"This forest feels strange."
"They're just trees, Kiku. There's nothing the trees can do to us."
"Those villagers in Ivrark had stories about the Bueswood. They spoke of a man-eating beast in these woods, the same one that killed King Ivan those years ago."
Ludwig quietly listened as Kiku recounted the peasant rumours they had heard only a few hours ago. They had spent the night in Ivrark, a couple hours south of Stulikya's capital. The city of Tark was said to be primarily home of the Royal Palace, surrounded only by the homes of the servants working there. Between Tark and Ivrark lay a stretch of the Bueswood Forest, which they were travelling through right now.
"I highly doubt that is what actually happened to him," Ludwig dissented.
"Then how exactly do you think he disappeared?" Kiku asked.
"I don't know," Ludwig answered.
Before he could say anything else, a strange sound came from behind the trees to their left, prompting Ludwig and Kiku to stop their horses and look in the direction.
"Was that an animal?" Ludwig checked.
"No, that was not an animal," Kiku observed, putting his birth spell of excellent hearing to good use, "If anything, it seemed unnatural."
Suspicious of the sound, Ludwig dismounted from his horse, just in time to hear the sound again in the opposite direction.
"I really don't think this is a good idea," Kiku warned, "We should just ride on."
"You did just say these woods were unusual," Ludwig countered, "Let's find out what this is."
While Kiku also dismounted, Ludwig walked away from his own horse towards the second source of the strange sound. As he approached the tree from behind which the sound came, it sounded a third time, then a fourth and fifth in quick succession, all ranging in directions behind him. Ludwig turned to look at Kiku, who was looking in the various directions as well.
As he spun looking in all directions, Ludwig finally spotted the source of the sounds. Tall creatures emerged from behind the trees, with long legs that towered even over him. As they moved forward, those tall legs seemed to contract and expand with each step, causing the strange sounds to occur. The top halves of their bodies were much shorter and they looked otherwise human. They were masks over their faces, and had swords withdrawn.
"You there," one of them ordered as Ludwig unsheathed his sword, "Empty your pockets!"
Instead of complying with the order, Ludwig charged forward and swung his sword at the first creature's legs, only for them to hop back in time. Hearing others approaching from behind, Ludwig spun right to block an attack from a second creature, then a third after that. When he could spare a glance, Ludwig saw that three other creatures were fighting Kiku, while a seventh was by their horses.
The three of them kept Ludwig spinning around clockwise, alternating between blocks and attacks. Ludwig was able to keep his bearings at first, before the rotations started making him a bit dizzy. He attempted to stab a leg, only for his sword to go through the clearing between the legs as the creature suddenly did a flip in the air above his head and landed behind him. Ludwig spun to face them again, only to see a second creature imitate the same flip from another direction, and held his sword out as he dipped below them.
"Give me that," the first said as they took the sword from Ludwig's outstretched right hand.
"Sit down," the third ordered as he pushed Ludwig off-kilter and to the ground from the left.
"Stay down," the first added as Ludwig sat up and kicked at their legs, knocking them to the ground as well.
"Get over there."
Ludwig glanced over to see that the other trio had also knocked Kiku down, and were making him crawl over to sit beside him.
"Do you concede?" the fourth creature asked.
"Yeah, do ya?" a fifth echoed.
Ludwig looks back to the one he tripped, only to do a double-take. The creature was standing again, but was a third of the height it was before and now only half as tall as Ludwig. Beside them on the ground were the legs, completely deflated and detached, as well as the mask that had been hiding the short man's face.
Ludwig immediately put two and two together, and started laughing.
"What's so funny?" the short one asked.
"You're just a dwarf," Ludwig declared, glancing back to the rest of the group, "You all are, you're just dwarfs on inflatable stilts!"
"And your point is?" the sixth sneered.
"You can't expect me to fight you," Ludwig refused.
"Then he concedes!" the last announced.
The other six dwarfs all immediately deflated their own stilts, muttering to each other about their self-proclaimed victory as they shrank back down to their actual heights.
"I most certainly do not concede," Ludwig protested, "I'm simply stating that I will not fight a bunch of dwarfs."
"Why?"
"You're miniscule!" Ludwig blurted.
"Miniscule?"
"Diminuitive?" Ludwig tried, "Runts?"
"Runts?" one derided as the others groaned, "That's the best you got?"
"So uninspired."
"The village idiot used to call us that."
"Take you the whole day to come up with that?"
"It doesn't matter," Ludwig dismissed them all, "You're short and it's funny!"
One quickly stepped forward and pressed his sword against Ludwig's neck, making him drop his smile.
"Funny?" the dwarf warned, "Not as funny as my blade against your throat, is it?"
It took no time at all for the dwarfs to make Ludwig regret his words. The dwarfs spent the next five minutes gagging both Ludwig and Kiku, stripping them down to their undergarments, tying up their hands and stringing them up. They then departed with the horses and saddlebags, while Ludwig and Kiku were left hanging there upside down from the tree, bare backs against each other as they tried to free themselves from their restraints.
Ludwig kept silent through this time, simmering in his anger. He could hear Kiku trying to call out for help, only for the sound to be horribly muffled by the gags. Ludwig knew that, if he ever saw those dwarfs again, he would have revenge.
After some time of just hanging there, they finally heard a noise in the distance, and Kiku picked up again on making sounds.
"What in the world happened here?"
Upon hearing the approaching voice, Ludwig turned to see that a cloaked woman was approaching from Kiku's side. Ludwig repeated Kiku's actions of struggling in his bonds and calling for her to help, although it wasn't much good to not be able to tell her what was going on.
She knelt down beside their heads, and removed Kiku's gag first.
"Thank you, miss," Kiku said as she then removed Ludwig's gag next, "We are in dire need of your help, we were attacked by seven dwar-"
"Bloodythirsty giants," Ludwig interrupted, intentionally giving a small push against Kiku to save the last of their dignity, "We were outnumbered and fought bravely, but they cheated."
"Giants?" the woman gasped as she rose, in a tone that sounded slightly sarcastic, "How dreadful!"
"If you could be so kind as to help us down," Kiku requested, "It would be greatly appreciated."
"Well, you are in quite the predicament," the woman observed, "I think I can see how to release you."
"Thank you so much, miss," Kiku praised.
Ludwig struggled to look the other way and see what the woman was doing. When he finally got a good view of her, she was standing in front of the tree around which the rope was tied to suspend them in the air. She had a dagger in her hand, and was about to slice the rope.
"Wait, no," Ludwig called out, "Not like -"
It was too late. The rope was already sliced through, making Ludwig and Kiku fall to the ground, banging their heads on the tough earth below.
"Oh right, sorry about that," the woman apologized.
After allowing a moment to recover from the pain of bumping his head on the ground, Ludwig finally rose to his feet, a feat more difficult than usual with his hands still tied behind him. As he did so, he could hear Kiku quietly talking to the young woman. He then spun in his spot to face them, only to bump into the woman as they came face to face.
"Oh, sorry," Ludwig apologized, taking an awkward step back.
"Do you want help?" she offered, just as awkwardly, "With the rope?"
"Oh yes, please," Ludwig accepted, turning again so she could get to his wirsts, "Thank you for your help. I'm sorry you had to see us in such a compromising position."
Ludwig felt the rope drop from his hands, and he turned towards the woman again to nod at her. Now that he had a good look at her, he couldn't help but notice that she was quite enchanting. Her long platinum hair was braided down her back, and she had a fair-skinned face with strong features and violet eyes. Her grey cloak was now opened, revealing the simple indigo dress underneath where she was stashing away her dagger.
"Where are you headed, if I may ask?" Ludwig dared to inquire, "We're headed north to Tark."
"I'm heading south to Ivrark," she answered.
"Ah, it's a shame," Ludwig remarked at the rejection, "Then I guess we must bid you adieu."
The girl nodded at them both, before walking away from them.
"We should head on, Your Highness," Kiku insisted, "We'll have to ask the Queen for clothes when we get to Tark."
Ludwig nodded at Kiku before turning back to glance at the woman one last time. She happened to be looking back at him this time, catching her own last glance before pulling the hood of her cloak over her head and moving further into the forest.