Autumn for Black Tree

Chapter 1 The Weeping Tree (3/4)

"Wow," said Paxiss as she looked up at the high ceiling of the tree. "So all of this came from you?"

Barley laughed uncomfortably. "I guess being a knight didn't leave much room for landscaping."

"So it can be cut off of you then?" she asked as she stood up. "Do you keep shears on you?"

Barley looked up at her, a bit surprised. He pulled some out of his armor. She leaned over him to take them but then reached for the hilt of his sword instead. Before he could begin to warn her to be careful, she had unsheathed it. It gleamed in the white light.

"We're going to need this first," she said.

She reeled back and with a mighty swing, she hacked at the bulk of the vines growing from the back of his neck that held his head stiff and upright. The sword was sharp but not sharp enough to cut all the way through. She swung again. This time his head was freed. Barley had a bewildered look on his face. Eyes wide, he began to rotate his head around.

"Good grief, girl! You almost took my head off!"

Paxiss smiled and brushed her soft brown hair out of her face. "As a hang-woman, I prefer not to mix my business with leisure."

Barley laughed, "You seem a bit small for an executioner."

Paxiss raised her eyebrows. "Then you can imagine how good I must be, since I'm their top gal."

A bit out of breath, she gestured for him to stand. He complied, his body scraping bark against bark and metal as he did. It was labored but finally, he stood erect. He was large. Very large compared to her. It was true that Paxiss was a dainty girl, like he said. She looked up at him, tall and broad-shouldered, wrapped in twisted vines. He was certainly a sight to behold.

"This is going to take some work," she said, half to him and half to herself. She cleared her throat and went around his back. "You want to keep telling me your story?"

She had a look of determination and focus aimed at the thick black vines on his shoulder blades.

"You really don't have to do this," he said.

"Of course I don't have to. But I want to."

She raised the sword up again.

"Really! Honestly, I can do the rest."

She had the sword lifted over her head. It was heavy for her. She looked as though she was so top heavy that she would fall back before she could shift her weight and swing down, yet she paused in this awkward position to give him a look.

Barley smirked. "Stubborn, huh? That old double edged sword of personality traits."

The blade came down with a loud thunk.

"I like to hear stories while I work," she said.

She took the shears off of his person. He had tucked them back into a pouch underneath his belt. She used them to sever the rogue strands of the vine left from the large cut she had just made.

"So the guy hunted monsters for a living! What else do you want to know?" he asked.

"How about how he turned into a full-blown tree?" she said breathing heavily.

He grunted as she continued to hack away at him. "Hmmm," he said going over things in his mind. "Okay... so the knight fought many a beast. Enough that he began to think he could handle almost anything. One day he happened upon a maiden who came to him in a panic. She told him she lived in a village with the problem of an enormous, bestial, and man-eating boar. This creature was vicious. And truly massive. It left trees in its wake as it barreled through the forest. She told him she needed a knight to come and protect them, to slay the creature and bring peace to her people."

Barley trailed off and paused for a moment. Paxiss was having trouble with a particularly thick portion in the center of his back.

"You'll need to whet this blade when I'm done," she said grunting. "And you'll need an axe in case this happens again."

The tree was silent for a moment and she realized something had gotten to him. She looked up at him and saw his eyes staring off into the distance.

"That seems like pretty standard fair for a monster hunter," she said trying to coax him. "Aren't distressed damsels pleading for help part of the job description?"

Barley focused. "It can be," he said, "but this time was different."

He sniffed and started again. "He went with her and he slay the creature. The battle was arduous and brutal, but he won out in the end. The girl thanked him and was so grateful that she begged him to stay and rest up in her village. She wanted to make sure he was well fed and well compensated for his journey and effort. So he stayed one night there, and then another, and another. Soon he found himself a part time member of the community, working with her family and keeping up a patrol of her village borders. He was happy.

"During that time it was discovered that the man-eating boar had had a drift of piglets. As the piglets were also blood thirsty like their mother, they had begun eating the livestock in the area. Eventually they too were hunted by the knight and a few others in the village. One such piglet was found in the maiden's father's barn, hiding from the hunters. She took pity on it and kept it hidden away. She succeeded in raising it on table scraps for a time, but he began to grow. She eventually showed him to the knight. He was apprehensive at first, but he gradually warmed to the idea. He agreed to keep it hidden and help care for it. He just warned her to keep it under control and tame it. They both thought maybe one day it could end up acting as a guardian of her people rather than a menace like its mother before."