“It wasn't,” Milea said. “That shrine that our friend Oliva's family guarded for so long was full of authentic Elvish architecture and murals, and her grandfather's journal was written entirely in Elvish. I had to translate the whole thing just so that we could get a better understanding of what we were dealing with.”
“That...is interesting,” Shalia said. “According to our lore, once the barrier was put in place the elf people were forbidden from leaving the sacred land. There is nothing written or passed through old tales to suggest that some may have left or even lived outside the barrier among the humans.”
“I've heard plenty of stories of elves living outside of the forest,” Varg said, “but until I met Milea I'd never actually seen one.”
“I believe I'm the only elf to this day that lives outside of the Crystal Wood,” Milea added. “The rest have all died out.”
“Whatever the case,” Shalia said, “I know nothing of this Key, and I am afraid I have no way of finding out.”
“What about the High Priestess you mentioned?” Varg suggested. “You said that the barrier was put in place by Laelith's command, so perhaps she might know about a key?”
Shalia and Milea exchanged glances, then they both looked at Varg.
“The priestesses will view our presence here alone as blasphemy,” Milea said, “and they certainly won't help us with matters that concern humans.”
“Then what can we do?” Varg asked.
Shalia closed her eyes and replied, “I am sorry, but I believe the best thing for the two of you to do is to leave the Crystal Wood. If the priestesses even got wind of your presence here, it could mean your heads.”
Milea shot up. “So it's like that then, just like last time?”
Shalia stood and met Milea's gaze. “Yes, and in both instances I did this to protect you. The priestesses are unforgiving when the laws of Laelith are broken.”
“Laelith's sake, you're the queen!” Milea shouted. “Surely you can change the laws?”
“Milea, you know that the Priestess Council has always advised every queen since we first settled here. To defy their council would lead the people to lose faith in the royal bloodline, and that could lead to a full revolution. I don't have to tell you that such a disaster could account for hundreds, if not thousands of lives lost. It is my job to protect the people of the Crystal Wood, even if I have to obey old laws,” Shalia said.
Milea scoffed and said, “Did it ever once occur to any of the elves that the old laws and traditions are irrelevant and useless? What purpose has prejudice and intolerance ever served except to plant the seeds of hate and violence?”
“Milea, I understand your concerns and I feel the same way, but you must understand that old habits do not die overnight, especially not when they have kept our realm at peace for thousands of years,” Shalia said.
Varg hated to admit that the Queen's words had merit. If such behavior was easy to break, the world would never need heroes and good people to make life bearable.
“Then the elves need to see that there is good in the world besides in their own lives. The people Varg and I have worked with and fought alongside were almost all human, and they would die for us as much as we would die for them. Humans are capable of so much more than defiling the land and causing violence,” Milea said.
Shalia's expression softened, and the elf queen edged towards her long lost daughter and said, “Milea, you forget that I have seen the good in a human heart with my own eyes.”
Milea paused, then bowed her head, apparently embarrassed.
Shalia walked away and faced the window, then without turning to look at her or Varg, she said softly, “I only say this because you are my daughter and I love you, even if you do not believe that. Forget about the key, the Crystal Wood, and the Shadow Hand. Go and live your life away from here, and never return to this place. After all, I can only protect you for so long.”
Milea looked up at her mother, and for the first time Varg could see a sense of longing behind her eyes. He wondered how long she had waited for this moment, to see the woman who gave her life after so many years of abandonment only to be turned away once more. He could almost see her mind being made up as her expression turned serious and stone cold.
Milea turned away and Varg stood at her side, then the former turned back to Shalia and said, “Very well. Goodbye, Queen Shalia.”
Milea then turned again and made her way to the door.
Before Varg followed, he turned to see Shalia. She still peered out the window as though she were searching for an answer hidden among the city, but could find nothing. Varg couldn't see her face, but he could tell by her stiff stance that she was quite troubled by the tide of events. A mother having to abandon her child to protect her once was bad enough, but to do it twice...
Varg was about to turn to follow Milea out of the room, but before he did, he said to the Queen, “I understand your desire to protect the one you love, but if you truly wish to help Milea, you should heed our words. If the Shadow Hand should obtain whatever they're after, the priestesses will be the least of your concerns. Think about that.”
When Shalia didn't answer, he turned around and headed out the door behind Milea.
“I knew she wouldn't listen,” Milea said once they found a private place to speak. “I'd had my hopes, but deep down I knew better.”
Varg had a hunch that she meant more than just the issue with the Shadow Hand, but he didn't bring it up.
Instead, Varg asked her, “Are we really going to leave?”
Milea shot an incredulous glare at him, then answered, “Of course not. We didn't come all this way while our friends are on the verge of war just to turn around and walk away because we were told to.”
“What do you propose we do, then?” Varg asked.
Milea sighed. “I think I have an idea, but it's going to be risky. If we're caught, our best case scenario includes life imprisonment and possibly a death sentence.”
“What's the worst case?”
“You don't want to know.”
“Wonderful. So what did you have in mind?”
Milea cleared her throat and began, “Well, you actually gave me the idea when you suggested we speak with the High Priestess. I agree that if anyone knows more about the key, then it will be them, but like we said, there's no way any of them will tell us anything. However, I do believe that they could very well have something in the Temple of Laelith that might shed some light on this issue. Mother once told me as a child that there are texts and artifacts of knowledge hidden in the walls of the Temple that aren't available to anyone else, not even the royal family. We might be able to find our answers there.”
Varg raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting that we break into the Temple of Laelith and read a bunch of old books?”
“Keep your voice down!” Milea hissed.
After making sure that no one was around once more, she continued, “Yes, I do think we should sneak into the Temple, but we aren't going to be reading books. The texts I refer to are old tablets made from the crystal and stone that the magic forgers use to create the elves' weapons, armor, and buildings. There are also murals and other pieces that are only ever seen by the priestesses, or so I've been told.”
“So you believe that we might find answers there?” Varg said. “And if we're caught we can be certain to suffer some horrible consequence that would make even Jin cringe?”
“That's right,” Milea said.
Varg shrugged. “Works for me.”
“Good,” Milea said. “Then we set out tonight.”
Varg and Milea left the castle through a separate entrance, as the guards were instructed to not let them leave where they would be seen by the public. They were also not permitted to leave until nightfall, which worked for their plan anyway, so they didn't argue. The door where they left led out to an alley, which could have almost doubled as a garden because of all the natural foliage that blanketed the area. They rounded the castle
and once they came out by the side of the castle that overlooked the city, Varg nearly lost his breath.
Not only were each of the buildings made of a white, polished stone and trimmed with crystal, but the enormous tree that was as tall as a mountain that stood in the middle of the city made everything else look mundane. He had no doubt that this was the Tree of Laelith that Milea had told him about, and the white, steepled structure that curved with the trunk like a spiral staircase confirmed it. Nevertheless, Varg took in the amazing architecture and woodland as they passed by.
They traveled on the outskirts of the city and pulled their cloaks over their heads to avoid attention from the few elves who were still wandering about before heading home for the night. There were trees and crystals on just about every corner, and where one might expect to see a road, there was only grass. Buildings wrapped around the land instead of just sitting on it, and some even formed arches over other structures in an effort to make the best use of the space and disturb as little land as possible.
They walked into the night until they came across the temple, which stood on the opposite end of the city. Varg and Milea traveled along the outskirts to avoid catching the attention of civilian elves, but thankfully most of them were asleep in their beds.
The Temple of Laelith was built along the base of the enormous tree that housed the entire Wood. Rather than carve out part of the tree, the temple was built along the roots and bottom limbs and continued up the tree. Varg realized just what Milea meant by “living with the forest” when he saw how reverent the elves were of this grant tree when they built the white walled temple.
Varg and Milea left their hiding place as soon as they knew no one was looking and darted up the stairs to the entrance of the temple. The temple doors were tall and slim and decorated with glass colored green and silver. When the entered, they were presented with a row of marble seats lined up on either side of a walkway. The walkway led to an altar at the back, which had a statue of Laelith against the back wall. The paintings in the room depicted ancient elves in reverence to the beautiful mother, and Varg couldn't help but feel drawn to her himself despite never having practiced religion in his life.
Milea closed the doors behind them and after a quick scan of the room, she said, “All right, it looks like everyone's asleep. Now we can start searching.”
“Where do we start?” Varg whispered.
“The altar should have the holy tome of Laelith's teachings. Surely there may be some kind of evidence of a key in its pages,” Milea said.
“I thought we weren't reading books,” Varg mused.
“Please Varg, this isn't the time for jokes,” Milea whispered.
They walked across the room to the altar and sure enough, a large, ancient tome lay in the center. Milea and Varg stood side by side peering down at the book as the former carefully opened it and flipped through the pages when she determined they were stable enough. Varg didn't understand a word of what was written in the ancient text, but Milea scanned each page and shook her head from time to time when she didn't find what she was looking for.
During the wait, Milea took it upon herself to tell Varg more about the religion of the elves. “Because Laelith is female and she's the mother of all life here, the elves regard women very highly compared to the rest of the world. It is a sin to show women disrespect, and because a woman's virtue is highly treasured, the rape of a virgin is punishable by death.”
Milea combed through each and every page, a tedious task considering the sheer number that filled the book, but found nothing to describe anything that could have been a key.
Frustrated, Milea shut the book, placed it exactly as she found it, and said, “Well, so much for that.”
“Surely that can't be the only place we could find the information we need?” Varg asked.
“Well, I wanted to avoid this, but we may need to check the Inner Sanctum,” Milea said.
“What's the Inner Sanctum?”
“It's the holiest and innermost chamber of the Temple of Laelith,” Milea explained. “No one, not even the queen, is allowed inside save for priestesses of Laelith.”
“How do we get in? I mean, if it's that secretive then surely it won't be easy to get into,” Varg said.
“That's the easy part, actually. If I recall correctly they don't lock it, since no one would dare disobey the rule. Until now, that is.”
After the pair left the altar and entered a new corridor off to the side of the room, they tip-toed thorugh the dark until they came across another door which led to a set of stairs that led to a floor below them. Varg held his breath, shut the door behind them, and he and Milea crept down the stairs.
They met another door at the bottom of the stairs that led to an underground corridor even darker than the last. Varg held onto Milea's shoulder so they wouldn't get separated and kept going until they came across another set of double doors with ancient symbols painted on it.
“This is it,” Milea said. “Here we go.”
When they opened the doors, they found a chamber lit by the glow of a crystal taller than Varg and twice as wide standing in the middle of the chamber floor. The floor tiles stopped a few feet from the base, and all around the crystal there grew several tree roots that wrapped all around the base. The crystal was the sole source of light in the Inner Sanctum, emitting a strange, but comforting green glow.
“By the goddess,” Milea said. “If I didn't know any better, I would say that that crystal is the very thing that holds the barrier around the Crystal Wood in place. I've only heard about it in stories.”
Varg caught himself in a daze at the sight of the beautiful crystal, but he let his eyes wander to the walls behind it. The wall depicted a painting of the Tree of Laelith with several elf woman standing before it in reverence. A single woman stood out in the middle, a glowing green mass coming from her chest. Darkness surrounded the women and the Tree, only to be driven off by whatever benevolent force that surrounded them.
Varg shrugged at the thought of all this religion and prophetic walls, then said, “I don't think these paintings will help us find out what Jin's after.” He turned to face Milea and added, “have you found anything?”
Before Milea could answer, they both heard another voice say, “I have.”
Varg and Milea turned to see who had spoken and their expressions dropped when they realized who was there.
Zita, the woman from the tavern, stepped forth from the shadows of the Inner Sanctum garbed in Shadow Hand armor and said, “I've found you, Varg.”
“...Zita?” Varg stammered.
The raven-haired temptress smiled and said, “I'm so touched that you remembered my name.”
“What...are you doing here?” Varg asked. “How did you even...” He stopped when his eyes fell upon her armor and his expression fell.
Zita noticed this and said, “Are you surprised? Surely you don't think that I approached you simply for no valid reason other than to share a night of pure, unbridled pleasure? The Serpent has granted me the privileged task of ending your life, which I would have done that night at the inn had we not been...” she looked at Milea, “...interrupted. Really dear, had I known that you two were an item, I never would have seduced him.”
Varg's heart sank. He lowered his gaze not only to avoid Zita's smug smile, but to avoid the pained look he knew Milea had.
“At any rate,” Zita said, “I am here to finish what I started.” She removed a dagger from her belt and got into a battle stance. “I admit that I'm not used to actually fighting my targets, but don't believe for a moment that I can't defeat you, Wolf.”
Varg drew Frost Fang and said, “Don't believe for a moment that I'll take it easy on you just because you're a woman.”
“I'd be insulted if you did,” Zita said.
With a leap, Zita charged for Varg. Milea loosed an arrow in her direction, but she changed course to dodge it. Varg met her head on with a swing of his axe. He came from the left and swept sideway
s, but Zita rolled to the side. Varg didn't have enough time to swing the blade her way, so he brought the handle around instead. It blocked Zita's attack, then Milea came forward with her blade on Zita's flank.
Zita dodged to the side and narrowly avoided being impaled, then she brought her dagger around and countered by attempting to stab Milea in the ribs. The latter blocked with the flat of her blade, while Varg returned fire with Frost Fang, which Zita once again dodged with ease.
“Do you really think you can outlast me?” Zita asked. “I was trained by the Serpent himself; you cannot hope to defeat me.”
“You forget that I defeated Jin,” Varg said. “I can defeat you just as easily.”
Varg swung again and missed.
Zita tossed a signature Shadow Hand poisoned throwing dart at Varg, who dodged.
“Lord Jin underestimated you last time, a mistake I will not make,” Zita said.
Milea shot an arrow and missed.
“If Lord Jin is so great, why doesn't he go after Varg himself instead of sending you?” Milea asked. “Why should he have to rely on someone else to do his dirty work?”
Zita charged at Milea and their blades met.
“Lord Jin has more important matters at hand than dealing with the likes of him and the rest of you,” Zita said. “The only reason he is even bothering with your deaths is because you have proven that you are an obstacle in his plans.”
Zita pushed Milea away and attempted to deliver another blow, but Milea parried, then countered. Zita exchanged another blow, then another, then jumped aside just in time to avoid being beheaded by Frost Fang.
Varg nearly lost his footing due to the weight of his swing and missing his target. He recovered before Zita could counter.
“Had enough?” Zita asked.
Varg straightened up Frost Fang and said, “Not even close.”
Zita launched another flurry of throwing darts at Varg and Milea. The latter two shifted to the side and began a full frontal assault on Zita.
The Crystal Wood (Half-Breed Book 2) Page 16
