A single archer stood on the side of the path, scanning the horizon they arrived on yet completely ignoring them. What danger could 2 large frogs be after all.

They took a hard left into the undergrowth on the side of the path and got deeper into the forest.

The trees got much larger the deeper they went. The light that filtered through to the floor was only a rare ray of sun that got through by luck. The dense vegetation that hid them from prying eyes was replaced by much less common large mushrooms and some massive leaves.

Up above them, movement caught his eye. After hours of travel, they finally saw it. Long and barely sagging rope bridges cascaded through the trees, connecting various hollows on varying levels of the treetops.

The elves ran along the bridges moving things, looking out for attacks from above and below, and talking on communal platforms. To call it a strange sight would be an under exaggeration.

He found a small fallen limb that housed them comfortably and turned to his companion.

“You need to stay here while I climb up and find someone important to talk to. I will be back by the time night falls. If I am not, run for your life.” His pep talk ended, and he tried to leave him behind to get to work. After a few attempts he finally got his point across, and Coyotl hunkered down in the comfort of the moist log.

The massive trees offered easy climbing. The bark was bumpy and the crevices it offered were deep enough for him to sit inside and relax if need be.

After fifteen minutes of climbing, he finally found himself above the tallest of the hollows to begin his search. Children ran through the rickety bridges while the adults corralled them to safety. It looked like a well-oiled and happy machine from above.

The conversations ranged from the newest gossip in the village to the price of something called frogbit. The familiar scent caught his nose as he sat atop a low branch. A group of bow wielding elves carried through some of the crates that contained the blue fruity plants.

His mouth watered as he fought back his urges. It would do him no good to get caught because he was hungry for more of the stuff.

His rapidly beating heart slowed back down as it left his sight into one of the larger hollows.

‘You need to control all of your desires. How are you going to rule the world one day if the smell and sight of a plant makes you lose it’

He called it quits after no one of importance took any of the paths he could see. The path between trees were easy despite not utilizing the walkways. He hopped from branch to branch with ease using his enhanced legs.

The distance he covered was ludicrous when he actually attempted to do so.

Finally, he arrived at a place of high promise. The type of people that walked between the hollow looked to be of a completely different station. No more children ran haphazardly between them, interrupting the older elves' jobs.

Now only older adults populated the area. Instead of carrying crates and random material, they carried scrolls and conducted business on the fly.

A few minutes of staking it out awarded him well. A small group of very talkative elves power walked from one hollow to the next. They swarmed one large and older elf on all sides, explaining the random state of affairs on projects Egosum could care less about.

He finally had his target.

The ground followed the main elf all the way to a smaller hollow where they split off to go their own ways while he went inside.

He crept along the branches until he found a way into the room. Surprisingly, it was the front entrance.

It was much larger than he had expected as he traveled through the various rooms before taking a higher spot in the rafters for comfort and secrecy.

It didn't take long to find the elf sitting alone in front of a large living oak desk. The papers sat sprawled everywhere as he hung his head low, resting his eyes.

Slow and careful steps carried him above where he sat.

“Hello. I am Egosum.” He spoke in his clearest version of Elvish possible.

The man below reached below his desk and grabbed a large war bow meant to pierce the hides of fearsome monsters and, apparently, small toads.

“Show yourself.” The elf spoke in a gruff voice, scanning the exposed rafters for the hidden figure that had just spoken to him.

The well-lit room did very little to expose him as the man searched around for the perpetrator, most likely expecting a full-grown man to be prowling in wait. Egosum’s brown skin blended in with the wooden nature of the entire village, leaving him spinning around repeatedly without any hints as to where he was.

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“There was an attack on a carriage that left this place recently. A whole gang of orcs.” His youthful but deep voice threw the main for loop as he trained in on the spot the noise came from, hoping to see a hidden man lying in wait.

After a few seconds of silence, his face visibly drained as his mind caught up to his body.

“The prince was the only one that left recently. No, this cannot be. We sent scouts ahead, put him under the supervision of the Fifty-first Female Corps. Why would the orcs attack him?” The elf lowered his bow, distraught from the new information.

“I don't know about a prince, but they kidnapped some lady with golden hair and eyes from inside the carriage before tipping it and leaving.”

“No, that was the prince.” The old elf spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, leaving no room to argue.

“I see….. Well, they left some baby in a box there too. I just wanted to let you know. Good luck with the prince situation.”

If the elf hadn’t already been as pale as he could be, he was now. He wobbled on his feet, ready to take a fall at the new information before catching himself on the desk in front of him.

“The princess. It must be. Why would… That moron!” He threw his hands to his face and groaned. “We must go there now!”

“Yeah, like I said, good luck with that. I will see myself out now.” He started to inch along the top rafters in search of his exit.

“No! You must come with us. If you don't show us where it happened and what direction they went, we will have no way to get them back before it's too late.” The old elf pleaded with him almost distraught in his actions.

“No. That is kind of a stupid idea you know. Bye bye.” He continued the bear crawl to distance himself more.

A misplaced foot and a buildup of dust sent him sliding off the side and plopping onto the floor feet before the bewildered elf.

“A toad?” He asked in confusion.

“A dumbass?” Egosum looked up at him and spoke with perfect inflection.

“A toad that knows Elvish?!” His jaw dropped at the words then the pieces clicked into place. “I was talking to a toad?”

“I would love to stay and talk about how easy a language Elvish is, but I should really be heading back now.” He rapidly hopped to the door, only for the elf to block off the entrance.

“Please, it's not an easy task infiltrating our fortress, we need your help locating the prince before starting the siege. We will give you anything.” The elf floored him as he uttered the last sentence. His mouth twitched as the thought of the blue fruits rotated around in his mind, his dao leaking slightly in the process, humidifying the nearby air before sucking back inside him as he regained control.

“Maybe I'll help you guys out if you hand over a few crates of that blue plant with the clear fruit.” He looked back out of the corner of his eye, gauging his reaction.

The old elf seemed to search his mind for a second as he thought about what he was talking about.

“The frogbit? But what do you want that for if you don't have magic to utilize it?” He seemed wholly confused at the revelation.

“To eat it of course. What else would I do with it, smoke it?”

He looked absolutely repulsed at the thought.

“You eat that stuff and live? I don't even know what to say.” He stood before him in complete disarray at the thought.

“You can either say yes or no. Herbs or no help, the choice is yours.”

“Alright. In exchange for four crates of Frogbit, you shall guide us to the site of the attack and then help us secure the prince.” He started to hold his hand forward in an attempted handshake, only to opt for a slight head tilt.

“That is agreeable. Let us head out now, I want to get this over with as soon as possible.”

“Fantastic. Let me gather the army and we can set off.” The elf scooped him up and opened the entrance behind him.

‘This is humiliating. At least Coyotl can't see it’

They rushed through the treetops informing various people and spreading the word of the attack. People piled out of the hollows by the dozens as hundreds upon hundreds of warriors gathered below.

The housewives turned into swordsmen while the day laborers picked up fanciful bows. The entire forest mobilized in less than an hour. The sun was still in the sky by the time they made it to the floor.

“We shall take the fight back to them. With the help of Egosum and our weaponry, we shall raze their encampment and torture their bloody bodies. For the Prince and princess!” The old elf lifted him to the sky like a trophy and caused the massive crowd before him to scream in high spirits.

As the shouts traveled through the forest, a sudden blaring call overtook everyone.

“Ribbit ribbit! Oowa oowa!” The elves around him clamped their hands over their sensitive ears to drown out the sound.

“Coyotl?” He hopped from the man's hand and over to the log a few hundred hops away and found him calling at the top of his lungs. “Hey buddy, it's not nighttime yet and what did I say about fleeing for your life?

The frog before him stopped mid croak as he saw Egosum approaching before hopping over to him and touching his back lightly like when they had originally met

“Are you relaxed now?” With no more ear-piercing calls to wake the entire forest into action, the old elf met up with them.

“Another talking frog? What kind of world are we living in nowadays?” He sat the frog and toad on either should and led the army down the path the cart traveled.

“He doesn’t speak. He is just a friend of mine.”

“Well, don’t we all need companionship?” The jovial old man carried on, making good pace to the site of the battlefield.

They ran through the thick forest in a way no large band of warriors should have been able to. The elves were adept at traveling through the thickets while barely disturbing them in the process.

All of the possible dangers of the forest fled from the massive pack they formed unless they actively sought their deaths like the bipedal reptiles seemed to do.

"We are almost there; it is just up ahead." Egosum called out to the crowd who only seemed to accelerate at the news.

If tree huggers could be this vicious all the time, then any human lumberjacks better watch out.