THE DESTINED HERO: A Stranger's Chronicle.

Chapter 7. The forbidden forest.

Deep into the woods as the sun went down, Frank began to look around more often than before when the sun was still up, that both Larry and Toby could pick up notice of it with ease. And they understood also that the danger posed by that forest was higher at night than during the day.

"Why don't we stop and make camp? That way we'll take better guard against the evil of the place." Larry suggested to Frank.

"You talk a lot and you are slow in learning. There is a river nearby, that's where we must get to." Frank continued looking over his shoulders as he drew his sword, ready to use it.

Although Larry was giving him a hard time, but he was beginning to like him, they shared the quality of always second guessing their superior, making them see things from a different angle. Somehow he was beginning to think that his attitude towards Marcus was coming back to haunt him through Larry.

"Should we do the same?" Larry asked in respect to drawing their weapons like Frank did.

"Shhh, they are trying to flank us." Frank stopped walking but continued looking around slowly.

Larry and Toby had no choice than to draw their sword too, as they followed Frank's lead, doing exactly as he did by taking a stance.

"Prepared to run." Frank could not help but notice the high level of their inability to fight from their stance. So he put back his sword into its sheath, and they did likewise.

Afterwards he took his bow, drew an arrow, releasing it to the top of a tree. "Run!" He shouted after the release as he took the lead.

The arrow he fired hit a monster on the top of the tree, causing it to fall down, as others around the began to make noises, as they pursued them.

"What was that?!" Toby asked as they kept running.

"Just run!" Frank turned around, releasing another arrow that hit the nearest of the monsters chasing them, while he continued in the race.

"Head for the boat." Frank shouted again as they came to the river he spoke of.

Though they didn't have any experience with boats, none have they seen any before, not to mention a river, the situation they were in made both Larry and Toby to figure out what they needed to do at once, considering the boat was at the bank of the river.

While they struggled to push the boat into the river, Frank continued shooting the monsters, preventing them from coming close.

"How much longer?" He turned to see the two boys struggling, so he fired his last arrow and went to their aid. With their combined strength, the boat was off the shore and they quickly jumped in.

As the monsters came to the shore they all stopped even as they kept making scary and angry noises because they couldn't follow into the water.

"What are those things?" Larry kept looking at the monsters as Frank paddled the boat.

"That, my friend, are bavaks, known for their undying nature, immune to magic and fear for water and fire." Frank stopped padding for a moment as he caught his breath, while joining the boys to stare at the monsters.

"But you killed so many with your arrow."

"They'll rise again once the arrow is removed from their skin."

"Then why remove the arrow?" Toby wondered as it didn't make sense. If the arrow being in their body makes them remain dead, then it is a dumb thing for people to take it out.

"We don't remove the arrow, their kind does." Frank took his eyes away from the monsters and resumed paddling the boat.

"Whoa!" Both Larry and Toby exclaimed as they realised why the Queen's army won't follow them into the forest.

Spending the entire night in the boat as it floats with the wave since they all fell asleep only for Frank to open his eyes and see that the boat got stuck close to a rock.

"Get up," he wakes Larry and Toby.

"Are we there yet?" Larry wiped his sleepy face.

"No, we will continue on foot." Frank gets out of the boat, climbing onto the rock as he helps them do the same.

"Why can't we just continue the rest of the journey with the boat?" Toby was already feeling very comfortable on the boat, since all he had to do was sit while Frank paddles.

"You won't survive the rest of the journey without learning how to use those swords. So let's put those weapons to practice."

He took out his sword, signaling them to do the same as he attacked them, while telling them how to move and swing the swords.

"I can't believe we're actually doing it?" Toby smiles, the training seemed very fun and easy to him, as Frank was telling him where was going to swing his sword from and how they were going to defend it.

"You think, so until you come to face real combat where your opponent really wants you dead." Frank points out to him that there was a real difference between training and real combat.

He then paused the training, "Now let me see you two attack each other."

He excludes himself from the training exercise, and after a moment of watching them play, he said. "Stop! You won't last a second in the face of danger. I'll be back, stay here."

"Where are you going? You are not to leave us." Larry asked.

"To get you some practice sticks." Frank answered without stopping.

If they will really learn how to fight, then they need to use something less dangerous, so he could hit them in order for them to feel what pain is, and know that worse will be inflicted on them if they don't take the training seriously.

"Shall we?" Larry shrugged, shaking his head as he turned to Toby, insisting that they continue practicing with the real swords in their hands.

The noise made from the continuous clashing of their swords soon drew attention to them. As an arrow flew past their ears, hitting a tree by the corner.

"Oh my gosh!"

They stopped to look who shot at them since it couldn't have been Frank because he ran out of arrows while shooting the bavaks.

"You should have listened to your master." A female warrior covered in hood said as she jumped down from a tree.

Walking closer to them, "How old are you two?" She asked not that she cared.

"You first? Who are you?" Larry points his sword at her, trying to scare her from coming close.

"You're brave, I'll give it to you." She chuckled, because having watched them for sometime, she knew they suck at fighting. "But aren't you a little too old to be playing with swords instead of training?"

"Why don't we show you that we weren't playing?" Continues to scare her with the sword, and Toby joins him.

Still holding her bow, it only took a split second for her to load it with an arrow, pointing it at Larry as she made a better scary face than the one they were putting on.

"Now, drop it." She threatened to lose the arrow if her instruction wasn't obeyed.

Without second thoughts, they both lay down their swords in panic, her speed in loading the bow was enough to convince them that she was good with her bow and would use it if necessary.

"Wise choice." She slowly unloads the bow again, and puts on a friendly face. "I can smell you are strangers, but your heritage is unknown to me. Where are you from?"