Devourer Class

'I feel hungry.' Galahad thought when woke up.

Night had now fallen on Teramore, the bright stars loomed overhead, shining through the dense tree canopy above Galahad. Eventually his eyes fluttered open and he brought himself up into a sitting position. When he looked up at the darkness that engulfed him, he woke up realizing he had been sleeping by the pond for hours.

"Oh shit." he cursed to himself. 'Everyone's probably wondering where I am.' He began his mad dash of thinking before getting up and taking action.

Galahad then shot up in a panic and looked for all his scattered items, he shoved them quickly into his bag and started to turn away from the pond to go home.

He was about to run home, but an unusual sound echoed through the woods. A little whistle that sounded like a Dire Dinger's birdcall. A call Galahad could never do, but always remembered.

After he stopped slinging his bag onto his shoulder; he turned back to face the pond. Even in the darkness of the night, the stars lit up the pool of water with sparkles of flashing white lights.

All the frost had disappeared from the surface and was lightly steaming like it was heated. Something that was nearly impossible during the time of winter, but Galahad didn't think about it for even a moment.

Because in the center of the pond, stood a slender figure with waist long blonde hair. She stood very still about fifty yards out where the water rose up to her knees. The stillness of the elf was like that of an ancient statue radiating beauty, elegance, and knowledge.

It was a familiar presence, even if the encounter was long ago and very brief; Galahad knew it was the same female elf he saw over eleven years ago.

He closed his eyes and felt a little bit of suppressed pain building up inside as he thought about the irony of his situation; here was the same person he longed to get a glimpse of again for many years. For the first time, he came here without thinking about her and she ends up being right in front of him.

Galahad chuckled to himself as he thought, 'I think that Pavell was right, I really do have the strangest of luck.'

His continued to think that as he opened his eyes again to the sound of string being pulled taut, and then the scene changed before his eyes to the beautiful elf now holding a bow and aiming a notched arrow at his face.

Galahad's body dropped to the ground instinctively before his mind fully processed the change. He felt the wind of the arrow barely miss his head by just a few centimeters. The force of the arrow impact made the tree behind him creak heavily under the stress of impact.

Any chance of talking to the elf woman was now out of Galahad's mind, fear and escape was the only thought crossing his brain. Her shot was far more powerful than any archer firepower he saw in the dungeon, the impact could crush his body before it even pierced him.

In one quick motion, Galahad pivoted to sweep up his bag on his good arm and run. He ducked behind the trees to make a beeline for the city. The exhaustion in his body was replaced by adrenaline and fear.

As Galahad was running, he tried listening for the sound of footsteps or rustling to figure out if the elf was nearby. He didn't even hear her splash while getting out of the water, yet the looming sense of danger continued to follow very closely.

Suddenly Galahad jerked to the right and hid behind a wide tree; while changing direction, a huge force hit his bag and nearly tripped him into falling against the tree. His instincts told him to dodge and they were right as a silver arrow was now sticking out of the side his bag.

He wanted to collapse and shiver at the thought of nearly dying to such a powerful projectile, but his body moved in accordance to the rational part of his brain, forcing him to keep running.

"Any chance we can talk this out? If I offended you, I am truly sorry. What do you say?" Galahad shouted into the night.

He took the silence in the air as a 'no.'

Shortly after, he was running full speed again to get back into the safety of the city and its high level guards.

'If only my goddamn spells worked, I could get out of here.' Cursed Galahad. The thought of his inoperable spells and loss of shortsword made his c.h.e.s.t ache even more than before, but he had to ignore it for now.

The chased carried on for a while, a total of nine more arrows were fired at him as he ran, his strangely sharp instincts told him when to duck each time they were homing in on his back.

'I don't know how, but it seems like I could react to the moment she shoots. Since when can I do that?' Galahad wanted to ponder. He didn't think too much of it though, he was too busy trying not to get shot.

After a few more dodges between the trees and bushes, he made it to the open field that stood between the forest and the city. Panic washed over Galahad once again.

'Shit, she's gonna skewer me while I am out in the open.' Thought Galahad, 'What am I going to do?'

Then a familiar voice called out to him, "Galahad?"

He whipped his head to the direction of the voice, it was Brett. His younger brother was standing there with a crystal lantern in his hand. Their parents sent him to look for Galahad after the sun had set and he still didn't return.

When Brett went out with his newly crafted light-crystal lantern, he thought he'd find his brother sleeping next to the pond where he always practiced magic. It was not some secret Galahad kept, they both would venture into the forest location to practice mana manipulation of their own skill sets.

What Brett didn't expect was the emergence of his brother at the edge of the forest. When he saw Galahad, he almost didn't recognize him.

The way his older brother was sprinting away in full-blown fear and how his body would not stop shaking, it was something he had never seen before.

He called out just to confirm it was him and sure enough; his shaken older brother called back.

"Brett stay back, wait no… come here." Galahad had formed a makeshift plan out of a few loosely strung thoughts. It was a terrible idea, but he hoped what little knowledge that guy at the bar had on elves was not just a rumor.

He ran to his brother and in a rush of words, "Activate 'Flame Hammer,' NOW!"

"On what?!?" Replied Brett.

His skill required a tool to channel a flow of elemental fire mana, he didn't plan to bring any forging tools out while searching for his brother.

"ANYTHING! If you don't do it now, we are gonna be dead." Galahad's commanding tone had a seriousness Brett had never once heard in his life. He then felt up close the fear radiating from his older brother, and without a second thought, he channelled the skill through his lantern.

The white light produced by his lantern was dulled and turned orange as it burst into flames. It grew to a miniature inferno inside Brett's hands, changing the scene in the darkness to something even more ominous.

Galahad then turned and shouted at the forest, "If you fire another arrow, that lantern falls, and the fire magic is gonna spread across the fields and the forest. Are you really gonna risk the whole forest just to kill me?"

Galahad hoped that the men in the bar were not lying about the elves duty to care for the forest.

Only silent crept out from inside the forest, no reply and no arrows came out of the trees. After ten seconds passed, Galahad turned to Brett.

He looked him dead in the eyes, "No matter what, keep that fire going until we reach the city limits, got it?"

"Yeah." Brett gulped.

"Okay, now run." They sprinted across the fields, with the flames bobbing up and down between them. They eventually made their way back without any additional trouble.

High in the trees, a pair of yellow eyes squinted angrily at them through the darkness. The female elf was crouched low on a branch, she lowered her bow while as the last arrow she fired at Galahad was actually the last in her quiver.

If she had one more left, the elf would not have any hesitation to kill Galahad, regardless of the fire. She knew that the foul smell he gave off by the pond was something far more evil than she could ever have thought possible.