10

Marth travels along with the rebels. Catching him off guard, Marth gets his foot stuck in a tree root. An increasingly muddy path covers the root, making it almost invisible underneath the path. The rest continue as Marth tries to pull his sinking leg. Frey makes a concerned look backwards. Is he alright? That is strange- "Sire! Are you having any troubles?" The rebellion marched past him, each of them were anticipating the end of this long muddy journey. Marth grabs himself and pulls. But the root was not giving in. "Can you please come and help me? I seem to be stuck." By now everyone has passed him. Nyna and Frey stayed behind to help him. It was until later that Bord was called over to cut the branch. They huddled around Bord, the entirety of Marths knee was stuck deep in the mud. Bord reached his hand inside the muck before cutting it. Frey called on Minerva. "I need you to lead the pack for a little while. Our camp is not far ahead." Minerva respectively listens to him. She hopped on the beast and flew on ahead. In the mud, Bord was searching for the root. Moving his arm in all directions. Marth and Frey admire his loyalty

He can feel the root. It was thin and sturdy, with multiple little rods wrapped around the boot. "I got it!" Bord shouts, Frey and Nyna were relieved. Marth was impressed. Blindly, Bord unhook the-

(fingers)

roots from the boot. Bord cracked and twisted them off and they made satisfying snapping sounds. With each crunch, the root decreased its grip on the leg. Instinctively, Marth springs his leg upwards. Revealing a brown but free leg. They all cheered quietly. Frey slaps Bords back in appreciation. The birds were chirping their usual song for their friends. Marth rubs the goop off and faces Bord. "That was definitely something, I have to hand it to you. Thank you!" Cleaning more mud from their clothes. The four of them walk solemnly ahead. Well knowing they are far behind the others. Frey and Nyna were mounted on horseback while Marth and Bord walked on foot. "You seem tired Bord, come ride on this horse." Nyna motions to a spot on the horse. Being exhausted from the long walk, he starts to climb.

A rush of pain creeps up Bord's back, quickly getting on the horse. He looks around to see what has happened to him. The pain quickly subsided as confused Bord frantically looked around for the culprit. Patting his body frantically, he touches the leather pouch noticing that it had become loosened. The Devil's axe was hanging freely outside of its leather case. Supposedly, the axe rubbed against the horse's body as he mounted it. Fearing the legend of the Devil's axe might actually be true. He quickly stuffs back into the pouch.

Marth snaps back at Bord, he stops walking so he can be matched with the horse's pace. Concerningly, he asks. "Are you alright? If anything is upsetting you I need to know right away" Bord doesn't want to alarm Marth, so he spits out. "I scraped my arm on a low tree branch. Nothing to worry about." This lie was believable, many of the trees had low hanging branches that poke out like arms. Most of the tree had a hearty brown colour, except for some particular ones which had a pale gray colour. Those ones were exceptionally long and they moved with the breeze.