charged toward the trees on the group's right, and the formation pivoted around a crouching Frank.  His wide panicked eyes tried to see what the hell was going on.

He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he saw a large beast rise from the bushes only 20 ft from group.  It had arrows sticking out of its shoulders, but Frank’s eyes were locked on its snout.  Its incredibly large snout.  To Frank, the thing looked like a cross between a bear and a lion.  It must have been seven feet wide at the shoulders, and its paws were spread out covering maybe a ten foot square.  Golden eyes peeked out from behind a mouth full of sharp teeth, two large fangs resembling a saber-tooth tiger framed a red tongue.  Its maw opened to release another roar, and its mane bristled in anticipation of the coming violence.  The entire beast was covered in brown fur, but green streaks and patches provided sufficient camouflage, allowing it to get so uncomfortably close to the group.

Before the beast could rush forward, the man with a shield slammed into the beast’s snout like a cannonball.  Reeling back, the beast’s roar was cut off with a yelp, and the man landed in a stance, his sword held in a ready position behind his shield.

The flankers moved off to the sides to get a better angle, and Frank could see they were using the trees as cover.  He looked around, but couldn’t see the woman with those intense blue eyes.  Realizing that he was now all alone, he looked left and right in panic, trying to find something to hide behind.

Another roar ripped through the forest, and Frank’s eyes snapped back to the fight.  The man was trying to parry the beast’s large paws with his shield.  Frozen in a crouch, Frank watched as it brutally swiped its claws against the steel shield resulting in a sound reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard.

From out of the treetops, the blue-eyed woman dropped down onto the beasts back, swords pointing downwards like fangs from a large snake.  The straight blades bit deep into the beast's neck, and the woman seemed to vanish behind the beasts mane.  Without making a conscious decision, Frank stood up straight to get a better view of the fight.

Stumbling around, the beast was hit in the eye by an arrow and froze like it had been paralyzed.  The forest seemed to hold its breath and joined Frank in waiting to see what happened next.  Seconds passed in silence, until Frank saw the beast slowly tipping forward while going limp, resulting in a loud ‘thud’ as it face-planted into the forest floor.

Frank looked around, and saw that instead of approaching the beast, the two archers were scanning the forest for anything they missed.  The man was crouched, checking his shield.  Was he checking it for damage?

Frank’s attention snapped to the beast as the mane started moving.

From within the tall fur, the blue-eyed woman walked forward, only stopping when she stood on the beast's head.  Seemingly satisfied that the beast was in fact, dead.  She raised her head then calmly started looking around.  Two bloody swords hung from her hands as she scanned for threats.  Her eyes found Frank, who hadn’t moved from where he was when the fight had started.

Her eyes fell with apparent disappointment.  She hissed, “Get over here you idiot.  Don’t just stand there like a snack.  Always stay behind the shield.”

Surprisingly, her voice was loud enough to raise the hair on the back of his neck from 20 ft away.  Frank hopped into action and hurried over to the man with the shield.

Standing up to his full height, the man smiled at Frank and said, “Brandon, you have to pay attention to what’s going on.  Are you alright?  You should know better.”

Frank paused and thought about what to say.  He settled on a variation of what the blue-eyed woman had told them.  “We can talk about it after we get back to town,” he said.

The man frowned, but nodded.  Frank congratulated himself on buying some more time, and then dropped his jaw as he watched the beast vanish into a sack the blue eyed woman had.  It looked like she held the bag open, and the beast just got ‘sucked’ in.  The gigantic beast was squished and collected like she had run a shop-vac over it.

Looking around, Frank saw that no one else was showing any signs of surprise.  Realizing that it was probably something they were all used to seeing, he kept his mouth shut.  He really needed to get a handle on what the hell was happening, but without being able to ask questions, he didn't see much chance of that happening any time soon..

After regrouping, they were back in formation and moving toward the town.  This time, Frank didn’t let the silence, or the monotony, lull him into any false illusions of safety.  All he had to do was imagine another lion-bear hiding in the bushes, and his vigilance was renewed.  For the moment, he was perfectly happy to walk in silence.  Eventually, he’d have to deal with the inevitable questions, but first he’d let these adventurers get him the hell out of here.

As they proceeded through the forest, the limited light from the canopy seemed to dim and the shadows began to grow.  Frank was tired, and despite their slow pace, his legs burned.  He did his best to focus on the moment, but he couldn’t avoid thinking about what would happen when they eventually got to town.  While the forest was dangerous, he found his companions equally terrifying.

Minutes became hours, and over the long trek he watched them kill any predator that had the audacity to challenge them.  Frank never had to do anything, but each fight added to his worries.  The people escorting him were incredibly dangerous.  The archers seemed to have infinite arrows, and they rarely missed.  Without fail, they started firing before Frank could identify their enemy.  And, the man was a mobile wall.  Wherever there was danger, he appeared.  But, the blue-eyed woman was the worst of them.  She was like a ghost.  Time and time again, he'd watch her vanish into the trees and appear in the perfect place to land a killing blow.  They were an amazing team, and also the only reason Frank was not some beast's dinner.

But every step led them closer to town.  When they got there, Frank would have to explain who he was.  Hopefully, they would take it well, otherwise the town might end up being more dangerous than the forest.

It had taken hours, but eventually, the trees started to thin.  It was starting to get dark, and the man in front increased their pace.  Frank tried to keep up, and eventually had to abandon his clumsy attempts at stealth.  Even though they remained silent, Frank was sure they were unhappy with how loud he was being.  Every time a twig cracked under his feet, he cringed and avoided eye contact.

When they finally emerged from the woods, Frank was able to see a large stone wall in the distance.  It must have been thirty feet high, and it looked like the land surround it was cleared. Frank looked down and saw that the forest just stopped as if it was halted by an invisible line.  The transition to grass was so abrupt, he almost broke the silence to ask about it.  Luckily, the man with the shield spoke up before Frank could say anything.

“Gods, that was annoying.  At least we didn’t run into any spawn points or transition points.  Let’s get inside, I’m sure you all want to turn in your quest,” he said.

The three woman didn’t respond, but Frank could see them nodding.  The man led them toward the wall, angling toward what looked like a gatehouse.  Frank stayed in the middle of the group as they approached the gatehouse, and he realized that the wall was in fact larger than he thought it was.  By the time they got to the stone building attached to the wall, Frank decided the wall was larger than most apartment buildings in his old neighborhood.  It wasn't skyscraper tall, but definitely taller than he thought it was.

The gatehouse had several visible guards standing around, all of them seemingly at ease.  They were checking wagons and politely questioning people who approached the gate.  Most of the people apparently came from the road leading away from the forest.  Frank was surprised how far it went.  He could see the road winding far into the distance, until it finally disappeared behind some hills.

Their group didn’t have to wait long, as one of the guards noticed them and waved them forward.

When they approached, the man with the shield said, “I’ve brought him back like I said I would.  I’d appreciate it if you would give me a few moments with him before you put him in a cell, we weren’t able to speak while we escaped the forest.”

Frank’s head whipped toward the man with the shield, confusion evident on his face.  Absently, he heard the guard say, “That’s fine.  I was told Sergeant Jackson was waiting for you to arrive.  Did you recover the money?”

The blue-eyed woman said, “Every copper.  We’ll be turning it in at the Questing Hall.  They’ll know where we’re staying if you have to contact us.”  Turning to the man with the shield, she said, “Consider our quest completed.  Good luck, and thank you for the business.”  After saying her piece, the three woman walked off.

While Frank watched them leave, he felt his arms being grabbed from behind.  Shouting, “Hey?!” He heard the guard in front of him say, “Oh shut up.  You had to know you’d be under arrest.”  The guard looked at the man behind Frank and said, “Throw him in interview room 2.  Make sure he’s chained down.  I heard he’s slippery.”

The man with the shield looked at Frank with sad eyes and said, “I’ll come see you in a bit.  I have to go let Carol know that we’re back.  You broke her heart Brandon.”  With that, the man just walked off through the gate.

Frank felt clamps attach themselves to his wrists and he just stood there stunned.  Frustrated, he finally managed to speak.  He looked at the guard and asked, “What the hell is going on?”

Shaking his head like he was dealing with a punk kid who wasn’t worth his time, the guard just turned around and went back to where he was standing when they showed up.

Frank was dragged by the guard who had put him in chains toward the gatehouse doors.  Trying to gain a little control of the situation, he said, “I need to speak with someone in charge.  There’s been a mistake.  I’m not who you think I am.”

The guard just chuckled and said, “Sure Brandon.  I’ll let Sergeant Jackson know you’re here.  He’ll come talk to you in a bit.  By the way, I always knew you were an asshole, but I never expected you to be a thief.  Thanks for this.  I’ve always wanted to see you locked up.”

As his shoulders slumped in defeat, Frank wondered if this counted as his first adventure.