“When the forest proves too cruel for iron, the survivor must learn to wield the oldest weapon of all: a believable truth.” — unknown Riven exhaled slowly.
Sneaking past the checkpoint seemed like the obvious choice, but the more he thought about it, the more dangerous it became.
If one of the guards spotted him crawling through the bushes near the gate, they would undoubtedly become suspicious.
A small, bloodied child wandering alone near a merchant checkpoint wasn’t exactly an ordinary sight.
He couldn’t risk being caught.
After everything he’d gone through to escape the camp, the last thing he wanted was to end up in another cage.
He glanced down at his clothes.
They were torn, dirty, and stained with dried blood.
His shoulder throbbed beneath the makeshift bandage, and the stolen sword hanging at his waist was far too large for his small frame.
He looked like a runaway slave.
Perhaps that was exactly what he needed to look like.
If he pretended to be a child who had survived a monster attack, the guards might be willing to help him.
It was risky, but he couldn’t think of a better option.
Riven took a deep breath before stepping out from behind the trees.
He walked onto the dirt road, keeping his head lowered as he approached the checkpoint.
The monster hide he had collected was slung over his shoulder, its rough surface scratching against his neck.
He winced slightly as its weight pressed against his injured shoulder.
He ignored the pain and continued walking.
The guard leaning against the fence was the first to notice him.
He straightened up, his hand instinctively moving toward the pommel of his sword.
“Hold right there, kid.” Riven stopped a few paces away.
“Where did you come from?
This isn’t a playground.” The second guard turned toward them, eyeing Riven suspiciously.
Riven looked up at the two men with wide eyes.
He tried to make himself appear as exhausted and frightened as possible, though he didn’t have to pretend very hard.
“M-My…
my father,” he whispered.
The first guard frowned.
“Your father?” “We were hunting in the forest.
A monster attacked us.” Riven paused, lowering his head.
“It was an orc.
It killed him.” The two guards exchanged glances.
“An orc?” the second guard asked.
Riven nodded.
“My father told me to run.
I hid in the forest, but I couldn’t find my way back.” He swallowed, trying to make his voice sound as weak as possible.
“I’ve been alone for days.” The guards looked at one another again.
Their suspicion seemed to lessen, replaced by a mixture of concern and disbelief.
“You’ve been wandering around out there by yourself?” the first guard asked.
Riven nodded.
The second guard stepped closer, examining him.
His eyes moved from Riven’s torn clothes to the bloodstained bandage wrapped around his shoulder.
Finally, they settled on the oversized sword at his waist.
“And where did you get that?” Riven glanced down at the weapon.
“My father gave it to me.” It was a simple lie, but he hoped they wouldn’t question it.
The guard frowned, clearly unconvinced that a five year old could do much with such a weapon.
“Looks a little big for you.” Riven didn’t respond.
Instead, he carefully lowered the monster hide from his shoulder and placed it on the ground.
“I killed a beast last night,” he said quietly.
“It attacked me while I was sleeping.” He reached down and pulled the horn from where he had tied it to the hide, holding it out toward the guards.
“I managed to kill it, but I got hurt.” The guards examined the horn.
It was roughly the length of a man’s forearm, with a sharp point and a dark, hardened surface.
Even with his poor attempt at removing it, it was clearly from a monster.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” the first guard muttered.
He crouched down to inspect the hide.
“You actually killed something with this?” Riven nodded.
The guard looked at him again, this time with a little more respect.
“You’re a strange little one, aren’t you?” Riven remained silent.
The second guard glanced at the bloodstained bandage.
“That wound needs looking at.
How long have you been walking around with it?” “Since last night.” The man shook his head.
“You shouldn’t be wandering around in the forest with an injury like that.” Riven lowered his gaze.
“I-I know, he said sniffling.” The first guard stood up and looked toward the wagons waiting at the checkpoint.
Several merchants were already growing impatient, and one of them was shouting at a driver to hurry up.
The guard sighed.
“All right, kid.
Pick up your things.” Riven looked up.
“You’re…
going to help me?” “Well, we can’t exactly leave you out here.
You’ll be lucky to survive another night in those woods.” The second guard nodded.
“There’s a town down the valley.
We’re heading that way ourselves.
You can ride with one of the wagons.” Riven felt a wave of relief wash over him.
A town.
He had finally found one.
“Thank you,” he said, lowering his head.
The first guard waved him off.
“Don’t thank me yet.
We still need to get you through the checkpoint.” He gestured toward a large merchant wagon parked nearby.
It was covered by a canvas tarp, and several sacks of grain were stacked inside.
“Climb into the back.
There’s some room behind the grain sacks.
Stay there until we reach the town.” Riven nodded.
He picked up the monster hide and carefully slung it over his shoulder again.
The weight made his injured shoulder ache, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.
He didn’t want to give the guards another reason to question him.
As he approached the wagon, he glanced back at the checkpoint.
The two guards had already returned to their posts, and the merchant drivers were beginning to move forward.
Riven climbed onto the wagon’s rear step and pulled himself over the tailboard.
He settled into the space behind the grain sacks, placing the monster hide beside him.
The stolen sword rested awkwardly against his leg.
For the first time in days, he was surrounded by people who weren’t trying to hurt him.
He still didn’t know whether he could trust them, but at least he was one step closer to safety.
Riven leaned back against the sacks and closed his eyes.
He had escaped the camp, survived the forest, and finally found a way to reach civilization.
Now he just needed to make sure he didn’t lose his freedom again.