The forest that Rafil had just left was known as Shrieking forest. When people used to cross the forest, they would hear unearthly shrieks coming from the forest. Many a times those who ventured into the forest did not return. Braving the forest had now become a taboo among those who lived near it. People still had to cross the forest. For some of them, crossing the forest was the only way to trade their goods at a better price. Some people sought to make money from this and became guides, people who officially helped other people cross the forest. Tia was one such guide. She was returning from one of her trips with a jute merchant when she heard the frantic shrieking in the forest.

Tia's blood chilled. She had never before heard the shrieks being so loud and frantic. She had crossed the forest many times and had heard the shrieks too, but never were they so intense and neither had they ever continued for so long. Her client, the jute merchant had by now broken down into tears and was kneeling on the ground holding his ears, mumbling "Dead! All dead! We all are going to die!"

By now Tia had lost all her bearings. She was covered in sweat. She looked at her client. She saw the client as her responsibility. She stretched her right hand to console him, only to find it shaking uncontrollably. She grabbed her right arm with her left and pulled it to her side. Once again the shriek came, this time much closer. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"Wait here. I will go take a look. Hide yourself, leave the bag here. It will weigh you down" Tia said to her client. He still continued to mumble clasping his ears. Tia looked at him for a moment longer then turned away, heading in the direction of the shriek. She had to see what was happening in order to make it out of the forest alive. Knowledge was what had kept her alive till know. Once she had even seen the abominable creature which had provided the forest its name. She knew how terrifying the creature was. She had to make sure the creature was not after their trail. Because if it was, then there was no hope.

Tia skirted around the trees, trying to hide herself while moving forward. Though her years as a guide had given her the skill to navigate the forest easily while hiding her presence, she was still not as good as Rafil much less Grungee. But the sound she made were dwarfed by the shrieks. The nearer she went to the shrieks, louder was heart feeling to her ears. It was as if some one was drumming on her head and her chest.

When the shrieks were getting unbearably loud, Tia saw the creature she once had seen. There was a hilt of dagger jutting out from one of its eyes. The creature in its pain was thrashing wildly destroying anything that got into its path. Seeing this Tia felt her legs go numb. She just stood there watching the creature wreck havoc. Half torn heads of three men was within its reaches; two sticking out from its spiky legs and one not far from it. There were no bodies in her sight. Tia recognised one of the heads sticking out from the creatures legs as another guide she knew from her town. Tia just stood there stricken with fear, as the creature moved on mowing everything in its path.

The creature weaved through the forest changing its direction every so often. The merchant was still kneeling where he first had been kneeling. Clasping his ears, now he was praying to his god, promising sacrifices for rescuing him from his eminent doom. Unfortunately the merchant had not heeded Tia's words. The creature came to where the merchant was kneeling, fixing in on him with its good eye. The merchant screamed one last time before succumbing to the creature's assault.

Tia just stood where she was, staring at the creatures back with her blank eyes. She had already lost her consciousness due to sheer terror. When she came to her senses, bright moon lighting the dark sky. The creature had long since fine away. As she tried to move, her let's were still shaking. She some how managed to force herself to go where she had left her client. Her breathing was heavy and she often stumbled. When she saw what was left of her client, she emptied her stomach by a tree. The mangled corpse had its stomach torn open with all the entrails spread out around him. Most of his internal organs were gone along with his eyes.

The rampage of the creature continued for a month. Many people lost their lives and yet more their nerves. All the guides refused to brave the forest anymore. "There is a demon in there" is what they would say. The name of the forest henceforth became 'Demon's groves'.

Oblivious to the repercussions of his actions, Rafil continued on his journey with Grungee. When a week had gone by and they still were not headed towards his Master's estate, Rafil asked Grunge where they were headed to. Grunge looked at him and just smiled. Rafil felt it was useless to question him any more. In his time with with his Master Rafil had learned that men like Grunge spoke when they wanted to and not any sooner. Questioning him further would be like talking to a wall.

That night when they made camp Rafil sat staring into the flames. He was reminiscing about his father. He wanted to go to his father as soon as he could. But now he had lost his father's dagger, the only thing that he had of his father. It was as if he had taken a step back. He wanted to move forward. This was frustrating him.

A short sword flew and landed in front of Rafil's legs, swinging for a moment as it stuck into the ground. Rafil startled and looked at Grungee. "Take it. Its from the Drolong, the country of swords. You won't find a better one where we are going" Grungee said to Rafil with a straight face.

"Drolong? There is no such country. And where are we going" Rafil said staring back at Grungee.

"It is on another continent. Drolong, the God of Death is its patron god. The continent is named 'Ruhal'. It is the largest country on Ruhal."

"Where are we going" Rafil asked, narrowing his eyes. Grungee smiled at Rafil and said "You ask too many questions."

Rafil embarrassed, looked away from him. Grungee chuckled and then went silent. Rafil picked up the short sword. He winced at the weight of the sword straining the wound on Hus right arm. The short sword in Rafil's hands seemed to have sufficient length. It was perfect as a sword for Rafil who had never used a sword before. Rafil decided to let the wound heal for now tucked the sword at his waist, trying to he the feel of how to walk with the sword at his side.

A month after they had left the shrieking forest, Rafil and Grungee came to an area filled with canyons. Grungee looked at Rafil and said "The path to becoming strong is not an easy one. Neither can it be just taught, at least not by me. I am here to introduce to you the way to use your body to survive. In the next month I will drill into you the very basics of what you will need to survive here. Then you will spend a year here, surviving the wild on your own. You are not to leave the way we have come. To north of these canyons is a great forest. You will come find me there in the centre if the forest. There is an estate in the centre of the forest. If you succeed then that will be your first step on the path of becoming strong" Grungee said these things looking down at Rafil's eyes. Rafil only nodded gripping the sword at his side. During the past month, the wound on Rafil's chest had healed completely without a scar but the wound on his arms had left a scar of a crescent shape as if suggesting the moon itself had embedded itself on his arms.

For a month Rafil learned how to scrounge for water and food in the canyons. Grungee taught him basic breathing techniques. He also made sure that Rafil made it a habit of sleeping lightly. "Everything depends on your breathing. How you breathe decides how you live. It decides how much you can control your body. When breathing, focus on your navel. Let the air flow naturally but at the same time make sure you control it completely." "In the wilderness only those who remain alert, remain alive. While you sleep there can be those who will think of you as an easy prey. You need to be able to wake up at the sound of leaves falling if you want to survive."

Rafil while trying the breathing techniques could feel the air around him move more vibrantly than ever. When Rafil used to recite the runes, the air around him would vibrate but now when he tried the breathing techniques the air would surround him in a torrent. It was as if the air was trying to tell him something. This made Rafil curious as well excited. His eagerness to experience that feeling grew day by day.

But this was not all that Grungee taught Rafil. Grungee demonstrated for Rafil how to swing a sword. He taught him the basics of using a sword. "The way of the sword is still too much for you. But to survive here you need to fend for yourself. What I am teaching you are just the basics. You need to develop your own way for the sword." Rafil was excited about the sword the most. Even though his father had never fought with Rafil as an audience, Rafil had seen his father practice with both his sword. Rafil had become mesmerized by it. From then onwards in Rafil's mind, the only way to become strong was the sword. Prepping Rafil for his survival, Grungee headed towards the estate in the forest north of the canyons.

Beyond the canyons, towards the north lay a great forest. It was called a great forest because of it's size and the densely packed the trees in it. Like the Demon's grooves the great forest also had many abominable creatures of its own, some more grotesque and cruel than even the shrieking demon. But the forest was famous not for them. In the centre of the forest besides the river that snaked through the forest was a hold. This castle dwarfed the Simelias castle by far. Even the 'demons' of the forest dared not venture towards it. Grungee walked through the front gate of this castle which seemed to be guarded by no one. If someone would watch carefully, they would notice black shadow like things gliding on the castle walls.

Grungee ignored these shadow like things and headed straight to a room on the third floor of the castle. In the room, behind a desk was Abigail, seated and reading a paper. Grungee knocked the door before going in. Even he dared not be too offensive towards Abigal. Abigail looked up from the papers and smiled at Grungee.

"Welcome my friend. I believe you must be tired by the journey. Please sit" Abigail pointed to a chair in front of the desk across him. Grungee nodded at Abigail and sat. "What is the world coming to?" Rafil said shaking hi head as he slid the paper he was reading across the table towards him. "Eight and a half cycles ago the kingdom of Densari produced a head ache for us. If we had not acted then, it would have possibly spelled our doom. Now all of a sudden we have another headache to deal with. Supposedly two cycles after we dealt with our problem back then, the same woman gave birth to another child. This one was destined from birth to be the High Priestess of Trale. A High priestess of a dead goddess. You understand what that means don't you? We need to act and fast" Abigail said emphasising the last part with enormous intensity.

Grungee looked at the paper with squinted eyes. After a while he grinned and said "I have an idea. Let's leave the girl for now. We have to focus on the child 'Rafil' for now. When the time comes....."

Okay so I lied. It was not as fast as I could have updated. But I got side tracked by Hajime no Ippo. Damn animes!

Anyway the other reason for late update is that I am uploading from phone. It took me 5 hours write a chapter where as it took me 2 to 2 and half hour on a laptop. Also since I am uploading

from phone there might be errors. Please bear with it. Just point it out to me. I will correct it after I get my laptop. Thanx :)