Zephyr woke up in the middle of the night, a feeling of uneasiness plaguing him.
He wondered what this feeling he couldn't quite put his finger on was. A tangy smell like that of iron suddenly assaulted his nostrils; it was the nauseating smell of blood.
He noticed the surroundings were unusually quiet; not even the crickets were chirping. All his instincts screamed that it was dangerous, and Thaddeus had taught Zephyr to take his instincts very seriously.
Zephyr didn't want to confront anything at this time in his debilitated state; he wasn't prepared for any battles right now, so he decided to climb the tree he was resting under to minimise the risk of coming across any beasts.
He looked down at the ground from the top of one of the many branches of the tree, but nothing except the immediate vicinity was visible in the darkness that shrouded the forest.
The ominous silence permeated the forest. It was a windless night— not even the sound of the wind rustling the leaves and bushes could be heard.
All the shadows in the forest felt like they were moving; he kept scanning his surroundings with his eyes to make sure he didn't miss any signs of an animal prowling, telltale or subtle.
All his senses were on full alert. Zephyr's ears pricked as he thought he heard a twig snap, but he soon began to doubt his ears as he couldn't seem to catch any follow-up for the next few minutes.
That tangy smell lingered in the vicinity, but it wasn't as noticeable as before. He assumed he was overreacting and decided to go to sleep, but he chose against returning to the forest floor, just to be safe.
Right as he lay his head down on one of the bigger branches, he saw a patch of darkness move out of the corner of his eyes, it was stalking closer towards the spot he had been sleeping on a little while ago.
It was hiding in a blind spot to keep away from the line of sight of its prey, but this also meant that it wasn't able to see Zephyr.
It seemed to be a lion, but he couldn't make out many distinguishing features because of the lack of light. It walked with a limp, which Zephyr considered enough evidence of an injury.
As the lion skulked closer and closer to the Zephyr's location, it began to tense its body in preparation to pounce. It then suddenly relaxed, as it realized the human it had been preparing to hunt had disappeared.
It looked around and found nothing, it began sniffing the air for his scent, but looked lost for some reason.
Zephyr wasn't naïve enough to think that the lion wouldn't discover him just because he was on top of a tree, especially since he knew that felines had a superior sense of smell.
He waited with bated breath as he watched the lion prowl around the ground while sniffing the air to try and find him.
Suddenly, without warning, the lion yelped in pain. The fletching of an arrow trembled, its sharp head had embedded itself in the lion's flank.
The lion scanned its surroundings with rage visible on its maw, it was searching for the perpetrator.
Another arrow flew out of the dark forest, this time aiming for one of the lion's eyes, but it nimbly dodged the would-be fatal blow.
This time, Zephyr saw the direction from which the arrow had come, and so had the lion, because it was now charging in that rejection.
The beast slowly faded from view, Zephyr relaxed his hitched breath.
An enraged roar shattered the brief silence of the forest, which preluded sounds of battle. The noise of the clash seemed to be getting closer, which put him on edge.
The battle eventually arrived directly below him. From what he could make out through the dense brush, two swordsmen were fighting together against the lion, a concealed archer providing support from the sidelines.
The eerie silence from before was now shattered and gone. The air filled with sounds of angry roars as well as steel clashing against claw and hide.
.....
The displaced moon read two hours past the start of the battle when a reprieve finally allowed Zephyr to take an uninterrupted assessment of the situation. The lion, panting, was bloodied all over, with large gashes on its body. One of the swordsmen had taken a claw to his right thigh, and the other one was gushing crimson from his arm. The lion had clamped its teeth into him before tearing off a chunk of flesh.
Despite all the injuries the swordsmen suffered, they had inflicted multiple injuries over the long-drawn out battle and some of them were fatal.
The lion crouched there, panting, scanning the swordsmen with a look of superiority and pride, but there was something deeper in its eyes, a sentiment of fear and unwillingness.
An arrow flew out from the undergrowth and embedded itself in the lion's glabella, ending the life of the bloodied and battered animal.
Zephyr had watched the entire battle in silence and was now waiting for the hunters to leave so that he could change locations to avoid being found by the animals who would inevitably gather at this site, so smothered it was with the thick scent of blood.
A rustling arose behind him. Zephyr froze.
The edge of a cold dagger pressed into his throat, and a whisper came behind him. "Don't move." Zephyr thought it prudent to assume: 'or I will kill you.'
Zephyr held his breath and obeyed silently. He did his best not to move a muscle.
The assailant whistled, and a woman carrying a bow walked out of the unlit forest. She nocked an arrow and drew the bow while aiming it at Zephyr.
"Climb down and don't try anything", said the assailant as they shifted the dagger away from Zephyr's throat.
Zephyr climbed down the tree carefully, checking his waist discreetly to make sure his sword was still there.
He turned around after reaching the ground with his hands raised to make sure that they knew he wasn't hostile.
"What? He's just a child," said the archer with a confused look on her face. "We'll deal with him later. Rodriguez, knock him out and tie him up. I have questions for him later." Turning to her two teammates, she called, "Anne, the lion's dead. You can come out now. These guys need first aid before they die from excessive bleeding."
Rodriguez, the assailant, did as he was told and moved to knock Zephyr out, but Zephyr, wary, decided to resist.
He drew his sword, seeing that the archer had taken her eyes off Zephyr in her urgency to treat her companions, and there wasn't anything threatening him now.
The man named Rodriguez unsheathed his two daggers and walked forward calmly; he didn't seem worried about the sword in Zephyr's hands,at all.
Zephyr raised his guard. He was tired from the lack of food and rest, he would have to fight pretty hard to make it out of here.
Rodriguez stopped at a distance just out of reach. Zephyr tensed as the man's hawk-like gaze seemed to unravel his entire being
Suddenly, Rodriguez jumped forward and slashed a dagger towards Zephyr's neck. Zephyr hurriedly raised his sword to parry the attack when he caught a glimpse of another, this one aimed at his chest.
Twisting his body with effort, Zephyr managed to dodge the strike, albeit barely.
Seeing both attacks fail, Rodriguez retreated back out of Zephyr's range, resuming his silent observation.
Before Zephyr could take a small breath of relief, he saw another dagger flying towards him. Swinging his sword, the attack was deflected, but a moment later, he felt a wetness on his leg.
Warm blood seeping out of a wound, the chill air of the forest, and the coldness of the crimson trickles on his skin awakened him.
The man continued to repeat this tactic of attacking before swiftly retreating. Defending against a barrage of constant, tiny attacks seriously drained Zephyr.
Just as Zephyr collapsed onto his knees from exhaustion, Rodriguez calmly walked up and threw a left hook punch at Zephyr's temples, knocking him out. Zephyr fell onto his back, sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
"Now what do I do with this kid?" Rodriguez murmured to himself as he sighed. Not getting an answer, he took out a rope from his pack and, using it, tied Zephyr up.
"Well, I guess that's up to Jenna to decide," he muttered as he slung Zephyr over his shoulders and walked back to his teammates.