Marco Flores knew he messed up.
As he stumbled through the thick forest, face constantly assaulted by unforeseen branches, he replayed the events in his head. The rush of victory, of cleverly using his knowledge to call in some help against the Gramtese Dragon just as things seemed most dire. Then, lost in his moment of celebration, he forgot to account for how he would collect the trophy.
Marco Flores knew he messed up. But Princess Reina Hollencrest was still determined to remind him.
"I don't understand how you lose a giant lizard!" she said for the fifth time. She said it for the first time right after he explained how the Elder Hawk took the Gramtese Dragon away. Then two more times as she sent him back up the tree to pinpoint the hawk's nest and plot a path to it. And once more as they left the road and embarked into the thick of the forest to reach the Elder Tree. Now she was repeating it again as she almost tripped over a stone hidden in moss.
"I didn't lose it," Marco finally replied.
"Do you have it with you right now?"
"No."
"Then it's lost!"
"Reina, I'm sorry."
"That's Princess Reina to you," she said in a huff.
"Your highness," Marco said as he pushed aside a branch and let Reina pass. "I've apologized so many times. But, honestly, it was either call in the bird or let that thing kill us. I don't remember you having a plan other than stabbing it."
"Stabbing is often an effective plan," she replied matter-of-factly. Then, in a clear attempt to close the subject, she said, "So this bird. Why did it carry our lizard away?"
"Elder Hawks are natural predators of Gramtese Dragons. Few other things are big enough to overpower those nasty lizards, as you saw for yourself. Of course, it wouldn't just eat out here in the open. It took the food back to its nest. It might even share with the other Elder Hawks."
"Wait...there are more!?" Reina gasped.
As if to answer her question, the clutter of branches and leaves suddenly gave way to a clearing. It was a small bit of grass with a tiny stream running through it, an unimportant nook in the vast forest. But with the trees no longer obscuring the sky, Marco and Reina could see the monstrous Elder Tree rising towards the heavens. It was rather close, close enough that they were actually caught in its shadow. And around it circled two, no three... an entire flock of Elder Hawks.
"There are a lot more."
****
It wasn't long before the duo was at the base of the Elder Tree. At this distance, they couldn't even see the parts of the tree that rounded into the other side of the trunk. A brown wall of bark extended on either side, and far above them were branches thick with healthy leaves. Leaves that Marco and Reina could probably both wrap themselves in and still have room to stretch.
Marco was looking up, wondering how exactly they were to scale the behemoth branches, when Reina let out a shout.
"Aha!"
He joined her, and discovered that she found a hole bored into the trunk. It appeared to lead up and deeper into the tree, so deep that it actually got too dark for him to see.
"We can get in through here," Reina said excitedly.
"Inside the tree!?" Marco replied, eyes wide. "But what about the Elder Beasts?"
"Elder Beasts?"
"Oh, right," Marco nodded. "You know the story of the Five Gifts, don't you?"
"Of course," Reina said with a shrug. "The gods bestowed our ancestors with fantastic feats of nature, one for each of the five elements. We call them the Five Gifts because they carry magic within them. The Everlasting Flame back in Sunheight is one. And this Elder Tree is another. What does that have to do with beasts?"
"We know a lot about the Everlasting Flame because it's been in a human city for ages. Mages studied how its magic works, and use it to our kingdom's benefit. But the Elder Tree isn't so easy to access. Scholars believe that magic seeps out of the tree and affects life itself. Over time it transformed the animals here into larger versions of themselves, Elder Beasts. They also became more territorial, almost as if to protect the tree. When mages came to study the tree in the past, they barely made it out alive. That's why there's no road leading here. That's also why the discovery of Elder Beasts was not spread. Hunters would definitely come here to claim them if they knew. But this isn't a place for humans," Marco explained.
"You tell me this now? After we trekked all the way here?" Reina said as she rubbed her temples.
"Don't worry," Marco said. "We don't have to go inside. Just give me time to think, I'll figure out a way to climb this tree and get the Gramtese Dragon head back."
"Oh, no," Reina replied the moment he finished. "No more of your plans. I'll be taking the lead from now on." After that proclamation, she took a curved metal ring and a stone out of her bag. Marco recognized them as her campfire starter. As she looked around and eventually grabbed a stick, she continued, "Besides, you overthink this. There is a simple way to deal with all beasts, big and small."
"Fire?" Marco asked. "Your brilliant strategy is that animals are afraid of fire?"
"Exactly." Reina said triumphantly as her tool created a spark and set the stick ablaze. With her makeshift torch in hand, she started towards the hole in the trunk.
"Wait!" Marco said as he blocked her path. His mind felt like it was about to burst with all the reasons as to why this was a bad idea. He wasn't sure which one to say first. Giant animals, not knowing the way, and of course, bringing fire inside of a tree.
"Marco, move," Reina said, standing firm as she faced him. "Or I will move you. Either way, I'm going in."
Their eyes met, and Marco felt like she could burn his face off with the intensity of her stare. But it wasn't just anger or annoyance in her eyes. There was determination. He knew that she meant what she said. It was then that the thought occurred to him that Reina was here because of him. Yes, because he had let the hawk take away their prize. But also because he forced her to become his Patron in the first place, sealing her fate as his companion on this trial. For all his declarations of being a Hero, he never let his supposed partner have a say. So, despite every fiber of his being telling him it was a terrible idea, he moved aside.
"Alright, lead the way your highness."
"That's better," she nodded. Then, she brought Marco and a live flame into the Elder Tree.
****
Soon after entering, Marco and Reina both formed quick opinions about the Elder Tree. For Marco, it was that it was dark and outright terrifying. Sunlight obviously didn't get inside the tree, so it was pitch black save for the dim glow of Reina's torch. Which was also a huge problem in and of itself. Every time Reina let the torch come close to the "walls" of the narrow tunnels, Marco's heart skipped a beat.
As for Reina, she was most bothered by the smell. The scent of sap was overpowering. Which might have been alright if not for the damp, musty odor that mixed with it. Every so often the narrow path would open up into a wider room of sorts. These rooms had little pools of water and patches of wet bark. Marco suggested that the tree had retained moisture from the last rain. Reina was not fond of the smell of water that had been sitting out for days. Even worse, these wet areas attracted beasts. Insects and rodents the size of cats and large dogs. What they left behind added a...particularly strong element to the mixture of odors that made her gag.
"Eeeeee!"
When an Elder Rat bore its fangs at them, Reina waved the torch frantically. The big rat squealed as it darted away. So did Marco.
"Will you be careful with that!" he yelled.
"It was coming at me!" Reina replied as she shuddered.
"I know but..."
"Stop whining. My plan is working perfectly," she said as she whirled around. She was so distracted by her disgust that she almost ran into a wall. She stopped just short of brushing the wall with her torch, but it was enough to make Marco's life flash before his eyes.
"Yes, the beasts are being scared off by your flame," he said. "But what is the overall plan?"
"Scale the tree until we find the bird's nest, of course," she replied. In front of them were two holes that lead to different pathways. One went straight, and the other one slanted upwards. Marco noted that Reina picked the rising one, as she did every other time, probably thinking that up was best.
Marco followed along obediently as they found themselves in an area that was much larger than any previous one. Unlike the other rooms, the torchlight didn't even reach the "ceiling."
"No beasts here," Marco said with a relieved sigh. Indeed, despite having the same wet spots on the walls and floor, this room was oddly devoid of life.
"Afraid, are you?" Reina teased.
"I'm not afraid," he replied sternly.
"I heard you scream earlier," she said said in a singsong voice.
"I screamed because of your recklessness" is what he wanted to say, but he held his tongue.
Even if he was going to say it, he would have been interrupted by the huge fly that suddenly appeared and flitted around right in front of him. The buzzing beast could've covered his face, and it caused him him to wave his arms wildly and even fall over in his astonishment.
Then, just as quickly as it came, the fly flew up and disappeared, leaving Marco on the ground swinging his arms at nothing. When she saw this, Reina burst out into a fit of laughter.
Marco felt his face go hot and didn't need a mirror to tell that he was red with embarrassment. "That fly was huge!"
"So scared of a few big beasts," Reina said through her laughter. "Marco the Coward indeed."
"Don't call me that!" Marco leapt up and stormed over to her.
Reina stopped laughing when she saw the look in his eye. "Alright! No need to be so dramatic."
"You don't understand," Marco said fiercely. "I've been living with that stupid name for five years."
"You reap what you sow," was her reply.
Marco eye's could've fallen out of his head they were so wide. "What?"
"You have to admit, your own actions prove the name to be true. Even without your display just now, imagine if you had actually fought the lizard instead of having a bird take it away. We wouldn't be here right now. Instead, it's always some workaround, some deception with you. That's your problem, you never face things directly."
After she said that, Reina turned to walk away as if that was the end of it. But she didn't get far before she felt a tug. Marco had grabbed the torch!
"You don't know anything about me."
"Release me this—"
"I've had enough of your brash...craziness!" Marco tightened his grip on the torch. "That's your problem. You face everything too directly! Charging into a tree with fire and waving it around like a madwoman. And you insult me because I use my head? Well guess what, princess, we don't all have the money and power to just make our problems go away. Some of us have to struggle just to get food to eat. So excuse me for coming up with a few tricks to get by!"
"How dare you!" Reina exclaimed as she pulled at the torch. "I am not some pampered royal. You presume to know my life but what have I ever told you?"
"Nothing! I tried to be your friend, shared personal stories about myself. But you give me nothing."
"I gave you everything! This trial, your insane dream of being a Hero. And how do you repay me?"
At this point, they were just like children arguing over a toy, tugging it back and forth with no end in sight. Marco had a slight advantage, but his years of neglecting training and Reina's surprising strength meant that he could never quite wrest the torch from her grasp. Eventually, the only sound that could be heard aside from their grunts of effort was a weak buzzing.
After some time of this, Marco began to tire. He didn't even know why he was fighting so hard for the torch. So what if he stopped Reina from setting everything on fire? He still had no idea how to find the Elder Hawk's nest. All they were doing was tiring themselves out, making it easier for one of the Elder Beasts to come and make a snack of them. Just like a struggling fly trapped in a web.
Wait…
Marco let go of the torch. Reina immediately clutched it and looked at him defensively.
"Raise that as high as you can," he said with great urgency.
She would have argued were it not for the look of pure dread on his face. She raised the torch as they looked up in unison.
The pathetic buzz was coming from the same fly that flew at Marco. Only now it wasn't flitting about so freely. It was fighting with all it had against a white substance that was clinging to its wings and wasn't letting go. As Reina moved the torch, they realized that the white stuff was a web. A web that covered the entire ceiling.