The smirk on Sen's face disappeared as the next dart came in spiraling towards him. His eyes wide open and hands perfectly poised to make the intercept, Sen swatted the dart down to the ground following its previous brethren.
" He is deflecting them now ? How ? I thought he could barely dodge them let alone see them. " Liora asked as Sen celebrated on the tree stump.
Dym was standing back poised to a tree bark. His eyes scanned Sen's movements head to toe. He very much understood how Sen doing it but was still at the marvel of how fast he had caught up to it.
" Yes he can't see them nor sense the dart. " he said answering Liora.
" Rather he is sensing the instance they were fired. " he added.
Sen's eyes brimmed with excitement. The darts were no longer cumbersome to dodge or sense. Like a passing breeze he swayed and twisted out of their way and most of the time managed to deflect then. All these were possible due to the realization he had earlier.
A few minutes ago Sen stood on the tree stump frustrated. He grasped his fist barely able to constrain the underlying regret of his slow progress.
<>
" Damn it. All that time with Orin was for nothing. " he thought.
" I bet that ale head would laugh his head of if he saw me now. "
" Saw… see" the word lingered in his head.
The word coursed through his memory until it settled on the first few words Orin had told him when they began their journey.
" In matters of arcane what you see is a lie. What you hear is also a lie. The temporal truth lies hidden in chaos we are given." then until now those words seemed meaningless to Sen.
He hadn't realized it but to the world Sen had closed his eyes. His subconscious was drifting trying to understand what the words meant.
" I've got it ! " he thought.
" Hidden in the chaos we are given. "
He took a deep breath in then out. His thoughts settled and unfolded into the idea that lead him to do what he did next.
" The whistling and the dart are just obstructions to what I'm really supposed to be looking out for. "
" Though small , the end of the darts felt warmer than the rest of the dart. That means that there is a ignition trigger or something like that. "
" But If it was real fire it would have set the dart a blaze selling it out so… , It's something controlled, measured and easily hidden to the other senses.. " he formulated.
" Arcane "
A smirk developed on his face.
" So to stop the dart I'll need to sense that last second of ignition. The last pour of arcane into the crossbow … and with that — "
His thoughts came to be as his hand moved towards the incoming dart. A sharp pain shot from his skin as his hand came into contact with the side of the whistling dart.
What followed was a low mushy sound of something small piercing the forest floor. It wasn't loud but was loud enough for Sen to hear. Laying on the bare forest floor of the clearing was the dart. It had a small dripping red hue covering a part of its body. Its source from the now bleeding cut on Sen's hand.
<>
Time had elapsed and Sen had grown tired. Tired of dodging only one dart.
" Dym sir. " he called out as he deflected the next dart.
" Can you fire more than one dart at me ? " he asked as he poised himself ready for the next dart.
" So he managed to sense the little arcane power I was pouring into the crossbows and adjusted to that. " Dym thought before turning to Sen .
" Sure but can you handle it. " Dym asked .
" One way to find out. " Sen said his confidence evident with the cocky grin on his face.
" Okay then. Let's see if you can handle four at once. " Dym said as suddenly four darts from different directions shot towards Sen .
" Four at once, huh ?" Sen said his eyes darting around looking for possible escape methods.
The darts came each aiming on a different part of Sen's body. The first one came shooting for his left leg. Sen anticipated that and quickly lifted his leg allowing the dart to pass and hitting the wooden stump. The next one came its aim set for his mid section. Sen barely had the time to set his leg back onto the stump. With a slight sway to the side he dodge it.
As though simultaneous the third dart came, its whistle slicing through the air as it flew towards Sen. Still on his right leg, Sen jumped back into a backflip, the dart grazing just the tip of his hair.
To the side Sen could see a smirk on Dym's face.
As he landed he finally realized what he was trying to do.
" He's trying to force me out of the tree stump. "
His land was exactly where Dym wanted him to be. Sen's feet landed on the edge of the tree stump. A small gust of wind was enough to push him onto the forest floor bottom first.
" Wait if I fall onto the ground then… "
" If you step out of the tree stump the darts will change to arrows. " he remembered Dym saying.
At that instance the fourth dart came, its spiral penetrating the air like a hot rod through butter.
Sen wobbled at the stump's edge trying to regain balance. His hands waved around as though he was falling and trying to latch onto something.
" Dodge this. " Dym thought a fiendish grin masking his face.
" Looks like he bought it. " Sen muttered with a chuckle.
Suddenly Sen's wobble became a thrust. The dart missed as Sen arched through the air landing onto a near by tree stump.
The grin on Dym's face softened after realizing he was duped.
" He lured me to think that he was falling and didn't know he had other options. "
" Well played, Sen . " he muttered under his breath.
Still scribbling on the ground, Liora shook her head in disapproval.
" These two are so childish ." She said her gaze on Sen who was jumping from tree stump to tree stump avoiding the incoming darts.
She sighed returning her focus to her scribbles. The forest was rather quiet. Apart from the sound of missing darts hitting the wooden stump the rest was quiet and serene. Just how she liked the forest.
" Lioraaa ." A sudden shout called out her name.
" That voice. " she thought as she turned to confirm her suspicions.
Running towards her was Ery. Her normal wide smile was pasted on her face as she closed the gap between her and Liora.
In the two days they had been in the village her and Ery had spend almost the entire time together. Relative to anyone else, She had spoken to Ery much more and shared just as much.
" Ery, what are you doing here ? " she asked.
" I'm here to help. " she answered.
" Also the Elder wanted to see with you. "
" The elder ? "
Behind Ery elder Lin paced gracefully towards them. As she walked it seemed as though the forest rejoiced as some flowers sprouted around her robe.
" Ery if you may. " she said looking at Ery.
" Sure. I'll go see how Sen's doing. " Ery said as she took her leave.
" Elder Lin, is there anything you wanted ? "
" Yes there is. I only wish to speak with you. "
The elder's eyes were calm and unbetraying. As she took a seat on a stump Liora could only but guess what she wanted.