Dim Prisons and Drakes, chapter 51. (Patreon)

Here we are. Have fun with this one, as we find out that once again not everything is as it seems, and people lie.

"You're watching them again, aren't you?"

I turned to Matt and shrugged. "I might be. It's not like we don't have other ways to watch around us."

I wasn't sure how Matt knew, but I wasn't going to deny it. Karl already knew that I'd snuck Poe off our trail, and he'd even asked about the farmers and how they were doing.

They were doing fine. Even if I couldn't do anything about it, it was nice to know and see; they had all gotten out of that paranoid village and were now on a trail that had been close to the road we'd been on the day before. Close enough that they would come out very close to where we were.

Which wasn't exactly safe, but I could only watch them so far. One more pass, and then Poe would come back to me.

I could see the farmer, Ed, look up and wave as Poe wheeled away. I made Poe wobble a bit, then pour on the speed.

"We do," Matt told me (as id I didn't know) "but I'm sure most of us would be happy knowing you were on the case."

"Give it a few - maybe thirty, and Poe will be back on the job. They are fine, by the way."

Matt chuckled. "Of course they are. They are going back into areas we've already been to. We cleared all that with our luck, so anyone there will be fine."

There was some truth to that, but I didn't trust it. Surely we weren't the only unlucky bunch of idiots out there wandering around. "I hope so."

"It's not like we can do anything about it one way or the other. If they had been attacked, what could we have done?"

I had an answer. "I can cast spells through Poe if I need to, up to a certain range, but the main reason he was following was so that I could potentially tel;eport us in case of a problem."

I knew how after all, and saving people from something bad was its' own reward.

Matt widened his eyes a minute, tasting the truth of my words. "I forgot. It's weird thinking that you can do that. Can you send Poe ahead of us, find a spot, and teleport us ahead too?"

Duh? "Of course I can. I even suggested it to Karl. He said he'd rather know what we were getting into, but keep an escape path open."

I had a few spots not far from here now that would be a good fallback spot if elves or anyone else attacked us. His caution was warranted, but I understood Matt's point too. I wanted this journey to be over as much as anyone. The capital, the old capital... they had to have someone around who knew what was going on. All those competent people in government and administration had to translate to something useful.

I couldn't help thinking that the longer we stayed this way, the longer we lived like this, the worse it would be for us. The harder it would be to change things. It was bunk, of course. I had no evidence to support that thought, but I couldn't stop how I felt. I couldn't stop my gut feeling.

I wasn't alone in that, I knew.

The only thing I could really do was put one foot in front of the other, and curse the fact that we hadn't found a place to buy horses from yet. Not that we had the money to do so, probably.

We'd been solving problems and killing villains for sure, but unlike the tropes, we'd yet to find any treasure or make any real money doing it. I could probably afford a horse, just barely, but I was sure everyone else was one bad day away from total vagrancy.

Even our resident dwarf, who probably had at least one or two gems hidden somewhere on his person, dwarves being who they are.

I spotted the signal that something was odd up ahead the same time Karl and Matt; they both acted like the arrow arcing through the air was nothing at all, so I followed suit. Of course, whatever had tripped that response from our scout had likely also seen it, and would be ready for us. A fact Thom had to know when he sent the arrow up; he must have thought it urgent.

Karl gave me a pointed look, which I pointedly pretended not to see. Poe couldn't be everywhere, and I wouldn't regret my choice. At least not yet.

There was a tree line, a sharp one that cut through the heavy grass ahead in a line so straight it looked planned. I couldn't see what was in them, but I was certain something was. I could however just make out our scout, standing up in the grass ahead just to the left of the road, looking for all the world like he was taking a break and nothing else.

I doubted any of us were fooled; the only reason he'd be so visible is if he already knew he'd been made, and the arrow was for our benefit, so he'd been made before he stood up. I could think of a few ways that could have happened.

The most obvious for the here and now would be we'd just found the elves.

Whoever it was that had seen Thom let us make our approach. We hurried, without really seeming to hurry; if something was really up, I was confident I could get us out now.

Karl kept us to the road. The road which seemed to lead right through the wood ahead.

"You good?" He asked.

"Yeah," Thom answered. "Just trouble ahead, and I didn't really feel like dealing with it myself."

I still didn't see anything. Poe was almost back, and I'd have a better chance with him. Thom was staring at one tree in particular though, flicking his gaze to it often... wait, was that...?

What I thought I could see stood up, right upon the branch. He was an elf, and he'd blended so well I had no idea how Thom had made him.

The two more stood up; one to either side of Thom, maybe two hundred paces away and to our front. Definitely elves, and with grasses tied around them as a crude gillie suit.

The one in the tree jumped down, grabbing something on the way to slow his momentum, and started toward us. I did my best to pretend I'd seen the two this close to us all along, calm my heart, and try and spot any more.

Matt had been right, not that I'd ever admit it. I was never letting Poe out of my radius again; I needed those eyes.

"Well met." Karl tried.

"Well met, stranger." Both took a stance, leaning on their very large and unstrung bows. Clearly showing they weren't here to fight. Why were they both looking at me?

They weren't making it obvious, but they were doing it.

Karl decided to go straight for it. "Is there some problem with the road ahead?"

The one closest to Thom grinned. A grin without any humor in it: "It's closed until further notice. Hard to trust people, these days."

"Yeah, I bet," Randolf started. His glare wasn't subtle.

Matt sent him a glare of his own, and that started the glare war for today.

Poe came in range, and I wasted no time... oh my, there were a lot of them.

I'm pretty sure the two watching us noticed my signal even before Karl did, but all three were nice enough not to mention it. The guy from the tree was halfway to us now, even if he appeared to be walking at a leisurely pace.

The ones around us weren't easy to spot, even with Poe, but the ones I could see? Their bows were strung, and arrows ready to draw.

They also seemed to notice Poe; one of them even rolled on his back to face my bird as it flew over. How in the hell could they even do that? Poe was riding a thermal, very high up, and his shadow hadn't even passed over the guy yet.

At least he wasn't shooting at him. I'd have to ask Thom later if he knew; it was probably some scout or ranger thing I wasn't privy to.

What the... was that a bear next to that guy? Why would a bear be lying down in tall grass next to an elf? This version of reality had animal companions? But if so, where was Thomas's? I'd literally never seen him next to an animal he hadn't stuck an arrow through....

"Well met."

Right, Elf guy, and he'd reached us. "Well met," Karl returned, holding out a hand.

The man took it, but his eyes weren't on Karl. They were on me, and they stayed on me. At least until I gave a little wave and pointed at Karl.

With a start, the man came back to himself. "Yes, pleased to meet you all. I am Farinor, at least here. Who might you all be?"

Karl introduced us. When he got to me, Farinor again cut his eyes my way, and I could see the recognition in them. He knew something of who I was, and I was fairly sure that meant who I was in the new reality and not the one we were fighting for.

Still, he seemed mild, urbane even, and reasonable. Had he really been burning farms and displacing people? Attacking the village we just left?

I'd ask.

"Yes, pleased to see you all. These are my associates mister Oryan and mister Nalan."

He's gestured to the left and right of him to make certain we knew who was who, but he remained silent about the others. Thom met my gaze and I gave a slight nod. I could see him relax a little, secure in the knowledge that he wasn't alone with the burden of knowing how screwed we were if push came to shove.

They had a frickin bear, for crap's sake.

"So what brings you here, to our neck of the woods?" The elf smiled as if he'd made an actual joke, and I just about called him on it despite myself. There was bad, and there was whatever that was.

"Just passing through," Karl replied as casually as he could. "We have business in the capital, and this is the quickest route."

"Ah, another one of those," Farinor nodded along with a smile. "We've been having groups stringing in from all over, all looking for the reason why we're here, or how to fix it. I assume you're one of those?"

He was looking right at me again, they all were, so I nodded as Karl provided the words. "We are. We have some insights on what's happening farther out, in the Midwest of the continent as well, which we're sure some people would like to hear."

"Right, well far be it from us to stop such an important mission, but we are going to have to lay some ground rules. No fires while in the forest, of course, because we went from a clean environment to old growth with lots of dead-fall and we've yet to get it cleaned up again. Watch what you hunt, because some of the creatures here are endangered, and the last and most important rule is, of course, no logging."

I made a show of looking around. There wasn't even an ax between us, if you didn't count Ethan's obviously made for war and not cutting trees ax. I mean, a few of us had hatchets, but we certainly weren't going to be cutting trees down with those.

Farinor held his hands up in a placating gesture, keeping a mild smile up: "I know, I know, you don't look the type, but old habits aren't easy to break."

The light dawned. It was way too on the nose, even for what had happened to us. "Park rangers?"

All three laughed, and I was certain I heard a few snickers from the nearby grass as well mixed in. "Guilty as charged," Farinor admitted.

That was... respectable. Still on the job after everything that happened, with his friends and co-workers? Other things started slotting into place - much like those large heavy wooden posts the village had been building into a palisade.

"Well, we don't intend to do anything awful to the forest, and we've got our own food so we don't need to hunt. How far does the park extend?"

Farinor nodded as if expecting the reply. His answer didn't exactly thrill me, though: "At a walk, a bit over a day along the road. However, the road is the quickest route to where you want to go from here on. No forks, no deviations needed, just follow it."

That at least was good news. We were close. We had to be close now if the road was a straight shot.

"There won't be any issue in us following it, then?" Karl asked. Direct, but I liked that about him.

Farinor shook his head, his smile widening. "None, so long as you follow the rules. Well, and if you figure out what happened and get the chance to, you let us know."

"No worries on that; if we figure it out, we'll be shouting it from the rooftops."

Karl shrugged and took a step. Farinor stepped out of the way with a flourish, even though he was nowhere near in the way.

I could tell Karl badly wanted to talk to me, but there was just no way to get privacy here, and he knew it. He knew how good my ears were after all, and was assuming theirs were similar.

In truth, their ears were probably better; more training and hanging out in remote locales than my city slicker butt.

Farinor, Oryan, and Nalan all fell in with us, right to our left.

Ethan grunted out his displeasure, but didn't say any words, so we all ignored him. No one should be expecting these people not to watch us somehow, and at least they were being nice about it.

Even if Farinor was sticking awfully close to me, rather than walking further up with Karl. I was a little flattered, but this close I wasn't any more dangerous than Karl or Matt was. If crap went down, either one would intervene before the elves could shank me.

I had Poe land on my shoulder and caw at the elves. It wasn't like I needed him to scout here anymore, and letting the elves know that at least I knew seemed important. It also clued Karl in that a bit more was going on, just in case he hadn't figured that out already.

The elves didn't react at all, of course.

Should I be direct? Should I do it now? It would be too late once we entered that forest. It would be bad enough out here, but better to know before we were surrounded, right?

Shit, guess I better. The distances here would mean we had a chance; after all we were armored and even those longbows would have an issue with the heavy stuff we had on.

I did give a signal, however. Best to let the others know I was going to be pushing it.

"So, about those rules...?"

The elves beside me tensed. "Yes?" Farinor opened.

"Have you had trouble with them before? Some people just not listening?

Just like that, the elves relaxed again. "We have," Farinor answered. "Some people just didn't want to take no for an answer and decided since the world changed, the rules didn't apply anymore. You'll see the result of that soon."

"We heard something like that from the town we just left. They were saying roughly the same thing," Karl admitted.

Farinor was clearly amused. "Were they now? A curious thing if so."

I could see it now. There was a stretch, right along the road, that didn't look right. Between my eyes and Poe's, I could see a long line of stumps where several old growth trees used to be. No rhyme, no reason, just missing trees in a rough line.

Assuming a few things... forest rangers changed like the rest of us, with families close or living here themselves... maybe all elves now, and all friends of the forest? They had that wild or wood elf look to them. There was one constant in such fantasy settings as we found ourselves, aside from the goblin tropes; you didn't mess with the forest when elves were around.

I wasn't even a resident here, and this pissed me off more than I'd admit to anyone.

From the looks of things, I wouldn't have to though, since Farinor and his friends were already looking at me as if they could tell exactly what I was thinking.

"We also heard you went out, and maybe a few farms burned?" Randolf mentioned with all the subtlety of a brick to the face.

Oryan laughed as Farinor answered: "That was a misunderstanding. We were certainly there, to try and see who had stolen the trees. At one farm, the owner dropped a lantern by surprise in his barn, and it lit the dry straw he hadn't forked up. From that point on, there was little anyone could do. Luckily enough though, no one was killed."

He hadn't said no one was hurt.

There was no way now to confirm if he was lying or not, but the words fell easily, smoothly, as if they were truth. I found myself believing them more than the seemingly half-baked words and rumors of the villagers we just left.

"Well, you might drop a word about that to the people there. I'm not sure how self-sufficient you all might be, but the farmers themselves seemed to think you were on the warpath, and many of them left. So many of those people might well starve come winter."

Farinor still sounded amused. "Really? Well, we will do what we can, but for obvious reasons, we aren't welcome near their places, and they aren't welcome here. So getting the word out might take a little doing."

That sounded like a cop out to me; if these elves wanted to, they could creep up and slap every villager in the face. I knew we were being followed, and I still hadn't heard anything.

The closer I got to the trees though, the easier I found it to agree with the sentiment. Those were some mighty trees that were now missing, in a straight line three deep. Whoever had done this had even cleared the smaller trees, even the saplings were mostly gone, leaving a full scar across the surface of the forest here.

The outrage wasn't really mine; I had to remind myself. I wonder if these people did too? Likely not, but how would they tell which part was theirs for having protected the forest for years, and how much from the setting we now found ourselves in? Did they even make the distinction? I hoped they did, but I dared not ask.

The idea wasn't just for us alone; even Randolf seemed to feel the weight of poor choices made. Ethan was not indifferent, and Thom was clearly pissed.

"You going to walk us around the entire time?"

Farinor turned to me: "Nah, I'm too busy watching for people who have axes. Someone will be along shortly, and I'll pass you off to them. They may not be as amazing and witty as I am, but you'll just have to make do."

...Right. "Somehow, I'll manage."

"Before that happens, though, I'd like to talk to you. Preferably in private. Just for a little bit."

Well, that wasn't ominous at all. Still, it was an easy enough request. "Sure, I don't mind. As long as everyone stays within sight and plays nice with each other.

The sight lines would only get worse. "Might as well do it now. Karl?"

Karl made a show of waving me off: "Do what you want. We can entertain ourselves."

For all that, he turned to face me as I moved off. Matt was also just coincidentally looking my direction. Ethan faced away from me, but I knew that wasn't from any hatred or ill thoughts. It was because someone had to watch the backs of the people watching mine.

I moved out and Farinor followed quietly. If he noticed me picking my away farther from his potential reinforcements, he didn't say anything.

We got far enough, and with a muttered word from my host, the sounds of nature stilled. So he had some magic! Nice. Was it a full silence, or...?

"We're far enough now. Thank you for honoring my request." The slight head bow came as a surprise.

Not a full silence spell either; that was a little disappointing. Unless he'd modified it... no, focus. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, you'll have to be patient with me; I need to ask you a question, first."

I was not amused. "Go ahead."

The man took a breath and blew it out before continuing. "How much do you remember of your past? Which past do you remember? Which takes the forefront in who you are?"

That was... quite the question. "The real past, of course. Of cars and shopping malls and computers and game systems, of high school and college. That one."

He was implying that wasn't the case for everyone, and that had to be wrong... didn't it? I mean so far, everyone we'd met had known of the world before whatever this was had happened. Even the giants, I think, had shown indications they knew what had happened, if not the why or how.

"Alright, so... whatever happened to us wasn't uniform; it didn't happen the same way to everyone, and as a result, some people have memories they shouldn't have... no, that's not right. We all have memories we shouldn't have, but some people have more of an emphasis, I guess... that word works, an emphasis on one side or the other. Yours seems to be more on the world that we were in rather than the one we're in now."

"A good enough way to put it; I understand your meaning so far. At least I think I do."

Farinor flashed me a grateful smile. "Good. Ok, so here goes. How much of that other set of memories can you bring up? How much of that do you remember?"

That was easy enough. "Just flashes, really. Some memories, fuzzy and dim, as if from my early childhood. No names, few faces. Most of what I know about this from my memories are from journal entries and little knickknacks from home. I take it that's not true for you?"

"No, it isn't," Farinor agreed, looking even more pensive than before. "I remember the elves and the elven lands, as well as some of our more famous people. You're included in that. You're a high elf, what humans know as a high elf anyway, and you're well known. I'm not sure how much I should tell you. Are your friends also like you? Do they remember as little?"

Well, I wasn't sure. "I think so. You can't stop now. Who do you know me to be?"

"Unless I miss my guess, unless I am very wrong, you are high elven royalty. A cousin or  niece to the king himself."

...What.

"Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit. If that's true, what was I doing well away from the western lands, all on my own in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?"

Farinor shrugged. "Don't ask me, I have no idea why high elves do what they do. Maybe you were doing mage things?"

That... was plausible. It made a lot of sense, actually. Most mages or Sorcerers would have to journey in order to learn new techniques or ways of doing things. But on a second thought, it clearly fell apart. My family had settled down there; we owned a house there. Why? It made no sense at all.

There was another option here; I was being lied to or gaslit, or my source was simply wrong. I could even have 'one of those faces', and the real niece of the King was safely at home.

Something, though, told me that was wrong. That I wasn't being lied to or gaslit. Vague memories rushed to the fore, half-remembered faces once again. One of them, a very fuzzy one, wore a crown.

Well, more of a circlet than a crown.

"Whatever the reason why, I just wanted to warn you, because there are others like us along the route you're going. Others who will recognize you. Some may even seek to use or lie to you."

Right, that made sense. "Duly noted, thank you."

So there were others that remembered more than us. That also implied there were others who remembered less; what was the connection there? What could that tell us about what was going on? I was sure that was a loose thread to pull....

"Let's go, unless you've got more to say."

Farinor shook his head. "Nope, I'm good, other than to say be careful. You're right, that friend of yours looks antsy."

Matt did look antsy, but the tone there. As if Matt were more than a friend; I had to fight the urge to throw up in my mouth.

The sounds of nature returned, and we walked back. Karl and Matt both fixed me with a stare, which I shrugged off; no, nothing to worry about, nothing to see here, we were good.

We all got going again, and Matt did his best to ignore the smirk Farinor sent his way.

Then we reached the actual tree line, and the three elves stopped. "Alright, that's as far as we go. No need to worry, though; just follow the road that way, and someone will be along to keep you company."

Farinor winked at me as he passed, heading back to his tree perch. At least now I knew why we were getting a free pass; not only was it because I was an elf, but because these elves knew I was royalty of a sort, and were willing to respect that.

That didn't feel at all real to me. It sounded stupid. Me, a noble? Royalty? Please. I should be the last one to qualify for such. I was just a poor boy, from a poor family; spare me this life from my monstrosity?

Good song. I should write it down, just in case, so that no one would forget. Maybe all the others I knew besides. No, that was a defeatist thought. We were almost to the goal now, almost to the answers.

We could do this yet. I set my steps to match my companions, and we strode forward into the pleasant gloom.