Chapter Twenty-seven
Unexpected Allies
The next morning we discussed our plan as we headed towards the forest gate. Seeing as Kima had mentioned cavern-like areas in her dream, we decided to try going to the mine first.
Naidaroe mentioned that everyone told her to avoid the forest on her way from Dale, where she had washed ashore, to Thornwall. Those who went into the forest without knowing where they were going tended to get lost, and those who made it out seemed mad.
We were told that the forest was too thick and dense for a cart, at least where we were heading, and we had to stable River and our cart at The Leaky Tap until we returned.
A realization swept over me as we neared the gate, filling me with a sudden sadness. "Keothi, I apologize. I don't think we're going to make it back to Emildan before the tournament."
"I expected as much when we left the town." It was hard to read him, but I could tell he was at least a little disappointed. I was grateful for his willingness to stay with us.
The doors of the gate opened and were soon flooded with people making their way in and out. Someone nearby noticed our gaze. "It will stay open for about an hour, unless some danger comes near, in which case it will be closed until tomorrow."
We made our way into the forest, which didn't seem much different at first from the Greenspine, other than there weren't coniferous trees, only deciduous ones. I'd been looking for some spruce in order to perform a spell I'd recently learned, but since leaving Midlan had seen none.
I lead the way, with Naidaroe helping to guide us as well. Along the trail we saw cross-trails of animals, some larger than others. I could make out boar and elk tracks, as well as come of a more humanoid type.
The forest thickened, though there were meadows along the trail. It got dark quickly as the sun began to set on the horizon. I motioned to the others. "We'd better find a place to stop for the night."
I found some trees with good, thick branches. Each person selected a branch, and we tied ourselves to the branches so we wouldn't fall out as we slept.
It began to rain as we settled down for the evening. It got harder and harder. I smiled. "It must mean that the Storm Lord is with us, right?"
"The Storm Lord will kill Loltha," Keothi said from the next tree over.
"If somebody runs up to us in this storm and tells us they need help, we're going to say no," Melima said. She had expressed what I felt as well, the last time we had been in a storm things hadn't gone as expected.
Naidaroe took the first watch, and woke me up for the second one. There wasn't much going on. There was a grove of trees in front of me, though nothing seemed to enter.
At one point I thought I must have been dreaming, I thought that I saw a tree move in the grove, towards the back, but it seemed to be walking. An hour later I saw it again, it was definitely walking across the field.
Keothi was snoring, so I grabbed a nearby stick and threw it at him. He adjusted and stopped snoring. I motioned for him to be quiet.
Another tree entered the grove from the other side, meeting the first walking tree. They seemed to be conversing with each other, but not in a way that I could understand. It sounded guttural, coming across almost like bark grinding against itself.
I had heard of these creatures before, though had never seen one. They were called treants, and often acted as guardians of the forest, or areas of the forest. They tended to remain elusive, but could become greatly hostile if something were harming nature. They could have useful information, if we could communicate with them.
Ari'yasa was breathing pretty heavily, almost a breathy snore. I woke her not only to get her to stop, but because as a druid she was the most likely of all of us to understand the language of talking trees.
She froze in a listening position, evidently she could actually understand them. After several minutes they parted and began their slow walk out of the grove. One headed north, away from us, the other to the east.
Ari'yasa jumped out of the tree, landing slightly awkwardly, but recovering quickly and walking towards the one heading east. I pulled out my broom to follow in the shadows, also waking Melima to keep watch in the meantime.
Ari'yasa spoke something in this strange language, and the treant stopped. They talked for a long time, long enough to try the patience of the elves. His eyes looked like glowing amber sap. He began to walk away, and Ari'yasa called something else to him.
He turned, said something else, and then continued walking out of sight. Ari'yasa returned, and I came out of hiding to find out what was going on.
"So, what were they doing?"
Ari'yasa sighed. "Well, it appears the two of them met to talk about what has been going on in the forest. And the last thing I heard them say to each other was 'Try to gather the others.'
"There was also talk of new creatures in the forest, creatures not staying where they naturally should be, and I think I might have heard the word 'dragon,' but I'm not one-hundred percent sure."
"Always dragons..." I muttered under my breath. I knew it was normal for them to wander the forests, that's how I encountered one in the first place, but the frequency with which we were hearing about them was almost getting annoying.
"When I went out and talked to him I asked him if he could help us find our friend. He didn't really say if he could, he just asked us where she might be, and then he told me to stay hidden until day, or sunrise.
"But I did get his name! His name is Gant. So if we meet any other ents we can tell them that we spoke with Gant. That's probably the coolest thing I've done since I met you guys!"
I smiled. "Well, we should probably get you back in the tree."
The rest of my watch was uneventful. The storm continued on, and we were soaked to the bone. It wasn't the first time I'd been this wet, but it wasn't my favorite. I awoke Melima and tried to get some sleep.
. . .
Around midday the next day I noticed more rocks along the path. They gradually became boulders, and soon we were walking on pathways surrounded by stone. I turned back to the others. "We must be close to the mine!"
Not knowing what was in the area, we moved around quietly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a rock move. It seemed to turn over of its own accord. I gently steered us away from that area.
Sindus let out a scream of pain from the rear of the group. A large snakelike creature was looming over him. Instead of having a head, it had a beak with four tentacles around it. It had caught Sindus in the back.
My friends pelted it with attacks, and Sindus stepped away, shooting an arrow at a second one that appeared to the side. I spoke to my bowstring, "lachogoth," and fired at this second one. The creature recoiled at my now flaming arrow.
Naidaroe cast a spell, and hundreds of daggers appeared around the creature on the side, spinning in the air. It writhed away from the sharp cloud.
Keothi crushed his hammer into this one as Ari'yasa ran to heal Sindus. Melima threw an orb of lightning at the one in the back. Another flaming arrow and blow from Keothi took care of the one to the side.
Sindus flanked the one that had attacked him, and took it out from behind. They were both dead. I looked at the one closest to me to see if there was anything useful we could gain from them. The skins would make a useful camouflage, but I didn't have the skills to preserve them, nor did anyone else.
There was nothing else in the rocks, the mine was not there. The forest became denser again, and soon there was hardly a rock in sight. I knew that we had to be close to the mine, if we hadn't already passed it.
Loud thuds alerted me to something approaching. It was another treant. He spoke to Ari'yasa for a while in their long, guttural language.
He left towards the north, and Ari'yasa explained what he had said. "He had a message from Gant. He said that Kima was at the temple, and that we should avoid the mine and the swamp. He said to go south for two days, then go east to the temple of Talush. He said not to vary from those instructions."
"How far east will we need to go?" I asked.
"He didn't say. Just two days south, and then go east." We agreed to follow the directions given. It seemed like we had made friends with the guardians of the forest.
