10 The Great Wood

As the night wore on, the three slept silently in the room, but they were unaware of a lurking presence outside of their window. It was a large bat, which may not seem like much, but this bat was watching them with a darker goal in mind; it had been watching them for most of the day and had now finally learned everything it needed to know. After a few minutes, it took off and flew south.

Outside the city walls, it flew down and landed on the shoulder of an orc mounted on a wyvern who was waiting outside. The bat whispered something in the orc's ear, and then the orc whipped the reins on the wyvern, sending it soaring into the skies. A few hours later, the wyvern reached Aktrius' hideout landing in the open area of the ruins, where the snake leader waited. The orc dismounted and ran to him, saying: "I bring news, Lord Aktrius."

"Ssspeak," Aktrius said, "Is it of this wizard?"

The orc nodded: "We have just learned that he has killed Asinil the Plague."

The other monsters watching murmured among themselves; this was not something they had expected to hear. Even Aktrius was surprised.

"What? A mere student wizard killed Asinil?!"

"He was not alone," the orc continued, "He had help. A Half-Dragon, and a knight from Dragonsfold along with his dragon, have joined the wizard on his quest. What's worse, they have found and taken a piece of some relic. My spy said it looked like a sort of half sphere."

Aktrius was silent for a few moments, then said, "The Light of Lunare…"

"My lord…?" the orc asked.

"The wizard's quest. He's going for the Light of Lunare, which can only mean he was sent to help the Imperial Knights our master has trapped in the Shadow Canyons."

"We must stop him then!" a wyrm screeched in the back, "We cannot lose the canyons. Master would be angry with us!"

"That he would," Aktrius said.

"But how are supposed to deal with a company like that?" a Snake Man said, "That's a wizard AND a knight. That means we're dealing with two dragons as well. Even without the Half Dragon in that mix, we will need to approach this with caution.

"If I may add," the orc said, "but we may actually have an advantage."

"What do you mean?" Aktrius asked.

This time, the bat spoke up: "The two dragons were apparently wounded in the battle against Asinil. They cannot fly, so the wizard's company is planning to make their way on foot through the Great Wood."

Aktius thought for a moment; this may actually be going in his favor after all. Slowly, a plan began to form in his mind. He looked to the bat: "Send word to the spiders in the Wood," he said, "Have them make sure that this company does not leave that forest."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" a Snake Man asked, "The Wood-Elves have already destroyed a few of the nests we planted. They will certainly destroy another if the spiders show themselves."

Aktrius waved the matter aside: "A simple sacrifice if the spiders succeed." Then turning to the bat, "Go."

Nodding, the bat flew off into the night towards the Great Wood to deliver the dreadful message.

Morning in Port-Town, and the trio woke up as early as they could. For Kai'sair this was relatively easy as he was trained in this sort of thing. Adrion was not so lucky as he did not have a dragon in his face waking him up, and it took a great deal of shaking from Kai'sair and River to wake him up. It took a few minutes for them to get their outfits ready, though for River it was almost instantly as all she had to do was morph her dress back into her adventurer tunic, leggings, and boots.

"Okay, seriously," Adrion said, "HOW do you do that?"

"My people made a material that has water's flowing characteristics," she answered, "That way we can just morph it into whatever we need in the moment."

"I'm not gonna lie," Adrion said, "That's pretty cool."

"That it is, wizard."

A few minutes later, the gang had packed up everything and went down into the tavern area, where Kai'sair order breakfast for the three of them. Soon, they had a fresh plate of eggs and bacon in front of them. As they ate, Adrion was curious to know more of River's dealings with the Wood-Elves.

"What are they like?" he asked.

"Who?" River asked back.

"The Wood Elves," Adrion replied, "You said you had met them before. What are they like?"

River spoke after taking another bite of her eggs: "They're rather friendly, actually. A little rugged, but I suppose that's what happens when you live in the forests for hundreds of years. They're more than happy to show off their skills, and they can be lighthearted at times. But, get them in a fight, and they're merciless to their enemies."

"If that's the case," Kai'sair said, "I'm glad they're on our side."

"You must have some friends who might be able to stand up for us, should things get dicey?" Adrion asked River.

River thought for a bit, then said: "Well, there is one I know well who might be able to help, but that's assuming she finds us and actually recognizes me."

"Fair enough," Adrion said, "Now let's finish eating and get out of here. We can't afford to waste any more time."

The three finished eating in silence after that. Once they had, they finished getting their gear together, then went to get Rhogar and Paletar from the stables. When they got to them, Adrion checked to see if the piece of the relic was still hidden in Rhogar's saddle. Seeing that it was, he led the two dragons out of the stables. From there, the company began making their way outside of the city and towards the Great Wood.

Their exit was not unnoticed, as some of the townspeople waved goodbye and thanked them for saving the town. River shyly smiled and waved back, Kai'sair nodded and waved back as well, but all Adrion could do was smile back as they went on; realizing he had helped make the people so happy again put more joy his heart than he knew what to do with. Finally, they made it outside of the city and, after a few more minutes of walking, reached the beginning of the Great Wood.

They had flown over the Wood on their way here, but nothing could prepare the company for the vastness of the forest that lay before them. Towering, green trees stretched out before them in massive numbers. However, they were split apart enough for sunlight to shine through, giving the forest a sort of almost divine radiance to it. The company was so mesmerized by it that all they could do is stare in awe for the next few minutes.

"I've come here so many times," River said, "and yet that view never gets old."

"So, we just follow the river straight through?" Adrion asked.

"That was the plan," Kai'sair replied.

"The rivers a little way to our right," River said, "Follow me."

After a few minutes of walking on the border of the woods, sure enough, they came to the river flowing out towards Port-Town. Once they found it, they finally entered the forest. There was no path next to the river, yet the travel was relatively smooth. It was also smart to be next to the river as it provided a quick source of fresh water for the company's flasks.

After a few more minutes of walking, Adrion said: "I can kinda see why the Wood-Elves want to live here. This place is amazing."

"Indeed, it is," Kai'sair said, "But I suggest we keep an eye out for anything; you never know if you're being watched in this place."

"Relax," River said, "I've been in this forest enough times to know that there is nothing here that will try to kill us. The Wood Elves would have killed it already."

"Maybe," Kai'sair said, "But it never hurts to always be on guard."

Rhogar sniffed the air: "I don't smell anything unusual right now."

"Neither do I," Paletar said, "But he's right, we should still be alert."

Unknown to the company, they were in fact being watched. High up in the trees were two Wood Elf rangers, a boy and a girl, who had noticed their coming some time ago and were tracking them as they went. Silently moving through the trees, they were listening in to their conversation.

"They don't seem hostile," the girl said.

"Don't let that fool you," the boy said, "They might be disguised, like that THING that came through here earlier."

"That thing didn't have two dragons with it though."

"Fair enough, but I still say we follow them."

Here, they see River turn her head to speak with the others, giving them a clear view of her face.

"Wait, I know her!" the girl said.

"The Half-Dragon?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, she's the one that visits here a lot, the one we befriended."

The boy looked closer: "You're right!"

"Still think they're suspicious?"

"I never said they were. But if there's a knight AND a wizard working together here, this may be more important than it looks. Who knows if they're being tracked by something else."

"But we destroyed the nests."

"Yeah, but the king isn't sure that we actually got all of them. So let's keep an eye on these travelers, just in case."

"Alright then."

The company was unaware of the elves' conversation and continued on their way. As the sun began to set, they decided to make camp. The dragons found a clearing hidden enough for them to rest unnoticed, which the group promptly got to work starting a fire and laying out sleeping mats that they got from Port-Town's store. River went to go catch a few fish, and Adrion and Kai'sair brough out some fire wood, which Rhogar promptly set ablaze with his fire breath.

After a few minutes, River returned and the others cooked and ate what she had brought, placing what remained in the food bag. Once everyone had eaten, Adrion put out the fire with an icy shot from his staff, and the group then laid down on the mats to sleep, the two dragons curled up next to them. River vouched to take first watch, so she sat up on her mat, looking around. The moonlight that shone through gave enough light for her to see, and as she sat and watched she occasionally looked at her new companions.

Kai'sair was sleeping in his armor with his sword gripped in his hand, which River thought was kind of overdoing it (seriously, what was with that guy?). The dragons slept soundly, but River noticed Paletar's eyes were slightly opened, as if he was keeping watch as he slept, which she found a little unsettling. Then, there was Adrion, lying on his mat with his staff by his side. She honestly wasn't quite sure what to think of the wizard. He was not at all afraid to take on sea monsters, yet he acted so awkwardly sometimes, like when he had asked her to dance. It was an interesting experience, and she had soon come to realize his awkwardness was due to attraction, which he had been trying to hide the whole journey, but the strange part was that she hardly cared. Granted, he had accidentally stepped on her feet a few times and they literally butted heads while dancing, but the experience had given her a sense of happiness that she had never felt before. Thinking on it, she came to realize that she my be starting to like him too.

She blushed at the thought, but also smiled; it was a slightly cliché thought, but a happy one nonetheless for her. However, she was still a bit unsure, so she decided not to say anything until she knew what her feeling were for certain. She was so caught up in the thought, however, that she did not notice an approaching presence from the treetops. Suddenly, something sharp pricked her from behind. Turning around to see where it came from, she saw something large shoot up through the trees and disappear. Just then, she felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground as she slowly passed out from the effects of whatever had pricked her.

avataravatar
Next chapter