Beware of the Shade

Soon, Gaelin felt the soft body in his arms relax, and the rhythmic breathing sounds told him Selussa had finally fallen asleep.

Gaelin wasn't surprised at all. Selussa had used far more magic power along the way than he had and this naturally tired her out.

He wiped a few strands of stray hair away from her delicate face and decided he wouldn't wake her for watch duty tonight. The rest of the night was uneventful, but he did notice that the stars and moons had been covered by a dim haze. It wasn't too peculiar but he somehow felt the haze wasn't natural.

______

Ten hours later.

"Ahhhhn~"

Selussa made a sound of satisfaction as she stretched her back like a cat. From this angle, Gaelin had a clear view of her hourglass figure and it most likely wasn't a coincidence.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to report our kills yesterday. I don't know if the greater blood crows have any medicinal value but it should be worth something right?" she said.

"I'm not sure myself. It's my first time encountering those crows," Gaelin replied.

After a brief conversation, Gaelin and Selussa went outside to check on the birds, but they were shocked by what they found. On all the nearby branches large black birds could be seen resting in the early morning light.

"There must be hundreds of them... it looks like the dead birds deterred them from this branch though." Selussa murmured with a hand over her mouth.

"Or we just got lucky, regardless, they are still resting so we should get the hell out of here," Gaelin whispered.

They quickly marked their kills and descended the tree. By the time they reached the ground several crows had begun to wake up and made loud cawing sounds, which awoke the others.

"That was close. It seems not even large trees are safe." Selussa said.

"No. Our mistake was in choosing the largest tree. Next time we will choose an intermediate size tree, it's still better than sleeping near the ground where anything can get us."

"Ok. Let's go I want to see the tortoise!" Selussa said excitedly.

Gaelin followed after her while smiling, this girl seemed to forget this was a dangerous area, one couldn't blindly chase after adventure here.

But, as he said that Selussa took the bow from her back and casually shot an arrow towards the path they were about to take. A ten foot viper fell from a bush on the side of the path with an arrow through its eye.

"Have you been-"

"Yes, I meant to tell you earlier but I forgot. This entire time my magic power has been channeling into the surrounding vegetation," she said casually as if sharing her consciousness with thousands of plants constantly was an easy thing.

"I can closely monitor our surroundings within several hundred feet, but anything farther and I have to focus my consciousness in that direction."

"That's amazing! So that's why our journey here was so smooth! But, doesn't that drain an enormous amount of magic power?" Gaelin said in shock. What she was doing wasn't any different from the telepathic messages of intent they sent between each other. Except, she had to constantly read the intent of the plants around her and detect if the plants sensed any beasts nearby. This method was efficient because plants were often connected to each other regardless of species.

"Yes and no. I only reached this state of mind a week or so ago before the trial. I also found a method of siphoning nature magic away from the plants so that I can sustain myself for longer periods of time," she said confidently.

Gaelin continued to ask her questions about her new found abilities and was startled by the potential they held. He had never heard of anyone siphoning nature magic away from a living entity without killing it, and apparently, her ability to siphon magic could still improve by a great deal. He wondered if she could intentionally siphon away enough magic to instantly kill something.

"Ok, that's enough about me. You should further your studies of nature or your going to get left behind, Gaelin."

"I hate to admit it, but you're right. I can't hold a candle to your luminosity."

"Well, as long as you know," Selussa replied with her nose up in the air.

They bantered back and forth for several minutes before they re-entered the forest heading towards King's Rock.

Like the previous few days they shared telepathic messages between each other to stay in sync. Except this time he knew why Selussa would change directions seemingly at random.

"Wait. We are being followed by something fast," Selussa suddenly said.

Gaelin and Selussa immediately took high positions allowing them to look down upon their approaching stalker.

"There are two of them and they are spreading out, right now. They will arrive in a few seconds," she whispered into his ear. Her breath brushed across his skin causing his long ear to twitch slightly.

He felt a familiar tingle in his mind telling him to look in a particular direction. As soon as he did he could see a dark silhouette stalking through the bushes below them. The silhouette was pitch black with striking yellow eyes and four long legs which carried it silently across the leafy ground.

Gaelin and Selussa made eye contact and nodded.

Currently, he only had a wooden bow and iron short sword, which were provided to him for the trial. He recognized the feline shapes below him and knew that it would be safer to take them out from range. They were shade jaguars and they possessed nature magic. They used their magic to disguise themselves while stalking prey.

Gaelin knew he was extremely fortunate to have Selussa with him because shade jaguars are masters of stealth and close combat.

Removing their bows as quietly as they could, Gaelin and Selussa lined a shot up with their targets.

*Hu*

*Swish*

They simultaneously took a deep breath and released their shots.

The jaguars were on high alert because they sensed their prey was nearby so when they heard the swish they instinctively flinched causing both shots to slightly miss their mark.

Gaelin's shot found a home in one jaguars shoulder, while Selussa's penetrated the lower neck of the other. Neither shot was a fatal wound.

As possessors of nature magic, the shade jaguars were very intelligent creatures and swiftly found their targets. With a powerful leap they dove from their current positions to the bush below the tree Gaelin and Selussa were hiding in.

Meanwhile, the two elves fired warning shots into the bush while calling vines so that they could move to the next tree. Like this, a game of cat and mouse began to play out.

After several rounds the elves focused their fire onto one cat and managed to incapacitate it. However, they were beginning to run short on arrows and the remaining cat had used the opportunity to get even closer to them.

It made a leap at Selussa's leg and tore the leather boot from her foot with its large claws. Gaelin used the opportunity to slash the side of the cats leg with his short sword, which prevented it from finding purchase on the tree.

Neither of them sustained injuries until they were about to shift trees again, but this time the vine Selussa called shifted out of her grasp at the last second and she lost her balance. She began to fall from the tree until Gaelin grabbed her and stabilized her at the cost of his own balance. Because at that moment, the big cat jumped and pawed his legs out from beneath him.

As they both fell from twenty feet in the air, Gaelin grit his teeth and thought desperately of anything he could use to survive this situation. He knew the cat would land on the ground in a much better state than himself. He sent an intent towards Selussa and fell to the ground beside the cat.

As he hit the ground he heard the thud of Selussa's short sword land between them preventing the jaguar from immediately pouncing on him. During his fall, Gaelin completely relaxed his body allowing himself to escape without any broken bones.

He sent another intent towards Selussa, 'Stay in the tree and provide support with your arrows.'

He could sense her agreement and fear for him through their bond.

Gaelin regained his composure and turned to face the bloody jaguar who was watching him wearily. Gaelin held his short sword and the two began to slowly circle each other, while Selussa prepared her bow.

'Wait until the right time to take the shot. It obviously knows we have a finite supply of arrows.'

The man and beast stared at each other awaiting the other to make the first move. When Gaelin suddenly felt Selussa's intense emotions, 'The other jaguar is approaching!'