Chapter 2: Into the Wood

Dawn seemed to come faster than normal. It had been seven months since the raid, but the blows thrown at them stung like it was their first day. Every morning at dawn they were basically dragged from their barrack to the main platform. It was there they received their task of the day, something ever changing like the ocean waves hitting the cliff sides; never the same and always unpredictable. Some days it was as simple as hunting and bringing the kill back, others it was battles of submission where they were forced to fight one another to the edge of death. No matter, they did what they were told under penalty of pain; not death, pain, something much worse.

Today was different. When the boys in the bunker came above ground, they were greeted by what looked like little forges. 'Crafting tables' Jack called them. They nearly forgot, Jack's father was a blacksmith from the outskirts, so he knew a thing or two. Scattered about were materials: tongs, mallets, hammers, buckets (most likely for water), but mostly stone and crude iron.

Up on the platform was the Captain of the Guard, Captain Burns, who called for the attention of the legion of children. His instructions were clear: craft a weapon for themselves. After all in this army, the strength of a man is extended by his blade. This was to be the weapon that they carried through their training and into the army, therefore it had to be crafted to both the hand of man and boy. Much to their dismay, that meant heavy and long. It was Ray that pointed out that the soldiers had blades of steel and diamond, some even gold, but that earned him nothing but a strike to the face. However, the officer said if they wanted different materials, they'd have to mine it themselves.

"Then let's go." Tossed Michael, "Beats being stuck here."

So with packs filled they headed into the forest. The landscape was riddled with hills and cliff drops and of course trees. Off to the east were the cliffs that kissed the ocean, and the icy mountain far in the north, though distant they could make out a snowy peak. They remember the last time they tried for the north. They thought one night to sneak out of the camp to escape back to the countryside, but fruitless they were. The group was cut off by soldiers who happened to be "alerted by the king" himself. After a few attempts of the other boys, they quickly learned there was no getting out of this one.

"We should probably go downhill and dig if we want to hit any of the good stuff." Called Geoff as he hopped off one of the smaller drops, "Might even find some diamond if we're lucky."

"Not possible." Peeped Gavin as they followed their friend. But Geoff turned back and got in Gavin's face.

"What'a you mean? Gav." His voice slightly challenging, like facing the start of a fight. This made the little one tuck back into his shell.

"I-I heard someone ask if we'd be given diamond to work with, but the officer told him diamond off limits. If we turned up with a diamond weapon, they'd probably take it."

Geoff drew back a bit, a little embarrassed by how he intimidated the boy for no reason. "Oh… I guess that makes sense."

Michael scoffed at the idea, "Like hell we're gonna' play by their rules."

"Uhh- we kinda' already are." Interjected the ginger.

"Hell no, we're getting our diamond!"

Ray hopped over a log, "Actually I was thinking of using iron. You know, something a little more elegant."

"Elegant or not, when your slaughtering men it doesn't matter how it looks."

"Whatever."

Jack stopped and put his pack down beside a short cliff side they climbed down, the sun still low in the East. Protruding from the earthen wall was a dead little tree, roots half out and barely hanging on.

"I think this is a good place to start digging. Come on give me a hand with this tree."

Though it took a while, the five boys tugged the dead thing from its hold and their pickaxes tore at the little cliff. All but one.

"Hey Gav!" Michael called out, "Where're you going?" Sure enough the Spindly boy ran off and leaped onto a tree, crawling up as easily as a cat. "Gav, what the fuck are you doing?" For a moment they dropped their tools and turned to Gavin. His little head poked out from under the lowest bow, clearly hanging upside down.

"Face it, lads. No way on earth am I going to be able to lift a sword proper or swing an axe, not even when I'm older. I mean look at these twiggy arms!" And he let his little arms flail above his hanging head.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't tell us what you're doing." Ray cocked an eyebrow.

"Imma' get a branch and make myself a bow and just make some metal arrows back at the camp." And he pulled himself back into the dense foliage of the tree.

"Okay, but you better be able to get back down because I'm not carrying you back in pieces."

"Bug off!"

An hour passed, or maybe two, it's hard to keep time when exerting hard labor, but they soon hit an iron deposit. This lot was much better since it wasn't smelted old iron like back at the camp, this was much harder and probably more durable. But Michael wasn't satisfied, his poor heart fixed on finding diamond.

"Hey it's fine." Geoff said putting an arm across the fuming boys shoulder, "You'll find diamond someday, and you can just make it then."

But the child's curls stood on end before he socked him in the gut, "Get the fuck offa' me."

"Is everything alright down there?" called Gavin from what seemed like near the treetop. If you looked hard enough you could see his sandy hair peeking out from beneath the leaves.

"What are you doing up there?" replied Jack, "Surely you found a good branch, yeah?"

"Yeah I have. I'm just whittling some bits off."

Geoff stopped with a look of confusion, "Gav," he called back, "You don't 'whittle a bow."

"Well yeah I'm not actually whittling it, I'm just knockin' off some bits." And with that Geoff just gave it up. "How's the mining going?"

"We're just about done." Answered Ray. The sun was high above them, they'd have enough sunlight left to forge by time they get back to camp.

"Then come on, let's just go." Huffed the curly haired boy.

Gavin shambled down and landed with a little thud, in his hands a little knife and a slightly shaped branch that wasn't that far from being a bow. "You okay, Michael?" His childish accent putting a drawl on the end of his name.

He wanted to bark at him to leave him alone, but his huge blue eyes told him he'd probably break if he did.

"Yeah, it's just getting late." His pack tossed over shoulder roughly. "Let's go."

By the time they got back, there was about four hours of sunlight left. So quickly they took to the crafting tables. Ray was careful and soft with his crafting. His iron hot and red one moment as he skillfully formed little blades shooting out of the sides of his dual edged blade. And one the iron was cooled, the black iron shined in the approaching moonlight.

Jack was forceful, each swing panging loudly making the hillsides echo with the sound. Every pang made the iron that much stronger and with the metal still hot, he forced the metal shaft into the sharp edges of his axe head. Soon the mottled metal was gleaming in the soft sunset light.

Geoff was quick keeping a rhythm, fast and sharp. The edges grew thinner and the blade sharper until it was as sharp as a needle, light as air, and fast as lightning. The tip of the sword curving into a wicked tip. But the extra metal was not wasted. No, he took those scraps and forced them together into thick cuffs. And with precision and care, he marked them; an unclosed circle with a dot in the center.

Gavin had his bow. Carving on the way, it was mostly finished and all that way left was to soak it. After so, he bent it. That was the hardest part but he put in everything. All his frustration channeled into one task, but sooner than not, his bow was bent and string stuck. And with his short blade, he carved into the wood the shape of those creatures that stalked his home land. He could almost swear he saw them here, but never really knew.

But then there was Michael. He was stuck with some hard stone he took from their dig, so all he could do was meld the stone. His sword was long and flat though thick and heavy. Every pound of the hammer held his rage. The sun was setting and the red light stained the sky, the air filled with the sound of his hammer and a yell of anguish.

At nightfall they were done and the five of them were ready for anything. But 'anything' came too fast when Captain Burns called for their attention once more. Their task not as simple as the first.

They had to take to the forest tonight, and there was only one rule:

Survive