028 – A Chance to Learn – Part 2 –

Uriel's eyes widened in surprise, "You can teach me how to control it?!" he asked.

"My Chieftess can, but as I said it will be up to you, you will have to prove yourself worthy," Urlo replied.

Uriel's eyes shone with a brilliant light at the thought of learning to use the power, but it suddenly occurred to him that it might be too good to be true.

"Uh, what will happen if I fail to prove myself?" he asked nervously gulping down, as he recalled the story of people being eaten by the druids.

Urlo gave him a strange smile and turned around not answering his question, he went to Zeresha and helped her up from the ground and started muttering to her just like before, whatever the chant was it seemed to give her some strength.

Then he started to lead Zeresha away without giving any reply to Uriel.

"Hey, where are you taking her?" Uriel questioned as Urlo reached the edge of the clearing.

"I told you that I'd get her healed, if you're not scared then follow me," Urlo chuckled and started to leave.

Uriel naturally couldn't leave Zeresha, and he knew that she needed help, seeing that he didn't have much of a choice he chased after them, at the very least Zeresha seemed fine with Urlo so he liked to believe that he wasn't bad.

Uriel chased after them and quickly caught up, then they started to head deeper into the forest, he had no idea where they were going as everything looked similar, but Urlo moved with confidence and ease, clearly used to navigating the forest.

Uriel asked him several times to explain why he wouldn't tell him what would happen if he failed to meet the Chieftesses standards but Urlo would only smile and move on, however aside from that he seemed happy to answer most of Uriel's questions.

The first thing Uriel asked about was naturally about the abomination and why Urlo had saved him, as it turned out Urlo was hunting it down.

The abomination he saw was called an Antog.

Urlo explained that it was the duty of the Argeum Druidic Order to deal with the abominations as they were unnatural scourges in nature that would bring plague disease and a great deal of harm to the natural balance of the forest.

Uriel paid attention to everything that he said enjoying the company of another person, when he gave Urlo a good look over he didn't seem to be very old maybe a year or two older than him at most.

Yet he seemed like a dependable man, when he compared himself to Urlo he felt like he was a joke even with a sword in hand he was too terrified to battle that abomination, yet Urlo went up against it barehanded and crushed it.

Granted that he did transform into an ape at the time but still he couldn't help but feel inferior after all Urlo had gone out all on his own to deal with that monster for the sake of his duty, yet he couldn't even walk in the right direction and who knew how far the soldiers had gone and what had become of Cass and the others.

If he had a duty then it was to them, but he was royally messing it up.

As he became lost in his own pessimistic thoughts they suddenly came across a massive grove in the middle of the forest that seemed ethereal in nature.

Trees larger than any other stood in neat rows and vines were wrapped around the trees in neat orderly patterns making it evident that it was not a purely natural growth.

Once the groove came into sight Urlo headed straight for them.

They pushed past the exterior trees and it opened up into a massive swath of short luscious grass with a clear-cut path extending through it.

Numerous birds and beasts of prey roamed around eating the grass while up above hundreds of large eagles and other kinds of birds flew in circles.

Uriel had to do a double take at the base of the trees because homes extended from the bases that seemed to blend in with the trees and forest floor.

Everything seemed to be worked into nature with simplicity.

As he took in the sights the eagles above suddenly dove down and started to circle around them forcing them to come to a still.

When they stopped one of the eagles dove to the ground in front of Urlo and suddenly turned into a towering man who stood at the same height as Urlo and had dark ebony skin, but he was much more aged in appearance.

Uriel struggled to keep himself from gawking like a fool when he saw the animal turn into a person, it was his second time seeing such a scene but it still blew his mind, and he couldn't help but look at the other animals and birds that filled the groove with life, wondering if each and every one of them were also people.

"Why have you brought this flat-lander here Urlo?" the man asked with a deep and reverberating voice, his eyes glanced over Uriel for just a second before returning to Urlo.

Urlo clasped his fists and gave a bow, "Elder Yusek," he greeted then stood up straight.

"I took too long to track the abomination and as a result, this poor girl suffered for my mistakes," Urlo pointed to the wound on Zeresha.

"I am honor bound to help her, and this man is her owner," he indicated to Uriel, "Also I believe that he has some information that will be of interest to the Chieftess and the rest of the order," he added.

Elder Yusek gave a moment to ponder before he gave a nod to the numerous eagles still flying in circles then he looked at Urlo with seriousness, "If he does anything you will be held accountable," he firmly stated before turning around and walking to the trees.

Then he pressed his hand on the trunk of one of the trees or at least what Uriel thought was the trunk, but it curled under his hand like fabric and parted allowing the man to enter into it.

"What does he mean by you'll be held accountable?" Uriel asked feeling that it wasn't a good thing.

"He means that if you do anything to harm the Argeum in the future I will be held accountable with my life," Urlo calmly responded.

"Isn't that a lot of trust to place in someone you just met?" he asked with a weak smile, feeling touched.

Urlo chuckled like it was no big deal, "You're a crybaby and it's annoying, but you're brave and honest," Urlo replied.

Uriel chuckled lightly as his words reminded him a lot of Cassandra she always called him a crybaby when they were alone.

"Well maybe two of those are true," Uriel muttered softly, "But I'm not brave," he said with dejection.

"You stood your ground against me when I came to the mare," he replied with a smile, "That's the reason I decided to help you in the first place, most of you flat landers would abandon your horse if it was disadvantageous for you," he added.

"Ah," Uriel nodded in understanding as the opening in the tree started to move again, "Ah... what do I do to make your Chieftess, you know not kill me and you?" he asked with worry.

Urlo gave him an odd look, "The Chieftess will not kill needlessly, just be sure to maintain some respect when speaking to her," he whispered quickly and went completely quiet in the next second.

As he finished speaking a woman emerged from the tree and behind her was Yusek, she had dark ebony skin and a graceful figure despite her age that put her in her forties or fifties, thick black braids were pulled tight against her scalp and she looked at Uriel with deep black eyes.

As she appeared the birds descended to the ground and one after the other they transformed into people and from the animals that lazed around in the grass several climbed up and turned into people.

They soon formed a tight circle around Uriel and Urlo and opened a path for the Chieftess to approach.

The Chieftess walked with a quarterstaff in hand taking long strides in their directions, as she drew closer she stopped suddenly and jumped towards him like a ferocious beast.

All at once her body, her clothes, and staff seemed to melt into her form seamlessly as she turned into a massive beast.

Uriel stumbled backward in freight as he recognized the beast she turned into all too well, it was a feline creature with a dark black coat of fur that looked like glistening oil, three tails extended from its back and two long fangs emerged out of her mouth.

It was a prowler, one of the deadliest beasts of the Green Wood.