Chapter 35.5

First half of the next chapter. 

Gladil

“Well, that’s not ominous at all.” The ranger cast a look over his shoulder, both hoping to and hoping not to spot the source of the voice he’d just heard. Unsurprisingly, Gladil saw nobody and nothing capable of speaking to him in the clearing behind him. Even the hedgehog had departed from the tree and was nowhere to be seen.

Whereas most people would not know what to make of this, it did not take long for Gladil to come to the realization that god of the forest had just spoken to him and made clear its intentions of testing him. If there was a trail before him, he would both take and pass it and prove to this god his faith and worthiness. 

To that end, Gladil took a moment to unstrap the longbow from his back and string it. There was no telling what kind of trial this was going to be, and he had no intention of taking it too lightly. There was a certain amount of faith being endowed in him, he knew that because none of the other villagers or dungeoneers who had made it to this clearing had ever been given a chance to take the trial. Just him, Gladil.

He cautiously entered the opening in the trees, peering over each of his shoulders and out into the brush to scan for dangers. The trees here seemed to be taller and darker than the rest of the forest, their canopy almost completely blocking out the sun. He walked along the path for 10 minutes or so before taking a break to look around. Although he was sure the trail he followed was straight he was unable to spot the trial entrance behind him. That was strange because not two minutes ago when he had looked, he would have sworn he saw into the clearing and he’d not turned since then. 

Deciding to investigate, he turned back around and tried to retrace his steps. After twenty minutes or so it became apparent that the way was closed, and that Gladil needed to continue along this path until the end. He’d not seen any enemies yet, so it must not be a trial of combat. With that in mind, the elf decided to pick up the pace and find the end of this trail. Every now and then as he ran along he would hear brushing to off the path to either side or see movement overhead in the branches of the blackened trees. 

That was something else that was off putting about the whole experience for Gladil. Not only had the path been sealed, but the trees had gotten progressively darker until they were a mixture of brown and a black metal and did not get lighter or revert as he back pedaled. Although the trees looked different, he couldn’t help but draw similarities between his current location and the spider forests out west. It was disgusting and, at the same time, more than a little terrifying. There hadn’t been any overly large or aggressive spider sightings in the forest, but he still remembered the camouflaged spider that had started this whole dungeon fiasco when he and Echil first arrived. 

After what felt like three or four hours, Gladil slowed his pace and decided he would take a rest to recuperate. The path he was walking on was almost wide enough for two men to walk shoulder to shoulder, but the brush grew up to and sometimes on the path itself. He centered himself in a mostly clear area along the path where the grass only came up to his shins, rather than his knees like most areas, and sat down to recover his aching legs. He’d been running ever since he realized the path closed behind him. 

The feeling of being watched had followed Gladil every step of the way, and he was starting to get jumpy. On top of that his stomach had been doing its best to remind him that he had backed no lunch and was traveling only on the light breakfast he’d eaten in the forest that morning. There had been days out in the field, back when he was in the army, when he hadn’t eaten for days. So long as he figured out what the god wanted for him before he starved, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be okay. 

As he closed his eyes to meditate and pray to his new god, whose name he still did not know, he heard a rustling again. It was no louder than he had been hearing during his journey, so he ignored it at first. However, it would seem that this was ill advised, because before long the rustling began to pick up in volume and frequency. His eyes finally snapped open at the same time he heard a loud crack from a branch close by being snapped. 

Gladil could not believe what he was seeing. As he watched, an oversized boar glared at him from the tree line. The thing was at least three times larger than Gladil, with two tusks that somehow gleamed even in the low light of this dark forest. On top of that, and on top of the boar now that he thought of it, there was a large wicked looking horn. As he observed the new arrival it huffed once and then twice while it pawed at the ground in front of it. Oh, right. Boars were naturally territorial.

“A trial of endurance then, I see. Well, Mr. Direboar, I think that I am going to take my leave.” The boar let out a guttural noise and lowered its head to charge, apparently speaking had agitated it even more. Gladil sprung to his feet before taking off down the path. He could hear a crashing behind him as the boar slammed through bushes and brush alike, but luckily for Gladil, he seemed to be much faster than the boar. 

This continued for what felt like days. He’d crash along the never-ending path looking for an exit, and every time he slowed too much or tried to rest he’d hear the direboar behind him again. None of that mattered though. 

Gladil’s new god would not have given him a trial without a solution, and so he had to keep going and never stop. After the first few close encounters with the beast, he accepted that the trial must reset every time he tried to rest. He just had to go until the end, and ignore the screaming pain from his legs and stomach. Even his arms and eyes ached at this point, but it didn’t matter. He’d waited too long for an answer to his questions, for a purpose to live, and he was going to get there if it was the last thing he did. 

He just had to keep going, this was his last thought as he tripped over a root that had overgrown onto the trail. He’d been moving for almost two days, and there was no way for him to stop his descent to the ground as his body had long since stopped listening to him and was functioning purely on momentum. As he fell to the ground, he let out a prayer to his new god. He’d failed this trial and he wanted nothing more than another chance to prove himself. To repent for the hubris that told him to attempt the trial with no preparation. To beg forgiveness for the ego that told him any trial would be easy for him.

The thud as he finally hit the forest floor seemed to echo throughout the trees, and all the critters around stopped to look at him. All around Gladil hedgehogs slowly exited the waist high grass and bramble, and slowly approached the fallen ranger. Gladil noticed none of this, he had passed out long before hitting the ground.