As soon as the words left his lips, the tip of an arrow exploded through his forehead, dropping him to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The girl fell hard on the ground, shocked as the wind rushed from her chest.
What just happened? she wondered as she struggled to catch her breath, the feel of hot blood dripping down the side of her face where the man’s blood had suddenly splattered.
Immediately, a flurry of arrows shot through the air, each landing securely in the chest, back, head, arm, neck of each of his men, dropping them all instantly. Jakob looked around into the dark recesses of trees and suddenly remembered where he was – they were in the forbidden Forest of Immortals.
He suddenly dropped into a crouch and, dragging the boy behind him, started running towards the edge of the forest. It was only a few yards away. If he could just get to the edge, he would be free from the enchanted woods and could use his transport ball to get back to Brineport.
He could hear arrows whizzing past his head as he zig-zagged frantically from left to right to avoid being struck by the projectiles. He could hear the loud thud and crack as some of the arrows struck deep into the trunks of the trees all around him, cracking the wood and just barely missing their mark.
Finally, he reached the edge of the trees. Free from their magical enchantment, he threw down the small glass ball that Bloodvayne had given him for when he captured the boy, his heart racing wildly in his chest.
It shattered as it struck the ground and immediately a thick smoke erupted from the ball. The thick, swirling fog surrounded them and masked their forms from the archers in the woods. The arrows whizzed and whirred through the smoke, sending curling trails in their wake. Fortunately, they all missed their mark.
When the smoke cleared, both Jakob Zander and the boy were gone.
Chapter XIX
Erin watched helplessly as David was hauled away by Jakob Zander. The men around her were quickly dropping like flies as the mysterious attackers were rushing from tree to tree, firing projectiles faster than anything she had ever seen.
She could hear the arrows whiz past her head as they flew through the air and penetrated deeply into the flesh of the men of the Guild. She lay low and looked around to make sure Tyrius and the others were okay. They were each down on the ground, keeping their heads low to avoid being hit by the incoming projectiles. None of them appeared to be hurt. While the majority of the hidden attackers took care of the rest of the Guild, a few other shadowy figures flew through the moonlit forest after Jakob as he pulled David back towards the plains.
Suddenly, she could see Jakob pulling something from his pocket before throwing it to the ground. A great fog began to rise from the earth and obscure their forms from her view.
“David!” she screamed after him, “David!”
But no response came. She began to fear even more for her friend, wondering if he had been hit by one of the arrows.
As the smoke began to clear, she gasped in shock – Jakob and David were nowhere to be found. They had just vanished, as if they were never there!
Suddenly, Erin felt a strong grip on the ropes around her arms as she was lifted into the air and planted firmly on the ground. She turned around to see who had picked her up, and a wave of relief flooded through her.
It was the elves!
“Oh, thank the Creator!” she said to the Elf. “You’ve come just in time! Those men, they were about to kill us!” she said, panting. “Our friend, David. You have to go help him! He’s just been taken, that way!” she said, nodding her head over towards the edge of the forest where Jakob had taken David.
But the elf just looked at her silently and without expression before roughly shoving her towards the others. They were all still bound and being led single file by a few other elves. She didn’t recognize any of them, but knew they had to be of the Woodland Elves, and therefore, under the rule of Prince Gilric Ellisar
“Hey, what are you doing? Why aren’t you untying us?” asked Erin, outraged at the treatment they were getting and the fact that they weren’t going after David.
“You have to help our friend; he’s been taken away!” she shouted.
“Erin, they don’t care about David,” said Tyrius calmly, “They are taking us prisoner. We have violated their laws with our presence. These woods are the Forest of Immortals. It is forbidden for mortals to set foot on its sacred soil.” he said as the elf behind him shoved him and told him to keep moving and to be quiet.
But Erin couldn’t accept this, “Why are you doing this? We aren’t your enemy, we fought with you at the battle of Eldergate against the true enemy, General Krauss!” she cried, but the elf leading her wouldn’t hear any of it and had finally had enough. He turned around and quickly shoved a cloth in her mouth then grabbed her and forcefully slung her over his shoulder.
Erin kicked and screamed, but the cloth held fast and muffled the strength in her voice. Finally, seeing her resistance was futile and was getting her nowhere but even more exhausted, she gave up fighting and lay there motionless while the elf carried her deeper into the forest.
***
It was sometime early in the morning when they finally reached the outskirts of what she assumed was the White City.
Erin couldn’t see much from her perspective, still being carried over the shoulder of her captor, but she could tell from the way the ground had transitioned from the untamed forest floor to the nicely trimmed and manicured lawn of civilization that she was no longer in the outlying forest.
The grassy path eventually changed into a mossy stone walkway and she could see randomly scattered beams of sunlight lighting up the ground as they walked.
The sounds of the forest were vibrant and lively, birds cooing and singing everywhere around her along with a symphony of other creatures calling through the air. It was a beautiful and peaceful sound that almost put her to sleep had she not been so uncomfortable in her current position. Her head was dizzy from being carried upside down for so long, the blood having mostly rushed to her head, and her legs were numb and tingling.
As she turned her head from side to side, bouncing ever so slightly with each soft step, she could see the faces of little children staring at her, trying to keep pace with the longer strides of her captor. They were laughing and smiling, as if it were a silly thing to see a young woman being carried in such a way – it kind of was, she thought to herself.
She wished now that she hadn’t fought so hard. She would have saved herself a lot of discomfort over the past few hours!
Eventually the company came to a stop and the elf that was carrying Erin casually swung her off his shoulder and placed her firmly on the ground, facing him. She nearly fell over, her legs not anticipating the sudden requirement to stand on their own again, but the Elf kept her steady so she wouldn’t fall.
He had bright blue eyes and golden hair that framed his soft-featured face. He was extremely beautiful for a male, she thought, even for an elf.
He held her gaze for a long moment, as if to say, “If you behave, I will set you free.”
She nodded her head, and he seemed to understand what she meant, because he immediately took the cloth from her mouth and unfastened her ropes from around her midsection.
She rubbed her arms where the rope had been rubbing her skin raw, inspecting the red, chaffed skin, and wincing slightly at the pain that ensued.
“Thank you,” she said finally to the elf, who just stared at her blankly before nodding behind her, indicating that she needed to turn around.
When she did, she noticed the others were also unbound and were standing before a small group of elves who were all clad in similar attire as the one who had been carrying her.
They were standing before a great white oak tree that looked to be as ancient as the world itself. Its trunk was as thick as a building, with giant roots digging deep into the earth for what must have been miles to support its great height and stature. Its thick, twisting branches reached high
into the canopy and stretched far and wide in every direction, with large golden-colored leaves that provided a huge blanket of amber-colored shade under which they now stood.
High above them in the canopy of the tree was a great city, built on the wide branches and apparently made of the same white wood. It had a variety of bridges connecting the gaps between the thickest branches, forming what made up a network of interconnected walkways and stairs for the citizens to move around the canopy by. Its design and intricate carvings must have taken centuries to plan and build, she thought, staring up at the city.
Erin never realized that the White City was actually built atop an ancient tree!
Looking back at the elves, she noticed that each wore a dark brown tunic with lighter trousers and a dark brown belt at the waist that blended in perfectly with the natural color of the woods around them.
On their backs, each had a quiver full of arrows with white feathers protruding at the ends, shaped in such a way to make the arrow fly perfectly through the air towards its target. Over each of their shoulders rested a long bow made of yew, each polished to a mirror shine and sported elegant carvings on the riser and grip. Although they each had the same overall design, each bow was slightly different than the other – something she assumed was a custom marking for each warrior that helped them indicate which weapon was theirs.
At their waist, their belts held decorative scabbards made of a hard leather and sported gold-plated mouth pieces. Inside each scabbard rested the gold-and-silver-plated hilt of a masterfully crafted sword sitting firmly in its sheath.
Each elf had long, golden hair that flowed from their heads and bright blue or grey eyes she noticed. Some had their hair braided and pulled back, while others wore it straight, letting it fall past the middle of their backs.
She slowly and cautiously walked over to the others and stood silently, waiting for an indication as to what was coming next.
The elf who had been carrying her walked up to the others and stood in the middle. He seemed to be the leader of the group, or at least slightly elevated in class – if there were such a thing with the elves. He definitely held his head a little higher than the others, and carried himself with a sense of nobility, she noticed.
At last, he spoke – a voice like that of a song, or what one would expect from an angel, ringing from his parted lips.
“I suppose this is where you explain yourselves.” he said simply, looking over the four companions standing before him.
Erin looked over to Tyrius and the others. Reingard and Holzer were looking to Tyrius too, expecting him to speak for the group. When Tyrius noticed the others’ eyes squarely focused on him, he sighed ever so slightly and began explaining the events that had transpired leading them up to their unfortunate circumstances the night before.
When he had finally finished his retelling of the events since their departure from Ravenfell, the elves patiently waiting without interrupting a single time, the head elf stood silently. He was apparently thinking over the details of the story, dissecting them to discern if there were any traces of dishonesty within their narrative.
At last, apparently satisfied that the story had, in fact, been truthful, he once again spoke.
“Very well, but this does not change the fact that you were found trespassing on our lands. It is forbidden for any mortal to set foot within the boundary of the forest. Normally, such individuals found violating our sacred lands would be killed on the spot. However, since you were found bound already, and clearly posed no threat to us, we thought it wouldn’t be prudent to take your lives in such a state. Instead, we will take you below and let our Prince decide your fate.” he said, and with a casual flick of his hand, he signaled that the conversation was over and the other elves quickly walked up to Erin and the others and began leading them towards the great white tree.
As they neared its trunk, she could see that it opened up into a large hollow area that had steps protruding up into the trunk to the left or down into the earth in a spiral fashion to the right. They took the stairs to the right.
Along the interior of the stairwell were lanterns fixed securely to the walls that were glowing within from some unknown light source. It was a gentle kind of light, but bright enough to let them see the steps winding ever deeper into the ground as they made their way down the stairway into the cool earth.
When they finally reached the end of the staircase, they entered into a wide-open chamber that branched off into a series of long, round hallways leading in various directions like burrows through the ground. They appeared to be carved right out of the roots of the tree and created a vast tunnel system by which the elves moved about. Erin could see that these areas were mostly used for storage of foods and other supplies, the coolness of the underground providing the perfect condition for long-term storage.
As they walked, she could see some round openings that led to large rooms that held countless wooden barrels she assumed were filled with drink of various kind, maybe wine or ale, she thought.
They were led down one of the long hallways which turned sharply at the end before reaching a dead end with a great wooden door that had metal braces for increased durability.
The leading elf opened the door, which was locked, and led them inside.
Inside was a large room that housed several cells behind thick metal bars. Each cell contained a small, clean bed and a fountain sprouting crystal clear water from a spicket in the wall that flowed into a little pool in the corner of each room. The rooms were small, but they were big enough for a single occupant and were surprisingly nice for a prison.
The elf led them each into their own cells before locking the doors behind them and closing the large door as he exited.
A single elf remained behind and sat casually behind a desk, with his feet propped up as he prepared to take a nap.
“Excuse me” said Tyrius to the elf, which the elf blatantly ignored.
He tried again, “Excuse me, sir,” much louder this time.
The elf gave him an annoyed look before turning the other way and closing his eyes once again.
“I would like to speak with Gilric Ellisar” said Tyrius.
At this, the elf opened his eyes and turned to Tyrius. “How do you know that name?” he asked, surprised a human seemed to know of his Prince.
“He’s a friend of mine,” replied Tyrius, glad to have finally gotten the attention of the elf.
“Oh, really?” asked the elf, skeptically. “And how did you meet him?” he asked, as if he didn’t expect a logical response and were simply entertaining himself to pass the time.
Detecting his reluctance, Tyrius made sure to be as specific as possible with his response.
“We met in the Outer Woods during his campaign to find the lost villagers who had been kidnapped by the Wolf Guard. He thought we had been the ones who had taken the villagers, but when we told him it was General Krauss and his loyalists that had taken over Eldergate by force and were responsible for the kidnappings, we helped him, along with a great army of soldiers from Ravenfell, to take back Eldergate in hopes of finding the missing villagers. Unfortunately, we were too late… not a single elf was found, and shortly after the city crumbled and fell into the Dark Abyss.” said Tyrius solemnly, remembering that fateful day all too well.
It was the day the Defiant One had been set free along with his endless horde of demons.
The elf’s eyes were wide with shock and he sat up straight, eyes glancing back and forth between Tyrius and the door leaving the chamber and into the halls.
“See, as I said. I am a friend of Gilric Ellisar’s, and I would like to speak with him immediately.” replied Tyrius, sternly but politely.
“I see…um…excuse me, while I go and inform my captain.” said the elf urgently, as he stumbled out of his chair and quickly exited the room.
Tyrius could hear his footsteps rapidly disappearing down the hall until they were too distant to detect.
He smiled in sp
ite of their situation. If anything, he at least created a smidgen of doubt in their captor’s mind about whether or not they should, in fact, be held captive.
At most, he would get to speak with Gilric and they would be set free and be on their way once again, this time, headed back South towards Brineport to rescue David from whatever torture and torment he would be forced to endure there.
How did they keep finding themselves in such predicaments? he silently wondered to himself.
It wasn’t long before more footsteps could be heard coming back down the hallway, this time there seemed to be more than just a single person.
When the door opened again, in walked Gilric Ellisar, dressed as fine as ever, followed closely by the elf who had left the room earlier. His eyes were focusing on the ground before him as if he had received a very heavy scolding.
“Tyrius, my friend,” said Gilric when he saw Tyrius standing patiently in the cell. “Please accept my sincerest apologies. We never can be too careful when it comes to protecting our lands from outsiders.” he said, bowing slightly.
“Not a problem, dear friend,” replied Tyrius, smiling, as their cages were unlocked and opened one by one by the elf, still refusing to lock eyes with any of the captives.
They each walked out of their cells, happy to be free once again. They seemed to be making a habit of getting locked away, Erin mused, and she wasn’t sure she liked the new trend.
“Please, come with me. I am sure you are all famished. We have a feast being prepared as we speak in the Great Hall above.” said Gilric, motioning for the others to follow as he turned and headed back out of the room and down the hall.
He led them through the hallway and back up the large spiral staircase rising up the trunk of the great white tree. Erin couldn’t help but marvel at how large the tree truly was and noticed that throughout the inner walls were intricate little carvings spiraling up and down the trunk. They were beautiful and unpredictable, almost the way the wind soars through the air, billowing and twisting about freely like a dancer.
David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation Page 14