Marco waited for Reina to shout, to protest, or to otherwise tear his idea apart. But instead she just let out a long sigh.
"That sounds about right," she said as she looked up at the faraway branches of the giant tree.
"Can you climb with your arm like that?" he asked.
"As you said, it's really only a scratch. I'll endure." Then, she jolted, as if having an idea. As she walked briskly to her bag, she said "Besides, now that I know this tree might want to kill me, I feel quite inclined to leave it as soon as possible."
Before Marco could pose the question of how they would climb the tree, Reina produced a rope from her bag and handed it to him.
"You really came prepared!" Marco exclaimed as he took it.
"This is a test to determine our future, not to mention a literal battle for survival," Reina replied. "I find it more surprising that a man trained in the academy for Heroes is underprepared."
Marco blushed. "They actually did teach us the essentials for a journey. They even gave us a list of things we should have on us at all times. But being from a poor family...I could only afford about half the items on the list."
"So you became resourceful out of need?" Reina guessed. "Explains your odd way of going about things."
She went back to digging through her bag, but then paused.
"Wait...why are you unprepared now? The palace has everything that could possibly be on that list."
"I didn't think about that."
"But you made sure to visit the armory and get a helmet you don't wear a sword you can't use?"
"...Yes."
Reina shook her head as she muttered. "This man is going to be the death of me. I'm going to die in this godsforsaken tree and become food for some giant bird..."
Marco watched as, amidst her ramblings, she pulled a metal hook out of her bag and grabbed one end of the rope from his hands. After tying the rope securely to the hook, she let go, backing away and leaving Marco holding the dangling hook.
"I take it you want me to throw it," he said dryly.
"Is that a problem?" she shot back.
"No, I just thought since you prepared it…"
"You could do something on this trial besides tell me your life story and set a magic tree on fire."
"I technically defeated the Gramtese Dragon too." he grumbled as he took the rope.
"Technically," she repeated with emphasis.
Marco swung the rope in a circular motion, building momentum as he pinpointed the closest branch. It was somewhere between ten and fifteen feet away and a little above him. There was a particular point near the middle where the branch split off into a "V" shape. On a normal tree, the split branches would definitely be too weak to support the weight of a person. But on the gargantuan Elder Tree, every branch was strong enough for Marco to climb on. At least he hoped that was the case. Death by plummeting aside, he needed to get at least this right to show Reina he wasn't completely incompetent.
He took aim, swung the rope extra hard one last time, and cast it off. The hook sailed through the air a clean five feet to the right of the branch Marco was aiming for.
He silently reeled it back in before stealing a glance at Reina.
She was sitting down and casually fixing her hair!
"What?" she asked when she caught his eye. "I know this is going to take you awhile."
Marco simultaneously wanted to slap Reina and throw himself off the tree. Instead, he channeled those feelings into another throw.
And then another one after that.
And then about twelve more before the hook finally dug into the "V" between the two branches.
Marco tugged on his end of the rope and was pleased to find that it was firmly stuck.
Turning to Reina, who had now fully rebraided her hair, he hesitated and said "Well, here I go."
"Alright," she replied as she came over to watch him.
He tugged the rope three more times just to ensure that it was really secure before he gave Reina one last look. With no more words to exchange, there was nothing left for him to do but climb.
So climb he did.
Once his feet left the security of solid ground and dangled in the air, he was instantly aware of how high up he was. He certainly didn't need to look down to remind himself. He stared intently at his destination as he climbed the fastest he'd ever climbed in his life. Despite his heart pounding harder than a tax collector on a deadbeat's door, his arms were soon wrapping around the branch without incident.
After finding his footing, he swung the rope over to Reina. She took a bit longer than he did to climb, and when she was close to the top Marco noticed her wincing periodically. Clearly she was battling the pain of her arm. He gave her a hand when she reached the branch and pulled her up.
"So now what?" he asked after she caught her breath.
She pulled the hook out of the branch and held it out. "We do it again."
Marco took the hook and looked up at the Elder Hawk's nest. There were several branches between them and it. Some were clustered together enough that they could jump between them, but the next closest one required another use of the rope. He took a deep breath and started swinging it around.
****
It took them at least an hour to get to the nest. Marco could tell because they started off dangling for their lives against the backdrop a clear blue sky. Now it was orange, with the sun getting dangerously close to disappearing under the horizon.
"You sweat too much," Reina said as he pulled her up to the last branch. When she was safe, she wiped her hand on a nearby leaf.
"Maybe you don't sweat enough!" was Marco's comeback. In truth, he knew his face was probably glistening. He was also breathless. He'd exercised more on this trip than he had in the last five years. He plopped down heavily on the branch, not caring how uncomfortable the bark was.
"We don't have time to rest," she remarked. But even she was breathing heavily and allowing sweat to invade her brow. She was also rubbing her arm.
"Too bad, I can barely move."
"You said it yourself, we don't want to be here at night," she said, kicking him. "Come, we just have to go over there, claim our prize, and then we can leave this place forever."
Marco groaned but got up anyway. His arms felt like they were burning and he just wanted to sleep. But she was right, this tree was not the place to do it. And as it happened, the Elder Hawk had left the nest during their climb. This was the perfect chance, but it still left them having to grab the lizard's head, find a new exit, and run as fast as they could to the bottom. All in about an hour's time. Even then, they would probably be camping in the middle of the woods that night.
As he followed Reina to the nest, he pictured the huge, soft bed waiting for him back at the palace. He had only spent two nights on it, but those were probably the best two sleeps he had ever had in his life. He couldn't wait to return to it.
"Uh, Marco," Reina said, bringing him back from his fantasy. They didn't get far before Reina put her hand out to stop him.
"What?"
She was carefully peering over the edge of the branch they were on, so he followed suit. At first, all he could see was a pile of twigs gathered together near the base of the tree. An ordinary bird's nest, save for the fact that it was probably the size of a small hut. They decided to climb to the branch above it and drop down because that would be safer than trying to climb the actual nest. But now that he had a view from above, he noticed two very distinct things.
First, the Gramtese Dragon was there! The same lizard that they fought earlier in the day, the very reason they were even climbing the Elder Tree, was laying right in front of them.
And it was utterly disgusting.
It was long dead, its body now a blanket of tattered green skin with entrails spilling out of it, as if an explosion had went off in its stomach. Only the head and one and a half leg were still somewhat intact. The meaty bits that scattered out of the stomach seemed to form a trail as though they has gotten up and walked away. But really, that trail was the work of the second thing Marco saw.
There were Elder Hawk babies!
Three fuzzy white baby hawks were sitting peacefully in the nest. They huddled together and seemed to take turns popping their heads up to take in the world around them with their big black eyes. Marco might have found them adorable were it not for what they did when they put their heads back down. After a closer look, he saw that they were picking at a half-eaten lizard arm, pulling the remaining meat off the bone so that it made the sinew stretch.
That almost made Marco gag so he quickly turned to Reina. He whispered, "I suppose you want me to come up with a plan for this too."
He was surprised to find her shaking her head. Then she put her finger on her mouth and stared at the nest for a few seconds longer.
"Actually," she said, "I have an idea for this."