Chapter 18

The young humans quickly abided by the words of their eccentric teacher and hurried to find a place to sit on the dewy ground, only a few of them showing reluctance to plant their butts in the dirt. One of those people was Raiel – not because he was afraid of a little soil, but because he was deathly afraid of having to speak in front of such a huge crowd.

Except for the canteen, and the marketplace that was visible from his old cell window, it could be said, that Raiel had hardly seen so many people gathered together in one place before. And now he had to utter difficult words while all of them listened attentively? What if he said a word wrong, or forgot how to speak? It hadn’t even been that long since he started.

“Alright, alright, settle down. Let’s begin.” the long-haired man called for quiet, clapping once more, even though no one had said anything. He looked around, catching the eye of every single one of them, as if committing each face to memory. “So, who wants to begin?” The strange man narrowed his eyes and went over their faces again quickly, before his finger shot out like the sudden lunge of a coiled snake, as he pointed at a plain-looking girl. “You! You start!” he exclaimed.

She gasped in surprise and sputtered something unintelligible before finding her bearings and putting together a coherent sentence. “Ann! Uuh, Sir… My name is Ann Moreth, Sir!” she managed to the muffled giggles of the students around her. Their new teacher’s head snapped around towards the gigglers, like a perched owl, eyes focused and searching. “There are other students besides little Ann here, who wish to introduce themselves properly, I see. Good, good.” he muttered, seemingly to himself.

The new targets of the teacher’s attention blanched visibly, glancing sideways at one another, each hoping that their neighbor could save them from the strange man’s close scrutiny. He only stared at them, eyes wide, waiting for them to start talking. A breeze blew through the leaves, rustling them and putting an emphasis on the perennial silence.

Suddenly, the teacher whirled around, showing his back, as he bent down to riffle through his almost comically large backpack, that he had set down against the fallen trunk. As he did so, the group of students, that had been at the mercy of the man just moments before, exhaled in perceptible relief, happy to have avoided embarrassment by that crazy oddball.

“Well, get on with it. We don’t have all day, do we?” he said, a little loudly, his back still turned as he looked through his stuff. “Don’t mind me! I’m just being inconspicuous to alleviate some of that pesky nervousness you’re all feeling, my dear, dear students.” he said to his backpack.

Reluctantly, one of the boys began speaking, introducing himself as Mathias, after which the others seemed to have gathered enough courage to follow his example. Thus, the round of introductions went around, some choosing to say a little more, like what noble family they belonged to. When it finally came to Raiel’s turn, who had chosen to sit on the very edge of the half circle, his stomach was really starting to hurt.

Everyone looked at him expectantly, as two seconds of silence stretched to ten. It was excruciating, and all he could do to put an end to it was speak up.

“M-my name is… uuh, Raiel… erh, yeah.” he stuttered, eyes downcast, as shivers ran down his spine. If he had looked up, instead of at the ground he sat on, he would probably have noticed, that no one cared about his nerves, except himself.

The teacher stood up and turned back to face his new students again, acting as though he hadn’t just spent the last five minutes with his hands in his backpack for no real reason. “Good, good.” he said, glancing at Raiel’s cowering figure. “Nice to meet you Uuhraiel. And nice to meet the rest of you, as well. Sorry, if I only remember Uuhraiel’s name in the beginning. He was the last one to say his name, after all, and frankly, I’ve forgotten the rest already.” he announced with a carefree smile, to the hesitant laughter of the surrounding students.

“Ah, no!” Raiel exclaimed, before he could stop himself. All eyes turned to him. “That’s not it.” he said.

The teacher gave him a puzzled look, a slight grin flickering across his face, before disappearing just as quickly. “What is not, child?” he questioned solemnly.

“My name is not Uuhraiel. It’s Raiel – just Raiel.” Raiel explained hurriedly.

The man raised an eyebrow in mock surprise, his mouth pouting. “Is that so? Now, that is certainly good to know. You had me fooled there for a second.” Raiel didn’t know how to answer, and he was getting a creeping suspicion, that the teacher was deliberately making a fool of him. Doubtful that he would be able to match the older man in a battle of wits, in any case, Raiel simply kept his mouth shut, hoping to be let off the hook.

The man regarded the boy for a moment longer before shifting his focus to the crowd in front of him, projecting his voice clearly.

“So, tell me, everyone, who here has been camping before? By show of hands please.” he asked loudly, as he began to march back and forth.

A forest of hands shot eagerly into the air – all except Raiel’s. He contemplated the question before raising his hand. His first thought had been, that, of course, he had been camping. Wasn’t that what he’d done for the better part of his entire life? But then again, if the tales Yaeth had told him of his camping trips with his father, brother, and sometimes mother, were any indication, what Raiel had been doing couldn’t exactly be considered camping.

Camping involved sleeping in tents, telling scary stories by the bonfire, bringing delicious food from home, and having an enjoyable time. That wasn’t even close to being an accurate descriptor of Raiel’s life. He decided to not raise his hand.

“That’s almost everyone, I see.” the man said with a satisfies nod. “That is nothing like what we will be doing, however.” he clarified with a stern voice. “This is survival. Not the party games you’ve been doing with your parents.”

He stopped and beckoned sharply for the students to follow him, as he paced towards the tree line. “Follow me, now!” he called back as he walked at a brisk tempo. “We’re going to check out the area today.”

He stopped and threw a thumb in the direction of the fallen tree trunk without looking back. “And to all of you, who have prepared gear for this class – forget all about it. You can leave it next to mine. You won’t be needing it.” he announced strictly, his otherwise carefree demeanor having taken a complete one-eighty turn. Many of the students glanced briefly at each other, before obeying their teacher and trudging over to lay their pack against the trunk.

As soon as they stepped through the tree line, the world changed drastically, green suddenly reigning absolute. There was no trail or path in sight, not that Raiel was complaining. That’s how he preferred it. It reminded him of home. They walked fast in silence, until one of the students spoke.

“Uhm, excuse me, sir.”

“Yes, what’s the matter?” their teacher asked.

“Well, nothing’s the matter, really. It’s just… you haven’t told us your name yet. I was hoping you would.” the girl said.

The man slowed and then stopped completely, turning to face them with a thoughtful expression. “I did forget that, didn’t I?” he muttered. “Heat of the moment, I suppose.”

“My name is Horoth, and you may all call me as such. The ‘sir’ thing was getting old, anyway.” he told them. Then he spun and resumed his brisk walking pace, forcing the shorter students to jog in order to keep up. Their march resumed, silence settled upon the group.

After about forty-five minutes of continuous walking, a boy with cropped blonde hair cleared his throat. “Uhm, excuse me, sir. How far are we going to go? I have a math class in an hour and a half, and if we go much further, I don’t think I’ll make it back.” A few other students nodded, mumbling something about being in the same situation.

“I’ll write you a note when we get back.” Horoth answered simply. “And the same goes for the rest of you.” Whether in surprise or satisfaction, that shut the boy up, and the quiet returned for a brief while, before Horoth spoke again, voice clear and articulate, carrying all the way to the back of the line.

“Look there.” he said, pointing to the ground a few paces away. “Who can tell me what that plant is called?” Its stalk was very long and slender, similarly long and slender leaves growing in a spiraling formation along the stalk, appearing too heavy to be held up by such a thin stem. Yet, there it stood, almost at height with Raiel’s chest.

Everyone gathered to look at the plant in question, eliciting muffled whispers from the students, as they discussed with each other. “Thomassen’s Leaf, sir.” a girl with long blonde hair and glasses said, as she studied the little green thing. “And quite a large specimen at that.” she commented.

“Indeed, it is Thomassen’s Leaf. Can you also tell me what uses this plant has?” he continued.

“To mention a couple: Ingestion can have a mildly neutralizing effect on some substances, and if it is grinded into a paste, it can cause localized numbing, good for things such as stitching up wounds. It got its name from Linnard Thomassen, who, about seventy years ago, famously created multiple useful potion recipes wherein this plant is an ingredient.” she imparted, the words flowing from her lips as if they were being read aloud, directly from the pages of a book.

“Excellent! That is extensive knowledge about a lesser known plant, I must say.” Horoth admitted, his voice betraying mild amazement. “Where might you have come by this information, I wonder.” he mused aloud.

My father is an apothecary in the city, so I have always had an interest in herbs and potions. I’ve followed him around the shop for my whole life, looking over his shoulder at every opportunity.” she answered, a beaming smile plastered on her face.

“That explains it, yes.” the teacher nodded. “Very good! Now, who can think of a benefit of the neutralizing effect.” He looked around expectantly, eyes darting from face to face, as he searched for a raised hand or a mouth about to open. When no one offered to answer the question, his expressions soured slightly. "No one, huh?" he mumbled.

”Venom!” Horoth exclaimed. “If you find yourself out in the woods, far from our lovely nurses and doctors, and a snake or spider decide to sink their envenomed fangs into your unsuspecting behinds, you’ll be glad to pluck a few of these. It will mean more time before the venom really takes hold, and once it does, it will be weakened. Just don’t eat too much of this, or you’ll end up with a whole new set of problems.” he explained, picking the green plant from the earth, biting off a single leaf and chewing it slowly.

He stood back up, and began to walk away as he talked. ”You’d do well to commit this plant to memory. You’ll thank yourself for it in the future, I promise you.” he said. ”Might as well put a few in your bags, each. It’s always good to study them before you need them, to know what you’re dealing with.” Horoth gestured a few paces behind the original discovery, where numerous such stalks swayed gently in the breeze.

”But, sir, you said we wouldn’t need our gear.” the same boy with the blonde burr cut, who had asked about missing his math class, complained.

Horoth stopped and scratched his stubbled chin dramatically, gazing into the canopy above, in mock contemplation. ”That would certainly seem to be the case.” he readily admitted. ”Perhaps, next time, you will all think about my words more carefully before you obey them. I might be an authority in this particular setting, but you should never forget to use your heads in anything you do. Not all adults are as smart as me, unfortunately, and they frequently make mistakes, even if they are not willing to admit it.” their teacher lectured, pointedly ignoring the reason they were even having this conversation in the first place.

The blonde boy just grumbled as he pulled a mid-sized Thomassen’s Leaf out of the ground with a sharp yank, root and soil coming along for the ride, and forcefully stuffed the now broken stem into his pocket. Horoth looked on with a raised eyebrow, the corner of his lip raised slightly. Oh, how a teacher loved to teach his students a lesson.

As they marched on even deeper into the forest, people were starting to get both weary and worried, while Raiel only became more cheerful and relaxed. Although he might have begun to feel like he fit into their society in some capacity or the other, he still felt more comfortable in the forest than anywhere else.

His fellow students glanced around nervously as they walked, looking for whatever spectres their minds had managed to conjure into their imaginations within the confines of the deep, and according to their hushed conversation, hexed and treacherous forest. Raiel couldn’t understand why the proximity from open land made such a huge difference, but apparently, it did. Was that also why he had been told to walk through the woods to campus, when he first arrived? Some odd form of traditional hazing of new students? Raiel had loved it, though.

”Sir, I don’t think I want to go further in, now.” a girl in the back of the line called out, catching Horoth’s attention. He looked back at her, his characteristic raised eyebrow coming back again. Their teacher went back through the group, coming to a stop in front of the girl, who was staring intently at her shoes.

”And why do you not want to go further in?” he asked her quizzicaly. The girl, who was small of stature with shoulder length brunette hair shifted her weight back and forth from foot to foot, before looking up at her instructor, looking about ready to burst into tears.

”They say people, who venture to deep into the forest rarely make it out to tell the tale.” she said in a voice that shivered. Raiel didn’t remember ever dying, though, and he’d been much further in than they were now. Strange. What was it that made everyone so averse to enter his forest?

Certainly, in his time, he’d spotted some exeptionally dangerous-looking beasts in the forest – ones that he did not doubt, for a second, could tear him apart or crush every bone in his body in the blink of an eye. However, if one simply kept their distance, they very seldom became aggressive. In fact, most of those megafauna seemed about as disinterested in people, as they could possibly be. Like he wasn’t even there.

”So, what exactly is it, that they say happens here?” Horoth questioned, sweeping his arm across the landscape. The girl thought about the question for a moment before answering.

”You know, like monsters and apparitions, that want to devour yo-...” Raiel, who was standing next to the pair, as they talked, caught a quick glimpse of rapid movement in the grass a couple of paces from the girl’s feet. Faster than his conscious mind could react, his entire body stretched to its utmost, as his one good arm lunged forward in a blur.

Horoth, who had stood with his back to the rustle in the grass, whirled around as his hand shot towards one of the knives on his waist, preparing to defend his students against an attacker, and the girl screamed in surprise.

Raiel’s fist fastened around the snake’s body, stopping it dead in its tracks, before it could sink its fangs into the girl’s leg.

Unfortunately, the grip Raiel had on the serpent, although firm and secure, was too far down its body to prevent it from wheeling around, going for his arm instead of his classmate. Only his infusion-enhanced reflexes allowed him to see the strike in time to pull his arm, and with it, the snake, forcefully away, disrupting the snake’s attack path and letting go of the animal simlutaneously.

Its long, serpentine body collided with the grassy earth with a hollow thud, and Raiel pounced once more, this time getting a nice handle on the wiggling and struggling animal, fingers pressed into the neck right behind its skull.

Everything had happened so fast, that only the ever-watchful Horoth had managed to even react properly. With his knife, he’d sliced at the snake, but just barely stopped the blade before it bit into his student, who had jumped in front of him. The man stood stunned, looking at the boy holding the half meter long serpent, studying its features and gaping maw.

The boy, who Horoth now remembered was called Raiel, glanced over at his teacher. “This snake is dangerous.” he said, holding up the outstretched ophidian, showing its dripping fangs to the rest of the class. “If it bites you, you get very sick. Maybe die, too.” he explained matter-of-factly, seemingly almost untouched by the event that had just transpired.

Horoth was the first to regain his bearings, as he cleared his throat, sheathed his weapon, and clapped Raiel on the shoulder. “Indeed, it is. You’ve done very well to catch it, and possibly save your classmate’s life.” he commended the boy, who only nodded in response, a slight smile of happiness crawling onto his lips. “But, when you threw it on the ground, you should not have gone in for the catch, again. It would have slithered away. It was just spooked by something.” the teacher explained.

“But, I did it. See?” Raiel answered simply, holding out his trophy to display it to Horoth, unable to see the problem with his actions.

“Erh… yes, well. You might not have.” Horoth stumbled, suddenly at a loss for words. “In any case, well done. And with a bad arm to boot, I see.” he grinned. He turned to check on the girl, who had turned as white as a piece of paper, but was otherwise unharmed, before addressing the class. “What Raiel holds here is, as he said, a venomous snake. It is known as the Brown Lullaby Whisper - known as such because the venom it injects puts the victim into a state of artificial sleep, until the body eventually shuts down completely. Some large men, however, have been known to enter a prolonged coma, instead, eventually waking up, extremely weakened.” Horoth pat the snake on the head with two fingers. “A bite from this slithering serpent can potentially be fatal to an unsuspecting person. Always keep an eye out for them and steer clear of them, and you should have very little problem with them.”

Horoth looked down at where the snake had attacked from, muttering to himself. “Speaking of, that was quite unusual – an attack out of nowhere, like that.” His brow furrowed, as he thought over what had happened.

“Sir!” a boy, who stood a few rows ahead called out, pointing into the foliage.

It was rustling. This time however, I was something much larger than a snake.