Chapter 7
It was an amazing sight. Seeing it from the outside, and especially once we began the trek into the depths of the Ellinia Forest. The trees could be seen from Henesys, and they were at least two-hundred feet tall each. They all had enormous, climbable branches that were the foundation for the town. There were rays of light coming from between the leaves that gave the forest an eerie, yet mystical glow, even if there were small monsters that inhabited it outside the city. They were nothing to worry about, although I had to loan Barbarius my dagger so he could take care of himself.
"How much longer do we have to keep climbing, Bry?" Barbarius asked, almost losing his grip on another branch. We were probably about fifty feet up by now, scaling the enormous branches. "I feel like I could hitch a ride to the bottom any second."
"Scared of heights, Barbie?" I chuckled. "What do you know, even after all this time I can still find new ways to annoy you." Barbarius rolled his eyes, his attention less focused on me and more on not falling.
"Don't worry, this is the last few feet," Bryenn called down to us from another ten feet up. "After that it's just straight walking."
"How do you even know where you're going?" I asked, pausing both for a short breath and to scan the surroundings. "It's like a maze... out of all these trees it would be impossible to know which ones to climb to get to the top without hitting a dead end."
Bryenn looked down from a few branches up with a smirk. "The village is populated by fairies. Little guys and girls about half our size with wings."
"I know that," I said. "But how does that explain it?"
"Let me finish," he said. He sat down cross-legged on his branch as if he knew I was making conversation for the sake of a break. "I did get lost at first. I kept climbing but always ended up somewhere where the branches became too thin or I couldn't reach the next one. But just when I was going to make my way back to Henesys I ran into another traveler. He wasn't a hunter I don't think, but he seemed really strong. He had this really creepy, emo-looking jet black hair and clothes like I'd never seen before. He showed me the path as easily as if he had been through here a million times."
"Do any humans live in Ellinia?" Barbarius tossed up. "I mean, if there were, I'm sure anyone who lived here would know this forest like the back of their hand, right?"
"A very few do, that's only because most fairies aren't very welcome to outsiders. They cut magicians a break since they like their magic and magicians usually only stick around on the short term anyway." Bryenn mused something over in his head for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe he did, but he seemed even creepier than the whole forest itself. He kept going on about how monsters are actually necessary to our survival... something about a nature cycle... or something. I'm not exactly sure, he was confusing, but it was creepy as hell."
"He had to be mad," I shrugged, getting back up and ready to continue. I took a bite out of a nearby mushroom growing next to me for nutrition. "If something like that were true, it would be common knowledge."
"Nem's right," Barbarius said, tripping over another uneven step before making his way up to where Bryenn was waiting. "He probably just ate some bad mushrooms or something."
I turned around and choked on mine before spitting it out.
"Something wrong, Nem?" Bryenn called, now starting the trek again.
"I'm fine... and don't you start calling me that too!"
Another half an hour or so passed before we made it to Ellinia. Barbarius was particularly relieved considering an odd-looking part of a branch turned out to be a monster that bit into his leg before he tore it apart with his dagger. Bryenn had nursed the wound with a small healing spell, but it didn't appease his frustration with the forest. Especially after realizing the city was built vertically in the trees.
I, however, thought I had never seen anything more amazing in my life. My first thought upon coming across the village was that this was what I left my home in Kerning for. There were flowers all over with drooping stems that fell over into bell-shaped petals of all colors. The buildings were all well-crafted from wood and each decorated with gorgeous colors that could only come from fairies. There was an oval-shaped one decorated with various flowers stemming in circles all the way around supported by a tree branch that curled around the bottom. Another one at the very top of the village was built onto a branch that must have been forty feet thick that had a symbol with two overlapping star symbols carved onto the roof. Even the light making its way through the trees had some sort of sparkle to it. This beautiful city really showed off what a mess Kerning was. Ellinia didn't even look like it had ever seen crime in all its years.
As if on cue, a woman ran past us, almost bumping into Bryenn and knocking him over in a frenzy. She turned back for a moment to apologize and tried to run off again before Bryenn called after her asking what was wrong.
"Please, please..." she stumbled on her words, panting as she spoke. She was a slightly heavier looking woman with clothes that looked homemade. "My... my son..."
"Calm down, tell us what's wrong," Bryenn said, putting his arms on her shoulders. "Maybe we can help."
"Yeah, you're just going to hurt someone like that," Barbarius pitched in, getting a quick kick in the shin from Bryenn.
She seemed to catch her breath a bit. "We were out picking berries for supper from the Tree that Grew nearby, and... and..."
"And... what?" I asked, a little impatient as it seemed obvious what she was going to say next.
"And a monster attacked us." The tears started in, as if what happened was just coming together in her head now. "He must be alive, because he fell through the tunnel to Sleepywood, but... but... The monsters are so strong just outside of Sleepywood that I don't know how I'm going to get him back!"
"That sounds like a job for us!" Bryenn exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. "We'll go to Sleepywood and bring him back, okay?"
"Um, Bryenn..." I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him aside. "I think this is more of a job for a hunter rather than a trio of rookies."
"Nemo, I've already looked around, hunters don't hang around here in Ellinia, it's too out of the way. We're the only chance she's got."
"Then why don't we just ask a fairy to fly to Henesys for help? I didn't think you were so daft to just charge into the Victoria Dungeon to find Sleepywood after learning a couple spells that you haven't even fought very much with yet!" I was just saying that to try and convince him out of it though. The sad thing was I did think he was that daft.
"Listen, this could be our chance for a good reputation right from the get-go, Nemo! If we can do this, we'll be ready to join a guild for sure."
"I think he's right, Nem," Barbarius butted in. "It can't be all that bad, come on."
"You wouldn't know," I said, frustration creeping into my voice. "There's a reason we're not in a guild yet. You in particular, Barbarius, you've never even fought a monster in your life until that stupid stump a few minutes ago, and you really shouldn't even be out here with us. Listen, Kerning was a total pit, I have your back on that one, but there's no way we're ready for this."
"Maybe he's right, Bry..." Barbarius agreed, defeated.
"No way," Bryenn cried over the little huddle we were in. "I can't just turn my back on someone in need."
"We're not turning our back, we're finding someone who can actually do the job. Consider that your first step to being a hunter rather than diving headlong into a den of creatures that'll kick your ass before eating it."
"You have to have a little more faith in ourselves, and Barbarius too," Bryenn said, softened. "We'll never get anywhere if we don't try." With that, he turned around to the woman and said, "Sorry about that, and don't worry. We'll get your son back one way or another, trust us."
My head hit the palm of my hand.
"Oh thank you so much! You have no idea how scared I am for him!"
Before I could even argue, Bryenn had charged off for who-knew-where without even looking back.
"Oh, um... did I tell you what he looked like?" she asked me.
"No, I was just going to ask you since it seems hardhead there's already gone without any information about what he's doing," I scoffed. "Looks like I have no choice now. He's just going to get himself lost or killed since he doesn't even know who he's looking for." I glanced at Barbarius before I continued. "I wouldn't even care so much if I didn't know you were going to try and help him no matter what I said."
"You're damn right," he said, starting a jog after Bryenn.
"Ugh..." I groaned. "This oughta be fun..."
"Actually..." the woman glanced in their direction. "They're going the wrong way."
"Of course they are." I at least got a little chuckle from that. Maybe they wouldn't even be in any danger since they'd just get lost here in Ellinia. But better to be sure. "Okay ma'am, who are we looking for?"
"Okay, this should be the one," I said, staring up at the tree we were standing next to. We were already about two-hundred feet in the air when we got to the city. This one, dubbed "The Tree that Grew," must have stood yet another three hundred feet up, clearing the rest around it by at least a hundred. "Are you serious?"
"We have to, Nemo, come on," Bryenn said with authority. "That kid's waiting in Sleepywood for someone to bring him home. His mother's not even going to eat supper tonight worrying about him."
"What a tragedy..."
Several hours later it was almost nightfall. Slowly, as it got darker, the entire forest began to be lit up by fireflies. It was an extraordinary sight, and there were so many of them shining bright enough that it was almost even brighter than daytime.
"Did anyone bring water, or... or, some potion, or anything?" Barbarius whined. "This is taking forever!"
"We didn't have to be doing this you know," I snapped back.
"Hey guys, I think this is it," Bryenn called out from a few branches above us again. He seemed to have limitless energy. "Yeah, a tunnel made from really slick wood. This has to be. Hey! It even has Sleepywood carved onto the side of it. Come on!"
By the time Barbarius and I made it up, Bryenn had already jumped in with an echoing, "Woah!"
"Reckless idiot.." I mumbled. "Okay, let's do this. You first."
"Me!?" Barbarius exclaimed. "Why me first?"
"Well, second actually. Metalhead took the first dive. You were the one who wanted to follow him anyway."
"Well you were going to let him get lost or killed, I had to."
"Doesn't change it."
"Ugh, fine."
He nervously took a seat at the edge, and I took the liberty of shoving him down. He grabbed my arm as I did and we slid down one after another toward the city at the heart of the Victorian Dungeon, Sleepywood.
We crashed into one another at the bottom and before we could even stand back up we were quickly greeted by an official-looking woman in a white uniform.
"Welcome to the Sleepywood Spa and Sauna!" she called out delightfully. "We are so glad you could join us today! Right now we have a special on for-"
She was cut off as an extremely loud roar came from outside, right before one of the walls of the sauna was blown apart. The woman shrieked and jumped behind the counter. A giant brown, human-like monster came storming through the broken wall soon after and it was quickly clear how the wall was torn down so easily. It's claws were the size of its head, which was equally enormous sitting on its body. Its teeth were absolutely menacing, but the worst thing about it was its eyes. They had red pupils surrounded completely by black. Just looking at it made my heart want to stop.
"You glad we did this now, Bry!?" I yelled.
"Rrrrrrraaaaagh!" A familiar blonde-headed voice yelled like a battle cry as the figure it came from ran in after the beast, jumped on its back and dove his sword into its neck.
