13 The Path is Set

The next morning, Adrion, Kai'sair, and River woke up to the sun softly shining through the window of their room.

"Welp," Adrion said, stretching as he got out of bed, "Time to go see if the king found us that path."

"AND to give Hope our answer," Kai'sair added. Adrion nodded. Just then, someone knocked at their door.

"I got it," Adrion said, going over and opening the door to reveal an elven servant.

"Yes?" Adrion asked.

"The king wishes for you to dine with him this morning in his hall," the servant said, "He asks you come as soon as you are ready."

Adrion nodded: "Alright. Thank you for telling us. We'll be down there as soon as we can."

The servant nodded and left as Adrion closed the door.

"Well, guys," he said, "Let's get changed and get down there."

River immediately morphed her nightgown into her travel outfit: "Done."

Kai'sair scoffed in amusement: "Showoff." He said.

…

About ten minutes later, the three made their way back to the palace, where another servant led them down to the king's feast hall; there Varitan himself was waiting for them at the far seat. However someone else was there as well; in the seat next to the elven king was a young man in white armor and golden blonde hair, whom Adrion recognized almost immediately.

"Gale?" he said. Gale smiled.

"Glad to see you still recognize me, Adrion."

"What are you doing here?"

"I was sent to speak with the elven king concerning your journey."

"He confirmed what I already knew; that you were telling the truth of who you were," Varitan said, "And he also told me of a few things I can do to help you on this leg of your quest."

"Such as?" Kai'sair asked.

"I found the path you can take through the marshes, for starters."

"For starters?" River asked.

"I also come with a warning," Gale said, "You are being hunted."

The company's hearts froze.

"Hunted?" Adrion said, "By what?"

"He's called Aktrius. I'm sure you've heard of that name before, Kai'sair."

Kai'sair's face was grim: "Yes. I have."

"Who is he?" River asked.

"He's the commander of the Snake Men, though he now has control over much more than just snakes now. From what I was taught about him, he now controls one of the powerful armies of dark creatures ever known in Pandreia."

Adrion gulped; this was going to be rougher than he expected.

"His spies saw you some time ago; we're not sure when," Gale continued, "What we do know is that he's the one who had sent those Spiders to attack you."

"Alright, now I want to kill him," River said, flicking out her daggers to emphasize her point.

"No, you must focus on your mission," Gale interrupted.

"The woods will be safe to travel through," Varitan said, "However, there is a stretch of plain between the Great Wood and the Reptil Marshes; an easy place to be seen and attacked."

"What should we do?" Adrion asked, "It would be a lot easier if we flew on our dragons, but their wings were damaged during the battle with the sea serpent."

"All I can say is keep your dragons close," Gale replied, "Most of the monsters won't dare attack someone when there's a dragon nearby, much less two. Once you get to the marshes, the path to the nearest Lizard Men camp will be marked on your map."

"The problem now is just getting there," Kai'sair said, "Though if we'll have to fight our way there, so be it."

"Plus, now that we're bringing Hope in on this little endeavor," Adrion said, "We'll have someone to help keep a sharp eye out for trouble."

"You're bringing Hope with you?" Varitan asked.

"She asked us if she could come last night. After some discussion, we agreed."

"It could work," Gale said, "Elves do have some of the sharpest eyesight of all the other races."

King Varitan nodded in understanding: "Alright, you may bring her."

Adrion bowed: "Thank you, your highness."

Varitan nodded back as a few serving nymphs walked in, carrying trays of different foods and laying them on the table. "Ah, it's here," the king said, "Now, please, sit and eat. I feel you will need your strength for the road ahead. I'll send someone to bring Evenwood here."

"I should be leaving actually." Gale said, "My job is quite demanding."

"At least take something with you for the road," Adrion said, grabbing one of the seed cakes and handing it to Gale. Gale smiled as he took it.

"I suppose I could," he said, "Thank you."

Adrion nodded as Gale left the room. Then, the three sat down to eat, and they spent the next few minutes in silence; not because there was nothing to say, rather it was because the food was so good that the three had their mouths full for quite some time as they dug into the wild berries, nuts, and breakfast pastries and meats the Wood Elves had made.

"I'll admit," Adrion said, breaking the silence, "You guys make some good food."

Varitan nodded: "Everything you see was grown here in our home. As such, we only strive for the best."

'If only Dragonsfold was like that now' Kai'sair thought to himself.

"So, when do you intend to leave for the marshes?" Varitan asked.

"Well," Kai'sair said, "considering we now know we're being hunted by arguably the most powerful commander in the dark armies, I'd say we should leave as soon as possible."

"I agree," Adrion said.

"Ditto," River agreed.

Varitan nodded: "A wise choice. First, however, let us give you a few supplies to take with you on your journey."

"You don't have to do that," Adrion said, "You've helped enough already."

Varitan smiled: "You really are an interesting one, Adrion. I admire your selflessness. Nevertheless, I will still send you off with some supplies; I have a feeling you will need it."

"Well, if you insist. Thank you, your majesty."

"Anything for a servant of the White King." Varitan said with a smile.

…

About an hour later, the company was reunited with the dragons and had not only been joined by Hope, but were also given a few sacks of supplies, mostly elven food and water sacks, to hang on the dragon's saddles. Once they were loaded up, and Adrion had made sure the piece of the relic was secure in its bag on Rhogar's saddle, Hope led them through the branch paths to the edge of the woods and down towards the forest floor. They were disappointed to leave the woodland beauty of Elvathas, but they each knew they had an important ask ahead of them, and it needed to get done soon.

The whole way through, Hope was acting like an excited puppy, bouncing up and down on Paletar's back and talking more than anyone else.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" she kept saying, "My very first quest! This is SO exciting! What's it been like for you guys? I mean, I know the dragons got hurt and you guys ran into a nest of spiders, but still…"

"What I wouldn't give for 5 minutes of silence from her at this point," Rhogar softly said to Adrion.

"Just deal with it, Rhogar." Adrion replied, "She's just excited."

"Excited isn't the word I would use."

Finally, it was Kai'sair who managed to interrupt Hope's continued talking.

"Hope!" he said, "I know you're excited, but this is NOT something to be taken lightly. There are all kinds of things waiting to kill you at every turn; you saw our little fiasco with the Spiders. Plus, you are annoying all of us with your nonstop talking, so please...CALM DOWN!"

Hope started back a bit in surprise at the sudden outburst, then blushed in embarrassment: "Sorry. I guess I did get a little overly excited. This is the first time I've left the Great Wood."

"It is?" Adrion asked.

Hope nodded: "My father used to be a bit overprotective of me. He was proud, of course, when I became a Ranger, but he still worried about me, and somehow made sure that I always took missions within the outer borders of the kingdom. Our attack on the Spiders was my first time outside those borders."

"So, you mean to tell me you've been cooped up in that kingdom your whole life?" Kai'sair asked, becoming genuinely interested in her story.

"Pretty much," Hope replied.

"Huh, now I can see why you wanted to leave so badly." The knight finally said.

"Heads up, guys," Paletar said, "We're approaching the edge of the woods."

Sure enough, as the company looked ahead, they could see the line of trees ending, giving way to a large stretch of plains.

"We can climb down here," Hope said, and the two dragons quickly obliged, beginning a vertical descent from one of the trees. Adrion, River, and Kai'sair leaned back as much as they could, desperately trying to keep their balance and not fall off.

"Ah, I can't look!" River said, covering her eyes.

Hope laughed: "I forgot you were afraid of heights."

"Just go a little faster please!" Adrion said, gripping the saddle straps in the back of the saddle, "I'm too young to die."

"Get in line, pal!" Kai'sair said.

After a few minutes, the dragons reached the bottom, and the three non-elf members sat back up, recovering their breath. Hope simply laughed.

"You guys crack me up." She said.

Rhogar turned to Adrion: "Now, that wasn't so bad, now, was it?"

"Oh ha ha, very funny." Adrion said, remembering that that was what Rhogar had said to him on their first flight together. River giggled at Adrion's reaction; he was starting to become a very fun and interesting person to be around. After they all managed to calm down, they turned and headed out of the forest and began their trek over the stretch of plain toward the Reptil Marshes.

…

Back at the old fortress, Aktrius was becoming impatient; the bat had not returned. He sent a scout to the Great Wood to check it out, but he had not returned yet either.

"Might it be safe to assume, my lord," said one of the Snake Men next to him, "that maybe neither the bat nor the scout made it back from the Woods?"

"Not until I can know that for sure." Aktrius replied, "though this scout is beginning to test my patience, I will admit."

"Look!" a Spider hissed, and everyone on the perch turned to see a wyvern ridden by an orc fly in. Once it landed, however, the orc fell right of its mount, an arrow in its head.

"Wood elves." Another orc growled, "They saw the scout."

"Then they must have known about the Spiders we sent and taken them out too!" a Snake Man said, worry in his voice.

Aktrius's anger was beginning to build; one failure he could accept, but repeated failures he took as insults.

"What do we do, my lord?" a Snake Man asked, "The travelers will most likely be on the way towards the next piece now."

"And we can't allow that now, can we?" Aktrius said, in deep thought, "They will have to leave the Wood to get to the next piece, which puts them out of the protection of the Wood Elves. I think it's time we send out some REAL hunters this time."

"Sir?" an orc asked.

"Get me Rorshak," Aktrius said, and the other monsters looked warily in fear at the mention of that name. A few moments later, the sound of clanking bone and chainmail could be heard as an armored skeleton, more commonly known as a Bone Wraith, carrying a war axe on his back walked through the monsters, kneeling to Aktrius.

"I live to serve you, Aktrius." Rorshak said in a deep voice, looking up at the Snake commander with the pale green orbs in his skull that were his eyes.

"How would you and your team like to hunt some fresh meat?" Aktrius said.

If skeletons could smile Rorshak certainly did: "My pack is ready."

"I need you to find these…disruptive travelers, and run them down. Use whatever methods you deem necessary."

"As you wish." Rorshak said, standing up and walking out of the room. He went down to the lower levels of the ruins, where a smaller group of Bone Wraiths were waiting.

"Mount up," he told them, "We're going hunting."

The other Bone Wraiths laughed evilly amongst each other in glee at the prospect of another hunt. One of them, carrying a set of keys, walked over to a cage door built into the wall of the ruins and unlocked the door.

"Wakey, wakey!" he said in a higher pitched voice, "Who wants to eat?"

A chorus of low growls sounded in answer as multiple pairs of glowing red eyes looked out from inside the dark room.

"Alright," Rorshak said, hearing the growls, "Let's go hunting boys!"

Moments later, multiple dark shapes could be seen carrying their Bone Wraith mounts away from the ruins and into the plains ahead; the hunt had begun.

As Aktrius watched them leave, a Snake Man soldier walked up to him: "What should happen should they fail? Even the newest wizards are not quite easy to destroy. There are also the two dragons to worry about."

"Not to worry," Aktius replied: "I always have a backup plan."

Then, breaking into a devilish, evil grin: "Trussst me. This will not fail."