“This is good news.” Said Tryst, his face grave. “She needs attention that goes beyond my capabilities. I hear that the leader of the elves is a most skilled healer.”
The screams of the Countess grew even more shrill and angry, “You won’t take me to that accursed place! I’ll rotting kill you first!”
In spite of her screams of outrage, they tied her to one of the spare horses and rode toward the forest. The further in they walked, the more desperate Adbar’s screams became.
“Vilhylm, are you sure about this?” Callindra asked, “She’s really hurting herself.”
He looked at the blood that was darkening the rope around the Countess’s wrists, her struggles having torn the skin. “Stop it Countess, we are going to get you help.” He said imploringly, “Please, the Elves can make you better.”
“I’ve had about enough of this.” Callindra said, and before anyone could stop her she brought the heavy pommel of her sword down sharply on the back of the woman’s head. She slumped into unconsciousness and Callindra checked the pulse at her neck calmly, as though she did this kind of thing every day.
The others were staring at her in shock. “Callindra, wasn’t that a little extreme?” Tryst asked quietly.
“She was putting all our lives in danger.” Callindra responded, “Do you want whatever beasts lurk beneath these trees to be drawn to us because of her screams?”
As if in response to her question a group of Elves melted out of the underbrush, bows strung with arrows knocked to the string. They were dressed in woodland greens, grays and browns and moved without a sound.
“Stay where you are.” Their leader said, “You will not bring evil into the High Forest.”
“Haven’t we already entered into the Forest?” Callindra asked, looking at the trees that surrounded them.
“No.” He said shortly, “You have yet to enter the Domain of Jorda. You have yet to enter the High Forest.”
“Then let us enter!” Vilhylm shouted, “We have a sick woman! She needs help!”
“She carries a taint that I would deign to poison this pristine wilderness with.” The Elf said, “Take her and go. Bring her to one of your mortal priests.”
“I am a mortal priest.” Tryst said, “Whatever ails this Lady is beyond my purview, but beyond that I am on a mission from my Holy Order and I must speak with the Druids who reside here.”
The Elves spoke to one another in a language that sounded like water bubbling over rocks mixed with birdsong. Finally the leader turned back to them with a grave look on his face.
“We will allow you to approach until the Goddess can decide if she is worthy of treatment.” He glared at them, “If you insist on bringing her forward you shall be judged along with her.”
“That is a risk I will gladly take.” Vilhylm said without hesitation.
“I think she is a risk, but allowing something to infect her like this and go unchecked is a far worse risk.” Tryst said, “If whatever has taken root in her is allowed to spread it could mean trouble, even for your kind.”
“We will leave if we are unwelcome.” Cronos said stiffly, “But we were told to come and speak with you by the Dryad Tyreen. We have traveled long and through much danger to come here and I won’t allow that to go to waste. There are things happening in the world that shouldn’t go unreported or unnoticed.”
Callindra looked over the Elves who were arrayed around them in a semi-circle. “You haven’t seen them have you?” She asked, “The creatures with the eyes of emerald fire?”
The leader shifted, a movement so slight that she would have missed it if she hadn’t been specifically looking for it. His men didn’t move so either they didn’t have a clue what she was talking about or hadn’t heard her. She was betting on the former.
“Come.” He said, “My name is Latoran. I am the leader of these warriors, the elite of the High Forest guard. I will bring you to see Luaga and he will decide if you are to be shown out of our domain or allowed into the presence of Jorda.”
“That’s fair enough.” Tryst said, and then turned to give Vilhylm a reassuring smile. “I’m sure Luaga will decide to help her.”
“Yeah, because these others are so bedamned friendly.” Cronos muttered.
Chapter 25
They were led through a screen of thick brush and found themselves in a beautiful woodland that almost seemed manicured. The trees rose far above their heads, seeming impossibly tall with trunks dozens of feet thick. It looked nothing like what it had when they were on the other side of the screen of brush.
Callindra tried to conceal her surprise, but knew she had failed when she saw the smug look on one of the Elf archer’s faces. Instead of trying to pretend, she decided to try and get some information out of the woman. “Why? How? This is amazing!”
“Mortals tend to despoil things that don’t fit into their narrow perception of how things are supposed to be.” The archer replied, giving her a frosty look. “I don’t imagine you would understand as fleeting as your life is, but we have to take a much longer view of things.”
“What do you mean?” Callindra asked, knowing what the Elf was likely to say.
“These trees are our home. We must ensure they are here for us forever, as we live until our lives are cut short by unnatural means.”
“Death isn’t unnatural.” Callindra said, “Everything dies eventually, isn’t that part of the whole circle of life thing?”
“I don’t expect a mortal to understand.” The Elf said, “That is why we have ensorcelled the forest as we have.”
Callindra thought on that for a few minutes. “If you don’t explain something, how can you expect someone to understand?”
The Elf woman didn’t respond and Callindra rode on in silence. The concept of immortality was one she had never considered before, living the way she had made her see death around every corner and with the dawn of each rising sun. She knew there was a limited time for her to be graced with life and every minute had to be lived to the fullest. Living to an old age wasn’t something she had ever thought of.
“It must be hard for you.” She finally said, “Trying to think of everything all at once and always worrying about making a mistake that you’ll have to deal with forever. I can’t imagine living like that; someone like me can hardly believe the miracle of living to another sunrise let alone thinking of a thousand sunrises in the future.”
The Elf woman didn’t respond, but gave her a look that had slightly less condescension than it had before. Well, at least that was a start. With Elves there was no way she could expect to change centuries of prejudice in just a few hours.
-
They entered a wide space that would have been a meadow had it not been for the spreading boughs of the incredible tree that rose above them. Although it was still far off, Callindra estimated that it was nearly a thousand feet high and the trunk at least five hundred feet thick. The branches above gave shelter from direct sun, and beautiful swards of green grass spread out before them.
The moment that she was brought beneath the branches of the Grandfather Tree, the Countess was awake. The light of insanity shone behind her eyes, but she made no movement, watching the approach of a delegation of some import approaching from the direction of the tree. She was quiet while Vilhylm lifted her from the back of the horse and she stood quietly while Latoran greeted the Elf man who seemed to be old.
He had slight wrinkle lines around his eyes and his hair was purely white. For a human he would have looked just past middle age, but based on what she’d seen of the other Elves with their perfect skin and straw blonde hair he was ancient. After a short conference with Latoran he turned toward them.
“I am Luaga. I take it this is the patient?” He gave Adbar a cursory glance.
“This is the Countess Adbar.” Tryst confirmed, “I am Tryst Te’Chern, this is my brother Cronos. These area Vilhylm and Callindra, my other companions. We have journeyed far to reach you and to seek your council.”
>
They were interrupted by a guttural laugh from the Countess’s mouth. “You fools have brought me here? In spite of what remained of this vessel’s animal instinct that fought you every step of the way I have been brought here, to stand beneath the shelter of the first living thing’s arms.”
Luaga’s eyes widened in surprise, “Who is this that you have brought here?” His eyes narrowed, “What exactly have you allowed to come into this most holy presence?”
“I will allow the blood of my servant to summon the things that must come.” The same guttural voice shouted at a volume that made Callindra’s ears ring. It made her vision blur and she was only barely conscious of Luaga incanting a spell and the Elves drawing arrows.
“NO!” Callindra shouted, “Whatever she carries said it needs her blood! We can’t allow her blood to spill here!”
The Countess’s wrists parted and her bonds snapped as though made of embroidery thread. “My will shall NOT be denied!” She shouted. They watched in terror as she reached her hand to her throat and tore out the veins with her manicured nails. Her voice shrieked impossibly high and shrill in pain and triumph.
Vilhylm fell to his knees, sobbing and trying to stem the flow of blood with his hands. Tryst attempted to cast a healing spell, but it failed to take effect. The bubbling laughter of the Countess echoed wetly throughout the clearing and the spreading pool of blood began to shine with tiny motes of emerald light.
“Get back! GET BACK!” Callindra yelled desperately, “Something’s happening! Something terrible is coming!” The winds flared around her and she drew Brightfang from his sheath. Drawing on the well of power within her and focusing it through the carved stone on the pommel of her sword. The very winds themselves gathered around her, lending her their strength and speed.
The tiny motes came out as a cloud of fireflies that glimmered beautifully in the twilight. As they rose into the air, a massive hand of blackened flesh with veins of sickly green fire pulsing from within stretched from within the pool of the Countess’s blood. The flickering green bodies of the insects began to land on anything that was alive. Plants withered and died at their touch and when they touched exposed skin they brought pain.
The screaming began immediately, but Callindra was focusing on the monstrous golem that was pulling itself from the portal formed by the Countess’s lifeblood. Its eyes were pits of emerald fire and even as it crawled free of the gore on the ground it raised its head and roared in rage. More of the tiny insects streamed from its mouth, spreading death and pain wherever they landed. With an answering battle cry Callindra leaped to the attack, Brightfang swinging in a perfect arc of silver.
“WAIT!” Luaga’s voice was loud enough for Callindra to hear but she ignored it, springing forward to slash the monster across the hamstring. Instead of the deadly strike she had been hoping for, she was greeted by a cloud of tiny glowing green insects. They settled on the exposed skin of her arms and pain burst along them like she had thrust them into burning flames.
Callindra screamed in pain and summoned threads of Weave from the flat of Brightfang’s blade. A blast of wind exploded from him, driving the bugs from her flesh and leaving ugly red welts in their place. Stumbling backwards, she saw another shape emerging from the massive wall that was the trunk of the Tree.
“Your filth has no place here vermin!” The figure said, and the words held Power that rippled across the clearing.
“Oh foolish Goddess.” A dread voice rippled from within the pool of the Countess’s blood, “Manifesting thyself here on the Prime? No wonder thou art so weak.”
Whatever the ... Goddess? said in reply was in a language Callindra and her friends did not understand but it angered the golem.
“Then I shall CRUSH thee and BURN thy precious tree!” It roared, the sound of it making their bones rattle within their bodies. One step brought it close enough to swing a vast fist at the tiny form that stood defiantly next to the tree, but that blow never fell.
Branches sprang from the trunk of the Grandfather Tree to form a protective barrier between the Goddess and the monster while roots erupted from the ground to wrap around the golem’s arms and legs. Callindra was vaguely aware of her friends attacking the insects however they could, but she was focused only on the monster in front of her. The roots had dragged one of its arms down close to the ground.
Grinning, she ran forward and up the roots toward the golem’s arm. Perhaps if the legs weren’t vulnerable the head would be. Just before she reached the monster’s bound hand, the roots snapped and the hand flung into the air with the force of a catapult’s throwing arm. Callindra flew skyward, surprised to find that she wasn’t afraid. It was as though she belonged here, flying free.
The winds gathered around her, allowing some measure of control over her fall. Instead of aiming for somewhere moderately safe or attempting to slow her fall, Callindra aimed for the back of the golem. It had leaned down and was breathing out clouds of bright green insects onto the shield that protected the Goddess below.
With a wild shout of abandon, she plunged down toward the monster, placing her feet on the dull back side of her blade. As she fell down towards its unprotected back Callindra drew upon the force of the wind that tore at her face and forced it into Brightfang. Arcane Power exploded from her blade as his tip plunged into its flesh and she unleashed it into her enemy.
It roared in rage and pain, arching its back. Gold light emanated from the Goddess in front and Callindra saw something flickering just behind the Golem’s knee joints that hadn’t been there a moment before. She swung first left, then right, hacking through the cords of Emerald green light. With a groan that made her teeth ache, the golem crumbled into pieces that exploded into thousands more insects.
Looking around, she saw dozens of Druids laying on the ground, covered in biting insects. She fell to her knees, hundreds of the bugs biting and stinging, their poison burning in her veins. The last thing Callindra saw was a beautiful golden radiance that seemed to be coming from everywhere and a calm, beautiful voice assuring her that everything would be fine. The feeling of the myriad of tiny feet rending flesh accompanied her on her way to an uneasy unconsciousness.
Chapter 26
“Callindra, are you awake?” Tryst sounded as though he had been awake for days.
She opened bleary eyes, “I guess so.” Sitting up she surveyed her surroundings. The walls, floor and ceiling were all wood. Not wood paneling, but solid, polished wood.
“Praises be.” He said, “Now we need to secure an audience with the Druids.”
“Tryst, you look like shit.” Callindra said bluntly, “I don’t think any high ranking officials would want to meet you right now. Why don’t you lay down in my bed for a minute, I’ll see if we can schedule an audience or whatever they do here.”
She stood up, noting that she was only wearing her underbreeches. Her chest wrap was missing, either burned by the insects or cut off for her treatment. Ignoring the creeping feeling of embarrassment she guided Tryst to the bed and covered him with the blanket. After a short search of the chamber she located a loose tunic and pulled it on. What she did not locate was a door.
“Hey!” She shouted, “Let me out of here!”
A door opened in the wall, a seamless joining that she never would have seen. A pair of Elven guards stood outside, hands on their sword hilts. They stared at her for a few moments, her shocked by their sudden appearance, they by her being on her feet.
“Where is my sword?” She asked, “I demand that my Brightfang be returned to me, what is the meaning of us being imprisoned like this?”
“You are not imprisoned Lady Callindra.” One of them said, “These chambers are designed for you to recover as quickly as possible. Your other friends are still asleep, we believed you would also be sleeping for at least another few hours…”
“Yeah, well Tryst has his ways of speeding our recovery along.” She said, eyes flashing with defiance. Her voice trembled with apprehension th
ough, spoiling the effect. “What have you done with my sword?”
“All of your personal effects are in a salon set aside for your use.” The guard said, “If you would follow me please Miss Sol’Estin I would be happy to show you the way.”
Feeling like there must be some kind of trap but unable to see it, Callindra cautiously stepped out of the room. One of the soldiers led her down a short hallway into a room that had light breezes blowing through it. One entire wall was open to the outside which showed a vista of pristine treetops. The ground was not visible.
“Where…” She took a deep breath, noticing her armor, clothes and most importantly her sword in a tidy pile on a table. Letting the breath out as her hand closed over Brightfang’s hilt she amended what she had been going to say. “Where are we?”
“We are in the Grandfather. In Jorda’s domain.” He said, “You are guests of honor.”
“Inside the tree?” She said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I knew it was big but… this is amazing.”
“He is vast.” The Elf agreed, “Outsiders are always overawed by him.”
“I don’t think I would ever stop being awed by this sight.” Callindra said, looking out the window again. “I mean… look at it.”
A ghost of a smile played around the corners of the soldier’s mouth. “You will find breakfast for you here. If you need anything else, please come to the door and call out. I will be here. Later the Goddess wishes you to join her in the main feasting hall.”
“W-what?” Callindra stammered. “I’m a warrior, not some simpering maiden who goes to fancy feasts! Besides, I don’t have clothes to wear to attend a Goddess!”
Now the Elven warrior did smile, “She does not stand on ceremony Miss Sol’Estin. There is nothing more appropriate for you to wear than your armor, seeing as how it is your status as a warrior that is being honored.”
“Wait, where are my friends?” She asked, swallowing hard. “Did the others survive?”
The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest Page 22
