"I have never seen so many elves in one place before. How is this possible?"
"Why do you keep calling us elves?" Mavok asked, lowering his sword slightly.
"It is what we on the path of nature call the ascended, a graceful name for those touched by the mother" he replied.
"The mother?" Mavok had been to nature's bounty, some of his group had come from there, but this information was new to him.
"Mother nature, she who gave life to all blesses a few with the power and they become the ascended," said the woman.
"I was at Nature's bounty recently, I also have not heard the term elve," said Mavok.
The female lowered her bow and arrow before speaking.
"There are many on our path that still view ascension with distrust and that you are not natural nor part of the flow"
"And you do not think the same?"
"The older generations are more comfortable with how things are and dislike change. A number of us from nature's paradise are more open minded"
Mavok was fascinated by this revelation, he was certain that only those from Unity would accept them.
"Come with us," said the woman. "We have a camp nearby and plenty of food for you all"
Their food rations were low and they had found little in the forest that would sustain them. Mavok put away his sword and turned to the group.
"I feel we have little choice," he said to them. "I do not think we are in danger"
The group nodded and agreement and Mavok turned back to the naturists.
"We will go with you"
The naturists put away their weapons and beckoned the group to follow them. They walked a short distance before reaching the camp.
"Why have you only just revealed yourselves?" Mavok asked.
"The tremor we felt in the ground earlier, we thought that you may have been using your powers in our forest," replied the woman.
"We felt it too, but it was not us," said Mavok.
"Then our forest is safe for now"
"My name is Mavok," he offered as a gesture of goodwill, if they had wanted to hurt the group then they would have done so already.
"I am Cala," responded the female. "This is Milon and Peter"
The two men nodded a greeting.
"Why do you carry a sword," Milon asked him.
"An old habit from my past life," he replied.
Suddenly Milon and Peter both drew weapons. Mavok drew the sword at his side in response.
"Lower your weapons," Cala shouted.
"He was on the path of strength, you know the atrocities they have committed," said Peter.
"I was once on that path, but no longer"
"He has ascended and is leading a group of others. He is not a threat"
"And is his group is a hunting party?" asked Milan.
"With young and females?" Cala asked "That is not the way of strength"
Milon and Peter looked conflicted then slowly lowered their weapons once more.
"Where are you heading?" Cala asked him.
"To Unity," he said "A community that takes in our kind and somewhere we will be safe"
"I have never heard of it," Cala said and looked to her men who both shook their heads.
"Few have, I think that they prefer to keep it that way"
Cala looked thoughtful for a moment then turned to her men and set them to start making meals.
"Walk with me," she said to Mavok.
He nodded and turned to Jon, handing him his sword.
"Keep this safe for me"
The boys' eyes went wide and he nodded. Mavok followed Cala away from the camp and into the forest.
"From warrior to the protector. Seems like quite a change," said Cala as they walked.
"One day I found myself on the other side of the sword. The men that had sworn their lives to me suddenly began to seek mine"
"So you thought that saving a few elves would atone for centuries of violence, murder and rape against the other paths?" the question was not malicious though it troubled Mavok.
"I could never find atonement for what I have done, but knowing the suffering that is being caused across the land. I could not stand by and watch"
"Very admirable," said Cala. They came to a stop at a pool of water. She knelt down and began to fill some flasks. "So tell me about this community you are heading for"
Mavok told her of Unity, how he had found it and about his brief stay there. He decided that the truth was best if the naturists were to help them.
"And you just let them be?"
Mavok nodded.
"You are a strange man"
Mavok moved to the pool, the water rippled slightly, but he could see his reflection clearly. The small scales that covered his face shimmered in the light.
"I look it as well," he said.
"The elves are just another part of the world, in time it is some of our beliefs that the elves will be revered and ascension will be a goal rather than the end of life."
Mavok snorted his disagreement. "From what I have seen, I don't see it happening."
"Believe what you will, but you exist and there is no denying it and it may just be the start of it."
"What do you mean?" Mavok asked.
"Ten years ago ascensions were rare, the odd one or two maybe and they were quickly removed from sight. Now we find a group of you walking across the land"
"So more people are ascending, do you think it will keep increasing?" Mavok asked.
Cala nodded.
"Until what?"
"Who knows, there are mysteries in this world that none of the paths can explain"
Mavok thought about it, he knew there was some truth to her words.
"We should head back," said Cala. They began to walk towards the camp.
"There are no dangers in this forest that will harm you, but the path you are taking will lead straight to Natures Paradise. You may encounter problems should you stumble upon them"
"So we should avoid it?" Mavok had thought to stop there and resupply. It was the last community before Unity.
"You will need supplies," Cala was thinking the same as he "We will accompany there and gather the supplies you will need"
"How can you be certain that we can get what we need"
"Because the leader of Nature's Paradise is my father," said Cala as they re-entered the camp.
chapter ten
Rinne was covered in sweat and dust, the edge of the city was deserted, but she kept to the shadows and had almost made it out of the city. The whole tower had collapsed, large chunks of metal and stone had fallen on the city of philosophers and Rinne was the cause of the devastation. Her stomach clenched and she leant forward to vomit what little there was in her stomach at the thought of all the deaths.
There was nothing left in this city for her now, so she decided to head for Unity and hoping to catch up with Mavok before they got too far away.
Wiping the bile from her mouth, Rinne continued through the streets, the buildings began to spread out and soon she managed to make it to the fields. This was the first time that Rinne had left the city and she had no idea where Unity was, only that she had to head north. She could see the forest as the light of the day faded, even the fields were devoid of people, most helping in the rescue and clean-up of the towers collapse.
Rinne made the tree line and looked at the city, her home was gone forever and she made a vow to never see the city again.
The forest was cold and the dark of night had fallen. His enhanced eyes could clearly see ahead, the scurrying animals around her were staying out of sight. Rinne was tired but fought back the urge to sleep, it was not safe out in the open. The likelihood of them pursuing her was slim, she hoped that they would think her dead in the collapse, but she was not going to take the chance and kept moving forward.
A few hours into her journey Rinne came across the remains of a small campfire, the blackened logs were cold and she hoped it was the first sign that she was going the r
ight way. Tiredness was beginning to win over, Rinne couldn't keep going, she figured that the safest option was to find a tree to sleep in and chose one that had a thick trunk then began to climb it. She quickly found the task to be harder than thought possible, damp moss and few footholds made it difficult, but after much perseverance that further exhausted her, Rinne made it up to a branch that could support her weight.
Despite the strange noises of the forest, Rinne quickly fell asleep into dreams of Father covered in blood and him blaming her for his death. Rinne awoke with a scream and almost fell off the branch. Steadying herself she looked around, dawn had broken and the first rays of light began to break through the trees warming her.
'I have slept too long' she thought and quickly scrambled out of the tree. The forest was quiet, only the birds sang. On inspection of the old camp, Rinne found tracks leading away. There were many footprints and enough to make Rinne confident enough to follow them.
Hours passed by as she followed the tracks. By now Rinne's stomach growled and her mouth was dry. The last time she had eaten was the night Mavok had appeared,
Rinne was unsure how long ago that had been; days at least.
'How far ahead are they' Rinne wondered. The tracks continued, becoming more obscure as leaves dropped and animals crossed the path. By chance, Rinne heard the trickle of water and strayed from the path to investigate. Moving through some thick brush, she found a small stream and ran to it cupping the cool clear water in her hands and bringing it to her mouth.
Movement in the corner of her eyes caused Rinne to jump. Only a few feet away was an animal. Nearly as tall as she was it was covered in brown fur and crowning its head were pointed horns.
'Antlers' Rinne remembered. It was a deer, she had learnt about it when she was younger, the males grew antlers in order to win a mate and prove dominance. The deer watched her for a while, figuring out if Rinne was a danger, she sat back and the deer approached the water. It began to lap at the water with its tongue, still glancing her way.
Rinne took another mouthful of water and then sat back again to watch the animal until a bird swooped overhead it’s piercing shrill cut through the forest and the deer bounded back into the trees, quickly disappearing. Rinne sighed, took her fill of water and then retraced her steps back onto the track.
It was several more hours by her guess before Rinne found another burnt out campfire, the water from the stream had quenched her thirst and hunger for a short while, but the weakness in her legs was beginning to worry her. Poking around the camp, she managed to find some discarded scraps of food though it only gave a little relief. If the food was not found soon she would be unable to carry on.
Light still shone through the trees, Rinne judged that it was mid-afternoon, her only hope was to continue on and hope the group was not much further away. Her mind began to wander and her legs became heavier with each step with the trees beginning to merge together as her vision blurred.
Rinne's hands found the trunk of a tree and her legs gave way. The ground was soft and leaves crackled as she rolled over as her eyes began to grow dark. Her last thoughts were of Father as suddenly she could feel something take hold of her. Then Rinne floated on the air, brief glimpses of the forest gave way to darkness and Rinne was sure that she was dead.
chapter eleven
Garan nursed his bandaged head the cut was minor but pained him and the headache was worsened by the council screaming their outrage at the situation. He was lucky to have gotten clear of the falling debris, many had not been so fortunate, the body count was still rising and there was much more rubble to sift through.
They sat in Garan's office within the great library. He cleared his throat, the room fell silent and all eyes were on him.
"What are the latest figures?"
"Over six hundred dead, mostly scientists as that is where the majority of the tower fell," said Mark, leader of the philosopher faction.
"Where is Hull?" Garan asked. "A tragedy has occurred and his faction was hit the worst. Why is he not here?"
The council looked at each other and then Mark spoke quietly.
"He is on the list of casualties"
"Among all of the problems we have to find a new council member," Garan sighed.
"Forgive me grand librarian but how are we going to deal with this? Someone must pay for what has happened," said Derik, leader of the explorers.
"One thing at a time," replied Garan. "Has the girl's body been found?"
"There are reports that she was seen fleeing the square and leaving the city towards the north. I have explorers looking for her" replied Derik.
"She has nowhere to go," said Mark.
Garan sat thoughtfully for a moment. There would need to be some accountability.
"We will publicly execute the ascended we have locked away," he said with a smile.
The council shifted uncomfortably.
"What is it?" he asked.
"The towers collapse has buried all access to the dungeons, we are cut off until it can be cleared. By then it will be too late" Mark replied.
'Another wrench in the works' thought Garan. He looked around the room and realised one of the faction leaders had not spoken yet.
"Gavin, what are your thoughts?"
The leader of mysteries wore a large black cloak that emanated foul smells as he moved. A secretive faction; those that followed the faction were generally avoided.
"The ascended brought the tower down upon us, the ascended are the cause of all trouble in this world and they must be dealt with permanently" his emphasis on the letters when he spoke sent a shiver down Garan's spine.
"What should we do? We cannot afford the resources or manpower to eliminate them all and then there are the other paths"
"What of them," asked Gavin.
"Some do not share our beliefs of the ascended, they will not be as willing to join our cause or aid us"
"No, but there is one path that runs parallel to our goals in this matter"
"Strength?" asked Mark. "You would have us ally with those beasts? They are no better than the ascended"
Gavin shot him a dark look that caused the leader of the explorers to flinch.
"Only for the purpose we have spoken about, they hunt ascended but have little ambition to wipe them out entirely," said Gavin. "If we guide them and work together we will be rid of not only those abominations but also those who would help them"
Garan thought the idea held much risk, but he would not appear a coward in front of these men.
"Send word to the path of strength, until we hear from them we must set in motion the rebuild of our city"
chapter twelve
Mavok stood at the edge of the forest and looked at Natures Paradise. The great tree rose higher than the philosopher's tower and within its branches was built a city. Around the base of the tree sat more houses and farmland that supplied the naturists with food.
Cala had left them there a few hours before to get enough supplies for the group to make their journey, thought he was beginning to get nervous. Cala had insisted they go with her, but Mavok had refused the offer, opting to stay in the forest. In his mind, there was nothing to stop Cala from bringing enough men to capture them. The group with him were still safely within the forest but without his lead they would not get far and he had made them a promise to keep them safe.
Mavok knelt down, sword still in hand he continued a vigil on the city awaiting signs of Cala's return. Something snapped behind him and before he could turn he felt the cold edge of a dagger press against his throat.
"What kind of warrior can be so easily crept up on?" the voice of Cala spoke softly in his ear. The dagger was taken away and he turned. Cala stood behind him with several bags that bulged.
"How did you get behind me with all of that?" Mavok asked.
"We have our ways," Cala replied "This should do you until you get to Unity"
"Thank you, were there any questions?" he asked.
"Not for me, though I made it clear that I was going on a journey"
"And that is not unusual?" Mavok asked as he picked up some of the bags, catching the smell of fresh bread.
"Most forests of this land are inhabited by Naturists, we have to travel there somehow"
Mavok let the issue drop and they returned to the rest of the group. Many of them were asleep, the boy Jon was wide awake and approached them.
"All has been quiet sir," Jon reported.
"Don't call me sir Jon, I am no longer a commander"
"Yes sir," said Jon who then clapped his hand across his mouth after realising the slip.
Mavok smiled and then heard movement beyond the sleeping group and he drew his sword. Out of the shadows walked Milon and Peter, they had stayed at the previous camp and he wondered why they had arrived now. He noticed that they were carrying something between them. Cala walked over to them and then called for him to approach, many of the ascended had awoken at the arrival of the naturists.
As he approached he saw that the two men had been carrying a person, they laid the body on the floor and he went for a closer look. Before he was able to say anything Jon appeared next to him and confirmed who it was.
"Rinne," the boy shouted excitedly.
It was indeed the girl they had left behind, she was covered in dirt and had several cuts upon her face.
"You know her?" Cala asked him.
Mavok nodded then knelt down in front of Rinne.
"Where did you find her?" he asked the men.
"She stumbled close to our camp before passing out, we tried to wake her, but she has slept the whole way here," replied Peter.
"Is Rinne going to be alright?" Jon asked.
"I believe so," said Mavok trying not to worry the boy.
'Why had she changed her mind?' Mavok wondered.
"Will we be safe to stay here until she wakes?" Mavok asked the naturists.
"You should be, there is no reason for someone to come this way. We will stay close by to make sure. Then lead you through the forest when you are ready," said Cala.
The Ascension Trilogy Page 4
