They traveled on for the rest of that day. Ryson's only diversion was to map their movements in his mind, taking stock of small landmarks that scouts without his powerful senses would surely miss. He calculated their length of travel, but while they crossed a great portion of the forest, it remained evident that their journey was far from its final destination. Ryson was aware of the breadth of this forest and his calculations placed them a good distance from its heart.
They did not break at night, but continued through the dark. When the first light glowed in the east, this section of the forest resisted the sun. The woods became thicker as branches from neighboring trees intertwined to make continuous bridges. Leaping from one tree to the next became unnecessary. Lief continued to lead and he stepped with a quick pace over the sturdy branches. Their journey continued throughout that morning, and the elf moved as if the long travel meant nothing to him. It became apparent that he wished to reach his camp as soon as possible. He would accept no delay.
As any good delver would, Ryson made mental notations of their direction, the grade of the ground below, and of different passages within the trees. Remembering the threat of the undead and of the goblins, such a practice became more than scout related. If retreat became necessary, he would be more than able to choose a path within the forest which would yield the greatest safety. He took notice of all that surrounded him. He sniffed the air, he put an ear to the wind, and he constantly watched for even the slightest shadow of movement. Late in the morning, he noticed such signs and he whispered an urgent warning to his companion.
"Lief! Get back here. Something's ahead of us. Five trees up and over to the right. Ambush." The volume of his words was soft to conceal their meaning to the intruders, but his tone was harsh, filled with alarm.
Lief did not stop nor did he whisper his response. He turned his head and replied openly without fear of being overheard. "Do not fear. It is the guards of my own camp."
Before Lief could continue, several elves jumped upon him. They quickly disarmed him and took hold of his arms and legs. Such was his surprise; he lacked the ability to escape before they had firm hold. As his eyes widened with fiery emotion, he roared with anger.
"What are you doing?! It's me!" Outraged, he spoke as if the action defied explanation. "Free me at once! Have you lost your minds?!"
The other elves kept their grip firm. They would not release him even at his roaring insistence.
Ryson quickly ascertained the situation. His head bobbed to the left and right, then above. He saw movement circling about. They were tying to outflank him. Without hesitation, he scampered further up the tree.
As he bolted, two elves from opposite sides leapt for his position. They did not expect the speed of the delver and were left to grip only open air. Undaunted and believing their own skills more than a match for their quarry, they recovered and followed.
Ryson paid little mind to those climbing after him. He continuously peered to neighboring trees. He quickly spotted another guard standing in wait off to his right. He leapt to his left to a clear tree. He climbed even higher and soon outdistanced the two following him. With a higher perspective, he paused for but a moment as he scanned everything below him. He pinpointed the locations of several more guards, and in an instant, he chose a path which would lead him to the ground.
Six or seven elves closed upon the delver with overconfidence. Secure in their abilities to scale the trees, they believed the chase over. In all of their past encounters, a treed opponent was a captured opponent. They could not expect what would happen next, and they gasped at the blur in which the delver moved.
Ryson shattered the elves' confidence as he dove downward with matchless speed. He leapt quickly from branch to branch, descending the trees as if they were nothing more than a staircase or a smooth and even ramp. Within two blinks of an eye, he was upon the ground, a position where no elf could catch him.
If his speed confused the elves when he moved through the trees, it blinded them now. He danced around the forest floor, making quick turns and using the cover of thick trunks. Dashing in zigzagging fashion, he would not reveal his true direction. The tree-born elves had no chance of following.
Lief continued to struggle against those that held him, yet even he was silenced by the maneuvering of the delver. After his companion appeared to retreat, he found his voice and yelled out in anger.
"You fools! He was here to help!"
One of the elves which held him snarled with his own anger. "How can he help? You brought a human to our camp."
"He's not human, he's a delver," Lief insisted. His own determination boiled over, and with a mighty twist, he broke free. He faced the leader of the guards with obvious malice. "Fire upon you! Do you know what you've done? Do you have any idea what's going on? If he is gone, it may mean the end of us all."
Lief was about to strike out at the elf captain when Ryson's call from far below checked his anger.
"I haven't left," the delver called out.
An elf low in the bough of a nearby tree caught a glimpse of the delver. Instinctively, he pulled an arrow from his quiver, strung it, and sent it hurling toward the assumed invader.
Ryson heard the arrow cut through the air. Reflexively, he ducked behind a thick tree trunk and watched with disbelieving eyes as the arrow whisked by. It would have hit him in the heart.
"One more like that and I will leave!" he yelled angrily.
"Hold, do not go!" Lief yelled before calling out an order to the other elves. "The rest of you, cease your attack. Let the delver be."
"Why?!" the captain demanded. "He is an intruder. He is a threat. With all that is going on we can not afford to take a chance!"
"What chance?" Lief replied heatedly. "The delver is with me. That should be more than enough to allow him to pass."
"Is it?" the captain replied scornfully. "When has a human, or delver for that matter, been allowed entry into our camp? Why should we allow it now?"
"Because I am telling you!"
"That means nothing! You have been gone. I am responsible for the protection of this camp. You did not see what I had to witness. The slaughter of two young elves by river rogues."
The response caught Lief off guard. He blurted out a questioning response. "River rogues? Attacked the camp?"
"Yesterday!"
"That is unfortunate, but it is even more reason why we must not be detained. You will let me pass, the delver as well."
The captain's face grew red. He was not accustomed to taking orders, but giving them. "You will be detained as long as I wish!"
It was the delver that ended the battle of wills. He spoke with authority from his position on the ground. He stepped out into the open with his own look of defiance, daring the elves to give chase, or perhaps even fire another arrow. "Detaining us won't help your cause. We know why the river rogues have returned. I'm not sure what they are, but I can tell you they're not alone. I've faced the undead as well as goblins. We have been to Sanctum. The mountain has been breached."
Momentary silence before a harsh reply.
"You may well lie!" the captain shot out a yell.
"Why should I?" Ryson demanded angrily. "I'd just assume take off now and forget any of this ever happened. You couldn't stop me."
"Very well, then leave!"
"I can't do that. I spoke to Shayed."
Again, a hush fell over the guards. Indecision mounted.
"That's impossible," the captain finally replied.
"Is it? I bet you thought river rogues were impossible before yesterday, but they seem to be back."
Lief spoke up again. His anger was now replaced with stony resolution. "This will end now. The delver and I must speak with Mappel."
Lief said nothing more. He stepped by the guard captain. His movement made it clear he would not accept being stopped again. He climbed down the tree and walked directly to Ryson. He paid no attention to the other elves still in the trees.
"Fire up
on the sphere," he said more to himself as he reached the delver. "So much is happening; so many things changing. River rogues attacking elves again. Goblins in the woods. I doubt there is any turning back now. I think our life in seclusion has ended."
"I can't say I completely understand what you're feeling, but I have some idea," Ryson said with sadness tinged his voice. "It seems reality is now upside down for all of us."
"That much is true."
Suddenly, strangely, a look of pride warmed Lief's face. Such dramatic swings in emotion were becoming even more common for the fiery elf. When he spoke, his words reflected that same pride. "But keep in mind what we have seen this day. We have spoken to Shayed! A privilege no one else can boast of. That in itself fills me with hope."
Ryson smiled at the elf's optimism. "I guess then we should get on with her wishes."
"Indeed. We will speak to Mappel. He is the eldest of the camp. He holds the elflore and will instruct us."
Lief turned back to where the Elvin guards had stopped him. He remained on the ground and showed no sign of climbing a tree. He motioned for Ryson to follow.
Chapter 8
Lief and Ryson walked deliberately across the forest floor. Lief led, keeping his eyes forward. Back straight, shoulders squared, his gait revealed his defiance to any elf that might consider stopping them. He stepped methodically over downtrodden paths where underbrush had been beaten and crushed away by constant elfin travelers.
Ryson noted the paths with curiosity. He wondered why the elves would take to the ground at this portion of the forest where the trees were yet numerous and intertwining branches made continuous bridges from one to another. While there remained many elves in the trees overhead, others watched below the branches, behind heavy trunks or bushes.
Ryson watched them all with a wary eye. He made particular note of those that carried bows. For now, they made no threatening moves, but they remained as cautious as the delver, and their numbers increased.
Ryson could only assume they were closing upon Lief's camp, but as of yet, he spotted no cluster of huts. While he saw stocks of food at the bases of trees, and small burning fires in deep holes, he saw no signs of a permanent camp. He wondered what an elfin home might look like, whether it would be a sturdy shack constructed from boards of wood, a hut of tangled branches and a thatched roof, or a tent spun of vines and leaves. There appeared nothing to answer this question for he saw no signs of any large shelters.
He could not imagine how far they would have to walk to finally reach this camp, for he saw nothing in the distance with his sharp eyes. Yet, he knew that the elfin guards staked positions in this area and more and more elves moved about, both on the ground and in the trees. In the end, he could not help but posing the question to Lief.
"Where is this camp of yours?"
"You are in it," Lief responded with casualness.
"This is your camp?" Ryson exclaimed with obvious surprise.
Lief laughed lightly as he continued walking. "What did you expect? A sprawling town like those of the humans. We do not live like that. We have little need for gaudy buildings. The forest provides us with everything we need. In return, we leave it as undisturbed as possible."
"So you basically live out in the open?" Ryson questioned.
Lief showed no sign of insult. He spoke with continued good will, almost as if he found the delver's reaction somewhat amusing. "Is that so surprising? Do the deer construct their own houses, or the wolf, or the bird?"
"The wolves and birds do," Ryson replied. "The wolf digs a den and the bird makes a nest."
"That is for the benefit of the young," the elf insisted. "We do the same. We build shelters out of branches. We place them in the trees and upon the ground. We use them to protect our children and to store our more delicate items. But they are only temporary. They can be dismantled and moved in a moment's notice. Like that one there."
The elf pointed to an orderly arrangement of thick branches which formed a small tent-like structure upon the ground. Its top barely reached Ryson's waist. It stood against a large cherry tree which assisted in support and added an umbrella of leaves overhead.
"That particular shelter holds the wild cherries harvested from that tree. We have found that keeping them under cover preserves them and protects them from birds."
"What about the dormant season?" Ryson wondered aloud. "Don't you get cold?"
"After the last harvests, we become more like the bear and the squirrel. We build more shelters but we also become less active. There is no sense wasting energy when food is scarce. We will build small fires at night and feed upon stored nuts. We simply wait for the growing season to begin the cycle anew."
"That's a tough life?" the delver remarked. He considered those without a warm fireplace and a thick roof over their heads as less fortunate.
"Is it? Or is that just your point of view? A point of view which does not sound that of a purebred delver. You might have been living with the humans for too long, Ryson Acumen. Perhaps we live as we were all supposed to live. It may very well be that the lives of humans, and the delvers that choose to follow, are the truly tough lives, as you put it. I would think it may be more difficult to try and ignore the seasons, to continue as if nothing changed from the growing season to the dormant season. Yet, isn't that what humans attempt to do? They build towns and roads so that their lives remain uninterrupted. They work the same amount throughout the cycles of the season. There is no period of hibernation, no time to rejuvenate. Perhaps, this is the difficult life."
Lief paused as he focused upon the figure of an elf leaning upon a long, thick branch. Lief's face became etched with shadows as he considered the point of their return. "Enough of that for now. It is time to concentrate on the struggle at hand. Come with me."
He motioned for Ryson to follow as he approached the other elf.
Ryson stepped cautiously and remained slightly behind his companion. The elf holding the branch appeared much older than Lief. Remembering how long elves lived, Ryson could not imagine how many cycles this one had seen. He concluded that this must be the elf elder, Mappel, which Lief spoke of.
Mappel stared out into the trees even as Lief moved near. He made no sign of acknowledging either of the two. He even showed no stir of agitation at the approach of a delver, an obvious stranger to this camp. His stare was neither vacant nor cold. His eyes held a twinkle of life, even if they seemed ignorant to the advance of a stranger.
Mappel stood erect. While the hands of time etched their work as lines in the elf's face, it could not yet bend Mappel's bones. A long flowing forester's cloak covered Mappel's figure. His hair, a mixture of charcoal, gray and silver, hung limply from his head. The thin wisps had lost their texture over time and could not hide his pointed ears.
The long branch, straight as a hand-drawn line, served as a staff for the elder elf, and he leaned upon it with great reliance. Ryson judged the branch to be slightly taller than Mappel and of stout thickness. Each end was flat and most of the bark had been smoothed away, either by time or by the caresses of Mappel's hands. The elf held to the branch with comfortable ease as if the staff was now simply an extension of his arm.
Lief reached out and grasped the branch several lengths below where Mappel's hand gripped it.
Upon Lief's touch of the staff, the elder was almost startled into awareness of the two before him. He blinked once, than twice. He looked over the delver with great curiosity. His own expression quickly became shadowed. He offered no greeting. Instead, he spoke as if continuing a previous conversation.
"It was not enough for you to reject the magic as a blessing of the land," the elder elf rattled. "You insisted with your doubts. Now the land is heavy with danger. What have you brought upon us, Lief Woodson?"
"It is not I that has brought anything upon us," Lief replied. At first his voice betrayed his annoyance with the elder, but he quickly gritted his teeth and toned down his emotions. "It is impossible to say what is res
ponsible for the fate we now face, but I bring you news of both darkness and light. As I warned the camp previously, the sphere is again radiating its tainted magic upon the land. It is not, however, in the hands of an enemy. It is the sphere itself that has broken from its own entombment. It remains in Sanctum, yet it has managed to create a break through the very side of the mountain. Through some dark power unexplained to me, the sphere has gained an awareness of its captivity and refuses to be encased any longer. It will bring oblivion to the land."
Mappel rotated his hands about the long branch in his grasp. His words expressed his doubt over the younger elf's story. "You have gathered much information in a short time, information which seems beyond your abilities. How is this possible?"
"There are two major factors." Lief's voice quickly brimmed with pride as he revealed the encounter with the elfin sorceress. "The most important being that I have spoken with the spirit of Shayed. She has explained the awareness of the sphere and its refusal to be encased within the mountain. That is how I can be sure of the fate we face."
The elder elf appeared greatly mystified by this explanation. He leaned upon his branch with greater reliance as if the weight of this revelation staggered his balance. His eyes narrowed and his head tilted as his expression communicated his expectation of further explanation.
Lief gladly continued. "Shayed has told us that the sphere remains out of the hands of any enemy. Its effect upon our land is based solely upon its own will. It is the land's misfortune that the sphere has gained its awareness. It works for neither good nor evil. It simply wishes the total extinction of all life. As to why, I can not explain."
Mappel took no time to mull over the possibilities. Instead, he questioned Lief further. "You said there were two factors which aided in your retrieval of this information," he noted almost harshly. "What is the other?"
Lief presented Ryson with a wave of his hand. "He stands beside me now. I came across a delver as I traveled toward Sanctum. His name is Ryson Acumen. I found him locked in a struggle with one of the undead. When I learned he was full-bred delver, I sensed the hands of fate bringing us together."
Delver Magic Book I: Sanctum's Breach Page 12
