Flying away from all I've known [Flashback/Training]

[Laeraix Cerys]

The sky was barely visible above the canopy of trees that seemed determined on blocking out the sun. The foliage intertwined in a complicated pattern that was invisible to human eyes but was of use to the animals that inhabited the forest, and the branches created a plethora of pathways and roads. Below the trees, life was quieter and much less chaotic. Animals existed here as well, perhaps more so than in the canopy, though the denizens of the forest floor were less likely to emerge around humans. A thick dampness permeated both the ground and the air around Laeraix and Avari.

Laeraix stretched her arms and sat down rock that had been overgrown with moss for more years than either could remember. The rock was smooth topped and made a perfect bench at the edge of the forest and the plains. She had often joked that she would bring it home and use it as a chair more often, but the rock was a way stone to travelers, and a comfort that never changed. She knew why she was here: it was finally time to leave Avari's protection, but he wouldn't let her leave without testing her and all that she had learned. She waited anxiously and twisted her fingers together. Avari was watching her, patiently; waiting for a reason to emerge that would tell him that she was not ready for what she would soon face. Avari watched her facial expressions for a bit longer before speaking.

"You'll spend a week here. Alone, without help from anyone, save a few hints that I have hidden. I will hunt you, as your enemies could one day, and you will not be allowed to change your form."

He handed her a collar that would block her transformation and continued:

"You will have to use all that you know, and a good amount of things that you don't. After the week is over, at the first sign of dawn, you will return here to fight me. That alone will determine if you pass your test."

His words had no hint of questioning in them, they were sharp demands, and Laeraix took the challenge for the compliment it was. Avari knew she was ready, and though tinges of doubt flickered through her mind, she stood and placed the leather collar around her neck.

"I am ready." She spoke the words with all the courage she could muster, daring Avari to say otherwise, hoping that he would condemn all her training so she could fight him now to prove her worth.

He nodded, satisfied. Laeraix stepped out towards the heart of the forest, and kicked off her shoes before she got too far. They would be a burden, and wouldn't alert her to the deadly creatures in the underbrush the way her own bare feet would. Boots left tracks, and tracks led to a quick and instant death. Her feet sank into the loamy soil and she stretched once more before running into the forest. Avari's voice called to her as she disappeared into the thick trees and brush.

"I will begin hunting for you in an hour. Watch out for the traps."

Day 1:

The first hour was crucial, and would determine whether or not she would evade Avari for a hour or for a week. Laeraix quickly made her way through the brush while trying to avoid ripping any vines or disturbing the ground. Her feet barely touched the underbrush as she ran and forced her muscles to continue onward, even when her breathing became ragged. When she finally stopped running, her body was doubled over in an attempt to get more air into her lungs. More than anything, she wished to stop running, but she knew that she had to a keep a steady pace, even if she could only walk. The clearing was one of the few places that the large trees had declined to take over. It seemed that something about this area was a bane against growth and life. It was here, inside a hollowed out dead tree that she had hid a spare quarter staff, a small jug of water, and a ration of food. The food and water would only last for a day or two if she fasted, but the jug and sling that they were held in were necessities for survival.

Avari would patrol both the forest and the places she was most likely to visit, like the small creek bed. With the addition of a water jug, she could fill up the jug and have water to drink for much longer. Laeraix reached her hand inside the moldy tree hollow and grabbed the first thing she felt. She screamed and threw the canvas sack on the ground the second it hit the open light. It was not her food sack, as she first thought. It was one of Avari's traps, and it took advantage of her lack of caution. How many times had Avari cautioned her that no safe hiding place existed anywhere in Mizahar? No matter how safe you thought your belonging's were, someone could stumble upon them and ruin any plans you may have had. The best equipment was that which you could carry on your person.

Laeraix clutched her stomach and doubled over for the second time in a span of minutes. Lack of air was not an issue now, but it became apparent that Avari's traps had multiple parts and were designed for maximum impact. Contact poison was smeared all over the bag and touch with any amount of skin would infect the person with a virulent fast spreading toxin. Thankfully, Laeraix had come into contact with this poison once in the past, via an intruder. The boy had tried to invade their home and steal any valuables he could pillage, but the outside of the front door had a thin lair of the sticky poison spread on the oak wood, and it infected him quickly. A few minutes into his would be adventure, the boy cries were heard all through the house as he vomited and sweated profusely. The poison was far from deadly, but it did force precious hydration out of the body for the hour that it lasted. Avari had always wished to teach her his favorite trade, the art of poison making and usage but Laeraix had always declined. There was something roundabout and spineless about using poison, and it had always seemed like a coward's way to fight. Half of her recognized that fact as true now, while the other half wanted to find Avari this instant and beat him senseless with her own two hands.

The walk to the riverbed was slow and agonizing. Her time was running out quickly now and she knew that Avari would try to track her. If nothing else, this fact was a small comfort. Avari's days as a thief and mercenary were confined to cities and he knew little about tracking humans in the wild. When she arrived at the stream, a familiar sight greeted her. The brook bubbled and flowed over gray and white rocks that slowed the water until it reached the end of the stream. The end of the stream wasn't deep, but it was plenty wide. Laeraix drank steadily and filled her body with water to try to replenish that which she had lost. Her body would not tolerate food due to the poison, but she hoped that water would help her internal structure combat the effects of the toxin. She walked slowly to the far edge of the stream where water pushed against the mud and formed a pit of the thick black muck. It was some of the richest soil to be found in these parts and it also worked well to camouflage her hair and skin. She coated the mud liberally, all over her body until she looked like a golem from the many picture books she had read. Most of the mud would fall off as she walked, but a thin coat would remain to dry in the sun and protect her from sight.

Laeraix walked purposefully toward an area she knew well as night began to fall over the forest. It got dark quickly under the massive canopy, though the sounds of nature hardly ceased. Every muscle in her body was tense and she began to fox walk. Fox walking was an art that had been practiced by hunters for eons. It was easy to master but hard to use for a prolonged period of time. The side of her foot hit the ground first, and the flat part of her foot followed. Avari was fond of traps at night as well as poisons that paired hallucinogenic drugs with mild anesthetics. These poisons were homemade and extremely volatile. The victim of the poison would find themselves enclosed in a brutal bear trap as the poisoned prongs caused them to hallucinate, yell and finally pass out. Avari loved his craft and spent many years brewing and mixing poisons with hard to find catalysts for the most virulent and fast spreading effect. She knew that he would use his full arsenal against her in hopes to catch her off guard for a split second. In truth, Laeraix knew she would slip up some time in the next seven days. His traps were assembled at home for quick setting in the forest. He could easily place twenty traps in the forest in under an hour. She knew that she would be caught in one or more of these traps, and she could only hope that she could disarm one before he found her.

The meadow was full of branches from a tree that had recently been struck by lightning. The tips of the tree were charred black and one of the biggest branches had fallen down and many smaller limbs had splintered from the impact. Avari didn't often venture to this part of the forest, and as the tree had fallen recently he probably didn't suspect this place as a weapons cache. The limbs on the ground were of strong stock, and most were straight, with a minimal amount of knots that could lessen the aero dynamics. She picked one up noticed that it was top heavy. Finding a perfect quarter staff can take years for even an experienced warrior. Some people preferred lighter woods that could twirl in the air with blinding speed, while others counted on dense, thick woods to incapacitate the target. Laeraix agreed with the latter. Though a number of flashy tricks could be performed with a well made light staff, none of them had the damage power of a heavier wood, like oak. After a few chimes she found a branch that would do well as a temporary weapon. The weight was considerable, but it was balanced well through out the whole length of the staff. Laeraix twirled it once and lashed out at the trunk of the tree. The staff connected but then bounced back from the force of the tree. It would do for now, or until she found something better. She also grabbed a few smaller sticks, none of them wider than her thumb. These were stuck in the side of her belt for later. When she finally decided to rest, she could sharpen these sticks as miniature daggers. They weren't very damaging, but if Avari managed to get her staff away from her she needed to have a backup plan. Laeraix stomach rumbled in protest. Normally, she would have eaten hours before now, and her stomach reminded her of that fact with another pang of pain. She needed to go hunting.

Laeraix hated stalking animals. Any animal had an attention span much longer than an average human. Her foot touched the ground as she neared her target: a small rabbit that hid in the grasses. Her steps were agonizingly slow. Her thoughts turned to various torture techniques Avari had told her of, and how they were implemented. Surely, the stalking of animals was of the same caliber as the dreadful techniques he had seen. While stalking, each step took at least two minutes, and perhaps longer, depending on the distance and alertness of the animal you were hunting. If you legs moved that slowly, it looked like you weren't moving at all, and in fact, you hardly were. It had taken Laeraix years to develop the musculature and patience that it took to stalk and kill a small animal. She hadn't practiced it after that, and she was still horrible at it. She was only three steps away from the rabbit and she slowly moved her arms behind her back to grab her staff. Her hands found the wood and she began bringing it out in front of her person to attack the rabbit with one decisive blow that would either break it's back, or allow it to escape. She realized her mistake an instant too late. The rabbit turned toward her and wriggled it's brown nose before darting off. She put all of strength behind the blow, but she hit only ground. An hour of patience and agonizing pain had brought her nothing. Laeraix sank to the ground and let her mud encrusted knees take the brunt of the fall. How she wanted to scream, to rage, to fly away. Practicing survival skills was fine and dandy when you got to go home after a hard day of training and relax. A day of running could be cured with a hearty meal or a soothing bath. The books never told of the bone weary exhaustion that hit you in waves as the paranoia ravaged your mind. No one told her that she would be so hungry, desperate and afraid, but this was her doing, she had challenged Avari and herself by accepting the challenge. She laughed aloud as her book trapped a small worm. The thought of the books teaching her anything that about survival amused her. She grabbed the worm and ate it. The slimy worm was a meager meal, but she knew that she could find more. After a meal of worms and various other forms of protein, she stood up and surveyed the small patch of grass within the forest. If she slept here she would be completely exposed to the elements and Avari.

The walk was long, but the poison had long since left her body, and her stomach was sated for a few hours. She had six more days of this, and then a fight with Avari, who would be well fed and refreshed. The odds were against her and she knew that Avari knew every trick she possessed, for he had taught her them all. Her only trump card, her ability to transform has been stripped from her. Her abilities also gifted her with better sight and hearing, but that would hardly help her in a fight. She needed weapons, a full night's sleep and too many things to name. Thoughts plagued her as she roamed the forest aimlessly, in search of a place to sleep. Sleeping against a tree wasn't an option. Avari could pin her there and she would be dead. Sleeping hardly seemed like an option at all, when Laeraix considered her circumstances, but she couldn't go without it. An hour went by before she sank to the ground in front a thicket of brambles. She shuddered as she imagined the stinging pain that would soon cover her body. She pushed her hands in front of her and crawled head first into the spine laced vines. Tiny needles stabbed at her from every angle and she bit her lip to keep herself from whimpering. She crawled further into the brambles and ignored the pain. She moved from side to side which made her route longer, but it also made sure a gaping hole would not be torn through the brambles. She was finally ten feet into the thick vines and she laid down to rest. Her back sunk into the brambles and they ripped through her thin shirt. She ripped off a part of her shirt that was almost torn off and tied it to the end of her staff. Though Avari would not be fooled, many enemies eyes would be drawn to the flying fabric instead of the twirling staff it was attached to. She sank into a sleep that was both restless and invigorating, for the 5 hours it lasted.

(To be continued)