by Simon Archer
“If you say so, Leo,” Nadine said, turning back to her own horse, “but do not say I failed to warn you.”
We waited there for several agonizing minutes as we waited for Freyja, and then those minutes turned into over an hour. Nadeine glanced almost compulsively at the pocket watch she still had from her latest shift, standing watch at night as we waited. Finally, after I’d almost given up hope that she was ever coming back, Freyja’s head popped back out from the underbrush.
“Come on,” she said, nodding in the direction from which she had just come. “They’re waiting for you.”
“Should we take our horses?” I asked, stroking Bill’s mane.
Freyja nodded. “They have agreed to let us stay with them tonight.”
“How do we know they will not attack us?” Nadeine asked sharply.
“I suppose you don’t.” Freyja shrugged but then nodded in my direction. “But he will kill them if they do, I’m sure.”
“This is good enough for me,” Bernsten said, shrugging and motioning for his miniature horse to follow Freyja into the underbrush. Marinka and I followed suit, and Nadeine trotted behind us, watching Freyja closely.
“How did you convince them to let us stay here?” I asked Freyja as we maneuvered through narrow openings between trees and marshes.
“They did not wish to allow it,” she confessed as she hopped over a puddle, “but I told them of your power and that you seek to remove the mad kingdom elf from our forest. They are interested in what you have to say.”
We arrived in a small clearing on the other side of an expansive marsh where several forest elves were lounging at a campsite. This was the deepest into the forest that I had been yet, and the marshland brought a blue hue to the various shades of green throughout the area. The forest elves, like Freyja, were shifted into the forms of different animals. One resembled a bear, another a deer, and a third even looked suspiciously like a crow. It was kind of freaky, but after having spoken with Freyja, it actually didn’t seem that weird at all. They were just normal people with a mix of human, or rather, elven, and animal features.
“So, a mage has decided to enter our forest and denigrate it with his power once again?” the crow-like forest elf said when he saw me, a snide smile crossing his face. He didn’t move from his original position of laying back on a tree stump with his hands behind his head.
“Um,” I stammered, “I don’t think…”
“Don’t think! What a concept,” the crow elf mocked me. He rolled back and launched himself into a standing position without using his arms at all. He walked over to me and held up his hand for me to shake. “Natan. Not terribly pleased to meet you, but nonetheless, here we are.”
I took his outstretched hand.
“Leo,” I said. “Uh, nice to meet you, too.” I visibly winced at the awkwardness of the exchange and then dismounted Bill, patting him on the back.
“That’s Marius and Misho,” Natan said as he gestured at the bear and deer forest elves in turn. I nodded to each of them and figured that I should do the same for my party.
“This is Nadeine, Bernsten, and Marinka, and I assume you already know Freyja.” I gestured to everyone as I made introductions, and then, feeling like I had to say something more, I added, “I’m here to help. We’ll leave you alone once we find Viktor.”
“Sure you are, boy,” Natan said before turning to his friends. “They always say that, don’t they? Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.” He cracked up on the last part, and for some reason, the forest elves all seemed to find this very funny.
My companions and I just looked around at each other blankly.
“Come now, Natan, give the kid a break,” the bear forest elf, Marius, said after he recovered from his laughing fit. This just set them all off again.
“Uh, what’s going on?” I asked under my breath as I turned to Freyja.
“They’re just having fun.” Freyja snorted and rolled her eyes. “You’re the most interesting thing to happen around here in years.”
“Great.” I turned to watch the forest elves again. At least they didn’t seem interested in attacking us.
“Excuse me,” Nadeine said in a tone that was anything but polite. “Excuse me!”
The three forest elves stopped laughing and turned to stare at her.
“What do you know of the mad kingdom elf Viktor?” she asked, glaring at each of them in turn. Their mood seemed to shift at that, their eyes growing wide and their expressions more solemn. They weren’t laughing anymore.
“If you truly wish to expel him from our lands, that would be to our benefit,” Marius said. “He has all but taken over the other half of the forest.”
“What does this mean?” Nadeine shifted to place her hands on her hips. “How has he ‘taken over’ as you say?”
“Our people are starving, Kingdom Elf,” Misho said, his already-large eyes growing wider. “He offers them food and shelter, albeit of a meager variety. They accept it because they have no other options. He has a monopoly on the resources on the other side of the center.”
“But why?” I asked, jumping into the conversation. “What does he want from you?”
“This I cannot answer,” Misho said, turning his somber gaze downward. There was silence for a few moments. I finally broke the silence.
“We were attacked our first night in the forest. Do you know if this was Viktor’s doing?”
“It was,” Natan said. His voice, like I imagined a crow’s would be, was raspy and low. “I’ve heard he’s been trying to extend his reach out here. They even tried to buy me, could you imagine!” Natan turned around to look at his friends, and they started laughing again, though less heartily this time.
“Why didn’t you join him?” Nadeine asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“I may starve half the time, girl, but at least I’m free,” Natan chortled, making an odd and kind of unsettling raspy sound.
“That is fair,” Nadeine said, nodding and raising her eyebrows.
“You really think you can get rid of him?” Natan asked, his expression serious now.
“Yes.” Nadeine turned to me then. “Leo Hayden is already an incredibly accomplished mage. He is more than capable of defeating Viktor, and we hope that his work will return our magic to us. He has defeated his enemies swiftly and effectively already, far more than we ever expected so soon. We truly believe that we will win this fight.” I felt pride swell within me at her words, glad to know that she thought so highly of me. And I couldn’t help it, but I also felt a twinge of nervousness, hoping I could live up to her lofty expectations.
Natan narrowed his eyes. “And if we help you, allow you to pass through our forest, how do we know that, when you do get your magic back, you won’t just use it against us?”
“Why would we use our magic against you?” Nadeine asked, furrowing her brow in genuine confusion. That got the forest elves cackling again.
“You have always used your magic against us, Kingdom Elf,” Misho said quietly, and his big Bambi eyes made it kind of hard not to believe him. Nadeine, however, was incredulous.
“We have never been at war with the forest elves,” she said, the pitch of her voice higher now.
“Oh, but you have been at war in the forest!” Natan burst into laughter again, slapping his knees as he did so. But that laughter did not reach his eyes, now. “And that means you were at war with us. Our people and the forest are one and the same.”
“We were fighting the mountain elves,” Nadeine said, speaking more softly now. She seemed shocked by the forest elves’ reactions. “The enemies of the realm. All of our enemies.” I looked around at these new forest elves. It certainly seemed like Nadeine’s assumption that their two races shared much of anything was in error. They looked completely different, acted completely differently, even spoke with different vocal inflections, not to mention their polar opposite lifestyles.
“Your enemies!” Natan cried out, confirming my suspicions. “Not
ours. We had no quarrel with the mountain elves until they entered our forest just like you did, which made you both our enemies. Don’t mistake your own battles for everyone’s, girl.” He snarled the last word, and though he barely had lips, I could have sworn they still managed to curl.
Nadeine seemed at a loss for words now, and Marinka stepped forward. “We are sorry for what our ancestors did to your people and your forest. Let us make up for it now and remove one of our numbers from your land who does not belong here.”
“And who are you to make such overtures?” Natan raised his thin, dark eyebrows.
“I am the Royal Princess of the Kingdom of Eviorah,” Marinka said as she stood up straighter. “The youngest daughter of King Dalibor of the high council. I represent my people’s government and its interests.”
“Well then,” Natan slapped his knees again and turned to face Marius and Misho, “I think an apology and a promise from a member of the royal family must be considered some kind of official, don’t you?
“Woo-hoo, never thought I’d see the day,” Natan said.
Marinka looked around at the rest of us nervously. “Yes, you may consider it official,” she said, standing up straight again and setting her face into a regal, stoic position. “Let us cast aside the divisions of the past and look to the future. Provide my friends with any information you may possess concerning Viktor and allow us to help each other.”
“Alright,” Natan acquiesced, “but we’ve already told you most of what we know. Viktor lives on the other edge of the forest by the mountain region. He controls much of that side, monopolizing the resources and forcing the forest elves there into his service.”
“But he is now stretching his reach further?” Nadeine prompted.
“Yes,” Natan said, nodding. “He somehow knows you’re here. Don’t ask me how. I don’t know. Since shortly before I imagine you arrived, whispers have been traveling through this side of the forest that the kingdom elf has food and water and shelter for us, too. He wants us to kill you before you reach him.”
“Then why have we not been attacked since our first night in the forest?” Nadeine asked, her hand unconsciously drifting to her sword.
“You all scared us, Kingdom Elves,” Natan laughed and then looked at me. “Whispers of your magic has been traveling through the forest like wildfire, too. They don’t dare attack you now.”
“So, you anticipate we will have safe passage to the center?” Nadeine asked.
Natan shrugged. “Hell if I know. You’re safe for now, I suppose, but I wouldn’t put it past that madman to find a way to get more of us on his side. You’re only safe as long as it takes for that to happen. Remember, it takes time for communication to travel through the forest. We don’t have those fancy horses and other things you’ve got in the kingdom.”
“You seem to travel just fine without horses,” I said, glancing at Freyja, who was squatting by the edge of the swamp watching the interaction. Everyone stared at me, surprised to hear me speak. After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Natan and the other forest elves started laughing again.
“True enough, Mage, true enough.” Natan laughed. “But travel is still slower here, due to our environment.” Then he turned to look at Freyja. “And I think you’ll find that your friend here is a bit unique among forest elves.”
“Now,” Marius said as he leaned forward, “what have you folks got to eat?”
I passed down the pack with the remaining deer meat in it, before my team and I dismounted our horses and gathered around in a circle with the forest elves to eat. We shared Natan and his friends’ camp that night, continuing our habit of hanging our supplies high up in the trees.
“Make sure they can’t reach it,” Nadeine leaned in and whispered to me when I settled myself in another makeshift magic circle to hang the packs. Her eyes darted in the direction of the forest elves.
“I think they’re going to be able to reach our stuff no matter how high I hang it, Nadeine,” I said with a chuckle. “But if we continue our watch schedule, we’ll be able to keep an eye on them.”
“That is true,” Nadeine hedged before glancing at Freyja. “Do you think she will still help us?”
I followed her gaze. “What makes you think she won’t?”
“She could stay here with them.” Nadeine looked around nervously. “She could leave us to fend for ourselves.”
“Why would that bother you?” I asked, looking into her eyes. “You didn’t want her to join us in the first place.”
“She… has proven herself useful,” Nadeine said, looking away from me.
“Wow, Nadeine, you’ve gone soft,” I said with a grin.
She merely scowled at me and walked away.
The forest elves curled up under their own tarp like Freyja’s when they went to sleep. They didn’t seem to have a watch schedule of their own, though I supposed they didn’t need it. They didn’t have people trying to kill them.
Even so, I would have expected people who lived in such a hostile environment to take more precautions. Then again, this was all they’d ever known, so maybe it was normal to them, and they were willing to make the sacrifice for better sleep.
When I awoke in the morning, I was exhausted. I didn’t think I would ever get used to sleeping only four to six hours a night and not even getting that sleep all at once. I was starting to have regular dreams about the royal castle, my big, soft bed there, and the endless stream of rich and filling food in the dining hall. I hoped the kingdom elves would let me stay after our quest was completed.
We pulled down our supplies in the morning and packed up our horses. Even Bill seemed sleepy, grunting at me in dismay when I mounted him.
“Thank you for your help and your hospitality,” Marinka said to the forest elves when we turned to leave. “We are in your debt, and I assure you that we intend to repay it.”
“We’ll hold you to that, Princess,” Natan squawked.
“I am certain that you will,” Marinka said, smiling at him warmly.
Freyja initially lingered near the other forest elves, but then she walked over to join us by our horses. When we turned to leave, she followed us, traveling at my and Bill’s side.
“I thought you might stay behind,” I said to her after we cleared through the marshes and underbrush and arrived back on the beaten path. She looked away from me, not quite able to meet my eyes.
“In all honesty, that was my original plan,” she said softly.
“Did they not let you stay with them?” I asked, thinking back to how distant the other forest elves had seemed from Freyja.
“They would have, for a time,” she admitted. “But they don’t like me very much. The truth is that I don’t have many friends. I’ve always been on my own, at least since my family died. It’s nice, traveling with you.” She looked up at me on the last part but then turned away again quickly.
“Well, we’re glad to have you,” I said as I smiled at her.
The warm, thankful smile Freyja flashed back at me then made my day.
18
We continued to travel towards the center of the forest, with Freyja acting as our guide. While I had been using my navigation spell and Marinka had been using maps from the royal castle to try to locate the center of the forest, it turned out that the center wasn’t actually the center. Rather, it was slightly to the left of the center and had moved to that position over time, meaning that the old maps were now incorrect. It was a good thing we had a native forest elf on our side. Otherwise, we would have been wandering aimlessly around the forest with little hope of finding what we needed.
One night, Freyja was able to find a large enough and concealed enough campsite that Nadeine was comfortable letting me practice the advanced combat spells I had been committing to memory while we traveled. Before setting up camp and filling the area with our supplies, I drew a large combat circle in the dirt underneath my feet and positioned myself on one edge of it. Bernsten moved to position himself acros
s from me, but I held out my hand to stop him.
“Wait,” I said. “We don’t have one of the bubbles from the library shelves, do we?”
“No,” Bernsten said, stopping short in his tracks. “It was far too large to fit in one of our packs without sacrificing space for needed supplies.”
“You shouldn’t practice with me, then,” I said. “We don’t need you getting hurt.”
“How will you practice then, my friend?” Bernsten cocked his head in concern.
“I mean, I could still cast the spells without having an opponent, right?” I asked, turning to look between all of the kingdom elves.
“I believe so,” Nadeine said, though there was hesitancy in her tone. “Did magi not used to perform spells as a spectacle in addition to when they were needed?”
“Yes,” Marinka nodded, “Though I’m unsure how effective doing so in practice would be.”
“Indeed,” Nadeine said, narrowing her eyes as she turned to me. “It would be more beneficial for you to practice with an opponent, Leo.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I agreed, but I raised a finger. “But it would be even worse if Bernsten got his head chopped off, wouldn’t it?”
“I suppose this is true,” Nadeine said slowly.
“You suppose?” Bernsten asked in mock surprise, turning to her. “Your affection for me knows no bounds, sister. I am flattered.”
Nadeine rolled her eyes. “Yes, it would be worse for us to have your head chopped off.” With a sparkle in her eye, she added, “If only due to the cumbersome task of finding a way to dispose of your body.”
“You mock me, dear sister,” Bernsten said, breathing in deeply as he grabbed his chest. “It hurts, it truly does.”
“In all seriousness, Leo,” Marinka said, eyeing Nadeine and Bernsten with a combination of amusement and annoyance, “you should try one of your new spells without an opponent, and see what happens.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “I’ll have to just do offensive ones, I guess, since that’ll be easier without an opponent.”
