Harpies

Dawn had just broken with the sun splitting the horizon when the trial finally welcomed its second stage.

Stood within a vast clearing while surrounded by the same forest they had grown familiar with over the last four months, tens of shadows were cast as the participants gathered yet maintained a loose distance from each other.

With the last four months having been spent in silence, the majority of the people present had become used to the constant isolation. Maintaining a distance from one another while functioning around their peers became almost second nature, as the remaining contenders eliminated any chances of accidentally, or otherwise, ending their trials due to interacting in a way which crossed the bounds.

"Its good to see that a large portion of this year's participants were able to make it up until this point. I hope that you have all been able to learn much more than simply to live within isolation and independence within this forest."

The Guild Leader began to speak, surprising many of the people who had hastily readied themselves to begin this day's march. "You can think of this space as the center point of operations from this point onwards. For the next six months, you will remain within this forest, with no limits on how far you decide to venture from this point."

With the restriction on their voices, no one dared to even hum in disapproval. However, as the participants registered that the trial would continue for at least another six months, shuffles broke out in the crowd as people grew restless.

Rykar and Loki looked towards each other with slight nervousness bouncing between them. Their initial plan had been based around the trial lasting four months, give or take a month, before meeting up once again with Chance to begin the second stage of operations within the city. This would obviously still hold true if the time period changed slightly, but the jump from four months to a minimum of ten months completely blew these expectations out of the window.

While people were still taking in the latest development, the Guild Leader's cloak began to flutter while a dark flame sprung to life around him. Enveloped within the flame, he looked unperturbed as he waved his hands in a slow and deliberate fashion, prompting chunks of black flame to splatter into the air like raindrops.

Rather than submitting to the pull of gravity and falling to the grass below, the small clusters of fire continued to float in their original positions while quickly expanding and taking on human like forms. These airy figures gradually condensed in a very similar way that the butterflies had, but in a much more magnificent manner.

The final result was 100 small dark figures with the bodies of humans yet supported themselves in the air using wings that took the place of their arms. Along with the mismatching look of the wings, the legs of these creatures were clearly bird-like, with ridged looking talons at their ends.

"These are Harpies and they will be accompanying you all shortly. During the next six months, in addition to maintaining your silence, you will now be avoiding these creatures. Whether they see you or not has no repercussions, however they will give chase. If you are touched by a Harpy three times, you will fail the trial.

"If you fail to escape the pursuit of a Harpie, you will be granted a three-hour grace period where you will no longer be targeted or followed. You can use this time as you will." At this point in the speech, the motionless Harpies seemed to come to life, dancing in the sky ant interacting with each other like kindred spirits.

To the horror of those below, the speed and agility of these shadowy creatures was akin to that of a sparrow. As they spun around each other, it was dizzying to track their movements as they twisted and spun in the air.

"Once six months passes, you will once again return to this point by sunset. If you are late by any margin, you fail. Use the rest of this day to prepare yourselves. The Harpies will only leave this clearing at sunrise tomorrow." Hearing about the 'holiday' many of the people listening intently to the speech lost a few points of the agitation which had been building up.

Being used to their states of tension and vigilance, many people within the crowd began to feel quite lost and empty as they looked around unsure of what to do next. Reverting to the habit they had picked up over the last few months, they began to scour the field for the activities of the other invigilators, however, they were soon surprised to find that they were nowhere to be found.

"Every month, the number of Harpies will double." With the last of his words fading into the wind, the Guild Leader also dissipated right in front of everyone's eyes, leaving them all to their own devices.

Shaking his head, Rykar followed Loki into the distance before rummaging in his pocket and pulling out a Spirit Fruit before slightly tilting his mask and throwing the heavy ball into his mouth. With the food that they scavenged on a daily basis not being anywhere near enough to sate him, this was a habit that he developed early on.

Due to the slow rate of absorption of the fruit, along with the abundant energy contained within, each one would be able to tide him over for around a week. Although this was alongside the other food he would regularly eat in order to keep up appearances amongst the rest of the procession. This was rarely meat, as it was still exceedingly difficult to catch anything while constantly staying within an acceptable range of the group.

Swallowing down the heavy fruit which felt like a ball of soft lead, Rykar looked at his brother in silence. Both thinking about their own concerns, there was no other interaction between them other than a nod before Rykar began taking items from his bag and handing them over. Only after Loki's bag was fully restocked did they turn away from each other, running in different directions.

An hour later, Loki was still jogging through the forest at a controlled cruising speed. With the Harpies expanding out from the center point, his common sense told him that it would be safest to get as far away from that location as possible before night fell.

Despite having travelled through the night on many occasions previously, anyone with a brain would understand that travelling in the wild was completely different when one was alone versus within a group of nearly two hundred. Without the intimidation factor of their numbers, there was no longer a reason for the true predators of the wood to avoid him.

*Snap*

The crisp sound split the quiet forest, causing Loki to spin on his heels. Despite his eyes darting around the spaces behind him, he failed to pick up any movement, yet he refused to reign in his suspicion. Taking quick steps backwards without moving his head at all, he tread lightly on his toes while backpedaling.

Hearing that the target was once again on the move, a shadow partly revealed itself only seconds later but was stunned in place when it saw the backpedaling Loki staring straight at it.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. With his cover completely blown, the figure discarded all attempts of remaining hidden. Instead, they sprinted in Loki's direction at full speed.

Initially, they had been over 100 meters from each other, with trees strewn haphazardly between them. With this holding back, to some extent, their ability to break into an all-out sprint, the game of cat and mouse still resulted in the pursuer constantly gaining ground on Loki.

Loki was far from being tired, but a film of sweat was beginning to form on his face as this unexpected situation caused him no small amount of pressure.

With his head running hot, Loki tilted his head backwards only to regret the reality which presented itself. Less than 20 meters away the pursuer was now cutting through the trees. The cheap cloth serving as a facemask only covered the bottom half of their face, revealing a pair of squinting eyes which were obviously a result of a hideous grin which couldn't be seen.

Taking a deep breath, Loki stopped dead in his tracks before dragging his daggers from the sheaths on his sides.