Chapter 43: 44- The Second Trip

 

Thwack!

Thwack!

Thwack!

After resting for a few days, Rowan tested his body by doing a few practice shots. He had ten practice pillars lined up and shot them all in succession. Aiming, releasing, and reloading were all done in one smooth movement as he practiced his archery. Every arrow was able to hit dead center.

Perfect. Rowan had not practiced archery all this time for nothing. This meant his body was completely recovered and it was about time for his second trip. Despite all his arrows being able to successfully hit dead center, Rowan could not help ease his worries. He couldn’t help but be reminded of what happened a few days with the wolves.

Practice pillars were stationary, the wolves were not.

Rowan thought he had reached a certain degree of skill with the bow, but it seemed he severely overestimated himself. The situation had been quite dire when the wolves all charged at him. One misstep and he would not be standing here today. 

Real life combat was not the equivalent to practice.

It just went to show no matter how much Rowan planned and trained himself, the real world just had a way of throwing everything into the gutter.

Rowan had thought he was fast at drawing the bow, but he had been too slow. That was just one more thing he needed to work on due to the contemplation he made over the last few days of recovery.

Another point he needed to improve on was dodging and shooting at the same time. Rowan realized he had missed an opportunity when he dodged the wolf first strike. If he had shot an arrow right afterwards, then he could have reduced the threat just a little. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know what attacked him, he should have retaliated immediately afterwards. There had been a few times when the wolves attacked that Rowan missed his opportunity to shoot.

A mistake that he would work on fixing.

Rowan took a breath of to calm himself as he once again prepared to set out. This time he had a goal and direction. 

The Goal? Get out of the Forest of Death. However, first he needed something to wear and protect himself.

 There was something Rowan needed to check out first though. It was a slim possibility, but it was better than nothing.

Rowan parted the barrier with more ease than the first time. This time he also made sure to close the wall of thorns as he walked away. 

His destination? The mysterious tree that had killed a wolf.

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He wanted to see if the wolf carcass was still there. He wasn’t sure what a tree would do with the body of a wolf. It was possible the tree had some method to absorb every part of the wolf for itself as nutrients. There was also the possibility that the tree would just drain the blood and leave the rest to rot. If that happened, Rowan could hopefully acquire the skin that would be left over. It wouldn't be in the best condition, but it would be easy picking for Rowan so he was in no place to complain. Eitherway, he would at least gleam some information about the strange tree and maybe help determine if the tree was truly a threat or not.

Following his memory, Rowan finally arrived at his destination. There were claw marks on the trunk where the wolf had slashed the tree, but it was already fading. Rowan had assumed this possibility and was proven right. There was no body to be found here. Rowan kept a good distance away for safety sake as he slowly walked a wide circle around the area. He noticed there was a spot of freshly moved earth on the side of the tree.

Either some monster moved the body or the tree somehow dragged the body underground and used it for nutrients. The latter was a terrifying thought as Rowan kept his distance.

In the end, Rowan decided it would be best to leave the tree alone and keep moving straight. His new policy was not to touch any tree unnecessarily if possible.  With his business done, it was time for him to see what else was there in the area.

This time Rowan paid more attention to his surroundings with each step. He was not going to make the same mistake twice of letting down his guard.

It wasn’t long  before he came upon a new foe, or more like he heard it first more than anything.

“GIgigigigigigi”

When Rowan heard the noise he immediately hid behind the nearest tree and tried to track where the noise came from. With his bow ready, his eyes looked everywhere until he noticed where the origin of the strange noise came from.

A goblin and it wasn’t only one.

Fortunately it looked like the goblins hadn't noticed Rowan. It was a group of four goblins, small green humanoid monsters that were barely dressed and had sticks for weapons. They were no taller than his waist and could be compared to the size of a human child. Rowan observed the group of goblins as they seem to be having some sort of conversation. There was a lot of hand movement and simple growling, but it seemed to get the point across as the goblins understood each other. The goblins seem to know where they were going as the group moved in the direction that Rowan had initially planned to travel in.

Curious, Rowan decided to follow.

The boy had a hunch. If the goblins decided to head in this direction, then that meant it was safe for them. If it wasn’t, then the goblins would serve as good bait for Rowan to run away. It was a bit cold blooded, Rowan had to do what he could to increase his chance of survival. Besides, if the goblins had discovered him, they would have tried to kill him right away. If the goblins somehow headed back to their base, then that would allow Rowan to know where the goblin home is and avoid it. No matter what it came down to, following the goblins looked like the best choice for now.

It wasn’t long before the group came upon a swamp. The water itself was muddy and filled with debris. So dirty was the water that it was unclear if any fish lived in it. Lily Pads decorated the swamp’s surface. On the edge of each lily pad were spikes like a gaping maw. It gave Rowan a bad feeling.

The goblins began shouting and motioning at each other. One goblin pushed another and soon a brawl ensued.  Rowan would have found the situation funny if he wasn’t in such a serious dangerous spot. During their own infighting, Rowan crept closer to see what the goblins wanted to do.

Soon, the weakest of the goblins was pushed out of the group. What was unusual was how scared it looked. The goblin slowly crept towards the water, one foot at a time. When nothing seemed to be happening, it walked up the swamp and dipped its hand in cautiously. Relief seemed to overcome the goblin as it began to shout for the other goblins to come over.

SNAP!

That is when one of the lily pads came to life and dragged the poor green monster into the water.

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