The Monarch

Chapter 6

The forest was alluring and calm. It eased my mind through the subtle sounds of the land and the calls of its animals. Within a few years, I had grown quite attached to the forest. Ms. Myers trained me every day, for almost six hours straight, since I had met her. After we trained in the forest for those six hours, she would tutor me on magic and the world around me.

I always loved to relax underneath the largest tree in the forest. As each day passed, the forest seemed to recognize me. It seemed alive, with a will of its own. Animals never interrupted my sleep, nor did they attack me when they saw me. I had seen dozens of dangerous predators before, but they always watched me from a distance. In return, I didn't harm the forest. I never killed any of its inhabitants out of anger or bloodlust. If I hunted an animal, I would always use it as much as possible. One day, I noticed that the roots near my favorite tree began to curve around a comfortable spot of grass as if they invited me.

This was the elvish way, taught to me by Ms. Myers. She was an expert hunter and an honorable elf, according to their sense of morality. She was also a skilled teacher. Within a year, she taught me how to speak the Elvish language. Within two years, I was writing in it more than English. By the end of those three years, I spoke both English and Elvish but favored the Elvish.

The animals of the forest seemed to understand Elvish. Whenever I spoke it to them, they responded in their way. Some would settle and listen to me before taking off. Some others would talk back, though I never understood them. As I spoke more elvish, more animals seemed to take notice. One animal species, a small albino jaguar, grew very attached to me. The small animal, which seemed to be an infant, was the size of a small dog, followed me around the forest. She joined me for naps, and always slept at the hospital entrance whenever I was in the hospital. She was a playful animal. As time went on, I started to become accustomed to her as well. I had begun to call her Snow, for her white fur.

By the end of our three years together, the city of Ithilia never became close to me. I felt like a stranger walking its streets, despite having assimilated into their culture. I spent all of my time in the hospital or the forest, either catching up on my studies or relaxing. Evendor, the town elder, also became estranged. After he confirmed that I was not a threat to his city, he largely ignored me as he focused on his people.

One day, just a week before I was supposed to leave for the third trial, Ms. Myers summoned me to the forest a few hours early. I thought this was unusual, and prepared accordingly. I joined her, along with snow, at the hospital gate.

"Today, I'm going to take you to our most sacred place. It's the heart of the Baone woods, the land where we draw our power. Treat this place with respect."

As we walked further into the forest, I waited in anticipation for this fabled sacred place. I imagined it was a place full of glowing flowers and a large running waterfall. Maybe it was a cavern with a beam of light flooding the room from above. Or maybe it was going to be the top of a mountain or the bottom of a ravine.

I watched the trees closely as we walked. Snow playfully followed, hopping from one side of the road to another. As we walked, my imagination running, I realized that this road looked familiar.

I had seen these trees many times. When we stopped, I realized with dread why. The sacred site that Ms. Myers had told me about, which she made clear to treat with respect, had been my comfort zone for the last three years.

I had taken naps at the tree base for three years now. As I stood frozen, Ms. Myers walked just a few yards in front of the massive tree in the center of the clearing (the same one that I'd been resting under) and kneeled in front of it.

"This is the source of all of our magic. He is the god of Baone woods, and he also is Baone woods. You must never touch this tree, for he is sentient and a god."

"So he's dangerous, basically?" I asked, shakily dropping to my knees.

"His name is Bal," Ms. Myers said, "He is a kind god, but he has the power to wipe you away from the earth. He is who you must treat with respect. Come, we must make an offering to him."

"What offering?" I asked, slowly inching over to Ms. Myers "Why?"

"To gain his blessing," She told me, "Bal's body may be restricted to the forest that surrounds us, but his influence stretches across the country. We do this to all of our trusted who leave us, as a farewell. To gain his blessing is to gain his protection."

Ms. Myers reached into her bag and pulled three seeds. Each one was the size of a large apple and colored dark brown.

"These are Maplewood seeds," Ms. Myers explained, "We use these as offerings to Bal because they are the rarest and most valuable seed in our possession."

"And we're offering three of them?" I asked, still looking at the seeds. Ms. Myers placed them on the ground.

"Yes," She said, then pulled a small knife from her bag as well, "Now, we must bond you. Give me your hand."

"Whoa," I gasped, looking at the knife, "What do you need that for?"

"We must bond you!" Ms. Myers said, forcibly taking my hand. Then, as she held my hand firmly in place, she took the small knife and pricked just the tip of my index finger. The blood from my finger dropped onto the seeds.

Then Ms. Myers started speaking in an ancient form of Elvish while keeping her eyes closed. She bowed slowly to the massive tree. Most of the words, I didn't understand. As she spoke, the wind picked up around us. I watched as leaves rose from the ground and slowly circled us, like a tornado. Then, roots from the large tree, the one that Ms. Myers called Bal, started to writhe in the ground. When they broke free from their earthen prison, they shot toward me.

Ms. Myers spoke louder as if she sensed the action around her. The tree roots were quick and swiftly surrounded me. I jumped to my feet, surprised. The first root wrapped itself around my right arm, then a second one took my left ankle. Then my right ankle and left arm were restrained. A fifth root wrapped itself around my waist. Within a moment, I was restricted.

Snow started growling and ran toward the action. A stray root struck her away. I winced as I heard her cry away from me. Then, Ms. Myers stood up. She turned to me and opened her eyes. I was surprised to find her irises glowing bright green. She kept speaking, but her eyes didn't show that she was focused at all. Then she moved her right hand to my upper right forehead.

"So a Monarch chooses to become one of my children? No, a monarch's vessel chooses. Fine, you shall become intertwined with my power. When your powers awaken, and you become one with your destiny, you will do so fighting for the earth," I could feel my forehead burn. I screamed in agony, "As for your pet, the albino jaguar. She was not meant to survive the wild. I will bless her as well, but I will also bind her to you. She is yours now."

Then, I fainted and the world turned black.

I awoke in a bumpy carriage surrounded by the sounds of the road. I looked up, confused. Then I remembered the forest and what happened inside. I shot up, looking around. Then, I was comforted when my eyes found Snow, already laying on my lap.

"You've been out for almost a week," I heard a familiar voice say. I looked around, then found a familiar face wearing a familiar beard. He wore heavy plate armor and carried a giant greatsword.

"Gerald!" I yelled in excitement. Gerald greeted me, laughing.

"It's good to see you," Gerald said, "I wasn't sure if you were going to survive back then. Looks like the elves took good care of you. How have you been?"

"Good," I responded, "Really good."

"That's good," Gerald said. Then his face became serious, "We're a day out from the location of the third trial. I've heard it's a hard one."

"What do you know about it?" I asked. Gerald shrugged.

"Not much. However, it's certainly big. Look outside."

I moved over, just enough to peek outside of the wagon. In the distance, I was able to see a giant tower, faded on the horizon.

"That's the third trial?"

"Most definitely," Gerald said, "It's certainly in that direction, anyway."

"That's intense," I said, sitting back down. Snow had awoken and chose to snuggle near me again, "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"There is one thing. Here," Gerald handed me a mirror, "You've been asleep for almost three weeks. During that time, your body has gone through some sort of metamorphosis. I'm only a soldier, so I don't know what that means. But that's what Ms. Myers called it."

I took the mirror, then looked into it. I froze, shocked by my appearance. So many things had changed. I couldn't decide what the biggest difference was. My hair was green now, the same shade of green as leaves. My skin had a slight tint of green to it, and I was able to see green veins appear near my neck and move up to my chin. My ears were also pointed, not unlike that of the elves. The last thing I noticed was a single antler growing from the side of my head. Its base was near the front side of my head, but it curved back and sprouted into several ends. My eyes were glowing green, similar to how I had last seen Ms. Myers's eyes.

"What's happened to me?" I asked, touching my face with my hand. It seemed unreal and too big of a change to fake with makeup.

"Ms. Myers told us it's a side effect of your bond with the Baone forest. She also told us it's incredibly rare, and you're the first case this severe in nearly three thousand years," Gerald sighed, "The good news, though, is that this means you can use earth magic easier because your bond is much stronger than most. We've still got a day until we get to the trial, so you can see if you can cast magic at the back of the wagon if you want."

"Welcome, Apprentice rangers! Out of the five and a half thousand trainees that passed stage one, three thousand have given up on stage two! Consider yourselves strong that you've arrived at this point!" Alistair announced to a giant crowd of people. I gripped my cloak tightly. Gerald had given it to me before we separated, claiming it was a gift from Ms. Myers. It was a thick cloak that reached just above my ankles. The wool cloak had a giant hood that did well to hide my hair and antlers. Gerald had also given me a mask to attempt to hide most of my neck and mouth. My other armor was generic leather armor used by the elves, which seemed to attract a lot of attention near me. Or maybe Snow was the one attracting attention, "For this last trial, we will test everything that makes you worthy to join us! Strength! Speed! Determination! Endurance! The will to kill! Intellect! Instinct! All of these traits will be put to the test here! Your goal is to make it past this 20 mile-wide maze behind me and reach the iron tower! The tower is as tall as the clouds! Your goal is to be among the first one hundred to reach the top. The only rule is that you're not allowed to break the hedge walls. Killing is allowed. Now, follow the officials to be shown your starting point!"

"You'll be listening for a loud gunshot, followed by a red flare in the sky," The official said after leading me to a small entrance into the maze, "That is your signal to begin. Good luck,"

The official left. I looked down at Snow, who seemed to smile alongside me. Then, I heard a giant bang, followed by a bright red explosion in the sky.

I ran into the maze at full speed, pulling my two swords from their scabbards (Which were now placed at my hips)

The maze was much more complicated than I had anticipated. Its pathways were thin, and I seemed to never make progress deeper into the maze. As I ran through, it felt like I was traveling along the edge of the maze.

I was becoming friends with the outside more than the inside, which infuriated me. It was almost three hours before I found my first competitor.

They weren't very nice and tried to attack me instantly. They were a big opponent and wielded a giant ax. I took no time to negotiate and ended the talks with a quick s***h to his chest. I didn't even hear the armor crunch as my blade appeared from his back. His body fell to the ground, split in two.

I continued along the path, finding two other opponents before night passed. I decided to set up camp, as Snow was getting tired. When I awoke the next morning, the maze had changed. It seemed to start by steadily moving further into the maze for almost a mile before I reached another horizontal ring. It seemed the maze purposely made it so I wasn't able to reach the end in one night, but rather several.

Several nights passed before I found my next opponent. I found them by chance as they flew over me, hopping over the walls. At first, I thought this was a breach of the rules. Then, I realized it technically wasn't. Realizing this potential loophole, I followed him, As I hopped through the maze, I realized not many others knew of this strategy.

It wasn't long before I caught up to him. He surrendered, so I didn't kill him. The next night, I was in the center of the maze.

The iron tower was much harder than they made it sound. The tower itself reached to the clouds and nothing above. Because of this, the tower itself seemed to always change size, turning the dirt near the base into smothered mud. The tower's exterior was completely smooth, with no cracks or crevices to be used as a handhold.

I wasn't the first one here. Near the base was a small campfire with three other competitors gathered around it. I slowly walked over there, tempted by the smell of frying bacon. The three people, who seemed familiar around each other, looked different. The biggest one, and who looked the oldest, wore heavy armor and had a giant greatsword leaned against his lap. He had a scruffy beard but a groomed hairstyle. The next person was a woman who wore padded leather armor. Her hair was put up in a ponytail and she wore a silver cape. Near her lap were two steel gauntlets which looked much heavier and much bigger than normal gauntlets. The last person was a blond-haired man wearing a steel breastplate, which was a mix of plate armor and cloth robe. He had a rapier to his side.

As I walked over, the trio noticed me immediately. The three of them jumped to their feet, grabbing their weapons. I took a step back, surprised.

"Are you hostile?" The girl asked, looking me up and down. I shook my head violently. The three calmed down before returning to the campfire, "What's your name?"

"William," I said, hearing my muffled elvish accent through my mask. After nearly a year and a half speaking Elvish, it seemed impossible to speak perfect English now, "William Vercotti."

"Hello William," The woman responded, "My name is rose. This," She pointed to the burly man, "Is josh and this," she pointed to the blond-haired one, "Is Constantin. Sit down,"

"So how long did you spend following the maze's rules?" Josh asked as I sat down.

"Nearly three days," I said, "I didn't realize I was able to jump over the walls until I saw somebody else do it."

"And you're weapons?" Constantin asked, "I'm sorry, but I really can't tell what's underneath that cloak."

"I've got two longswords, one longbow, and a dozen daggers," I answered, "Once this girl grows older," I took Snow and laid her in my lap, "She'll be strong enough to fight by my side."

"Your accent," Rose said, "It's not from around here, is it?"

"No," I answered in Elvish. Rose gasped in surprise. I laughed, then continued in English, "I spent my second trail training under an elf in Ithil il o Aiqua, an elven village in the Baone woods."

"With the elves?" Rose gasped again.

"I also learned their language and spent a majority of my time speaking it. This is maybe the fifth conversation I've had since I've switched back to English. My accent should be gone after I get the flow going again."

"Did you learn their magic there?" Josh asked.

"No," I shrugged, "my teacher tried to teach me some, but I never managed to get a grasp on it. I can cast 'heal', though, even if it's a weak version of the spell."