the tales of arancar

chapter 03 : tree trunk

Aryk's eyes widened as his face was illuminated by the glowing tree trunk in front of him. He felt a strong whistling in his ears that faded after a few seconds. Aryk approached and raised his hand to touch the trunk.

"It feels like any other tree in the forest, except this tree glows with a golden light. Could it be the great Tree of Life? But that's impossible. My mother told me it left the continent years ago!"

As Aryk sat silently, talking to himself, he felt warmth and heat coursing through his veins coming from the tree trunk.

"Is it my imagination, or do I really feel warmth in my hand? How can this be possible?"

Aryk pulled his hand away from the trunk and began to examine the details of the trunk.

"Although it looks like an ordinary trunk, apart from its yellow color, there's something strange. This trunk doesn't seem to be made of wood. Instead, there are thin yellow threads woven together to form the trunk."

Lost in his thoughts, Aryk heard the sound of a soldier in the distance near the mouth of the cave. Aryk trembled and felt a cold sweat on his forehead. Despite Zack's warnings to return in precisely five minutes, Aryk had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he completely forgot he was in a heavily guarded cave.

Nimbly, Aryk ran to the cave entrance but stopped and hid when he saw a shadow at the cave's mouth. Feeling his heart race, Aryk glanced sideways towards the entrance.

"My time is up; one of the guards is back. Damn you, Zack, why didn't you warn me? I mean, you did warn me, but why wasn't it more insistent?"

Aryk began to study his surroundings, searching for anything to help him escape. He observed the cave walls, aged by time, and the scattered rocks everywhere, looking for anything to distract the guard. Near him, Aryk found a flashlight and came up with an idea.

"It looks like this guard has returned early. I should take advantage of this opportunity. If I throw this flashlight to the west side of the cave, it will surely catch the guard's attention. The moment he turns his head, I'll escape through the exit. Damn, if only I had Ragnar's agility."

Aryk picked up the flashlight and started counting, but strangely, he only reached two.

"Damn, Aryk, you need to do this now," he said to himself, making a fist and counting down to zero.

Aryk threw the flashlight to the far western part of the cave. The shadow of the guard's head turned, and he drew his sword, slowly heading towards the source of the noise. Within five seconds, Aryk started running on his tiptoes to avoid making any sound.

"The guard is distracted. I can really escape!"

Aryk increased his speed, approached the cave entrance, and, with a strange mix of happiness and tension, emerged from the cave.

"I'm out! I really did it!"

Aryk had barely moved to flee when his feet froze. He felt a cold sensation on his back and a shiver down his neck. A deep voice echoed from inside the cave.

"Don't move from your spot. If you make any move, you'll vanish in seconds."

Aryk froze when he heard the guard speak.

"I'll give you a second chance to identify yourself. I'll count to five, and if you don't identify yourself, you'll die."

Aryk was completely paralyzed and didn't hear what the guard said as a high-pitched buzzing drowned out his ears. Within seconds, Aryk came back to reality and heard the guard counting.

"Three... two... -"

Aryk shouted, stammering, "S-stop!"

"My name is Aryk. Aryk Nister. I haven't done anything wrong, please don't kill me."