Book 2: Chapter 42 (Patreon)

Further discussion of blowing up the world was put on hold with Leanthun did his magical appearing act. The elf could simply appear from the grass as if he was teleporting and did so at the most inopportune times.

“Good, you have eaten. The way to my home is clear. We can be among the trees by midday.”

Without waiting, he set off again, expecting them to follow.

“You know, I’m half-tempted to ignore him and walk off in a different direction,” Daniel complained as he began rolling up camping supplies and throwing them to Orrin for storage in his [Dimension Hole]. “Seriously, I’m glad we have a guide but the dude is seriously uptight.”

Madi tried to talk about Orrin’s skills more as they walked, but he shut her down, promising they’d have all the time they needed once out of earshot of Leanthun.

“We’re going to be in the middle of the elven forest, surrounded by elves tonight.” Madi was walking backward and talking to him. Daniel was up ahead trying to get Leanthun to agree to another duel. “Then we are probably going to be fighting Odrana forces in coordination with the elves… unless they did something to start this war. I’m thinking we could probably still complete the Quest if the elves lost.”

Orrin pulled up the Quest.

Stop the war   in Odrana

Reward:   200,000 XP and Variable

Failure: Loss   of 10 levels.

“I don’t know how much influence the [Hero] has in making the elven council explain what’s going on,” Orrin started. “But if we offer to share this Quest with a few members of the council or even with some leaders from Odrana, it can’t be hard to get them to stop fighting.”

Madi pulled a face and almost tripped. She caught herself and turned to walk next to him. “That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard… and it might work since the reward for doing it would give them so much experience.”

Orrin tried to do the math. He currently needed a little more than 5,000 XP to level and would need 7,000 XP for the following level. Each additional level would cost an extra 1,000 XP. “If my math is right, that much experience would push me and Daniel to level thirty.”

“I think you’re right. My father would lose his mind if I came back with that kind of growth.”

“Keep up,” Leanthun said, turning and rejoining the two of them. “And please keep this one from bothering me anymore.”

He nodded towards Daniel, who tried to look sheepish and failed.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, with no real discussions of all the major shocks Orrin had dropped on Madi. As they neared the forest, Orrin realized why it had taken so long for them to get there, despite seeing the trees days ago.

“They’re huge.” He tilted his head but couldn’t make out the top. The foliage blended together so high that he couldn’t make out the individual branches. “It would take like ten people holding hands to reach around the trunk.”

“These are some of our youngest trees. It would take twice that number to go around the smallest tree in the forest,” Leanthun corrected.

“How big do they get?” Daniel was also looking up, his eyes squinted against the sun.

Leanthun put his hand against the ‘young’ tree on the outskirts of the elven forest. “The forest Matriarch is approximately ten thousand years old and houses the entire elven population during festivals. It would take two hundred hands to link around her.”

Orrin felt tiny standing beside the trees. The forest had a clearing around it, with no other trees for miles. A clear marker that this was almost a sacred land. The size of the trees blocked his vision when he tried to see further in.

“When we are stopped, put your hands on your head like so.” Leanthun demonstrated, placing his palms against the roof of his head with his fingers interlaced. “Do not respond or talk. I will get you through.”

“What are we, prisoners?” Daniel muttered.

“Something like that,” Leanthun said with a smile. “Let us go.”

Daniel grumbled as they followed the elf into the dark woods. Orrin was surprised that the path they took was well-lit. He followed the beams of sunlight that broke through the canopy of the forest.

“Do you climb up these trees and cut sections out so the sun shines down this path?”

Leanthun stumbled for a step and glanced back at Orrin with an appraising look. “Perceptive.”

He continued to walk forward.

They followed in relative silence, broken only by Daniel complaining he had to pee… and that he was hungry. They’d walked for another two hours before Orrin stepped closer to the elf.

“There are six people approaching. Four from in front and one from either side.”

Leanthun nodded. “I hear them. Please stand back and stay quiet.”

Orrin never saw the two elves on their flanks and Leanthun left them standing on the sun-dappled forest trail as he talked with the four elves that bristled at seeing humans in their forest. Two held bows like Leanthun’s and one worse a dark brown robe of what looked like deerskin. The fourth elf was taller than Leanthun and had two of the khopesh type swords strapped to her back. Their whispers and furious gestures made him nervous, but all three of them stood with their hands on their head trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

“They will come with us to the council.” A female voice, one of the elves with a bow, broke the silent whispers.

Leanthun appeared to argue back but the tall elf put her hand on his shoulder. He ducked his head and strode toward them.

“I’m sorry. You must go with them. Don’t resist or fight. Try to stay out of trouble until I return.”

“Leanthun, you promised us safe passage,” Madi said loudly, making sure her voice carried to the other elves. “Does this mean you intend to kidnap a [Hero] and the daughter of Lord Catanzano of Dey?”

Leanthun smiled and winked at her. “My promise of safe passage is still true, young Catazano. I had hoped to bring you to my mentor first but our approach was noticed by others, quicker than I anticipated. You are free to turn back from our forest but if you leave, you must not return here without an escort. Our lands are currently infested with attacking humans and though you have come to give aid, I would not want any accidents to befall you while in our forest.”

Madi bowed, keeping her hands on her head. “We will wait for your swift return. We are sorry that we slowed you down so much. The strength and longevity of elves is well known to outpace humans and we have exhausted ourselves trying to keep up. Please ask your brothers and sisters if they would let us rest and perhaps eat an early dinner. We would appreciate the opportunity to experience the legendary elven hospitality.”

Daniel leaned in toward Orrin. “What the hell is going on?”

Orrin stomped on his friend’s foot. “Shut up and let her do her thing.”

Leanthun left after a few hurried words with the tall female. She was the only one to introduce herself to them.

“My name is Filauria. You will follow and not speak.”

Thankfully, Madi’s political savvy was enough for their new guards to handle them with care. The elves kept them surrounded in a loose circle, leaving the way back seemingly open. Orrin knew the two watchers were trailing behind.

After another thirty minutes of walking, the trees began to show more signs of being cultivated. Branches connected and rope bridges spanned the distances between the large trees. Orrin saw windows and doors carved into the trees high above and pointed them out to Daniel.

“No talking,” the elf on their left commanded. Orrin dropped his hand and shrugged at Daniel.

The outskirts of the civilization gave way to more movement and between passing one tree and the next, the trio found themselves standing in a city among the trees. Where the forest behind them had been closed, dimly lit, and sparsely populated, the view in front of them made Orrin realize the elves had carefully cultivated the path and outskirts to guard this gem.

A clearing that spanned miles rested around the largest tree of the entire forest. The Matriarch tree did not need an explanation or introduction. While the trees of the forest around it stood as tall as any sequoia or redwood, the Matriarch tree would likely stand out if someone flew over the forest. It had to be closer to twice the height of any other tree. Orrin estimated the trees behind them were close to three hundred and fifty feet in height, making this one closer to seven or eight hundred feet in the air.

The huge tree rested on a slight hill with roots that spiraled away from the base into the rolling meadow around it. The sun broke through the branches between the rest of the forest and the Matriarch, making a halo of light surround the old tree. A city of buildings made from wood started in that light and shifted between the roots that reached almost to the edge of the clearing itself. Looking closer, Orrin realized the wooden buildings might be trees themselves.

“Look well humans, for rarely are any of your kind gifted the sight of our Matriarch.” The same elf who had yelled at Orrin before waved his hand at the giant tree.

“It’s beautiful,” Orrin said truthfully. “What are all the lights?”

“No talking,” the elf muttered. He was silent as the continued down the packed-dirt road that had suddenly appeared but then spoke quietly. “The lights you see are from the rooms inside. Windows are rare but necessary for air movement between floors.”

Orrin almost asked how many floors they had carved into the giant tree but decided to keep his mouth shut. Leanthun can tell us later. I wish he’d told us more about who we were supposed to meet though.

Madi, Orrin, and Daniel were shuttled quickly through the growing streets. Smaller trees lined the path and it took him a while to realize these ‘trees’ were actually homes, shops, and restaurants. An entire city of homes made of hollowed-out trees. He had so many questions and had to physically bite his tongue to stop himself from opening his mouth.

Filauria, the tall female with the two curved swords, opened the door to one of the small tree abodes and ushered them inside. The house was small inside, with a spiral staircase that led up to another floor. A small stove was pushed against the back and a table that would comfortably seat two had four chairs around it in the middle of the room.

“This is reserved for visiting emissaries. You may rest above. Do not leave until I return for you in the morning.” She spoke with a calm detachment as if they were barely worth her time. “Your weapons are to be left here. Do not attempt to bring any weapon in front of the council or you will die. Do not try to hide your weapons using skills and do not summon a weapon by spell. You will die.”

Orrin had the sudden urge to tell her “I am the weapon” but somehow resisted. He did remember something from all her talk of weapons, though.

“Filauria, thank you for the hospitality and all that,” he spoke, pushing his hand into his pocket. “We found this before we set out for your beautiful forest and planned to give it to you all.”

He pulled out the Citrandish bow from his [Dimension Hole] and held it out to her. “We don’t know where it came from or—”

“No talking.” Filauria’s voice, so dead and robotic before flared with a new edge. “You will bring that with you to the council tomorrow.”

“I thought we couldn’t bring—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the elf swept from the room and slammed the door shut. Orrin heard the distinct clunk of a bar being placed on the door outside.

“Well, shit.”