Freelancer's Journey

 Whistling a quiet melody, Rile walked down the center path of Giant's Forest; beside him, his partner Van. Enormous red oak trees dwarfed the travelers. Nevertheless, large in stature, they were sadly deformed. As if someone took an axe and let all hell loose through out the forest, these trees grew mangled in trunk and distorted in every branch. It was a strange balance of beauty and malice, compared to the lush of green leaves protruding from its branches. Like a mirror image above, the ground was fertile of wild grass. Two freelancers walked through the forest, capes whipping the dense scent of plant life.

Van, with his muscular build and keen sense for danger, was a man made for the sword.  Rile on the other hand, with long jet-black hair, was a skinny Mage with a gift for the bow. Both were Freelancers; people who would do any job for the right amount of money. Recalling their last client, Van walked steadily with the wind on his back. She was an old woman with long ruffled hair, like ash. The candlelight to her left gave her menacing features through the dark room. The old woman sat up in her bed half bathed in a warm yellow radiance, the other half in shadow. One of her clear eyes was green, the other blue, which gave an aura of wonder about them.

"The Flower of Healing," she breathed, just barely a whisper, "a half day's journey south of my cottage..." The old woman paced herself as if she would collapse at any moment. "In front of an impassible wall of rock will be a pond... swim under the rock... there you shall find... the Flower." It wasn't the old woman's health that concerned Van, it was the way she explained what they're looking for. "It is almost impossible to explain... at first, is not... then when unveiled... pure white." There was a certain gleam to the old woman's eyes, a hint of fire not ready to go out.

"You know that old lady looked really sick", Rile said.

"Obviously the Flower is for her heal-", Van suddenly stopped. He was fixed on a bush that had just rustled toward his right.

"What's wrong?" whispered Rile. Van unsheathed his sword, poised for battle. After a couple more tense moments, a small furry brown animal crawled out. It had big brown eyes and long floppy ears. "OH MY GOD IT'S SO CUTE!" Rile yelled as he raced toward the creature. His green eyes sparkled with pleasure as he bent down and started stroking its soft fur. "Goochy, goochy, goochy, goo, you are the cutest thing in the world, yes you are! I'm going to hug you and love and never ever let you go!" Rile said as if he was talking to an infant.

Its little head sniffed his hand, licked it a few times and then jumped on top of Rile, licking his face. "Isn't he great Van?" The Swordsman could only shake his head in disappointment. For a few seconds, Rile stood there thinking very intensely while holding the animal. "That's it! From now on you shall be known as... Pooki!!! " Though Van had sheathed his sword, his hand was still firmly clasped to handle. "Oh your no fun Van, just pet it a little", Rile pleaded as he shoved Pooki in Van's face. Almost embarrassed, he put his hand up to the furry creature.

"All right but we need to get going if we want to make it there by sundown", Van muttered as the animal began to lick his hand. After a few more playful games, Rile let Pooki go.  

"I will never forget you, my Pooki", Rile sighed in a sarcastic manner. "Well that's that, let's get going", Rile said whistling cheerfully. Following behind was Van, with a kind of annoyed expression.

After a series of trees, the Freelancers came across a hole in the ground about a door's length in diameter. Behind it was a collage of trees and brushes that looked almost impassible. "Wow, that was quick, I guess the pond must of died out", Rile said.

"This can't be right, we got here too fast", Van, said concerned.

"Oh come on, we finally get an easy job and you though your paranoid nonsense in my face! Just be grateful," Rile spoke as he jumped into the empty pond.

"Damn, he's too careless", Van thought as he jumped in after him. Going down the hole he noticed how perfect the rim of the entrance and walls were, almost too perfect. Upon entering the black pit, he saw a faint red glow ahead of him. "Rile, I'd prefer you to use shining magic rather than fire" Van said while rubbing his hand.

"Um... that's not me", Rile whispered out of the darkness to Van's left.

"So if that's not you, then..." All of a sudden the faint red glow grew at an alarming rate. "Prepare yourself Rile, we've got fire ants."

As he uttered those words, a gigantic red ant with fiery pincers hurdled itself onto Van. He quickly countered it with a parry. With ferocious energy the fire ant struck again, this time the swordsman held his ground with his sword between its searing pincers. "Alright, go for it!" Van commanded. The Mage stood there in an archer-like-stance concentrating wildly. Droplets of sweat dripped down his V-shaped brows as he started shake uncontrollably. He strained for power until veins started to bulge out his temples. Soon particles started to form around the tip of his arrow.

With a chill in his voice Rile screamed "Mostra-Ethall!" as he released his ice might. The ice arrow jettisoned from Riles bow with colossal magnitude aimed directly for the fiery beast. As Van jumped out of the way the ice arrow pierced the ant's exolayer, causing its body to rupture and finally burst. "Ah damn, I got ant blood all over me" Rile muttered exhaustedly wiping his blood covered face.

"What happened back there Rile?" Van said, as he scratched his hand a little bit. "A spell like that should be child's play for you. Why did you have such a hard time with it?"

"I don't know", Rile answered in an almost scared look. "When I tapped into my power, it was like there was a wall there, and I had to break it just to get the necessary power for the spell."

Van stood contemplating what might be the cause for it until he saw out of the corner of his eye more faint glows. "Probably wondering what happened to their watch guard. We'd better get going", Van concluded. Out of the false pond and into the impassible brush they exited.

Though their speed wasn't arduous, they began travel at a sluggish pace. Perspiration soaked Riles blood stained bandana. The drag of his walk added to the flickering of his focus didn't help either. "Look Rile I've been thinking, your illness might be caused by the ant's blood, seeing that I'm not affected."

"Well, you might just be right." Rile quietly said. The two Freelancers continued this tough pace until they arrived at their destination.

"There it is", Van said scratching his sweaty hand. What they had finally came upon appeared to be sharp rock spikes jetting up from the girth. Vines and dead leaves decorated the rock wall's exterior. In front, ironically, was a pond desolate of its water.

He turned to his left and was in shock of what he saw. Rile had dark green blemishes all on his face. The exhausted Mage hunched over using his bow for support with eyes sea-sawing in his sockets.

"Good job... partner", Rile smiled as he fell to the ground.

"Damn, just what I need", Van said while scratching his very sweaty hand. When he looked down and saw his swollen green hand, time stopped. Shocking realization grabbed him by the cuffs.

All of it made sense now. "It wasn't the ant's blood that affected Riles face, it couldn't have been. The ant's blood never touched me" Van thought. "No it wasn't the ant... It was Pooki" Van realized. "That damned creature's saliva must have some kind of poison in it. You got it the worst but soon I'll start feeling the effects too", the Freelancer concluded. He stood there glaring at the laughing sun with its flaming tongues licking out at him like foreshadows to his doom. The Swordsman knew that turning back would mean only certain death. Their only choice would be to go onward in hopes that they find the Flower of Healing and use its powers.

            Heaving Rile on his back, Van leaped down the barren pond. Its corroded surface and twisted uproots met as hardy obstacles in his way. Though he was sweating profusely and losing his footing, he trudged on. Thump, thump, thump, his heart labored to meet the demands of the body. Dizzy and disillusioned, the Swordsman stumbled out into the open. 

            The sun had just set over the vast clearing in the middle of the forest. Fruitless earth populated all of the ground save but an ancient willow tree. It stood rooted there like a cheerless dream. Through the gloom of the willow's draping branches emanated green orbs. Seeing how it looked like the only form of life around here and that he was about to collapse in exhaustion, he decided to investigate. No longer able to carry Rile, he was instead dragged. With leg in one hand and sword in other, Van staggered forward. Upon his arrival at the willow tree he began to smell the familiar scent of wet earth.

"And where there is water, there is life", Van recited as cut through the damp branches.

            The green orbs he saw before came into full view now as he entered the dome like interior of the willow. It looked as if someone had put a cluster of glow bugs in a jar. All around him, resonating jars hung tied to branches which made the area seem like a green haze. Everywhere he looked, he saw all kinds of trinkets and tools he did not recognize. In front of the tree's base was a small dingy tent and cooking pot. All of that didn't matter now, what he needed to find was the Flower. Releasing Rile, he searched franticly for it, turning over and tossing whatever he could get his hands on. Desperation seeped into his skin as he began to loose consciousness. With his vision failing rapidly, he almost didn't see the robed figure coming out of the shadows.

            Swiftly, it went over the mess Van had made and bent over Rile. "Wha da hell... do you tink your ooing... git way fom him" Van mumbled, thrashing his sword about as he tripped and fell over something. Now face down on all fours, he was barely able to stay conscious to see a bright light flicker, and then fade out. With his last bit of energy, he strained to bring his head up to meet his end with dignity. He looked up and saw the hooded figure glide gracefully toward him. Shedding its black robe an explosion of blinding rays of light protruded out of nothingness. Pure light flowed over him like rain on a dusty rock. He was cleansed of his troubles. As the white light subtly faded, Van made out the face of a smiling, beautiful young woman, with long golden hair. Her clear green and blue eyes smothered him in warmth and comfort. "I guess it wasn't a plant at all..." Van thought as he slipped steadily into serenity.