-23-
Elk raised his head and stared at Mark, or rather, at the rope that would soon be thrown towards him, with sweat on his brows.
He nervously moved a few steps to the side. The hook-end of the rope barrelled past where his head was before and clanged on the ground as it landed.
"Take it easy kid! You ain't trying to murder me!" He shouted.
Mark scratched his head as he stared at Elk and bowed.
On the other hand, Sord couldn't even throw it to Elk.
"Put some more effort into it Sord! Even the kid is outdoing you!" Elk shouted at Sord.
"I am! It's not that easy dumbass!" Sord breathed heavily as he pulled his rope back. His rope had yet to reach Elk or near him. Always falling short by a distance.
Elk sighed. The two really weren't familiar with throwing a rope. Mark had to control his force while Sord needed to eat more.
"Gimme the rope Sord. I'll show you two how to do it." Elk said. He started moving to Sord but was stopped by Sord's words.
"Get your own rope. There's one right by you dumbass!" Sord shouted at Elk.
Elk eyed the ground beside him and saw a rope coil nearby. He lifted the coil with one hand and moved to a good place. He stepped on one end of the coil with his feet and spun the hooked end with his other hand, then threw it towards Mark.
It trailed in the air and landed right beside Mark.
"See! That's how you throw a rope." Elk pumped his fist in the air.
"This thing sucks," Sord said, "Ain't we supposed to tie a noose or something? And," Sord smelled his rope, grimaced and threw it on the ground.
"This thing is worse than the sewers!"
Mark smelled his and looked at Elk quizzically.
Elk smelled his but couldn't tell anything different from his rope.
"We don't smell nothing, Sord. Might be just yours."
Sord went to Mark, took his rope and smelled it.
"Even this stinks! Screw it! I'm getting a weapon." Sord grumbled off to the weapon rack.
"You sure you don't smell nothing kid?" Elk asked Mark.
Mark smelled his rope again but still shook his head.
Elk scratched his head. Maybe it was just Sord who had a demanding nose? Well, even if they didn't share Sord's nose, it would be cumbersome if they had to carry the ropes everywhere. Maybe it would be fine if it was just for sorties and vigil watch.
"What about you, kid? You wanna grab a weapon?" Elk asked Mark.
Mark thought for a moment, then dropped the rope coil and went to the weapon rack as well.
Elk shrugged and followed the two. Not like he wouldn't like a weapon himself.
At the weapon rack, Sord was having trouble trying to lift a battle-axe.
"Really, Sord? You planning to use that on yourself?" Elk laughed. Sord was trying really hard to lift the axe from the ground, but even with two hands it barely left the ground.
"If you've used one before, best to rely on a familiar weapon." Elk said.
"All I've known are daggers and knives, you think that's gonna help here?" Sord replied.
Elk thought for a moment and agreed. Sord did have a point.
"What about you kid, any experience?" Elk turned to Mark and Mark shook his head.
"How 'bout you two just stick to spears or something? As for me, hehehe."
He lifted a long handled one-headed axe and twisted it around. It was perfect.
"Why am I not surprised?" Sord sighed as he watched Elk all giddy with his weapon. He dropped the axe on the ground and went near Mark to pick a spear.
"Hurry up you two! Remember what the captain said, train like our lives depend on it!" Elk laughed as he ran back to the training ground. Hacking logs apart was much more fun than throwing ropes.
-
It was dark out and Elk was on vigil watch with Mark. They stood atop a watchtower in the northern edge of the city. Elk held a torch on one hand and a rope coil around his other shoulder.
"Whew! Pretty high up, right, Mark?" Elk turned to Mark who leaned over the parapet and looked down.
At some point along the northernmost edge, walls no longer surrounded the city. It was like they had crumbled or disappeared in the past.
After the city's stone-paved ground, the plateau extended where all manner of deadly-looking constructions and machines were placed. The plateau sloped down as wide roads and to the side of the roads were terraces full of the same constructs.
To the bottom, the roads were embanked by these see-through boxes filled with rocks which were stacked half as high as the plateau. Elk wondered if the boxes were made of metal or something else.
Further beyond was the forest.
"You really gotta work on that talk, kid. It's gonna be a long night and I'm not spending it talking to myself." Elk said.
Mark stood to his side, holding a spear instead of a rope coil and a torch in his other hand.
"Let's start with where you're from, kid."
A few moments passed and he replied.
"...Lerkester. I'm from Lerkester." Mark said.
"You mean that farm town to the east? Knew I wasn't wrong." Elk nodded and continued, "So what brings you to the barricade, Mark from Lerkester? You tryin' to make it big like me?"
"...No." Mark shook his head.
"Then why?" Elk asked.
A few moments passed again, then Mark replied.
"I ran away."
"Hm? You ran away?" Elk turned to Mark and stared at him with wide eyes.
Mark nodded.
"Hahaha!" Elk laughed with a hand on his belly.
"Sorry, 'bout that kid. But boy, out of all the places you decide to go. Hahaha!" He laughed some more and finally stopped.
"Okay, now, why'd you run away?" Elk said.
Mark didn't reply.
"Was it something you did, or something they did?"
Mark was silent for a bit, then he replied,
"Something I did…but they did worse."
Elk clicked his tongue repeatedly as he shook his head.
"That's bad, kid. It's hard to make up if they do worse." That was why back at his town they tried their best to make up with peace.
"Well, you ever plan on returning, kid? Not that you need to. Might be best to just leave it all behind."
"...I don't know…I might have to." Mark replied.
"Eh?" Elk stared at Mark for a moment, then said, "Ah! You have a sweetheart."
He saw Mark suddenly turn his head to Elk all wide-eyed before Mark shook his head repeatedly.
"No! We're not sweethearts. Not at all!" Mark replied.
"Eh, you don't have to deny it like that." Elk smirked at Mark, who had a frown on his face.
"We're just…close friends. We've known each other since we were younger."
"So you left the girl behind and ran off alone." Elk said, as he bobbed his head.
"I didn't leave her behind. And she'd never follow me, she's tied to that place."
Elk nodded, though he didn't know what could tie a young girl down to someplace unless she was married. If she was, then this conversation was way out of his league.
"Well, you gotta think hard, kid. You can leave it all behind if it ain't important. But if she is, might be best you go back."
Elk continued, "Take it as wise words from this old man."
"You aren't that old." Mark replied.
"Eh? You can tell? Haha." Elk laughed.
"Well kid, take your time to think about it but don't be too long. Too late and she might be married by the time you're back." Elk laughed aloud with his hand on his belly. Mark winced as Elk slapped him on his back.
As Elk stopped laughing, he stared at the woods.
That was when he noticed. Something was odd about the woods. He squinted his eyes and leaned forward.
"Kill your torch." Elk said.
"What?" Mark replied, his brows raised.
"Just kill your torch Mark."
Elk dropped his torch to the ground and stomped it dead, and Mark did the same.
Moments later, Elk's vision adjusted.
The sky was clear and so were the stars. Elk could make out the trembling leaves of the tree-tops.
The next moment, a bell rang. Then again, and again. Then people started clanging whatever metal they had. Now, torches and lamps were lit as people busted, like the bell woke the entire city.
Then Elk saw it walk out the woods. He saw them.
Two leg-like trunks pushing them forward, conjoined as they rose to a body-like trunk with its ends unravelled like a frayed rope. Two arm-like branches extended from the body-like trunk, and ended with multitudes of claw-like splits. Some had four branches, some had more.
They towered over the stone-filled boxes. And they were many.
Elk could see similar figures walking out from between the trees in the woods. He heard faint thumps as their leg-like trunks dropped to the ground.
Then boulders trailed the air and crashed into the creatures. Then another wave, and another wave.
Chunks of bark burst from the creatures and sprawled all over. Many creatures paused, some leaned back, some tumbled, but they all kept walking.
Then another volley trailed through the air. But this time, they were not boulders.
When they crashed into the creatures, they burned. A pale white eerie flame spread over the creatures. Yet they kept walking.
"Monsters…" Elk uttered.
Hundreds of towering monsters from the woods burned white as they trudged ever closer to the plateau.
The sight was seared in Elk's mind and it chilled him to his core.
That was why he noticed it too late.
A giant piece of burning bark was flying towards them.
'But bark shouldn't burn.' Was the only thought in Elk's head as he stared at the bark hurling towards them.
He pushed Mark aside, right before the piece hit the tower.
Mark was safe. Elk's side of the tower collapsed and he fell.
As he was falling, Elk realised, 'Ah, I saved him, that means I'm…"
Elk didn't finish his thought.