The Lost Village of Gravine

The Crooked Branch tavern was dark, dusty and unpleasant. Dirty TVs showed displays of various far off locations and events Jake and Alex had no reference to. They weren’t there for the entertainment, however. They were there for two reasons. The first being a cheap meal which they could afford. The second was information about possible Sweeper jobs. People loved to complain about their problems with the Twisted in these places, and Sweepers loved to charge money to deal with those problems.

“Hamburger, correct?” Elysia asked as Jake and Alex put their meat and cheese in between the cut up rolls they were served.

“Not exactly,” Jake said.

“But close enough,” Alex confirmed, food in his mouth. He slipped bits of an odd purple root vegetable into Stick’s mouth as the little critter kept poking his head up from Alex’s lap. “Seriously, chew your food, dude.”

Kraelin came back over to their table from the bar, looking slightly disturbed.

“What’s wrong?” Elysia asked.

“Well, there are some jobs we could take. More minor stuff. But the big rumor going around…is Gravine.” Kraelin looked to Elysia, who instantly became concerned.

“What’s Gravine?” Jake asked.

“A town deep in Cloakwood, the large forest near us,” Elysia said. “Augarium took me to it from time to time. They grow many magical plants for potions and rituals.”

“They’re also secluded,” Kraelin added. “They don’t have any barrier towers, only warriors and magic. Their position off the beaten path protects them somewhat, but…”

“But something Twisted related happened, right?” Jake asked.

“A week ago, a guy from Gravine was found in the woods near Briarthorne. He was near dead, dehydrated, malnourished. He was raving something about plants. Then he passed out and never woke up again,” Kraelin said.

“And nobody’s done nothing in a week?” Alex asked.

“Does this look like the stick their necks out for no reason crowd?” Elysia asked. “If an entire town is potentially gone, there would be nobody to pay them.”

“Well, good thing we are the type, then!” Jake said confidently.

“Dude, you don’t think we’re biting off a bit much here?” Alex asked.

“We’ve already saved one town, right?” Jake asked.

“We died, though,” Alex countered.

“Yeah, but now we’ve been training!” Jake exclaimed, slinging his arm around Alex’s shoulders. “Come on! I’ve barely used my sword since I got it! We’ve killed those tiny little Hound class guys! We’ve got this, right Kraelin?”

“It would surely offer a great reward to save an entire town if indeed there are still people there,” Kraelin said, looking to Elysia.

“If you think we can handle it, of course let’s go,” Elysia said. “The more people we can save, the better.”

As the teens discussed their plans to journey to Gravine, a woman watched them from the corner of the tavern. She wore a bright white robe and a featureless mirrored mask over her face, the only thing breaking up the smooth surface being two glowing red eye slits cut into the mask, each staring intently at the group. An artificial mechanical right arm raised a glass of alcohol to her face as she briefly lifted her mask to drink. Before lowering the mask again, a slight smile could be seen on her lips.

“As I thought…” she whispered.

*

The night air was thick in the Cloakwood forest. They had stopped the truck, finding a fallen tree blocking the narrow dirt road which was the only direct path to Gravine. “Perfect,” Kraelin grumbled as he stepped out of the vehicle.

“Jake, are you getting super bad horror movie vibes right now?” Alex asked as Stick clung to his arm, shivering.

“If you mean I would be shouting at the screen for the main characters to not keep going into the woods…* Jake looked down the path past the tree and into the darkness. Then he smiled. *Luckily I have this.” Jake held up his sword, striking a heroic pose.

“Oh. Gee. How fun. We’re all gonna die,” Alex said sarcastically.

“Hey, are you okay?” Kraelin asked Elysia, who had a severe look of worry on her face.

“I’m friends with some of the people in Gravine. Heck, Augarium is close friends with their mayor, Eldrin. I want us to not be too late,” she said, biting her bottom lip nervously.

“Nothing we can do but push forward,” Kraelin said. “Come on, everyone. Stay quiet. And Alex? Could you and Stick lead? I’m betting if anything bad is coming, he’ll pick up on it first.”

Alex sighed deeply, beginning to walk forward. “Come on, buddy. Canary in the coal mine time.”

They started walking off the edge of the path, their feet tromping over old leaves and sticks. Their eyes went to each sound, any perceived movement in the shadows causing them to ready themselves for an attack.

“I know you wanted the element of surprise, but this seems stupid now,” Jake whispered to Kraelin.

“I thought you were the big strong hero,” Kraelin snapped back. “Besides, it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Both of you, knock it off,” Elysia hissed. “We all agreed to it. Besides, we can’t waste any time waiting for day when the people of Gravine might be…”

Kraelin held his arms out, stopping them both. Alex had paused his steps. “What is it?”

“Stick is grabbing my arm real bad. I don’t think he wants to go any further,” Alex said.

“Elysia, could you…” Kraelin asked. She nodded, creating a green glow around her hand. Holding her hand out, Kraelin instructed her on where to shine it, looking for potential danger in the surrounding area.

“Hey, Jake,” Alex asked. “Does it kinda smell like…fall stuff?”

“Like those pumpkin spice lattes my mom drinks, yeah,” Jake agreed. “But…”

“Rotten. Wrong…” Alex said, petting Stick, comforting him.

“There,” Kraelin finally said. They all looked to see a massive vine hidden in the underbrush.

“What is it?” Elysia asked.

“Early warning system,” Kraelin guessed, following the path of the vine, careful not to touch it. “The lone villager who got out said something about plants. So I figure the creature would use them for self defense and…” Kraelin lost his voice when he found where the vine was leading. Neither of the other two boys could speak. Elysia did her best to choke back a scream.

A little girl was tied to the tree. Vines wrapped tightly around her, pinning her to the bark. The end of the vine was attached to her neck like a leech, drinking the life from her body, giving her a desiccated, blackened look. Her eyes remained closed, but her breathing was steady. She was alive, but...

“I know her…” Elysia said, unable to turn her eyes away. “She always ran up to me when I visited Gravine with Augarium. She…” Anger suddenly replaced her sorrow. Anger and determination. She turned to face the others. “She’s still alive. We can save her. We’re going to save her.”

“Damn right,” Jake said confidently. “Let’s get to the village and kick this plant bastard’s ass.” He began to follow the vine the other way, but Kraelin pulled him back.

“Look,” Kraelin said, pointing around. On multiple other trees there were more villagers, tied up, barely alive, drained of life, the vines forming a web across the forest floor.

“Damn…” Jake said, looking around in horror. “How did this thing do this?”

Kraelin shook his head. “I don’t know. We don’t know anything about this Twisted. Much as I like your determination, we should scope out the scene. Stumbling in there blindly might have us end up like her and, presumably, the other villagers.”

“You’re saying we need a scout?” Elysia asked.

“Yes. And one of us is clearly the best suited for the job.” Kraelin turned to look at Alex.

“What? Me? Oh no, no way, you do not want me!” Alex said, backing up, waving his hands.

“You’re the fastest because of your upgraded body,” Kraelin said. “You’re also the smallest. And your knife throwing skills are getting a lot better lately. If you did run into any trouble, I believe you could save yourself.”

“Dude, I’ll go,” Jake said. “We don’t need to send Alex to…”

“Alex, please come with me for a moment,” Kraelin said, walking away from the group. Alex reluctantly followed, Stick clinging to his arm.

“What?” Alex asked.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t believe in you,” Kraelin simply said. “You don’t have to go. We can find another way. But I believe you can do this.”

Alex looked down, shaking his head. “Hell, now I’ve gotta go. Damn it, why can’t you think I suck like everyone else does?”

Kraelin smiled a bit. “Because I see potential. Now, get going, quickly. Be fast, be silent. Remember, Astaven was known for being quick as the wind and as powerful as a typhoon. You have some of her power now. Follow your instincts, and you’ll be fine. And…”

“And what?” Alex asked, tilting his head.

Kraelin sighed, a little bit of emotion creeping in. “Be careful, Alex.”

Alex gave a brief salute. “No prob, warrior man.”

Walking back over to Jake and Elysia, he gave them brief nods. “Watch your ass, bro,” Jake said, rare nervousness on his face.

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” Alex replied, pulling the hood of his cloak up. Then he and Stick quickly departed into the woods, following the vine back to wherever it led.

“He’ll be okay,” Elysia said, putting a hand on Jake’s shoulder. He wanted to say he knew he would be. He desperately did.