The trees shook as the SMO harekins struggled to keep up with the more agile and nimble ARO members. With each jump, Bruce fell to his chest, clawing and scratching the thick maple branches as he struggled to keep himself from falling. Kzyo stayed behind the pack to assist Bruce.

“Lad, I don’t need your help,” Bruce Brawnwood grunted. With another leap he sailed through the air to the next tree, but fell short of his target branch, tumbling down to the next branch below.

Kyzo landed gracefully on the bough above him and snickered. “From where I’m standing, you could use all the help you could get!”

The harekin ignored the boy’s taunting.

Further up ahead, Elucard and the rest of the squad made their way through the swamp. The murky water swallowed any signs of a road to follow. Elucard planted his hand on the next branch and swung below. Low enough to get his bearings, but high enough to be out of danger from any unseen threats. He yanked out a map tucked under his leather armor. Mave landed with a thud just above him and climbed down.

Elucard unfolded the map and looked around for any landmarks. “See any weird looking trunks, Mave? There should be one that resembles a stag around here somewhere.”

Mave slid further down so that the canopy did not obstruct her view. She narrowed her rabbit eyes and inspected the fallen trees and large lily pads until she saw a gnarled willow stump. It didn’t exactly look like an elk, but it was split down the middle and the wood was charred and singed. Each side of the trunk twisted and contorted, reaching high. It looked just like antlers!

“There, Elucard, see it?” Mave pointed to the tree trunk that she found.

Elucard squinted his eyes and searched where she pointed. Far across from the tree they were in, he saw the stag-like landmark. He followed his finger from the start of their journey to a sketch of the trunk, and then followed further up ahead. The route took them northeast.

“This way,” said Elucard. He balanced himself on the thickest branch he could find in the tree and sprinted down. With a mighty leap off he took off into the air. Had he needed the extra distance, he could have easily opened his wings, but Elucard had cut his teeth in the Blood Forest as a child. Jumping from tree to tree was a breeze. Once ARO had pushed out the Black Rabbits from Long Whisper, he took his own unit to the Blood Forest so that they could learn how to fly through the trees just as the squirrels did.

He landed without a sound and looked back to make sure each of his squad mates made it across. The distance between these two trees was slightly farther than the rest of the path. It may have still been easy for one of his own, but for a harekin, he had his doubts.

One by one, each ARO and SMO found their way across. All had made the jump except for Bruce.

“Come on, Brucey Boy, you can do it!” cried Quinn. He and the other two harekins hooted and howled, cheering their friend on and making quite the racket.

“Quiet, we are supposed to be covert!” hissed Elucard.

“Come on Brucey Boy, you can do it!” said Quinn in a loud whisper.

Elucard rolled his eyes.

Bruce bent his knees up and down and waved his arms back and forth, as if imagining his jump. “Okie dokie, Bruce, you got this,” he muttered to himself. He swallowed hard and jumped off the branch. He spread open his wings to catch a small amount of hang time before he missed his mark completely and crashed into the water.

“Damn it,” Elucard mumbled.

Bruce flailed his arms in the water and took hold of a floating log. Between labored breaths he lifted his head up to the tree and gave a thumbs up. “I’m oka—”

Suddenly, he felt a tug on his leg and was pulled under the water. He held his breath with what little air he had and peered through the muddy water. Something sharp and painful had a tight hold on his foot.

He thrashed at the shadowy figure as he was pulled further and further under, but it was no use. With a bit of quick thinking and a little desperation, he unsheathed his cutlass and stabbed the beast in the snout. It did the trick, he was free!

Bruce swam to the surface and took a wide gulp of air. “Help!” he cried.

Mave didn’t second guess herself. Without a moment to lose, she clenched a dagger between her teeth, and dove head first into the swampy waters below.

The alligator snarled and opened its maw for another bite out of Bruce. The burly harekin took hold of its jaws and grimaced as he pressured the alligator’s mouth to stay open. The weight of the reptile pushed Bruce back into the water. He screamed as he vanished once more into the belly of the swamps

Mave splashed down and swam to meet the wrestling pair under the water. She grabbed her dagger and began to stab wildly at the serpent. Blood rose from its many wounds clouding the water like a red smoke. Come on you big oversized log, get away from my soldier!

The alligator let out a loud and long hiss, turning its attention to Mave. Her eyes widened with surprise and pushed herself away from the eighty razor sharp teeth that snapped at her as she pedaled backwards to gain more distance.

Bruce growled and grabbed its tail and with one strong swing of his sword, chopped it off, sending the alligator into a roar of anguish. As the tailless beast awkwardly retreated into the swampy depths, both harekins swam back to the surface.

Mave shouldered her now exhausted sergeant and dragged him to the nearest tree. Elucard and Quinn fell to the lowest branch and dropped a cord for them to climb. Several alligators let loose a low growl as their shadows followed the two escaping harekins.

Bruce hobbled up the tree to meet with Essie, pain pulsed up his leg from his mangled foot. Blood stained his once chestnut brown fur. With each motion he had to make he doubled over in agony.

“Easy there, Bruce. I’ll have you on your clumsy feet in no time,” she said. She quickly opened her medicine bag and took out a roll of runecloth and wrapped it around his leg. The bandage glowed and set the bone back in place with a quiet snap. Bruce sucked in a breath as a chilled rush flooded his leg. Slowly the bite marks from the alligator closed up and his torn muscles regenerated.

“See, you’ll be okay, Sergeant.” Essie smiled and patted his shoulder. Her smile faded as she turned to Elucard and Mave. “I have plenty of linen bandages and blistercloth left, but only one more usage of runecloth.”

Elucard folded his arms. “No more mistakes,” he said. “Mave, do you think your harekins can pull their own weight when they aren’t in a saddle?”

Mave shot him with a stink eye. “Are you implying that Bruce’s injury was his own fault!?”

“If the shoe fits,” growled Elucard.

Essie glowered at her captain. “This really isn’t the time for an argument, Elucard. Bruce just survived an encounter with an alligator, but he will need some rest.”

Elucard gave Mave an ice cold glare. “We’ll break for three hours. Everyone get some shut eye.” he narrowed his eyes. “Mave, make sure none of your harekins fall out of the tree as they sleep.”