As the front of our column reached the rear of the caravan of nest-walkers, the nests all started to move aside, creeping like crabs. I noticed that some of the caravan of nests easily crept to the vertical side of the tree trunk bridge. As I passed them, I wondered how they were holding on with such ease.
Passing the shepherds, I saw they were bowing down to the duke as he passed. I wondered about the respect that was always being shown to the nobility in this kingdom. It seemed that the elven society so far had a strict sense of class. Respect for the higher classes seemed to be given quickly and expected fully in return. I wondered how I would fare with my modern attitudes about life and equality.
When we passed the caravan, I watched the carrying nests move back onto the path behind us to carry on with their journey. It was a bit creepy to see the scurrying of the branch-nests.
Now that we had crossed the great divide between the human kingdom and the elven kingdom, we were soon ascending the twisting and turning network of roots that wound their way to the top of the trees of the gigantic forest. Thankfully, for me, these pathways were broad so I didn’t slow down the column of warriors. I hoped that his would continue as it would be embarrassing to hold them up with my lack of dexterity when it came to narrow paths.
After a while of climbing up the highway to the top of the forest, we passed above the top of the jagged cliffs. Suddenly, the warriors around me took their focus off me as they looked into the dark under-level of the forest, as if I was not the most dangerous creature around anymore.
“The dark levels of the great forest,” said Arlen who was running next to me. I saw that like the others, his eyes were scanning the darkness for any sign of attack. “Some parts are like the human dungeons, with creatures that regenerate with the power of the dungeon magic. There are even vast caverns that go deep into the ground and are what the humans call dungeons.”
“Do we have to travel through the darkness to get to the royal court?” I asked, as it would seem hard-going to have to fight our way through the darkness.
Arlen smiled and said, “No, thankfully not. We’ll be taking one of the canopy highways to the royal city. It’s rather a beautiful walk and a lot safer than traveling in the depths of the great forest, although there’s less bounty to be found.”
I was going to ask him about the bounty, but then I guessed that all the creatures that I had seen filling the vast multi-level forest were a great resource for the elves.
We traveled up the hundreds and hundreds of meters to the top of the forest. All the time the elves kept a sharp lookout for any sign of trouble. During the climb I saw many networks of branches that created platform levels stretching into the depths of the forest, and I got a close look at the biodomes I’d seen from the outside of the complex structure. As the levels moved deeper into the forest away from the sunlight, I saw that lights seemed to be floating in the trees.
Arlen saw me looking with curiosity and said, “Light from crystal veins running through the trees. It allows the lower level of the forest to be lit. Though it does not reach the dark lower levels. We have to provide our own light in the darkness at the bottom.”
Looking at the different levels that seemed to be teeming with life, I asked, “Do the elves hunt a lot in the forest?”
He looked astounded and said, “All of our food is from hunting or gathering. We have none of this large-scale agriculture that the humans cover the land in.” He said this with a little distaste, as if it was beneath him to even contemplate farming.
The journey continued as we moved higher and higher, passing level after level in the forest that densely covered the land. Eventually we reached the top of the canopy. This allowed me to see far into the distance. Stopping for a few brief seconds, I looked across a landscape full of light and shadow and glowing with color. It was a wonderful sight as I got my first look at the canopy of what the elves called the great forest. It was like being on the rooftop of the world with islands of tree foliage spreading out. The air was full of all varieties of birds that were flying from the tops of the trees in flocks. The dawn call of the birds was in full volume and added delightful music to the magnificent environment before me. To me it seemed like a whole new country after the lower levels we had passed. I wondered why anybody would restrict themselves to the lower levels of the forest, when the beautiful top level was within their reach with the full beauty of the sunlight playing across the scene.
The war band around me started to relax and smile brightly, as if they were in the comfort of home territory. Wondering how we would cross the canopy, I saw that amongst the treetops, large branches seemed to have been built into a network of roadways. In the distance were several caravans of carrying-nests moving along the branches of the network that connected the treetops.
Further away, I could see some trees that were above the canopy. When I looked closer the trees seemed to have structures like the rooms I had seen in the fort.
Again, the helpful Arlen said, “The trees that stick out of the canopy are like villages in human kingdoms. Many of our people live all across the canopy in small settlements.”
“Do people live in the lower levels of the forest?” I asked.
“Of course they do. The lower the level, the more bounty that is available and the richer you become. But with that comes increased danger. The elven nation is divided into different tribes. Tribe affiliation is mostly based on what level one lives on.”
I was about to question him further, when one of the war band came running back with a report. As the captain moved off to intercept the scout, I couldn’t hear what they were discussing but it made the captain smile. He nodded his head to the scout and picked two of his warriors to join him.
When he came back to me, he seemed excited about something. I looked at him curiously and he answered my silent enquiry. “The scout found a troop of creatures that make good eating. We’ll be having some real meat tonight after such a long time in the human kingdom.”
I was a bit skeptical of how good this meat would be but he just said, “You’ll see tonight when we eat.”
Feeling like I was on top of the world, I spent the rest of the day running with the elven column along the highway in the canopy. For me it was a wonderful experience as I enjoyed running in the majestic treetops of the forest. The sun was warm on my back as we ran from shade to shade of the tops of the gigantic trees. Over miles of travel that day, we passed several tree villages with their natural wooden structures. From a distance I could see that some of them were even towns. Many of them were made up of multiple trees thrusting from the canopy top.
It was only at the end of the day as the sun was starting to set that we ran toward one such village in the canopy. As we got closer to the grove of trees I saw more elves moving along the highway. Many of them were in groups of two or three, carrying animals of the forest on poles between them. As the captain had said, it looked as if hunting was the main way of providing food for the elven towns. I guessed that these elves were back from a day of hunting or foraging in the great forest.
As we went past them, they all moved out of the way and bowed to the duke who was at the head of the column. He seemed to mostly ignore them, but every now and then he would see somebody he recognized and give a grave nod of acknowledgement.
In time, we journeyed toward the outer defense barrier of a grove of trees which looked as if it was for a large town. I saw that the lower level where the trees penetrated the canopy was covered by branches full of large, spiky thorns. It resembled to me a more natural version of barbwire, though the massive thorns were clearly more formidable.
To me this seemed to be an impenetrable barrier to any large creature that would try to crawl through. At the bottom of the barrier I could see several dead bodies of creatures that had tried to get through but found themselves stuck on the thorns. Their bodies had been left rotting away as a warning to other creatures - or maybe because it was impossible to extract the bodies from th
e thorns.
The branch pathway climbed upward and through a large gateway in the barrier of thorns. Around the gateway was a company of troops that all bowed to the duke with great respect as he entered. Once we passed into the grove of trees, I got my first sight of an elven town. The structure of the town was a three-dimensional maze in a natural environment. Webs of branches formed platforms with houses that had been grown out of trees or other plants. There was so much variety in the types of houses that filled up the town; their formation reminded me of all the various trees one could see in the forest and how they differed in color and texture.
Between the dwellings were small pathways of branches. Elves of all kinds were walking along as if they were wide roadways, not thin branches. Looking up to the top of the trees that made up the town, I saw that some of the houses looked bigger. I wondered if the wealthier one was, the higher they were in the town.
The duke called over the captain, looking at me. After a few minutes of talking the captain nodded respectfully to the duke. Then the duke and his entourage started to ascend to the top of the town’s structure.
Arlen walked over to where I was standing. “We’ll be staying in one of the lower taverns for the night with the war band. The duke will be meeting with the town’s council and staying with the mayor.”
I joked, “Not good enough to meet with the hob-nobs, am I?”
Arlen looked at me enquiringly. “I’m not sure what you mean, but it’s best for you that you stay out of sight of anybody important.”
“Why?” I asked, as I could see that people were taking an interest in me as they walked by.
“You saw what happened with the duke. The nobles tend to be a law unto themselves in their own lands. Do you want to have to fight and prove yourself at every stop on the way to the royal city?”
“Fair enough,” I said.
“Well, now that we’ve got that sorted you might as well follow me,” said the captain, pointing toward a large platform in between several trees on the edge of the town. It had buildings that had been grown all around the surface which made it look as if it had been produced by nature, not design, like most of the elven architecture.
As usual, the ever-present war band was following me with their hands close to their weapons. Following the captain, I headed across the network of branches. My movement was nowhere near the nimbleness that I had seen the elves use to traverse their towns. I was embarrassed to see that the rest of the elves were sure-footed while I had to take the narrow pathways slowly. As we passed other elves on the pathways, a lot of them were staring at me.
I wondered if it was my human appearance, but then the captain moved next to me and said, “Try to look smaller!”
I just smiled at him and said, “I guess I could cut a few inches off my legs to please you.”
He shook his head in despair as he guided my movement. It took slow and laborious effort to clamber across the branches, even with his help, eventually navigating to the platform we were heading for. The war band in the meantime were skipping around me as if they were cats escorting a sloth in a forest. I could see the looks of frustration on the townspeople's faces as I held them up from getting from platform to platform.
Once I was on the large platform with its wider pathways between the dwellings, it was easier going for me. Around me I could see the bark-covered houses were not on all levels. Some of them had branches, as a leg. This allowed the dwelling to be high of the surface of the platform in the air or over other devilling. While some other dwellings had branches over the side of the platform holding their structures under the large platform.
As I took in the sights, I saw that most of the buildings were on multiple levels, built to hang off the platform. All were made out of wood, but many varieties had been used to be grown into different structures.
One strange aspect of the construction that made me want to investigate further was that the wood had not only been formed into different structures, but somehow the elves had achieved changes in textures. I noticed that some of the buildings even had what seemed like glass windows.
The windows along the main pathway looked like any glass front for a shop or workshop that I had seen in the human kingdom. Inside I could see goods displayed or craftspeople working away at different tasks.
As I walked further along between the houses, I often felt a slight pressure on my magical pathways, indicating the presence of magic being performed. I guessed that in the elven kingdom, magic was more an everyday part of life than in the illiterate human kingdom. This was borne out by all the wonders around me as they must have been created by magic.
One window amongst the shops was full of books and caught my attention as I passed. With a shake of his head, Arlen had to get me to move on when I saw it. I noticed that instead of the books being chained up like in the human kingdoms, these were on open shelves. The shop also had elves going in and out frequently so it must have been popular, and many of them were carrying books. This was an exciting sight to see as it suggested there was potential to get more magical knowledge.
Having to dodge around people in the busy, twisting pathways between shops and houses, we soon came to a large building at the far edge of the platform among the green and golden trees of the town. There was a mixture of trees involved in its structure with different types of bark. The trees had been intertwined for swirling patterns of light and darkness.
Arlen pointed to the building with the swirling patterns that was hanging off the edge of the platform and said, “The tavern that we’ll be staying at tonight. It should give you some level of comfort rather than just sleeping in the treetops.”
Looking at the building’s windows with flickering lights, I smiled at my companion and asked, “Do elves gamble in such places, perhaps?”
The captain laughed at my question. “Do pigs love to wallow in mud?”
“That's a big yes, then.”
Still smiling, he said, “It gets worse the further up the social ladder you get. Some dukes have won or lost lands on the turn of a token.
“But I advise you to be careful, as many people will try to take advantage of you when you play the games.”
I muttered, “I certainly hope so.”
The captain shook his head. “You’ll learn soon enough with that attitude. Just don’t gamble with my war band as I don’t want ill feeling between you and them. They’re already on a knife edge with you around.”
I just nodded in acceptance of his analysis.
We had just reached a doorway carved with strange symbols leading into the building. The door was open and from inside the tavern I could hear the sound of a sweet melody being played on various musical instruments.
I listened appreciatively. It was easy to tell that the music was different from the folk music that had been played in the inns in the human kingdom. To me it sounded more graceful and gentle. The sound flowing out of the door seemed designed to move the listener to contemplation.
When we entered the tavern, it looked to me like the inside of a cathedral. It was a high, arched building but instead of being made of stone, the insides were completely wooden. Whoever had done the work of crafting the common room was a master of design. I could see the patterns in the wood were woven into the decoration.
For a few moments I just stared around the room in wonder, seeing how it all fit together. The tavern had an airy nature that fit with the music, which was being played on a stand by the bar. It was in no way like the cramped houses of the humans or the stone of the orc fortresses.
“Wait until you see the wonders of the royal court,” said Arlen from beside me.
He indicated that we should walk to a table at the back of the room, away from the main crowd of elves. As we were walking, I stopped as I noticed a section of the wall was full of books. The bookshelves, like the other furniture in the room, all seemed to have been grown from different types of wood that flowed together, creating an elegant design.
I asked my guide, “Is it OK if I go over to the bookshelves and read for a bit?”
He looked at the books in a blasé manner and said, “That’s what they are there for. I expect that they’re nothing special if they’re in this tavern. Just keep within sight of us and the table. I’ll order some food and get you a room for the night.”
I nodded and all but ran off, like a child in a playground who had been released by his parents. Within a few seconds I had crossed the well-lit room and was at the bookshelves, where there were comfortable chairs and lamps to read by. The library of books was an eclectic collection covering a significant number of topics. Before I fell into a chair to start reading, I needed to select a book. My first priority was, of course, magic books. There seemed to be about twenty large books in the magic section, all with expensive-looking leather covers and gold lettering. With an eagerness that spoke of desperation, I cast the ‘Gain Knowledge’ spell time and time again. Within in a few minutes I had all the magical books copied into my book of life. Sitting down on one of the chairs with elegantly woven cushions, I was ready to read for the rest of the night and started browsing all the titles of the books I had gained.
Unsurprisingly, the books I’d added to my book of life were all about natural and life magic. Most of them were either about healing or working with the resources of the great forest.
With my book of life that only I could see before me, in my mind I started turning some of the first pages, reading through a book about an introduction to the art of natural wood magic. I heard somebody cough slightly to get my attention. Looking up, I saw a beautiful female elf standing in front of me. She had long, light blond hair that hung past her slim waist. Her clothing was not the muted color that I had seen the elves wearing in the forest but a deep, dark red. The material shone like silk of the finest quality. I noticed that she wore several interesting necklaces and bracelets that glistened in the light. She was holding a tray that held a single glass goblet containing some dark wine.
Dirty Rotten Seizure Page 4