The forest was in a panic as animals ran away as far as possible, scared by the deafening lightning. The two men also jumped up in fright. Especially because they were facing the lightning and despite being in the middle of a sunny day, the lightning still had produced a strong flash of light.

BOOM! Another lightning covered the sky, then dark clouds formed and gathered as the wind picked up and the pouring began.

"What was that?" asked Louie.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” said the man as he walked towards the boar. “We need to secure it and get back. Whatever it's going on, it’s better we’re as far as possible.”

However, Louie didn’t move and just stared where the lightning landed.

The wind got stronger, the rain got heavier, in mere moments the visibility was reduced to the point that seeing 20 feet in front of you was hard. The constant bolts of lightning were illuminating the dim sky.

“Louie, what are you doing?” yelled Weller. “Get over here and help me! LOUIE!”

“What?” shouted back the teen, recovering from his stupor. The storm made it difficult to hear each other.

“Get over here, Goddammit!” yelled Weller. He had never seen or heard about anything like this before and didn’t want to find out what was going on. Not before it calmed down anyway.

Everything about the situation was unheard of. The power of the first two bolts of lightning, how the clouds just appeared out of nowhere, the wind, the rain. Everything.

Louie walked towards the boar. 

“Fuck this, it’s impossible.” Weller stood up, black energy enveloped him as he picked up the animal and threw it on his shoulders.

Weller and Louie are hunters, one experienced, the other… not so much. This was how they earned an income. Selling meat, pelts, claws, tusks, inners from all kinds of magical beasts. The higher rank of the magical beast, the better the price. Also, the deeper you were into the forest, the higher chance to find stronger magical beasts. And they were quite deep. At the very least, deep enough for no average hunter.

At the same time, where there was prey, there were predators too. So they would usually smear the boar with a substance to hide the smell of the blood, tie it by the feet and carry it on a wooden rod. That way they wouldn’t have to use their limited energy supply to move the animal and instead save it for any random encounter.

However, the situation was different at the moment. He wanted to get as far as possible and the substance didn’t stick on the boar’s fur as it was washed away by the wind and rain.

“Boss Weller, can this be the doing of the Glade Guardian?” shouted the teen.

Weller looked where the lightning had struck, and realized that was indeed where the glade was. Thinking about the Guardian, he said. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

He then secured the boar on his shoulders and turned towards Louie. “Let’s get back to our camp. Stick close to me,” said the man as he was prepared to sprint, however, the teen’s next words stopped him in his tracks.

“I heard Ravi and Parcey say they wanted to see the Glade Guardian.”

Weller turned back towards the teen, eyes frowned. A mix of surprise and fear could be seen in them. “When?”

“Right before they left camp. They said as long as they don’t antagonize it, they would be fine. Maybe… Did they anger him?”

“Fuck! Those guys… I told them to go north. Fuck!”

Thud! Weller dropped the boar. The dark energy around him intensified. “Wait for me here!”

As soon as he finished those words, Weller dashed towards the Glade. Behind him, Louie looked with admiration and murmured, “One day I’ll be as strong as you, boss.”

***

Under the roaring sky, Weller ran, dashed, jumped, slid, just to get to the glade faster. He avoided every obstacle in his way, some he even used to propel himself faster, like a parkour expert.

Nothing slowed him down. Not the bending trees, not the uprooted ones, nor the abrupt slopes. Only the powerful wind and low visibility. But unless one was aware of his maximum speed, no one would know.

He headed in a straight line towards the glade, hoping he wasn’t too late.

The Glade Guardian was one of the strongest existences in the forest. The entire continent knew about it. And from what he had heard, even the magical beasts from deeper in the forest were scared of its strength. 

But calling upon bolts of lightning? He never heard of a magical beast being capable of something like that. Yet, he didn't rule it out as the Glade Guardian was a special entity and the magical beasts had also been acting strange lately.

BOOM! The loudest thunder he had ever witnessed cracked the sky in two. He even jerked and stumbled back at the sound as the black energy around him dissipated. He had even felt a strange pressure coming from the lightning.

“What the fuck is going on?” he said with a hand over his chest. His heart pounded furiously.

Then, the clouds disappeared. Instantly.

But he didn’t have time to ponder about it as something approaching. Something dangerous. He frowned, focused between the trees ahead, and took a fighting stance as the black energy engulfed him once again.

The rustling of the leaves got louder and louder.

Swish!

A silver tiger with iron fangs, yellow eyes, and armored back jumped out.

“The Guardian?” murmured Weller questioningly. He had never heard about the Guardian leaving the Glade.

The tiger stopped when it saw Weller. It growled and showed its teeth. Weller looked down at its feet to avoid the predator’s eyes, but still to see if he was charged.

The Glade Guardian then slowly circled around him. A low rumble came from the beast the entire time. Weller stood still, muscles tensed. He didn’t dare to move, even when the magical beast was behind him. Yet he concentrated on the tiger and was ready to move at any abrupt action from it.

The Glade Guardian gave one last growl before it moved into the forest with a rustling.

Weller’s shoulders dropped and gave a relieved sigh as he turned around to look in the direction the silver tiger left. His frown showed his confusion. “This is not right.”

“BELLY!” A voice filled with despair sounded.

“Ravi?” Weller suddenly turned towards the Glade and dashed.

filimon

Tomorow, I'll post another two and that will be all for this week. But from the next week forward I'll stay true to my sqeduale.