Chapter 104:

Janet’s arms felt incredibly tired. Swinging the short sword over and over again had drained nearly every ounce of strength she had in her new Wood Elven body. Taranath, however, would not relent. He stood to her side, constantly directing and adjusting her stance and swing, alongside Dustine, Percy and Sandy. While she and Dustine were almost completely accustomed to their new bodies Percy and Sandy were not. The shock that the two had actually been children, forcibly transplanted into these new bodies, still lingered at the back of her waking thoughts whenever she saw them. Their minds had not completely adjusted to their new reality and still occasionally tripped or misjudged an action.

“You need to focus more,” Taranath spoke gently to Percy.

Percy, who had taken to Janet as some sort of motherly figure, nodded resolutely and readied to swing the sword again. The objective of today’s training was to finally cut a falling leaf with such speed that it barely noticed their swords passing. Janet looked at her own sword. The thin silvery sword was exceptionally sharp and was nearly as light as a feather. And very, very strong. Yesterday Percy accidentally dropped the blade on a stone. While the stone had chipped the blade remained completely untouched.

“I don’t understand.” Percy slowly and quietly admitted. “I swing it when I think it’s right but I miss.”

“Well…You swing with enough speed, but with nowhere enough intent.” Taranath drew his own blade. “You’re behaving like a child, or a human warrior, waving your blade wildly about and hoping to find a mark. You need to be far better than that.”

“I…” Percy’s eyes glanced back to Janet. Whether Taranath knew about the situation with Percy and Sandy was still up for debate. Not telling the true Wood Elves was one of the first things they had agreed upon. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “What am I missing?”

“It’s hard to say,” Taranath admitted. “Usually a Wood Elf would spend hundreds of winters perfecting their strikes. But you don’t have that luxury…So you’ll just have to do your best.”

“Okay.” Percy seemed more than a little dejected and resumed striking at the leaves falling around them.

Their current training was not being held in the usual location near their home, the barracks, rather beneath a massive Oak Tree. This tree reached to some of the highest points of the forest and dwarfed everything nearby. If Janet knew how to climb she might be able to find a way to flee from these people. A gentle cough from Taranath brought her out of her daydreaming. She was the closest to reaching the first goal of Taranath’s personal training and had mentally wandered off for some time. When she looked at him she found the old elf looking strangely at her.

“Sorry.” She mumbled, not offering an explanation. In her long experience, it was best in these situations to just apologise and carry on with your work.

“You almost have it.” Taranath looked at her sword. “You and Sandy, actually.”

Sandy, Percy’s sister, stood apart from them by serval additional steps. She took several deep breaths before slashing again. She struck the leaf but hit the stem and sent it flying away. She sighed and readied herself for another strike. After starting their training with Taranath she had spoken very little, and that was only to ask about their plans or help prep up her younger brother whenever he started to falter. Once again Janet was shocked by the strength she held, though part of her knew that it was a front, one that would falter if properly pushed.

Sandy glanced over and saw Janet looking. She smiled weakly and readied herself to strike again.

“I got it!” Dustine cried out in joy.

In front of her a leaf, sliced perfectly in half, fluttered to the ground. Taranath’s eyes followed the leaf and smiled.

“Very good. But an elite soldier can cut down the leaves for nearly a whole day.”

All four stopped and looked at Taranath. A smile formed on his face, something that she had never seen on another elf in this city, and he shook his head.

“Don’t be too alarmed. They would have taken far longer to reach where you four are right now. You should be proud of yourselves.”

“This is all still new to us,” Janet admitted, resting the tip of the sword on the grassy ground. “I’m sure that you know that none of us have ever swung a sword before.”

Taranath nodded. “Some of your…fellows, aren’t as eager about training as you are. I’ve tried to speak with some but they appear lost. They have spoken fondly of the world you came from. It sounds…cold. Odd. A strange world where most life is controlled and tamed, where you’ve lost contact with the world itself.”

“I…I guess you could say that. But it’s what we know. It’s our home.”

“I can appreciate that. Humans live in strange dwellings compared to us.” Taranath frowned. “Even your current housing is modelled around that.”

But that was already built when we arrived…So how long in the planning was this?

Janet looked at the few Wood Elf houses she could see from their current location. There weren’t many but they looked very simple. Far more simple than what any of them were used to in their world. Still, there was something to living a much simpler lifestyle. A lot less stress.

Taranath looked up at the sun, starting to sink low in the distance. He frowned deeply before sighing. “Okay. That’ll have to be it for today. In about two days we’ll be going on another assault of a Goblin nest.” Taranath smiled warmly when he saw their concern. “Don’t worry. It won’t be as bad as last time. You’re all much stronger than you were, even the rest of your people that don’t do anything other than what they’re told. Some of them seem quite…unstable.”

“Jacobs and his ilk were bad people on Earth,” Janet explained. “They were thugs there and they will be here, though I think they’ve calmed down somewhat.”

Taranath agreed. “Annoyingly they are the best you have to offer, before your training. I believe that Aeirlaya has something planned for them.”

“You don’t like her, do you?” Dustine asked.

Taranath’s face darkened as he looked away. “I do not like my brother’s daughter. He’s spoiled her for the lifetimes of human empires, and it has eaten away at the kind young girl I once knew. Thankfully my brother still trusts me more than his daughter. If…” he shook his head and clapped his hands. “Another time perhaps. Time to go back for dinner and then sleep. You all look like you need it.”

All four were breathing extremely raggedly the moment they were given a moment to relax. Janet was glad to have this body. If she tried this in her old body…

Taranath sheathed his sword and walked away from the giant oak tree. They followed closely behind but Janet spared a final glance to the tree. This one felt, different. Ancient and yet somehow sentient, like it was watching them somehow. While she was about to call it stupid she remembered the magical bow that Taranath had grown from his hands. Magic existed in this world and there were things far more ridiculous than growing a bow from magical vines. It wouldn’t be so far-fetched if a tree started speaking to her.

“Are you coming?” Taranath called back. The other three had been sent forward but he waited for her. He mustn’t have wanted her to wander off, they were very close to the edge of the forest city.

“Yes…I just felt something.”

Taranath nodded as she walked alongside him. “Giro’s is an ancient being, far older than I, and far more kind and wise.”

“That tree is alive? But…But we’ve been cutting those leaves.”

“Do you worry about the skin that falls from your body?”

“No.”

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“Think of it like that. But don’t try and take some bark from him. He doesn’t like that.” Taranath smiled. “While he can’t move he has friends to help him if needs to.”

“Like what?” Janet cocked her head.

“Faeries, for one.”

Taranath stopped and whistled towards the tree, a long song with rises and falls. From the top branches, several bright green lights fluttered down. Janet strained her eyes and saw the branches were swollen and gnarled where the lights flew out from. Several dark holes adorned the outside of the growth where more bright lights emerged.

Taranath stopped the others and brought them back as the lights descended and fluttered around them. The lights were not spheres but rather small women emitting bright green light. Barely ten centimetres tall, they had long flowing green hair with pale white skin and a tight green dress that appeared to be nothing more than a leaf wrapped around their slim bodies.

“These are faeries?” Percy asked as one floated around his head.

The faeries giggled, incredibly faint and fleeting, and began pulling at his hair and ears. He swatted them away but they moved effortlessly to avoid his swings. If anything it encouraged them to tease him further.

“Faeries are the natural guardians of the ancient oaks.” Taranath began as a larger faery landed on his head and began to pull on his air. “As you can see they’re quite prone to being very annoying to those they like.”

“They’re very pretty.” Dustine held her hand and a fairy landed on it. Its tiny feet didn’t actually touch but it stopped floating. Dustine smiled and reached to touch the faery. A finger made contact with its hair and both smiled. “It’s really soft.”

“It is.” Taranath gently shoed away the faery tugging at his hair. “But if they do get annoying just tell them to go away. They don’t like to be yelled at and will come back with gifts, berries usually, so they can keep playing with you.”

“How…How can this protect the forest?”

“I’m not a this!” A faery fluttered down in front of Janet’s face, her little face scrunched up in ager. “I’m a faery of the forest, defender of the trees!”

It reached out and flicked her nose. She jolted back as a ripple of electricity shot through her body.

“Ow!” Janet rubbed her nose as the faery floated in a circle around her head. “What was that for?”

“We aren’t things!” the faery adamantly stated, pounding its foot on the air, tiny sparks of green bursting out from its stomp. “We tend to the forest far better than you Wood Elves. We can make sure that not even a single leaf grows awry. We-”

“That’s enough Cintrine,” Taranath spoke a little more harshly than normal.

The faery glanced back and almost growled, in its light and fleeting voice. “But-”

“They are new and don’t know what you do for the forest and the world at large.”

“How…” Cintrine floated mere centimetres from Taranath’s face. “What has your kind done this time? Huh? What has your silly brother done now?” She shook her head. “You should have been king.”

“That wasn’t for me to decide.” Taranath reached out and gently patted Cintrine. “These are the people that are going to help us defeat the Demons.”

“Hmm…” Cintrine floated around Janet’s head, even as the other faeries continued to play and annoy the others. “Maybe. But those things are really strong. And there are lots of them too.”

“We’ll do fine,” Taranath said. “But could you show them how strong you are?”

Cintrine huffed and flew into the sky. She returned a moment later with a single golden armour segment, one that took extreme effort on her part. When she dropped it onto Taranath’s hand he barely noticed the weight. “Throw that into the sky.”

“Right.” Taranath looked at Janet. “This is Adamantium infused with the power of the sun, forged in the-”

“Just throw it.” Cintrine zapped his finger lightly.

Taranath sighed and threw the fragment into the sky. Cintrine looked up and held out her hand. A tiny green ball grew in the palm of her hand before it shot forth towards the glittering and spinning golden fragment. It struck and exploded in a massive ball of light. Green sparkles descended around them while Cintrine buzzed around Janet with an air of importance.

“That was pretty strong,” Janet said, not really knowing the right words to say.

Cintrine scoffed and raised her head in supremacy. “Of course. I can do that all day. Well, so long as the sun is shining.”

“Like a solar panel.” Dustine idly said while she fended off a faery buzzing around her face.

“A what?” Cintrine cocked her head and looked at Taranath.

“Don’t worry about it.” Janet didn’t want to offend the faery further. “But that’s really impressive. Can you take down a Demon?”

Cintrine smiled wildly and nodded furiously. “I’ve taken down several by myself. Though they were pretty tough.”

Taranath batted away another playful fairy. “As you can see they’re pretty tough and more than strong enough to scare away a goblin or something stupid that tries to get too close to the Ancient Oaks.”

“Like those annoying Kobolds.” Cintrine huffed.

“Thank you, ladies, for coming down and showing us your power.”

“It was fun!” A faery squealed as it flew past.

“Come again soon!” Another shouted.

Cintrine bowed her head and flew back to the gnarled branch on the oak. All the lights quickly disappeared into the tree and everything became quiet.

“They were really pretty,” Sandy said.

“They were.” Percy smiled and placed his hand over his eyes to block out the sun as he looked at the top of the tree.

“They can be a little annoying,” Taranath chuckled and ushered them towards the city again. “But they are some of the more loyal and useful denizens of the forest. They also answer Nithroel’s call, so…”

“Is she a good goddess?” Janet asked.

Taranath nodded. “She has guided our people through many crises and wars. Though, I think she is fallible as any person at times.”

Janet was honestly shocked. “How can you talk ill of your goddess? Can she not hear you?”

“She can. But anyone that only receives praise, even for their more questionable actions…well, it’ll bend and warp them. And I, for one, will never lie to her. If I need to say that she’s being a fool then I will be that one. Even if everyone else licks her feet no matter how hard she kicks them.”

“I…I imagine that might make you unpopular.”

Taranath shrugged. “Perhaps. But they’ve seen what happens when they do.”

He said nothing more until they reached the barracks. Once again the other Wood Elves regarded with thinly veiled looks of scorn. Janet mentally sighed and ignored their looks. If she had her way she wouldn’t even be here. None had asked to come here.

Taranath waved goodbyes they entered the barrack, guarded by two very observant Wood Elven soldiers. Only their eyes moved as they passed through the door. The interior was mostly abandoned except for Jacobs and his thugs. They sat at the far end of the empty barracks on some very comfortable looking chairs with two female Wood Elven servers either side. They ravenously ate a plate of food, chicken and fruit, and some glanced up at them. They glanced only once then returned to their food. Janet suppressed a smile. For all their bravado when they arrived they had yet to recover after their first battle. They were more than eager enough to practice but after that, they returned to their bunks and ate.

Maybe they’re trying to grow more muscle. I hear that chicken is supposed to be good for that…

Nor had any of them followed their all but stated goal to seduce the Wood Elven women. For the most part, the wood elves appeared disgusted that such a thing would even be contemplated and the most receptive politely ignored them the first time and vehemently rejected them the second. The brutal rejection had dampened their spirits.

Janet nodded for them to enter her room. While she was sure the Wood Elves came into their rooms after they left to clean and check for anything untoward, she had deliberately managed to sneak some food and leave it tucked underneath her bed. It had not been removed, though that could be another ploy.

“Make sure the door is shut.”

“Are you sure about this?” Dustine asked after she shut the door. “Can’t they just listen through the wall?”

“Maybe. And I’ve checked outside when they’ve given us some free time. It’s very thin. So we’ll just have to whisper.” Janet waited until they were all together. “So, has anyone made any progress?”

“No.” Dustine and Sandy replied.

“I managed to get some water skins.” Percy smiled. “After one of the training sessions, they didn’t take them back. So I kept four big ones and gave the rest back.”

“Why?” Sandy asked.

“Because…” He looked a little bashful. “Because I know that if you let them know they forgot something they’ll think better of you and not that you stole something. If you stole something why would you let them know they didn’t take it the first time?”

“Is that from personal experience?” Janet threw up a brow.

Percy chuckled and flushed lightly while Sandy shook her head.

“And where are they?”

“Right now they’re in my pillow. That’s the only place I could think to put it right now.”

“Okay. So we’ve got water, at least some water. Anything else?”

“I’ve seen where they throw away our food.” Dustine continued. “It’s this big pit really far into the forest. We could say that we’ve got excess food and get some of the longer lasting stuff like nuts and stone fruit…Nothing here is refrigerated or frozen or salted so…”

“Good. Now…” Janet sighed. “Now we need the map. That’ll be the hardest part.”

“That woman with the big breasts…” Percy trailed off as his young imagination took hold.

“Aeirlaya…” Sandy dryly said.

“Yeah. Well, she goes to one of the big buildings all the time. But I never saw anyone else coming or going, except for Taranath. And I saw him going in there once with a large roll of paper with lots of colours on it. Could that be a map?”

“It could be.” Janet nodded. “Right. I’ll see about heading there when everyone else is asleep and see what I can find.”

“Not all of us?” Dustine seemed very worried.

“If I’m caught I’ll be the only one punished. And none of you want any part of that. And you have the other parts of our plan.” Janet shrugged dramatically. “I didn’t find anything so this’ll be my part.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“It’ll be fine.” Janet rose from the bed. “Better go get some sleep. I’ll let you know in the morning how it went.”