by Simon Archer
“Thank you again for taking such good care of our companion,” Marinka said to the medicine man. He bowed his head in response, which looked kind of odd since he didn’t have much of a neck. Or it was a really thick neck, I couldn’t tell.
We walked back to our apartment in silence. Freyja was waiting for us there. She had been going between our place and her friend’s, the one who had let us through the gates to the center of the forest.
“How is he?” she asked when we walked in, her ears perking up under her mane of red hair.
“He will live,” Nadeine said, sitting down on the couch next to Freyja. Marinka and I stared at her. Nadeine usually kept as far away from Freyja as possible.
“That’s great news,” Freyja said, smiling at Nadeine.
“Yes,” Nadeine said. “Thank you for bringing us here. I should have trusted you.” It was a rare moment of tenderness and self-awareness, but it was a genuine one.
“No problem,” Freyja said, turning her face away from Nadeine, clearly uncomfortable with the compliment. “Will you be leaving soon, then?” Nadeine, Marinka, and I looked around at each other, unsure how to answer.
“My brother will live, but not as he always did,” Nadeine said finally. “Your medicine man told us he would likely never be able to walk normally, and he will not be able to walk at all for some time.”
“Oh,” Freyja said, searching for the right words. “I’m sorry.”
“It is not your fault, Freyja,” Marinka said from our seats across from Nadeine and Freyja. “Without your help, he would probably not be alive at all.” We sat in silence for a while again after that.
“So, what do we do now?” I finally asked, giving voice to what all of us were thinking. “We can’t exactly continue on into Viktor’s territory lugging Bernsten around when he can’t even walk.”
“I do not know,” Marinka said, staring down at her crossed hands as she pressed her thumbs together repeatedly.
“We could wait to leave until he is able to walk again, even if it is with a limp,” Nadeine offered, but she didn’t look very confident in that option.
“That will take too long,” Marinka said. “Remember what Amaka said. We do not know how long the center of the forest will hold against Viktor’s influence. It could fall at any moment. There could already be some of Viktor’s agents here now, waiting to strike against us.” There was silence again after that as we digested the truth of her words.
“Then I’ll have to find some way to heal him,” I said after a while. “We never found those healing spells. They have to be in there somewhere.” I gestured towards our packs sitting by the door. “And if not, it might be in one of the ones I photographed.”
“What if an appropriate spell is not there?” Marinka asked, worried. “What if it is too difficult for you to learn in a short amount of time?”
“Then I’ll just have to figure something out.” My lips set in a determined line.
“You could leave him here,” Freyja said, voicing an option none of the rest of us had wanted to say. Then, seeing the expressions on our faces, “Only if you can’t find a way to heal him. It’s safe here, at least for now. We’ll look after him for you until you get back.” Marinka, Nadeine, and I looked around at each other again, shifting uncomfortably in our seats.
“I do not know,” Marinka said. “I am unsure of how comfortable I am leaving him here injured while we continue with our quest.”
“I do know,” Nadeine said, an edge in her previously soft tone now. “I will not leave my brother here like a sitting duck to be attacked and killed in the event of our failure, or our inability to reach Viktor before the center of the forest is breached.”
“I agree,” I said. I wasn’t about to abandon my friend. “We either all go, or none of us go.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to find a miracle cure,” Freyja said, shrugging.
“You don’t seem very confident,” I said, meeting her eyes.
“Not particularly,” she said, looking back at me. “But I will say that if anyone can do it, it’s you, Leo.” I smiled at her, and some of the tension in the room dissipated. I got up and walked over to our packs so I could start going through the spell scrolls from the training grounds, but at that moment, there was a knock on our door, and Akash’s head appeared from outside.
“Ah, I am glad you’re all here,” he said, smiling. “Amaka wishes to speak with you.” We followed him out in the hallway and back down to the second floor of the tree trunk, where we had met him and Amaka for the first time. Amaka was waiting for us there.
“Thank you for coming to see me,” she said, rising from her seat to greet us. Her mouth was set in a thin line, her expression grim. “I heard your companion is doing well. I’m glad to hear it.”
“Thank you,” Nadeine said as we moved to sit across from Amaka and Akash once again. “And thank you for treating him.”
“Of course,” Amaka said, bowing her head as she took her seat again, closely followed by Akash. “I wish I had brought you here for similarly good news, but I’m afraid that’s not the case.”
“Oh,” Marinka said, crossing her hands and pressing her thumbs together repeatedly again in anxiety. “What has happened?”
“I’m afraid many of the assurances I made to you when you first arrived are no longer in place,” Amaka said.
“You are kicking us out?” Nadeine asked in alarm.
“No, of course not,” Amaka said, smiling wanly and shaking her head. “You are welcome here as long as I remain in the center. But I’m afraid that the mad kingdom elf you seek has managed to breach our borders here in the center of the forest.”
“We are under attack?” Nadeine asked, rising and reaching for her sword at her side.
“No, no, no,” Amaka said, waving her hands in reassurance, and Nadeine relaxed a little and sat back down. “Nothing like that, at least not yet. But I’m afraid that he has been able to send messages into the center now. And somehow, our own resources are dwindling. We have enough for some time, but they will run out eventually should we be unable to replenish them.”
“So, your people are abandoning you?” Marinka said, shifting in her seat.
“I’m happy to report that his efforts to get them to do so have been largely unsuccessful,” Amaka said, giving us a weak smile. “But I can make no assurances once our resources become more scarce. These people have families to feed and protect. They can only let their children go hungry for so long on principle before cracking.”
“No one has joined him yet?” Marinka asked. “How long until you think they will?”
“I’m afraid a small handful of my people have already defected to the kingdom elf,” Amaka said sadly. “But I have identified each one and removed them from the center of the forest. I am confident in my information and believe I’ve caught them all, but it won’t be long until more notice the drain on our resources and leave for his side of the forest. I recommend that you leave as soon as you are able for your own safety. The longer we wait, the less confident I am in my ability to guarantee you safe passage out of the center.”
“What about my brother?” Nadeine asked. “He cannot yet walk.”
“And if I have heard correctly, he will not do so for some time,” Amaka said, glancing at Akash to make sure her information was correct. He nodded gravely. “I will be happy to keep him here for you. I will place my most trusted guards at his door….” But before she could finish, Marinka, Nadeine, and I all interjected at once.
“We’re not leaving him behind,” I said firmly.
“He will come with us, or we will not leave,” Nadeine added.
“We will not break up our team,” Marinka finished before looking at Amaka. “We thank you for your kind offer, Amaka, but we have already discussed this amongst ourselves. We will not be leaving Sir Bernsten behind under any circumstances.”
“I don’t think this wise,” Amaka said carefully.
“I concur,” Akash
said, speaking for the first time since we entered the room. “He will slow you down and hinder your chances of success. I know it may be difficult to leave him behind, especially with strangers of another race, but you will all be safer that way. We all will, as we are all depending on your success.”
“We know the risks,” I said, clenching my fists in frustration. “But we won’t break up our team. Besides, I’m going to try to heal him myself.” Both Amaka and Akash raised their eyebrows at this.
“Do you possess such a power?” Amaka asked, leaning forward towards me.
“Not yet,” I said, looking her in the eyes. “But I’m going to try to learn it.”
“How long will this take you?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, breaking her gaze. “I don’t have the spell yet.”
“We believe we have it,” Marinka said, clarifying. “We just have yet to locate it, and then Leo needs to learn it and practice it.”
“I understand your concern for your friend and your desire to keep your group together,” Amaka said, leaning back into an upright position. “But this sounds like a lot of time and work. As I said, the longer you stay here, the more danger you’re in.”
“Leo learns very quickly,” Nadeine said. “We may be surprised by his quick progress.”
“I hope you’re right,” Amaka said. “But what if you’re not? What will you do? We’re happy to continue to host you, but you must understand our eagerness for your success. We need to get rid of the mad kingdom elf, too.”
“We understand,” I said suddenly, then, looking around at Nadeine and Marinka, I nodded once, “I believe we need to come to a compromise. If I am unable to heal Bernsten by tomorrow evening, we will leave without him.”
“But Leo,” Nadeine said, her eyes wild. But Marinka cut her off.
“It is what we must do, Nadeine,” she said, reaching out to take her hand, and while I appreciated her support, Nadeine pulled away from her. “I am sorry. And I have confidence in Leo. But we must think of the greater good. Of our people, and of theirs,” she gestured around at Amaka, Akash, and the silent Freyja at that. “We must do as Amaka suggests. We will leave the day after tomorrow, either way.” She looked at me. “Leo has decided.”
Nadeine didn’t protest, and I realized for the first time that all the kingdom elves weren’t equal here. Though Nadeine often took charge, and she and Bernsten were knights, Marinka was the royal family’s representative, and her word was final.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it,” I said, looking into Nadeine’s hard green eyes. “I’ll heal him. I promise.” And I believed it, too. I was becoming more and more confident in my new abilities, and I wasn’t about to leave my new friend behind.
Nadeine nodded, Amaka held out her hand to shake Marinka’s and seal the agreement, and we took our leave back to our small wooden apartment inside the tree. We didn’t talk much the rest of the day, but Freyja stayed with us instead of returning to her friend’s tree that night.
24
The next morning, I sorted through the spell scrolls with Nadeine. She helped me translate the instructions, and we found two healing spells that might work. Neither of them was for a broken leg specifically, but one was a general healing spell, and the other was for healing a broken arm. They were both advanced spells with complicated etudes, and neither was a perfect fit for Bernsten’s condition. But we would do what we had to do to save our friend and prevent us from needing to leave him behind. Once the spells were selected, we rose from our positions sitting cross-legged on the floor next to our packs to leave the small apartment to go find a place to practice.
“Where are you going?” Marinka asked from her position on the couch when she noticed us leaving. “Did you find a spell?”
“There are two possibilities,” Nadeine said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Neither’s perfect, but we’ll see.”
“May I join you?” Marinka asked. “I have nothing else to do and am quite bored here. They do not even have books or scrolls to read.”
“Sure,” I said. “But we don’t really know where we’re going yet. We need to find a safe place to practice.”
“I can help you,” Freyja called out, jumping up from where she had been sprawled across the floor by the other couch. I jumped in surprise as I hadn’t noticed her in the room. Her coloring and the fur on her face blended in with the wooden upholstery and floor. “I might know a place. If you want me to come, I mean.”
“Sure, we’d love for you to come,” I said, smiling at her.
“Indeed, please come with us,” Marinka said as she rose to join Nadeine and me by the door. Nadeine merely nodded, but not unenthusiastically. I noted that she seemed to be warming up to the forest elves, especially Freyja.
“Cool,” Freyja said, rushing over to join us. “There’s a spot by Ishida’s tree. You know, my friend who let us in the center.” I nodded, remembering the little forest elf with some of an otter’s features.
“Where does she live?” I asked as we walked single file down the rickety staircase to the bottom of the giant tree trunk that housed so much of the center’s resources and loose governing system.
“Closer to the edge,” Freyja said, rushing up to walk beside me after we reached the bottom of the staircase. “She lives in a tree right by the wall. That’s how I was able to get to her so quickly.”
“And you believe there is a good spot for Leo to practice there?” Nadeine asked, catching up to us as we were a few steps ahead of her and Marinka.
“I think so,” Freyja said. “Though I obviously don’t know as much about what makes a good spot as you. There’s a pretty open space on the top level of her treehouse. And since it’s by the wall, there aren’t as many people around there.”
“That sounds like a good place,” I said as we exited the tree trunk out into the open air. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the scent of the pine trees. “So it’s like in the tree’s branches, not in the trunk?” I asked, wondering what it would be like to do magic so high in the sky.
“Yes,” Freyja said, nodding. Then, gesturing up at the branches of the great tree we had been staying in, “It’s like those, just smaller.” She was pointing to the long treehouses forming apartments in the open air on the tree’s long, sturdy branches. I had to admit, while they looked kind of scary, they also looked really cool. To literally live in the branches of the trees, surrounded by bright green leaves and the scent of fresh pine, would definitely be something else.
“Nice,” I said, turning back to face the road in front of me. The center of the forest was even more full of life than the parts of the forest I had already seen, in a way. The other animals didn’t seem all that bothered by the forest elves’ more organized presence there, and rabbits hopped around the path, foxes darted through the underbrush, and birds sang in the trees where they nested next to the treehouse apartments. Forest elves were everywhere, too, and they certainly noticed our presence, watching us as we passed them by.
“Stay on alert,” Nadeine said, and it was clear she had also noticed the forest elves watching us. Her hands flew to the handle of her sword strapped to her side, and her eyes darted all around us, scanning for any potential enemies.
“Amaka said she found all of the traitors,” I reminded her.
“She said she believes she found them,” Nadeine corrected, and I nodded to humor her. It seemed to me like if we were going to be attacked out in the open like this, there wasn’t much we would be able to do about it beforehand.
“It cannot hurt to be careful, I suppose,” Marinka said, winking at me when Nadeine wasn’t looking. I grinned back at her.
True to Freya’s word, Ishida’s treehouse was in a tree on the very edge of the center, right by the wall. The further away from the great tree we got, the smaller the other trees became, and this one was no exception. Even so, the tree was large compared to the ones I was used to in New York City, or even from pictures of more wooded areas on Earth, its bran
ches stretching out across the road, intertwining with one another, and creating a stable nesting place for the treehouses. Unlike the center tree and many of the other ones closer to the center, this tree didn’t look to be hollowed out, probably due to its smaller size.
“How do we get up there if it’s not hollowed out?” I asked, gazing up at the treehouses stretching across the branches.
“We climb,” Freyja said as if this were obvious.
“Uh, okay…” I said, not so sure about that plan. Sure enough, Marinka piped in to share her opinion.
“Oh dear,” she muttered, looking up at the branches with wide eyes. “I do not think that is a good idea. I am not confident in my ability to do that.”
“You’ll be fine,” Freyja said. “Just follow me.” She clambered over to the tree and dug her claws into its bark, then pulled herself up to the first branch.
“Uh, we don’t have claws, Freya,” I said, watching her.
“I know that,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me jokingly. “I’ll stay here and help you all up. Then it’ll be easy to climb the branches from there.”
I wasn’t so sure about that as I looked up at the branches. They were large, to be sure, but they were spread out, especially at the bottom. Nevertheless, Nadeine stepped forward to follow Freyja’s lead.
She walked over to the tree and looked at the bark. She reached up to take Freyja’s outstretched hand, but they could barely reach each other. Even so, Nadeine pressed on, finding ridges in the bark in which she could place her boots and climbing up gingerly with Freyja’s help. It wasn’t elegant, but she reached the first branch.
I looked at Marinka. She was staring at Nadeine and Freyja with a terrified expression on her face, her mouth hanging open slightly. Realizing Marinka wasn’t about to go next, I walked up to the tree and reached to take Freyja’s outstretched hand. I reached her more easily than Nadeine had since I was much bigger and had longer arms than any of the elves, but it was still a struggle. More than once, my feet slipped, and I thought I was going to fall and break my neck. But true to Freyja’s word, I made it. And then it was Marinka’s turn. She took one step forward towards the tree, but then stumbled back again.
