Gauntlet

Many moons came and went as San adapted to life in the jungle. Hyde now did his training routine with her so she wouldn’t feel like she was suffering alone, and as they were both a little competitive, trying there might against each other seemed like a fun way to make the tedious tasks a little more fun.

As squatting and lifting her arms like dumbells was added to San’s morning workout, she could definitely tell the heavy lifting and copious amounts of food were having an effect as her frail frame was now filled out, every muscle group now defined, It was hard to tell that time was passing as the enchanted forest never left its warmer months, although the spring and summer had come and gone outside its wet woods, her only indication that months had gone by was the growing gauntlet.

Its reach was now well past her arm, seeping across her collarbone and down her waist, clinging to her skin and growing under her clothes. Eventually, Hyde had asked the unfortunate question one morning while training, “What do you plan to do once your lower half is covered by the gauntlet?”

“What do you mean? I’ll do exactly what I’ve been doing, and if you know half as much about training as you say you do, my legs will be fine to bear the extra weight,” she huffed snarkily while trying to keep her divers pose for a full thirty minutes.

“I just mean you can’t take it off… so…” he cleared his throat “how will you go to the bathroom?”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that,” San said with confidence, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my arm doesn’t stink.”

“So?”

“So… you would think with all the blood, sweat and dead skin that would come off my arm that it would be disgusting by now, an infection that would be reeking to high heaven, but it’s not. Watch,” San said, grabbing the nearby leaf of water and pouring it over her gauntlet, shaking off the remainder as its eminent polish radiated through the patches of light the forest allowed.

“I’ve realized the magic of the artifact voids anything harmful to the skin, like even now, my hand never got wet, and I can stick my whole arm in a fire and not get burned.”

“Fascinating,” Hyde said in frustration as beads of sweat rolled down his face, competing with her to last a half-hour in the divers pose he refused to lose to his student.

“So, you think it will open up to let number two out or just shred it like a cheese grater,” Hyde asked, struggling to speak on the twenty-ninth minute.

“Shut up,” San laughed as her whole body shook, struggling to keep it together as Hyde counted down the last seconds.

“58… 59… 60”

As he counted the final number, they both collapsed into the dirt, chests rising and falling rapidly as San now looked forward to the waterfall to wash off her sweat.

SNAP

San’s eyes shot open as their moment of rest broke to an unfamiliar sound. It wasn’t one of the many creatures that dwelt in the forest with them, this crunching branch was grounded and paired with slashing vegetation and boots being dragged through dirt with every other step. They had visitors.

Rushing to gain cover, San scurried up a tree, after loosening the knot that held her log weight on her left arm. It felt incredibly fast after months of wearing eighty pounds of lumber, shed in an instant.

Hyde wasn’t much of a climber, staying on the ground and standing amongst the trees like he had that fateful day San had entered his life. Two men came forward into their camp, the rock bonfire pit and most of San’s possessions stored in the base of her tree made it fairly obvious they were close to who they were looking for.

Rushing over to the hollowed tree, one of the men grabbed her book bag “Look, Bryan, we’ll be rich! we’ve found her!”

The gauntlet’s curse needing to kill yanked her uncontrollably from the tree. She fell like a bolt of lightning from the sky, landing gauntlet first behind them, making sure to strike the man touching her things with the butt of her dagger, knocking him out cold as his partner drew his long sword, and swung without hesitation.

Raising the gauntlet to block his swing with the back of her hand, he was relentless, striking again, overhead, from the side, and a lunging stab to try and finish her off, but San being much lighter than she was used to, sidestepped the blade with ease, grabbing its honed edge with her metal grasp and bending the saber.

Jumping forward, San grabbed his face with her hand and shoved it into the hardwood of her home, stamping the tree with blood from his head as his body unconsciously met his partner’s amongst the roots.

Thunderous claps followed her performance. “Well done,” Hyde said as he stepped from plain sight “I appreciate you not killing them.” Picking up the bleeding man, “Well almost,” Hyde said in a disappointed tone.

“I’m sorry, master, I tried, but in the heat of the moment, my instincts took over,” San said, defending the gauntlet’s actions as somehow, it was only satisfied with drawing blood.

Hyde came over to place a large rigid hand on her metal shoulder “For as strong as I am, and for how many people have wanted to hunt the monster, I have never killed.”

“Doesn’t your strength make it easier for you though?”

“Are you claiming not to be strong?” Hyde laughed, presenting the unconscious bodies as exhibit A.

Flushed, she scowled at him “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“I will never worry about your physical strength, only your ability to resist this curse,” Hyde said, sounding more and more like a parent.

“But I can just keep training, then the curse of the growing armor won’t be an issue, I’ll just be strong and invincible.”

“Did you ever wonder why the armor grows?”

Shrugging, San responded, “Magic?”

“Yes, but a terrible dark magic,” he said, lifting the gauntlet in his own hands as he sat to be on eye level with her.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is the gauntlet of Jonwan, a ruthless sociopathic ruler from centuries ago. At the prime of his destruction, he donned armor similar to this, and as the legend goes, a witch once came to his country as his rule stretched far and wide.

“Letting herself get captured, the witch waited. Being cocky and thinking himself indestructible, the brute Jonwan visited the witch in her cell, and within seconds, she cast the incantation, his body disintegrated and his foul spirit was locked into this gauntlet. The reason why she chose to do this questionable spell is lost to time, most claim insanity, as those who possess magic often live long past out mortal years, but I truly believe she wanted his power for herself, why else would she have channeled his strength and spirit instead of just destroying him?” Hyde said, huffing at his own theory “It’s believed it grows, as it’s done on many others before you, because the spirit of Jonwan wishes to come back and rule again, which is believed to be what will happen if the gauntlet ever fully covers your body in armor.”

Trembling from the realization that the strange twitches were not just exhaustion sending a misfire to the nerves in her hand, but every twitch, every time the gauntlet drenched itself in blood it was deliberate and uncontrollable.

“This is why I make you meditate for such long periods of time, girl—know the difference from your mind and its. Only act on your own accord.”

“So that’s why they are looking for me?” San asked, trying to change the topic.

“They?”

“Whoever’s looking for me, whoever put a bounty on my arm,” she stated, pulling herself together while rummaging through the men’s pockets, taking their gold, rations, and weapons, or what was left of them, only leaving a small painting of what appeared to be a family portrait of the man with the sword standing with a beautiful woman and what could be his daughter.

“The waterfall might have to wait today,” Hyde said effortlessly as he chucked the men onto his shoulders. “Come. let’s show them out.”

Following her teacher, a fire started to burn within San. She felt ready for anyone else who was foolish enough to try and separate her from the gauntlet for their own personal gain, after seeing its destructive powers, she knew she couldn’t let it fall into the wrong hands. That being said, she still desperately wanted it off.

San did not wish to be hunted by her fellow man, or even to be known by them. She still much preferred her shadows, unsure if she still even wanted to be a royal guard. She was sick of the fighting, the training, the ever-growing weight and hardship this stupid thing on her arm brought. She would battle a hundred men if it only meant her freedom.

Following Hyde to the edge of the magic woods, the crisp fall air tickled her nose, and the world outside the forest looked so strange. She didn’t miss it as in the distance she could still see the moat that had caught her all those months ago. They dumped the bodies on the cold earth, quickly heading back inside, Hyde could tell their visitors bothered San.

“You know, it could go two ways, on the one hand, they could be terrified of what lives in the forest and never come back again.” San looked back at him disapprovingly as they both knew this would not be the case.

“Or, more likely, they will come in larger numbers, with more weapons, more soldiers, more greed than ever before, again and again until they win,” San predicted as a looming storm cloud grew over her head.

“Have you ever been defeated in combat?” Hyde asked.

“Never”

“Me neither, so why worry?”

“It’s not fair for them to destroy your home,” San mumbled as her eyes started to water.

“Our home, Hyde reminded her as he put a large comforting hand on her shoulder.”

They walked back to camp, Hyde built a fire and roasted most of their food supply in the hopes a feast would make her happy, and temporarily, it did.