“Get up you pathetic mongrel!”

“…”

“I said, GET UP!” A swift punt to the face of the boy knelt upon the ground had left him prone on the enriched black earth. The assailant picked him up and wiped away the blood and dirt from his face. “That patrol is soon to come, and if you don’t—”

“Tanril! They’re getting closer!” A man yelled, rushing from the bushes.

“Damn it!” She yelled, throwing the boy over her shoulder. “Open the trunk, Jarq! We’ll have to hope those Newforest dolts don’t look through the supplies.”

The man moved swiftly and opened the only intact container in the remains of the smashed cart. He deftly vaulted over the body of the boar the boy had dropped the cart on and managed to kill soon after. 

Once Tanril bound the limp bleeding boy with fresh leather straps, Jarq picked him up and laid him in the chest as neatly as he could. Tanril then covered the half-open chest with a tarp and worked to hide the remnants of the mask that silenced the boy within the bushes, while Jarq climbed up the cliff face that shaded their makeshift encampment.

“This will have to do… How far away are they?” she asked Jarq, dusting her hands clean of dirt.

“Not far”

“Then get down from there. Start harvesting the body of that boar,” ordered Tanril. 

Jarq leapt from the cliffside and ran over to the boar's corpse, knife in hand. “Stupid kid, shouldn’t have let him out of my sight. Why’d the suicidal idiot let himself get gored?” He complained as Tanril came up beside him. 

“Too late now, Jarq. At this point, we just have to make sure to fool them.” Tanril responded, and joined Jarq in carving the massive beast, waiting for the inevitable encounter.

No sooner had she nearly stuck her knife into the boar, had a pair of masked strangers cut through the brush. The weapons these strangers held flashed, disappearing from their hands, as they pulled the distinctive blue and red cloaks draped over their shoulders from the thorns they were caught in.

Tanril’s eyes widened at the sight. Absolvers, she thought to herself, as she looked toward Jarq, discreetly motioning him to continue working. She began to stand, knife tucked away behind her.

“You. Tearans, explain the origin of the commotion.” Commanded one of the Absolvers, disdain dripped from every word that resonated from behind his mask.

“Well, we were just hunting this beast and he was caught off guard when it charged us,” responded Tanril in a dulcet voice, placing her hand on the carcass of the boar, pointing to Jarq.

“One can never be too sure when hunting these boars,” Jarq added, unamused by her response. “I must say I will never grow accustomed to these monsters' terrifying charges. Would you like a cut? It's fresh,” he said sarcastically, while he continued to butcher the animal.

The masks obscured any emotion that could be gleaned from the Absolver’s reactions. Tanril kept her posture relaxed, betraying her increasing worry as the silence crept on. The other Absolver walked forward towards the cart but stopped as blood splashed at his foot from Jarq’s direction.

“Sorry about that. Knife slipped,” he said, ominously.

The Absolver swaggered towards Jarq. “I do not fear blood staining my wear, Tearan,” he threatened.

Jarq stood at the provocation, rising to meet the Absolver’s gaze. The air turned cold as he tightened the grip on his knife.

Tanril quickly intervened, “Well, I’m sorry to cause such a distraction on your route. We were going to pass through, after harvesting this boar. I hope we didn’t take you away from whatever important task you must be doing.” 

She walked around the boar, away from the cart, hoping to usher the pair of Absolvers away. They once again remained silent as they scanned the area. Seconds passed until the pair looked at each other, seemingly finding nothing of reproach, and turned to leave.

Relieved, she watched them pass when the cart abruptly crumpled on its side, the boy revealing himself as he flailed out from the trunk. When this occurred, Tanril grappled the unsuspecting Absolver to her front, leaving him open to attack as Jarq rushed forward stabbing him relentlessly, shredding his chest with every entry and exit. 

The Absolver’s body fell to the ground and disappeared with a flash of glittery fractal light. Taken aback, the remaining Absolver summoned his weapon back into reality with a similar flash of geometric light and took a stance, ready to defend against the two attackers.

Jarq initiated the exchange, slashing out with the short blade he held, aiming to slice open the Absolver’s throat. The blade cleaved only through air, as the Absolver deftly dipped below the attack, responding with an elegant upward swipe of his blade as he rose. 

Jarq stepped back in pain, and the Absolver moved to follow through with a stab. Tanril kicked his arm away before the sword made contact, and struck the Absolver in the head. The Absolver was briefly stunned by the blow, but he leaned forward in response, kicked his leg out, and struck Tanril up through her gut. She dropped to her knees, feeling something break.

Quickly turning to his other opponent, the Absolver leapt and twisted in the air as he kicked out, aiming for Jarq’s skull. The attack felt clean, however bracing for the impact, Jarq absorbed the force of the falling kick. Catching the Absolver in the air with a violent uppercut, Jarq sent the Absolver back to the ground. 

Tanril quickly rose to intercept the fall with a vicious knee to his back, ignoring the searing pain at her side. The Absolver staggered forward reeling from the impact, but quickly got back into position.

As his enemies rushed toward him, the Absolver raised his fist to the air and slammed it to the ground. A light shone from the earth as it cracked and shook, forcing his foes to their knees. 

The Absolver primed for a powerful strike. He torqued his body, his muscles tensed. He unleashed a kick that arced through the air, knocking them both to the ground, prone.

Taking the opportunity he created, he ran to the boy. “Follow the trail through the brush, do not stop until you hit the road, and then run to the east. NOW!” The Absolver commanded, as he desperately cut the boy’s bindings, seeing the other two had begun to recover. The boy spat blood at the mask of the Absolver but began to escape toward the trail nonetheless.

Turning back to his opponents, he ran his sword through the chest of the still-dazed Jarq. The impaled man let out a sharp whine, his breath leaving him as he fell, bleeding in the dirt. Tanril’s eyes widened at the sight. Furiously, she took Jarq’s knife and drove the blade into her enemy’s leg, slicing down to the heel as the Absolver dived out of the way.

She turned to face her opponent. Despite the damage the Absolver took in their bout, he remained steadfastly at the ready, waiting to face her. They stared at one another, unmoving, calculating what would be the best approach to finish this fight.

Tanril threw the blade she held at the Absolver, but he deftly avoided the attack, prepped to intercept her knee flying towards him. When the Absolver caught her leg he slammed her to the ground. Tanril however, had deceived the Absolver’s intuition and she plunged the knife she kept into his neck and ripped it from his throat. She rose back to her feet and paid no mind to the now-disappearing body of the Absolver. 

“Tenacious brat,” Tanril whispered to herself, as she hobbled towards where the boy had gone. “Shouldn’t take too long to grab you again.” She continued down the path, following the boy’s tracks. The blood from his prior wounds occasionally dotted the foliage, marking every path he took, betraying his attempts to hide his heading.

The boy, still weak from his confrontation with the boar and the beating dealt by his kidnappers, began to show signs of exhaustion from the day's events. His travel slowed; his attempts at misdirection ceased; he knew it would be a matter of time before he was caught. Rather than run. He chose to hide within the brush. He dug his fingers into the gash at his side, a reminder of the melee he had with the boar, and flung his blood down the path ahead of him, a final attempt to deceive his hunters. He crawled into a bush and lost consciousness waiting for the danger to pass.