CHAPTER VII

The night sounds of the Shroud blended together into a peaceful hum as Maleko stalked the final creature required for his first "test" as a Lancer. Roslyn, who had elected to accompany him on his test, suggested they return to the city and resume in the morning, however Maleko was a particularly stubborn individual.

"Roslyn, you don' have to stay, but I'll be damned if I can't slay just one more o' those over grown rodents." Maleko replied to her. Roslyn sighed and gave him a half smile.

"I liked you better when you were tripping over your own words." She laughed. Maleko just rolled his eyes and returned to scanning his surroundings.

"There!" he cried aloud, and took off after a fleeing Ground Squirrel. At first the task had seemed simple, slay a handful of Shroud critters, Ladybugs, Funguars, and Squirrels, however after dispatching the first two groups easily, he found the Squirrels more likely to run than to face him, zigzagging in and out of trees and bushes.

The chase led the would-be hunters deeper into the shroud until they reached a grove of older trees. Maleko saw the squirrel reach a particularly old and gnarled tree and begin to scamper up its trunk.

"Not this time!" Maleko shouted, and threw his Harpoon overhand at the critter, piercing it through and pinning it to the tree. Letting out a cry of triumph, Maleko approached the creature, retrieving his weapon and stuffing the squirrel into his game bag. Nodding with satisfaction, he turned to see Roslyn approaching. He smiled and was starting towards her when he heard a strange rumbling sound.

"Look out!" Roslyn cried in warning. Just in time Maleko threw himself to the side as a huge gnarled limb of the tree came crashing down where he had just stood. Getting to his feet, Maleko turned back towards the tree to find a horrifying face staring back at him.

"Maleko, you've angered a Treant! They're guardians of the Shroud!" Roslyn yelled to him.

Maleko leveled his weapon at the Treant as its limb slowly lifted back off the ground. The creature ambled slowly towards him, the ground rumbling with its great steps. Suddenly, it lashed around in a full circle, its branches lashing out at Maleko.

Rolling to the side, he managed to avoid a branch, and sprang to his feet, just in time to catch another on the shaft of his weapon and protect himself from being crushed. The Treant groaned and seemed to be preparing itself for something.

Maleko saw his opportunity and moved in to attack the face of the lumbering giant.

"Maleko stop!" He was stopped short by Roslyn's cry. "You can't hurt it; you'll invite the Greenwrath upon yourself! You have to run!

There was a loud rumble as the Treant slowly started to thrash about, causing a terrible storm of leaves and limbs flying everywhere. Maleko felt the sting of hundreds of cutting razors and then was picked up off his feet and thrown back several feet by a trashing branch.

He landed on his feet, albeit hunched over, the wind knocked out of him, and staggered back a few more steps. Roslyn ran to his side and pulled him further away from the raging elder.

Creatures seemed to materialize and close in on the hunters, rushing to defend their elder tree. "Are you okay?! We have to get out of here Maleko, we can't fight back, and we'll be crushed at this rate if we don't run!"

"No, that damned thing tried to squash me! It's not getting off that easy, blight yer' silly Greenwrath. Llymlaen guides me arm. You take care o' these critters, I'm taking down ol' gnarly." And with that he charged towards the Treant, his Harpoon lowered at its face. Roslyn unslung her bow, and kept the creatures of the Shroud at bay with blinding speed and accuracy.

The Treant groaned in what Maleko could have sworn was amusement, and whipped a limb at his feet. Maleko braced his Harpoon on the packed forest floor and vaulted over the limb, crashing into the face of the Treant with a drop kick.

The Treant was knocked back by the force of the kick, groaning in surprise. Maleko pressed the attack, dodging or blocking limbs and hacking away at the Treant's face.

"Ain' no… bloody, over grown tree… gonna crush me…" Maleko grunted at the Treant, between strikes, thrusts, and parries. "Bhaldryss wouldn'… let me hear the end o' it…"

Maleko hop skipped a few steps back as the Treant spun violently in a full circle again.

"Ohhh, the tree got ye did it?" He mumbled, mimicking his brothers gravelly voice. "An' here I thought ye were a Sea Wolf. Turns out, yer nuffin' but a lil' pup after all!" Maleko grimaced at his imagined brother. He saw his opening as the beast slowly began to stop spinning and charged, Harpoon leveled once more at the Treant's face.

At the moment of impact, Maleko used his shoulder to drive his Harpoon home, piercing all the way through the Treant, and with a terrifying shudder, the elder grew still.

As quickly as it had begun, it was suddenly over. The creatures dispersed back into the Shroud, and an eerie silence stretched over the grove.

"What have you done?!" An angry shout pierced the silence.

**I'M GOING TO ATTEMPT TO WRITE MALEKO'S DIALOGUE IN A WAY REFLECTING HIS NAUTICAL/SEA WOLF BACKGROUND. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. IF IT SEEMS TOO FORCED, I WILL RETURN TO SMOOTHING IT OUT, AND "IMPLYING" HIS ACCENT.**