Out of the back of the fort was a massive bridge, made out of the huge trunk of a tree that spanned hundreds of meters across the gorge.
When I focused on the bridge that crossed into the elven forest, I could see what I thought were ants moving along the top and sides. With a bit more squinting, I saw that they were not ants but crawling creatures that I had not seen before. Whatever they were, they were large, and moving fast along the bridge as they carried items.
“The trading post,” said Arlen, indicating the wooden fort.
I wondered why they would have a trading post on the edge of the elven kingdom so I asked my guide, “Do you not allow humans into your kingdom?”
He shook his head and laughed a little, as if I had made an amusing joke. “It’s just that many humans find the elven forest very intimidating. There are a lot of dangers coming up from the depths of the forest.
“A lot of humans prefer to conduct trade at the edges of our kingdom, so the kingdoms set up trading posts around the main routes in and out of the great forest. This is one of the main trading posts with the human kingdoms to the west. If we were to stay for the rest of the day, you’d start to see hundreds of carts moving to and from the town to the trading post. This is the lifeblood of wealth for cities on the border.
“Some humans do venture into the great forest, but most are escorted by elves who are at home there. If you're not a native to our forest it can become deadly very quickly.”
Looking at the world around me with awe, I continued on our run toward the fort. I felt full of excitement at the potential to explore this glorious domain.
When we got closer, I could see more and more of the structure of the fort. My first guess that the wall was just trees grown into place appeared to be correct as I saw more of the details. Everything about the structure had an organic nature to it. Even the towers on top of the wall of trees were grown from multiple branches, forming sizable weapons platforms. Around the edges of the platform that made the tower were more layers of thorns that covered the exterior of the fort.
With a burst of speed now that the destination was in sight, Arlen led the group toward one side of the fort facing away from the river. I could see no entrance on this side; it was just a solid wall of thick trees like the other sides I had seen as we’d approached. I started to wonder where the entrance was, until Arlen stopped and shouted at the imposing tree wall before us.
“Captain Arlen returning from patrol!” was all that he shouted.
I wondered how we were going to enter the fort through the solid wall. Then, with a rush of magical power that I felt tingling up my spine, I saw two of the tree trunks starting to move right next to each other. At first the movement was just on the surface, as if the bark was flowing and twisting. Then I could see light in the central line between the flowing bark. It was like they were twisting away from each other as the gap between them started to widen. As I watched, open-mouthed, I saw the gap enlarge and the solid trees move aside.
“What the hell?” I muttered to myself as I looked on, feeling the magic emanating from the moving trees. Now there was a very natural gateway into the fort.
The trees stopped twisting once a hole that a person could walk through had formed. Like this was nothing outside the usual in this world, the elves of the war band headed on to enter the fort. Arlen gestured for me to do the same. I looked at the hole that I just seen opening, and my first concern was the possibility that it could snap closed on me, crushing me to a pulp. I had already been burned to death twice in the last day and was not keen to be pulverized.
Damn, I thought, I’ve lost track of my injuries and I can’t remember if I have been crushed today. Boy, is my life strange.
Well, I needed to enter the fort, so I took a deep breath and started forward through the hole. Soon I was walking quickly through the arched passageway that had opened up in the tree wall. It was like I was walking between very large trees that were only separated by a meter. Each had tough bark on the exterior that looked completely solid. If I hadn't seen the trees part, I would have sworn that they had been growing like this for hundreds of years.
When I fully passed through the natural passage in the tree wall, I found that I was in a large courtyard. It was light inside with magical lights hovering everywhere. Looking around the fort I saw that it was not built like anything seen in this world. It was not like the stone and brick buildings of the humans or the stone fortress of the orcs. It was more natural in its design and beauty. It reminded me of a grove of trees.
From the ground I could see that the fort interior had several levels of platforms that were made of more trees. On these platforms, some of the trees had been formed into buildings. Not via cutting and constructing by a carpenter, but somehow grown.
I guessed that most of the buildings were living quarters or storage facilities for the fort. The interconnecting walkways were made of intertwined branches. Along these branches, elves were nimbly walking from one section of the fort to another. I noticed that there were no guardrails to stop them from falling. The fear of falling didn’t seem to affect the sprightly elves as they jumped from branch to branch.
Looking around in wonder, I asked the elven captain, “How did you build this? It looks just like a forest.”
He smiled and said, “Building is not really the word that describes this method of creation. It would be more accurate to say we grow and shape it to our needs. This is how the whole of the elven kingdom is made. We use natural magic to grow and manipulate the great forest around us. When you get there you’ll be amazed by the grandeur of the royal city.”
Before I could ask any more about the elven nation, a tall, well-dressed elf started gracefully walking toward us, crossing the branch walkway that connected the platforms.
“I must leave you for a few minutes,” Arlen said to me. “Stay here with the rest of the war band. It’s best if you don’t wander far.”
I nodded and moved to an area with some tree branches that had been grown into benches and tables. When I looked at the center of a table, there was some fruit on a few smaller branches sticking out of it. Sitting down, I looked around the courtyard floor that was like a meadow with grass and flowers in between the wooden pathways. Wondering what it would taste like, I took some of the fruit. When I bit into it, I found the strange fruit was full of flavor and gave me a feeling of strength, as if I could lift the table.
I marveled at the beauty of the place. To me it was like a garden where nature was mixed with the utilitarian, providing an elegant environment to live in. This told me that the elves valued nature and the abundance of life around them.
Chewing away at the core of the fruit, I saw that the rest of the war band still stood guard around me. All of them were glancing over at me with looks of fear. Every time I tried to meet their eyes they would look away, trying to be nonchalant about it. Looking back to Arlen, I saw him move with the grace of a cat up the branch, leading to the building the tall elf had exited. They met each other halfway, both of them balancing on the branch as if it was nothing. I presumed from the way they were standing that they could do this all day.
I saw Arlen bow deeply to the other elf, who only nodded his head at his respectful greeting. Then they started to talk. From where I was I could not tell what they were talking about but at some point, it must have been about me as they both glanced my way. After they glanced at me the older elf started to gesture angrily at Arlen, who was talking slowly with emphasis and patience.
Finally, with an angry face, the well-dressed elf moved past the captain and swiftly ran down to the benches where I sat. The war band around me went to a state of attention as if somebody important was approaching.
I didn’t like his angry attitude that I assumed was aimed at me, so I put on my most unconcerned expression as I looked at my nails, picking at them as if I was busy cleaning them.
The shadow on the floor reached me as the tall elf stood before me. I continued to study
my nails, purposefully not acknowledging him to see what he would do.
He sounded arrogant, superior and disdainful when he spoke. “Human, do you know who I am?”
I looked up and imitated a shocked expression as if I had just noticed him standing over me. Then I said blankly, “Sorry, not a clue. Should I know?”
He pulled himself up to his full height and said haughtily, “I’m Melandrach Theroris, the Duke of Aldershrub.”
I stood up from where I was sitting and looked over his head. This was easy as I was about three inches taller than him.
I then said with a smile, “Well, good for you. Is that important?”
He looked a bit shocked, as if he had just seen a ghost, but he pulled himself together quickly and asked, “Would you please explain to me how you survived the dragon’s blast and why it blasted you with fire?”
Not enjoying his snooty attitude, I said, “No. My understanding is that the kind captain is taking me to the royal court. I don’t want to have to keep retelling the same story all over again for every Tom, Dick or Harry who asks, so you can wait until then like everybody else.”
I sat back down and started to pick my nails again, ignoring him as if he was not there.
There was a noise as if somebody was cutting wood, and suddenly the branches of the bench underneath me started to move. It was an unpleasant feeling, like I was sitting on a nest of very large, rough-skinned snakes that had just woken up. The branches started to twist around my calves and upper legs, binding me to the bench. Wondering what was happening, I glanced at the duke. He had backed off by a few meters and was in the process of casting a magic spell. His hands moved in complex patterns and I could see the magical energy emanating from them as green light flowed into the moving branches.
In reaction to this unprovoked attack, I quickly started to channel my fire spell through my pathways. With a quick magical gesture, I focused the power with movement and words so burning flames appeared on the branches around my leg. At first the branches started to smolder, then suddenly burst into white-hot flames. The flames raced along the branches that were holding me like a lit fuse. Other branches that tried to grasp hold of me burst into flames as well. As I poured more energy into the spell, the wood around me quickly burned to ash, some of it floating in the breeze. Within a few seconds, all was dust around me.
With determination, I stood with the fire playing across my hands, ready to grab the duke. Before I could get to him, he gracefully jumped back out of my reach, but to my satisfaction I saw a look of terror cross his face. As I tried to advance, I felt several sharp pains in my arms. I looked down and saw arrows sticking out of both my arms.
With a quick movement of my hands, I recast the spell and grabbed the wooden shaft of an arrow. Within a second I felt a scorching pain as I burned the shaft of the arrow to dust. Acting quickly, I repeated this with all the arrows in my body. Soon I was free from the arrows that had been shot at me and was standing there with white ash blowing in the air around me.
Looking around, my hand still burning, I saw the entire war band with loaded bows, about to take another shot. The duke had now fallen back behind several guards who had rushed out of the buildings in the fort. As I glanced around, I could see that still more were coming. They moved like acrobats, twisting and turning with dance-like steps as they ran down the thick interconnecting branches of the fort.
Getting ready for a serous fight, I was just about to start casting the Blazing Spear spell at the war band behind me when the captain shouted, “Stop!”
He jumped down between the duke and me. He turned his back on me and said to the duke, “Sir, you may want to look at his wound before you continue this!”
The duke seemed to calm down enough to take his captain's advice, and nodded his head. With his guards around him, he moved slightly forward to get a good view of my arms. When he saw them, his face went white with an expression of sheer terror.
I seem to have this effect on people around here.
I looked down at myself and all I could see was normal, unblemished skin. By now there were no scars from the wounds caused by the arrows.
I saw the captain mouth a word to the duke, who just nodded and said, “I’ll be accompanying you to the royal court, it seems.”
With that, he gave me a bow and moved off quickly, giving some orders to his guards. As I extinguished the flame on my hand, the war band and other warriors around me started to lower their bows, but I noticed that they all kept their eyes on me as if I was a wild animal that could tear them apart at any second.
Chapter Three Journey Through the Great Forest
There was the normal hustle and bustle of an armed force moving out as around me, the elves in the fort were starting to get ready to escort the duke and myself to the royal court. Idly I watched as I stood in a clearing on the ground floor, not wanting to get close to any of the wooden structure. I still felt nervous that they would suddenly start moving to attack me, like the bench had. Around me were several of the war band members, watching over me with nervous-looking eyes and fingering their weapons slightly.
The elven warriors preparing for the trip were certainly efficient in their preparation. It was interesting to see that within a few minutes they were ready to move out. They placed all the baggage in what seemed like nests made of tree branches, and I wondered how they were going to carry these nests that looked so heavy. I was shocked to see one of the elves casting a magical spell on a nest that had just been filled with goods. As a short burst of magical energy poured out of his moving hands, green light emanated from the nest of branches. From the bottom of the nest, branches started to flow outwards and push it into the air. Over the top of the goods that had been placed inside, small branches and twigs moved to form a net over the packages. Soon everything was secured with a web of wooden twigs around the bags and boxes.
I stepped back, slightly nervous as I still remembered the thick branches that had tried to trap me. Soon all three nests of branches stood on many legs, moving toward the back of the fort. I wondered if these were the ant-like creatures that I’d seen on the bridge across the river.
It certainly was surreal to see that magic was being used for such mundane tasks, but then to think about it, I had seen most of the war band using magic at some point. Did this mean that the elven race was significantly more literate than the humans and orcs? I would have to investigate this further, as I was curious.
Captain Arlen came up to me and said respectfully, “We’re ready to travel now. If you would follow me.”
I just nodded as I looked at a nest of branches moving like a living creature. I wondered if it was, but the presence of magic made me think that it might only be under the control of the elves. I wondered how natural magic worked at such a complex level. Some spells I had dealt with the magic of nature, but nothing as complex as what I was seeing now.
I thought, If the elves teach me some of their magic, this trip will be well worth the journey.
With rising excitement at the thought of gaining more magic and skills, I started walking next to Arlen. The rest of the war band surrounded me in a nervous kind of encapsulation. Instead of being ready to defend me, they seemed ready to attack me at any instant.
Soon we were moving toward the back of the wooden fort, a three-dimensional maze of platforms and branched pathways. The elves and the nests of branches were climbing easily along the different pathways toward an exit in the back wall. I started to climb the thin branches that made up the walkway to the exit of the fort.
I looked down when I was several meters above the ground. Thankfully, due to some of my more illegal activities, I was used to walking along thin and perilous rooftops, but this was certainly taking it to an extreme. As I took it slowly, all around me the elves were moving with grace, as if this was the easiest thing in the world. They seemed to dance around the small pathways, often jumping from one to another with acrobatic skills that would have put the entertainment troupe
to shame. I wondered how much I was going to slow down the trip to the royal court if I could only move at this pace.
After climbing several long, branched pathways, I reached the exit of the fort which looked like another passageway that had just opened in the tree wall. Passing through it, I emerged onto the top of the huge bridge across the chasm. Thankfully the surface was flat and about the width of a cart track. This I could easily run across with the elves around me.
About halfway across I got a good look down into the river at the bottom of the chasm. I gasped to see how deep it was. It was amazing to see far below me into the depths. I could see the white foam that was been spray up from the waters obscured surface. Without the bridge it would certainly be close to impossible to cross this barrier from the human kingdom to the elven forest. To keep my balance, I looked up ahead and saw before me the high cliff that provided an additional barrier to the great forest.
I wondered how they had gotten so lucky with natural protection. Then I started to wonder how far their control of nature extended, as it just seemed to be too good to be a coincidence.
Surely not this far - this would take an unbelievable amount of magical energy, I thought.
That was a deeply disturbing possibility about the amount of power that might reside in the elven nation, and I put it to the back of my mind to investigate later. I looked at the pathway in front of me where the massive tree trunk of the bridge met the cliff. I could see the dark outlines of where large roots twisted upward in a web-like structure. The roots looked like a pathway to the top of the forest above, and I could see people moving along the pathway to the top which appeared to confirm this.
Flicking my eyes back down to the bridge across the chasm, I looked over everybody’s heads. Thankfully, with my height I could see to the front of the column of warriors. There were hundreds of branch-nests in the pathway ahead of us. The strange, moving piles of wood were being supervised, or shepherded, by a few elves dressed in dark brown clothing, which looked no way near as fine as the clothing on the warriors around me.
Dirty Rotten Seizure Page 3