Chapter 6: The First Test

Leif squinted through the wispy forest growth, keeping low as he signaled his small patrol ahead. Strange rustlings had been heard in this patch recently, and he meant to discover the cause.

Hand gestures brought his men to a halt. A twig's snap echoed, but the undergrowth was too thick to discern the source. Leif crept that way alone, emerging beside a game trail where movement caught his eye.

Crouched there, painting runes upon boulders, were a party of large, crudely armed men. Their wind-torn cloaks bore the boar sigil—a rival clan Laying eyes upon Leif, they seized rusted blades with eager jeers.

Leif held up a helping hand. "No blood needs to flow this day. Your runes endanger all who wander here unwarned. Come, let us talk as kin and neighbors."

The men exchanged glances, unused to such civil greetings from strangers. Their captain spoke. "You've got the skill to best us, wanderer. Yet, where justice is due, we claim it. These woods are ours."

"As are the villagers who till within. I've worked to end such boundary fights, replacing vengeance with vows of aid. Will you not try this path with me?"

Leif spoke gently yet firmly, radiating the calm wisdom learned from Friar Tomas. Slowly, reason took root where rage had flourished before. Oaths were pledged that day in the Greenwood Glade, maintaining peace through understanding between once hostile kin. The rival captain spat on the soil. Empty oaths! We take our rightful prize.

Leif saw anger overrule reason in the man's eyes and knew further words were wasted here. "Fall back!" he shouted, and he turned to flee with his small patrol through the thickening wood.

Crashing sounds signaled the clan giving chase in packs, whooping, and brandishing weapons. Leif's group dashed between gnarled trunks, ducking low-hanging boughs. He sent up a silent prayer for swiftness and wisdom to evade these predators.

Arriving at a game trail junction, Leif spun to face their pursuers, signaling his men to halt with an upraised palm. "Stand and let fly as they come!"

The enemy charged into view, howling for blood. Leif loosed three shafts in quick succession, felling the forward-most men. His patrol followed suit, bringing down more of the clan's fighters.

Yet the remainder battled on heedlessly. Leif saw that they must overwhelm his men in sheer numbers if not halted. In a flashing instant, an idea came to him. He strung and drew, taking careful aim once more. Leif's arrow sang forth, piercing a war banner's bindings atop a gnarled oak ahead. As the standard's cloth fluttered earthward, he shouted Go! and sprinted that way with all haste.

His patrol broke left and right, fleeing seemingly in disarray through the leaf-flecked clearing. The enraged clan warriors howled and plunged after their foes, intent on easy slaughter.

Secreting himself behind an ancient bole, Leif drew his blade and waited with rising breath. Once the last screeching man had passed, he melted from his hiding place and ghosted back the way they'd come.

Reaching the clearing's edge, Leif whistled sharply. His patrol emerged from the woods, moving to encircle the clan warriors' exposed rear while they rampaged ahead.

Outnumbered six to one, the invaders came up short, finding themselves surrounded within the breaking glade. Yet no steel had been bloodied this day. Leif called for their honorable surrender, and they reluctantly complied, impressed despite themselves by his tactical prowess.

Peace was made between once-bitter enemies through courage, fast thinking, and restraint. Leif knew the trials ahead would test him sorely, but he felt bolstered by this small victory earned without cost to life or limb. The raid's captain regarded Leif sizingly. You bested us fair, wanderer. My chieftain will want words.

At their village's border, Leif and his patrol faced a more formidable gathering, headed by a grizzled clan lord. His eyes glinted with cunning above gnarled war scars. Explain your actions, outsider!

Leif spoke levelly. Your men and mine have clashed this day over boundaries none can truly claim. But what if we ceased fighting over crumbs and joined our hands to gain the whole loaf? If raiders aided farmers when woods darkened and villagers lent steel when attacks came, none here needed to lack or live in fear. We all dwell beneath the same looming shadows; must we face them divided?

The chieftain pondered for long moments, turning Leif's proposal into his hard-won mind. Chances are we'd gain more unity and lose less. You've sparked thought in an old skull, wanderer. More words must be had on this and more, but for today, this wood is no longer ours to contest. Your vision has merit and may benefit all clans if realized. I will hear you further.

Leif nodded respectfully, relief surging within that seeds of understanding had been sown where once only distrust took root. Much work remained, but here was a start. Leif's patrol returned through the dimming forest as twilight deepened over the canopy. Exhausted yet elated, the men recounted exploits around the campfire.

"Never seen fighting done like that!" bragged Erik. "You spun them like a windmill, heading each blow!"

Garrick smiled tiredly. "Peace won is twice the victory."

Yet, gazing into the flames, doubts flickered behind Leif's eyes once more. Was avoiding bloodshed a sign of strength, outwitting numerous foes without drawing steel? Or did it show weakness, relying on tricks rather than titans' prowess?

His musings were broken by Brother Tomas' approach. "Your skills turned enemies into neighbors today. Few attain such triumph without costing life." Still, Leif wondered if Friar's gentle ways could weather storms to come. Harsher tests lay in wait, and timid solutions may fail the people facing true malice.

Before sleep took him, Leif prayed silently. "Guide my hand, Christ, to use strengths You've granted in service of Your design. Show me where courage ends and foolish pride begins. And grant me dreams of purpose clear." With that, he rested, and as the embers' glow faded under the stars' steadfast watch., Leif gazed into the crackling fire long after others slept. The monk's words returned unbidden. True courage masters passion and pride, choosing the harder path.

Was peace achieved today through cunning or calm conviction? Did he subdue rage with reason or simply avoid its tempest through tricks? Leif knew in his bones that uniting these clans demanded more than clever ploys in the woods—deeper trust must take root.

And how does one cultivate understanding between longtime enemies when distrust's weeds choke out hope of accord? With a blade and banner, boundaries are drawn in blood for all to see. But what marks the lines with ink alone?

Leif sighed, watching dancing flames birth and consume phantom shapes. The road ahead remained shrouded, yet he sensed its turns leading ever upward toward the light, however dimly seen. Strength was found not in feats of prowess but in sovereignty over fears that divide—courage to follow where wisdom leads, though the destination stays unseen.

By the fire's fading glow, Leif's doubts began to resolve into quiet determination. On the morrow, he would walk in patience and speak in peace, as best he knew, toward the goal of unity for all people under this forest's boughs. Then, resting at last, dreams bore him toward dawn on lighter tides. Dawn's young light had not yet stretched across the camp when a shout broke the quietude. Leif was startled from his blankets to see Hrothgar limping inward, bloodied yet supported by fellow scouts.

Attacks—on the northern holdings, the scout breathed heavily. Raiders come again—too many, too fierce. Villagers flee in terror through the woods. Leif's heart sank at the news—had his strategies already failed when a true trial was yet to come?

Summoning what strength he could, Leif rallied his patrol. Tend the wounded, gather weapons, and give warnings. We go north at once to shelter fleeing people and learn about our foe. The shadows grow long upon this forest, yet in the darkness, hope remains while hearts still beat as one.

They set out with arrows nocked and oaths whispered to whatever powers yet watched over these haunted woods and warring peoples. Leif knew neither what adversaries awaited discovery through the thickening mist nor what resolve would be required to surmount this severest test. But he would face whatever evils emerged with faith and friends by his side. The trials had only just begun.