by Simon Archer
“Oh,” I said, feeling myself deflate at this news. “What happens now, then?”
“That is up to you,” Amaka said, turning to Freyja. “You have spent most of your life traveling through the forest. You even spent a brief time on the other side. Would you be willing to continue to act as their guide?”
“Me?” Freyja asked, pointing at herself. “I didn’t spend much time over there. I don’t know it very well.”
“That’s more time than most of us have spent there,” Amaka said, not unkindly. “You are more qualified than most. And you already know them.” She smiled at that, glancing around at the rest of us.
“If you think that I’ll be more help than someone else, I guess I can do it,” Freyja said, but she still looked uncertain.
“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” I said, turning to face Freyja. “We’ll understand. This isn’t your fight.”
“It is, though,” Freyja said, the uncertainty disappearing from her features, replaced with grim determination. “I want my forest back. And I want to help you.” She met my eyes then, and I could tell she’d made up her mind.
“Good,” I said, grinning. “We’re glad to have you.”
“Indeed we are,” Marinka said. Nadeine and Bernsten nodded in agreement.
“It’s decided, then,” Amaka said. “The other side of the forest will not be hospitable to you. Enemies will be waiting for you at every turn. There is a worry that you will be ambushed leaving the center just as you were coming in. But I have a group of volunteers that will escort you out of the walls and into the underbrush. Traveling on the road will be too dangerous for you.”
“Thank you,” Marinka said, bowing her head. “We are grateful for your assistance.”
“You’re welcome,” Amaka said, rising. “Akash and I will join you until the underbrush. The rest of our team will be waiting at the gates.” We rose and followed Amaka and Akash out of the great tree and towards the wooden wall. I looked behind me as we left, taking in one last image of the giant tree and all of its twisting branches and brilliant structures. I made a mental note to make sure to come back here after we defeated Viktor. This place was too cool to never see again.
A large group of forest elves, including Ishida, was waiting for us at the gates. These gates were on the opposite end of the center from the gates we entered before. Our horses were also there, looking well-rested and happy to see us. Bill neighed when he caught sight of me and ruffled his hoofs in excitement. I reached up and stroked his nose.
“Good to see you too, buddy,” I said. “You ready for this?” He nuzzled my cheek in response.
“You will be in the center, and we’ll cluster around you until you reach the underbrush,” Amaka explained. “Our hope is that any would-be attackers will falter at the sight of us, preferring instead to face you alone.”
“Thank you for doing this for us,” Marinka said, looking around at the group of forest elves. “We are in your debt.”
“Just get rid of that guy,” one of them called out from the crowd. “And then let us be.”
“That is our plan,” Marinka said, bowing her head in the direction of the voice.
Ishida and Akash pulled open the gate, and we mounted our horses and rode out into the forest surrounded by the swarm of center forest elves. There was a beaten path stretched out in front of us, not unlike the one on the other side of the forest. But this side had a different, darker quality to it. The leaves on the trees had a brown tinge to them, and the bark was peeled and yellow-ish. Even the air struck me as a bit stale. The forest elves hadn’t been kidding about Viktor’s negative influence on their home.
Freyja darted out ahead of us on Amaka’s orders into the underbrush. She would wait for us on the other side in case we ran into trouble.
“If we are attacked, leave and join Freyja,” Amaka said. “It’s imperative that you survive and reach your destination. We’ll take care of the rest.” I didn’t like the sound of that, but I nodded along with my companions.
The moment the gates shut behind us, a commotion arose within the swarm of center forest elves. I turned my head in the direction of the noise and saw two of the elves brawling with one another.
“Wha--” I started to ask, but I was cut off by the sounds of more brawls breaking out among the elves.
“We’ve been betrayed,” Amaka called out from the ground beside me. “Run!”
I looked around wildly at the forest elves, but I couldn’t tell who was on our side and who wasn’t. I pulled on Bill’s reins and directed him towards the underbrush, but the swarm of forest elves blocked his way. My companions were also unable to make their way through the crowd. I heard a yelping sound emanate from each side of me, and then a sigh of relief from Amaka.
“It’s alright,” she said, gesturing at three forest elves now out cold on the ground. “It was just these few. They hoped to send us into a panic, not knowing who was on our side and who wasn’t, but we disposed of the moles quickly. Let’s proceed to the underbrush.”
But the moment she finished speaking, I knew it wasn’t over yet. In the minutes of chaos, more forest elves had appeared in the surrounding trees. Amaka raised her eyes and looked around at them, then closed her eyes and sighed.
“I spoke too soon,” she said. A handful more of our number started fighting each other now, and it was clear that this was a coordinated effort. Viktor had bought off some of the center elves and clued them into his plan to ambush us.
The forest elves in the surrounding trees descended upon us, taking advantage of the confusion. I looked around, trying to decide what spell to use to get us out of this, but I couldn’t tell friend from foe. The center elves were fighting each other, and now the other forest elves were joining the swarm, blending into the crowd. I didn’t want to start using my magic and then accidentally hurt, or worse, kill someone who had been trying to help us.
An arrow darted past my ear, and I realized there was no winning this battle. We had to get out of there now like Amaka had said earlier. Our battle was with Viktor, not these forest elves. I looked around at my companions.
“Stick close together,” I called, and began to hum a series of scales to create shields around all four of us and our horses. As the golden light appeared, the forest elves around us scattered, creating a path for us through the crowd and towards the underbrush.
I pulled on Bill’s reins and led my team through the swarm, pushing and shoving as we went. But my magic protected us. On the other side, I took one last look at the battle raging behind us. I wanted to help, but I still couldn’t tell who was on what side. I shook my head to clear it. Trying to help them would do more harm than good at this point.
“How are we to get into the underbrush without being followed?” Bernsten called out over the sounds of jaws snapping, metal clashing, and arrows zipping through the air.
“I believe Freyja has that covered,” Marinka said, gesturing up at a tree above us. I followed her hand and saw that sure enough, Freyja was perched in the branches of another small tree and was working at felling it to obstruct the path behind us and our enemies’ view of our movements.
I switched spells to help her, and our shields disappeared, replaced by long arms of golden light that reached out and grasped the tree, pulling it down on the ground behind us. While the tree was small by the forest’s standards, it still reached the kingdom elves’ heads, obscuring them from the forest elves’ view. I ducked down so that I was hidden as well, and we darted off into the underbrush to join Freyja, the sounds of the battle continuing to rage behind us.
26
Viktor’s side of the forest was just as dank and desolate as it had originally seemed. We traveled all day and made camp at night, but it was even more difficult to tell the difference between the two here than it was on the other side of the forest. While some sunlight had crept through the cracks in the trees before, there was none now, replaced only by darkness.
Food and
water were virtually nonexistent. Fortunately, we had foreseen this problem and taken quite a bit of fish, dried fruit, and water from the center of the forest, enough to last us our entire journey. This meant that we didn’t have to waste hours hunting or draw attention to ourselves by using magic to try to track down needed resources. In fact, I refrained from using magic at all outside of battle, relying instead on Freyja to make good campsites at night so as not to alert our enemies to our location.
Even so, we were a conspicuous bunch with my bright mage’s robes and unfamiliar human features, the kingdom elves’ shining armor, and our horses. Viktor’s forest elves attacked us on nearly a daily basis, but it wasn’t a concerted effort like the attacks around the center, and they came in small groups. We were able to dispose of them quickly, as my advanced combat spells were more than capable of fending them off at this point.
“They don’t look so hot,” I remarked after one particularly quick battle, kicking a fallen forest elf with my boot and rolling him over to reveal his sunken cheeks and far too skinny form.
“The mad kingdom elf is giving them enough food to stay alive, but not enough to stay healthy,” Freyja said, staring at the ribs protruding from the elf’s belly and shaking her head sadly. “That’s why it’s easier to take them out now. There may be more of them, but they’re less of a threat than the ones on the other side of the forest.”
“Why do you think we haven’t run into another swarm of them like when we left the center?” I asked, averting my eyes from the body and looking instead at Freyja.
“We’re sticking to the underbrush and choosing good campsites,” she said, still staring at the fallen forest elf. “If we dared go anywhere near the beaten path, we would have been.”
“I hope the center forest elves are alright,” Bernsten lamented for what felt like the millionth time, remembering how Amaka, Akash, and their supporters had bravely fended off our attackers, allowing us to escape. “They treated us well.”
“Indeed they did,” Nadeine said. “I have been very mistaken about these people.”
“We all were, Nadeine,” Marinka said kindly, touching her shoulder. “All we can do now is save their forest from Viktor.” We all nodded in agreement and stood in silence for some time before remounting our horses and continuing on our journey, leaving behind the limp forms of our attackers.
“How long until we reach the edge of the forest?” I asked Freyja after we had left the scene of our latest battle far behind us. The days and nights were bleeding together such that I couldn’t remember how long it had been since we left the center. It felt simultaneously like an eternity and only a few hours.
“A few more days,” Freyja said as she traversed through the underbrush alongside my horse. “We’re getting close.”
“How can you tell?” I asked, looking around us at the dark, monotonous surroundings. The life that had filled the forest before was all but gone now, and I rarely, if ever, heard a bird sing in this side of the forest.
“It’s in the air,” Freyja said, sniffing loudly. “I can tell where we are, roughly.”
“Huh,” I said, breathing deeply myself. But I couldn’t tell any difference. This whole side of the forest just smelled vaguely stale. “So it smells different the closer we get to Viktor?” Freyja nodded.
“All areas of the forest smell different from each other,” she said. And then, scrunching her eyes, crinkles appearing on the bridge of her nose, “But the stink of the mad kingdom elf protrudes worst of all.”
“Noted,” I said, raising my eyebrows. I hoped it was just Viktor, and we didn’t smell that bad to the forest elves. “How are you feeling, Bernsten?”
“I am fine, Leo Hayden,” he called back, waving away my concern. “I am fine. Your magic worked wonders, as usual. Not even a scratch remains.”
“Glad to hear it,” I said, grinning in spite of myself at the praise.
“You do not need to keep checking, really my friends,” Bernsten said with a shrug. “I am fine, truly.”
“You gave us quite a scare, Brother,” Nadeine said. “You were not awake for most of it. You must forgive our concern.”
“I may not have been awake, Sister,” Bernsten said, narrowing his eyes. “But I was in great pain and had nightmares of that horrible creature attacking me. You need not compare your pain with mine. I will win every time, as with most things.” He reached out and punched Nadeine’s shoulder lightly, indicating that this was all in jest.
“Most things?” Nadeine asked, faking indignance. “I believe I remember you being the only one of our party to be injured, Brother, as well as the first to fall under the influence of alcohol, and if I remember correctly, Leo handed your sword to you time and time again in the training grounds.”
“I did say most,” Bernsten said, shooting her a grin.
We continued on our way until Freyja was satisfied we had found an appropriate campsite.
“Up here,” she said after looking for quite some time, pointing upwards at the branches of a large tree.
“Uh, I don’t think we can make camp up there, Freyja,” I said, following her hand. “Not unless this tree is hollowed out or something.”
“No,” Freyja said, shaking her head. “There are no hollowed-out trees this far out in the forest that I know of. The branches will have to do.”
“With respect, Freyja, I agree with Leo,” Marinka said, holding out a hand to stop her from leaping into the branches above. “I do not think that we will be able to fit all of our things on a few branches, let alone our horses.”
“Normally, I would agree with you,” Freyja said, “but this tree is different. Look.” She pointed upwards again, and I looked more closely this time. And she was right. The branches from this tree curled out and intertwined with the branches from the surrounding trees, creating a comfortable wooden nest with few cracks in it.
“Cool,” I breathed, staring at the branches. But my companions still seemed unconvinced.
“I am not sure…” Marinka said, her voice trailing off as she looked up at the branches.
“Will the horses not tumble off?” Nadeine asked, stroking her own horse’s mane protectively.
“Would you rather leave them on the ground to fend for themselves?” Freyja asked, shooting Nadeine a pointed look.
“I suppose…” Nadeine said, still looking uncomfortable.
“I say we try it,” Bernsten said, though he still looked hesitant. Then, shrugging, “Our forest elf friend has not led us wrong yet.”
“This is true,” Marinka said, her eyebrows still furrowed together in a worried expression. “I suppose we could try it.”
“Alright, but how do we get up there?” I asked, looking down at the tree trunks. The branches were pretty high in the air. “I don’t want to use my magic and draw attention to us.”
“Easy,” Freyja said. “We climb up the back. Follow me.”
I climbed down off of Bill and followed Freyja around to the other side of the tree. Sure enough, there was a collection of jagged bark all over that side, making for passable footholds.
“What about the horses?” I asked.
“We’ll have to raise them up using the rope,” Freyja said.
“Uh, I don’t think they’ll like that,” I said, my eyes widening in alarm.
“It’ll be fine,” Freyja said. “My rope is really good. It’s from the center. And your horses are pretty small.”
“Bill’s not that small,” I said, worried about my pal.
“It’ll be fine,” Freyja said, stepping up to the tree trunk and grabbing hold of a ridge of bark. “If worse comes to worst, you can use your magic.”
“I guess so,” I said, following her up the tree. True to Freyja’s word, the tree was easily climbable, and the branches were thick and sturdy. It would be uncomfortable, but making camp here was doable. There was even quite a bit of space for us to spread out.
When we reached the branches, we had Bernsten, Nadeine, and Marinka
toss up our packs and the horses’ saddles and reins. Next, it was time to deal with the horses. We started with Marinka’s, which was the smallest.
“Be careful,” Marinka squeaked when Freyja tied the horse up tightly in a harness of rope and motioned for me to start pulling from my end. Nadeine, who had climbed up the tree after throwing up the packs, helped. Bernsten and Freyja helped lift the horse off the ground. Its eyes grew wide as it rose off the ground, but she stayed put and made it up without incident. The next two horses reacted similarly. Bill was another story, though. My horse was larger than the others, and a bit more spirited. He let Freyja tie the harness, but when Bernsten moved to lift him, he tried to dart out of the way.
“It’s okay, Bill,” I called down to him. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.” He calmed down a bit at the sound of my voice and let Freyja lift him. It took the combined strength of myself, Nadeine, and Marinka, who had climbed up the tree after her horse, to lift him on the rope since he was larger than the others. As soon as his hooves left the ground, Bill freaked out, thrashing and neighing in obvious distress.
“It’s okay, Buddy,” I soothed as I pulled on the rope. “It’ll be over soon.” For a second there, I worried that he’d break the rope with all his thrashing, but Freyja’s harness was sturdy, and he made it up the tree. Once he got his hooves on the “ground” of the intertwined branches, he settled down a little and stopped making so many sounds, but he continued to thrash as we untied the harness.
“It’s okay, Buddy,” I continued to say as I pet his long white mane. “It’s okay. You’re all good now. All good.” Once the harness was off, he walked around in a circle and settled down next to the other miniature horses, huffing and puffing and still trembling a bit. But he’d be fine.
“I hope they do not walk off the edge,” Marinka said, eyeing the horses warily.
“They won’t,” Freyja said. “It’s instinct.” Sure enough, the horses stuck as close to the middle of the cacophony of branches as possible, moving very little. We settled down in a circle around them to eat, tossing strips of meat and some carrots to the horses as we did.