by Dixon, TJ
“I get a bed here too?” Haru Kii asks happily.
“Yes. You aren’t going to eat as much here as when we were at the inn, but it is much more than at the temple. You don’t have to dance anymore either.” I tell her.
“I was never that good at dancing.” Haru Kii says with a smile.
“I’d better get you some new clothes. I need a new uniform too. I wrecked one on that trip. We’re going to have to port after all. At least I can show you the town. It is much smaller than Portalis, but that makes it much less scary.” I tell her.
(Sor)
There’s no reason to continue wasting my life at that ridiculous academy. Emma played her part just like I told her to. If she hadn’t I would of course have followed up on my threat to expose the theft of those books. Instead I returned them to their rightful place at the Ancient Library. To think Death’s Shadow was stolen twice in one week! It is fortunate Emma’s aunt didn’t have time to take the books with her.
“So what now?” Emi asks.
“I’m curious what that boy is going to do next. I may have a grudge against him, but he did remove the curse and save my mother’s soul. I hate being in his debt. I may as well repay the debt before I start my new life.” I answer.
“So how will you repay him?” Emi asks.
“We’ll follow him, he’ll most likely get in trouble and we’ll save him.” I say with a shrug. “It couldn’t be simpler. Then I can actually start living my life.”
“Will that really be enough to repay the debt?” Emi asks dubiously.
“I suppose not, but what do you want me to do?” I reply.
“I don’t know.” Emi says.
“Then don’t say pointless things.” I tell her annoyed.
“I’m sorry.” Emi says.
“So what do you want to do whilst we wait for Peter?” I ask.
“Me?” Emi asks thoroughly bewildered.
“Yes, you.” I say with a glare.
“I want to do whatever you want to do.” Emi says cautiously.
“Idiot, what kind of answer is that?” I ask glaring even more fiercely at her.
“But I’m just your bodyguard.” Emi says.
“Now the curse is lifted and mother is free you don’t have to be my bodyguard anymore.” I tell her.
“But I want to protect you.” Emi says.
“I’m more powerful than you now though.” I remind her.
“You still can’t be awake all the time.” Emi tells me.
“Obviously, but my protective enchantments should suffice.” I tell her.
“So how long do you think it will be before Peter leaves Portalis?” Emi asks.
“He just did.” I say in shock. He didn’t leave via a portal. He was ported. It must have been the Queen who ported him.
“Can you follow him?” Emi asks me.
“Of course, I’m Sor of the Silver Flow. There’s nowhere I can’t go.” I tell her.
“So where are we going?” Emi asks.
“Funnily enough he ported to the Kuroneko Mountains, where rude girl comes from. It took two ports. One instant and one delayed. The Queen must be better than I thought she was, but she’s still not as good as I am. Of course I can’t port between worlds with brute force like she can, but my way is much more elegant. Also I can do it in one port by shifting dimensional streams partway.” I tell Emi.
“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Emi asks.
“For anyone else, sure, but not for me.” I say smugly.
(Peter)
Captain Highwood brought Hinata back wearing the soul gate. It is hidden beneath her shirt so it shouldn’t draw any unwanted attention. Apparently it used more blood than expected and Hinata looks like she is still in shock from the experience. She says she is ok. Of course she is probably just saying it, but with the fall of Minerva I can’t afford to waste any more time.
I sense the door’s enchantment ring to tell me there is a visitor. I port downstairs and open the door. It is the Queen as expected. She looks exhausted and enters without saying a word.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.” I tell her as I shut the door behind her.
“I don’t have much time, so get the others.” She says sounding just as tired as she looks. I look up the stairs and see Dairon and Lucy are already on their way down. Hinata ported and is standing at the bottom of the stairs. “So where to?”
“The Kuroneko Mountains, but not too close to the temple. A small cave would be ideal.” Lucy says.
“I can’t possibly port you with that level of precision. I’ll send you to the Kuroneko Mountains and not too close to the temple. That is the best I can manage.” The Queen says wearily.
“Thank you.” I say truly grateful for her help.
“I’ll need contact with everyone.” The Queen says and holds out a hand. We all hold on and she ports us. I see a blur for a moment and then, other than Lucy, we are standing knee deep in a river. Lucy is floating in the air above the river and quickly flies up to land on my shoulder. It is a large river and flowing really fast, but fortunately we are at the edge and not in the centre where it is really deep.
“That bloody Queen should practise her ports a bit more.” Lucy says as we clamber out of the river. There is a huge mountain range in the distance. “I know I said not too close to the temple, but I didn’t ask to be ported this far from it! It is going to take days to get there. Maybe even weeks… Even when we get there we need to find the right mountain and the temple.”
Between us and the mountains on this side of the river there is a large forest as far as I can see to both the left and right of us. The dark brown trees are as tall as the tall trees back at the academy. Or are these even taller? Their leaves form a splendid golden canopy and it is dark inside the forest, though not pitch black like in the Black Forest. There are also leaves blowing in the wind and laying on the forest floor.
On the far side of the river is grassland for as far as I can see. Most is flat but there are rolling grassy hills in the far distance. The grass is a lush green despite the season. It is also almost as tall as I am.
“I can fly us there a lot quicker than that. We could even port.” I say a little annoyed that Lucy seems to think so poorly of my magic.
“No. A port from another world is very hard to detect, but a normal port would definitely be detected.” Lucy says.
“Then we should fly.”
“In case you’ve forgotten elves are very well attuned to wind magic. They’d detect us for sure, even with your skills.” Lucy says shaking her head.
“So we have to walk?” I ask a little disheartened and Hinata clearly feels the same way. Dairon doesn’t seem too concerned, but I suppose a forest is almost like home to an elf. It is true that it is going to take days or weeks. Most likely weeks.
Chapter 10 (Multiple)
(Dairon)
We are heading towards an elven tribe. It could even be mine. I will most likely have to fight my own kind. I will be a blood traitor if I do, but I will have no regrets. I am proud to serve my master and have high hopes for him. Perhaps he can even free my people from the rule of the Fallen Angels. He is young still but with immortality and experience he would be a force to be reckoned with.
Even though I only used a very small part of my soul for each demon I can notice the difference. The soul of course generates and stores the mana within me that I use to power my magic. As you mature it strengthens but after that it weakens with age until you die. I probably lost almost a hundred years of my life just by using those four pieces of my soul.
Only when I die, having discarded the body, can it replenish. Once it has replenished entirely I will be reborn, but I’ll be a completely different elf then. To replenish the soul without discarding the body is the definition of immortality and I have no idea how it could be achieved.
Of course it is a bit more complicated for nature spirits. For example the soul of a forest constantly sheds a small part of its body with the
death of trees, plants and animals too small to have their own soul. So it can replenish without the need for the whole body to die. In fact if the whole body dies so does the soul.
Different nature spirits are not all the same though. The spirit of a mountain for example is completely different to the spirit of a forest. It is constant. Never fading but never growing either. Its body is not the living things that happen to reside on it, but rather it is the stone and metal within.
I look up and breathe in the pure forest air. The feel of leaves in the air and underfoot as I walk is comforting. The trees here are healthy and I can sense the soul of the forest. It is restless or perhaps even scared. I am not sure what is causing it to feel like this. It is certainly not elves. Despite the forest’s fear it feels good to be back in a forest after so long at that house in Portalis. A city like that is not a place for an elf.
Peter and Lucy were the ones leading us until we arrived in this world. Now they are relying on my senses to guide us to our destination. I can tell exactly which mountain the temple is on and am guiding us through the forest to come out fairly close, but not too close.
The elves will certainly be guarding the forest at the base of the mountain. If we have to fight elves it would not be wise to do so in the forest. Once we are closer we hope to find a way to approach the mountain undetected, because fighting a whole tribe of elves would be suicide even for Peter.
Hinata and I walk faster than Peter who is a bit behind us with Lucy, though we wait for Peter to catch up from time to time. Hinata seems to have no trouble keeping up with me and could probably do so even if I walked faster than this casual stroll through the forest. There is no point walking faster if Peter can’t keep up though.
“What are those?” Hinata asks pointing at a small clump of flat red mushrooms.
“Those mushrooms are called hell’s breakfast. One bite is enough to kill you, and even a deep sniff can knock you out for a few hours.” I tell her.
“Oh…” Hinata says with a gulp.
“A skilled alchemist can use them in a potion to cure a minor curse, but used incorrectly the potion becomes a deadly poison that instantly kills the drinker.” I tell her.
“Have you been here before?” Hinata asks me.
“No, but this forest is very similar to the one where I was born.” I answer remembering my homeland. I wonder whether I’ll ever see it again.
“Do you miss it?” Hinata asks.
“Yes, though I am much more comfortable here than in Portalis. Do you miss your home?”
“I do, but I can return there when we have killed David. What I miss most though are my mother and Asura. Nothing will ever bring them back. I miss Asuna too, but she at least is still alive.” Hinata says and I see tears at the corner of her eyes. She is holding them back, but only just. I decide to try to distract her.
“You see those leaves over there?” I ask her. She looks up and nods.
“What are the small red spots on them?” Hinata asks.
“Those are where nyamin have licked them. Nyamin are small flying insects that eat the leaves of younger trees like that one at this time of year. Before eating the leaves they lick them like that and if they turn red they leave them, but if they turn green they eat the leaf.” I explain.
“Why?” Hinata asks curiously. I seem to have succeeded in distracting her for now.
“Elves have often asked that very same question. There are lots of theories, but nobody knows for sure. The most common theories are that the leaves which turn red don’t have what the nyamin want, or that they might actually be poisonous to the nyamin.” I tell her.
(Peter)
I could fly all day without any trouble, but walking for hours and hours without rest is wearing me out. It doesn’t help that we have to duck low branches and constantly step over and around stones ranging from boulders to pebbles as well as shrubs growing everywhere. We’ve been walking since we got here a few hours ago and it doesn’t feel like we are any closer to our destination. If there were an enemy nearby to fight or if I knew we were almost at our destination I wouldn’t mind. We are nowhere near our destination though.
If nothing else, I wish I had longer legs. To my surprise though, Hinata seems to be coping like it is nothing. She was a bit shaky still when we first arrived but since that settled down she has been able to keep up with Dairon easily enough.
“Can’t you go a little faster?” Lucy asks me.
“It’s alright for you! You just get to sit on my shoulder the whole time.” I complain. My shoulder is starting to ache. Lucy may not be heavy but even so. “Why don’t you sit on Hinata or Dairon for a bit?”
“Fine… see if I care. I’ll go sit on Hinata.” Lucy says and flies over to Hinata. Lucy looks as annoyed as she sounds.
“We should stop here.” Dairon says. It is a small glade in the forest. There is a gap in the canopy so we can see the sky above us. Below us there is a soft layer of short fresh grass.
“Don’t go easy on the boy.” Lucy tells Dairon.
“We don’t have enough supplies to even reach our destination. We should gather what we can on our way. The forest seems less bountiful nearer the mountains. Where there is plenty to be found we should stock up on supplies as well as avoiding using what we brought with us.” Dairon says.
“That makes sense. The elf actually seems to know what he is doing.” Lucy says grudgingly. “So will you be gathering supplies whilst we wait here?”
“It would be worth showing someone else how to do it. If I am the only one who knows how it would be a problem if anything happened to me before we reach our destination.” Dairon says.
“Show Hinata then.” Lucy says and flies off of Hinata’s shoulder and lands on a branch at the edge of the clearing.
“We’ll probably be gone until the sun is almost ready to set, because I want to gather as much as possible. We should aim to make camp here as it is a good spot.” Dairon says.
“Isn’t it a bit vulnerable here?” Lucy asks sounding worried. “Anyone flying above here would see us.”
“We’re still far enough from the mountain that it should be safe. Besides, if an elf was right overhead, the canopy of the forest wouldn’t stop them sensing us. Even if they do find us here they aren’t likely to see us as a threat. It will be very different once we are closer but for now we should be safe. The grass will make for a soft bed and we can light a small fire here. In the thick of the forest that wouldn’t be possible.” Dairon explains.
“Hmm… I suppose we are still a fair way from the mountain.” Lucy says. “Fine, we’ll make camp here.”
“We’ll see you later.” Dairon says and leads Hinata away from us.
“Good luck!” I call out.
“Thanks!” Hinata calls back.
“Thank you.” Dairon says with a small bow. They are out of sight in moments as they go behind a big tree. I see them a couple more times before they are too far away.
“Peter, I’ve told you this before, but I hope you understand that you aren’t going to be able to do this without killing people.” Lucy says.
“If I have to kill I will, but only if I have to.” I reply.
“That’s what you always say, but you will have to kill. Not you might have to. You will have to.” Lucy tells me seriously.
“If I have to then I do.” I tell her.
“So what do you think they’ll bring us to eat?” Lucy asks more cheerfully. I am grateful for the change of subject.
“Maybe berries and nuts?” I suggest.
“Aren’t berries more a summer thing?” Lucy asks with a frown.
“I don’t know.” I say.
“I hope they bring us back some meat.” Lucy says.
“Do elves eat meat?” I ask. I don’t recall seeing Dairon ever eat meat but he generally ate in private. Hinata made all our meals back at Portalis. She is a surprisingly good cook.
“Of course they do. An elf that doesn’t eat meat is like a tall dwarf.
” Lucy says with a laugh.
“What is a dwarf?” I ask.
“You are joking, right?”
“No.” I say shaking my head.
“Most people think of dwarves as short old men with beards. They are well attuned to the earth and fire elements, and physically really strong. Some even say that female dwarves have beards too. I actually said that to a dwarf once. I thought I was talking to a human girl. Naturally she hit me. That’s when I realised just how strong dwarves are. Dwarves look very much like human children, or at least the ones I’ve seen do.” Lucy explains.
“Do they live in Contractia?” I ask.
“Some do but most don’t. Along with the elves they were one of the ancient powers but, unlike the elves, dwarves are generally still free. After they were beaten in their old homes they mostly fled the Fallen Angels.
“A hundred very brave dwarves fought the Fallen Angels for close to a month to buy time for everyone else to escape. They were of course all killed. The dwarven homes are now too well hidden for outsiders to find. A few however choose to leave those homes to explore the wider world. Some are captured, but it is very hard to capture a dwarf and they will never reveal their people’s secrets.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Their control of earth magic allows them to easily escape underground. A powerful foe can prevent that, but most cannot.” Lucy explains.
“Was that how the hundred dwarves lasted so long?” I ask.
“They were fighting in their ancient homes. They could take advantage of powerful enchantments created over the centuries, and of course they knew those homes really well. Their enemies did not.” Lucy explains.
“I suppose that makes sense.” I say with a nod.
“Of course it does. I’m the one who said it.” Lucy says with a shrug.
We talk for a while longer and then I gather some firewood. It is much better than wasting our magic maintaining a fire all night. I only take fallen branches but soon I have enough. There is a surprising amount even just in this area. I didn’t notice whilst we were walking here, but in this area fallen branches are everywhere. It is cold already but it isn’t cold enough to light the fire yet. I don’t want to waste the wood I gathered.