“Wow. It’s... whiter, than I thought it would be.”

Elara turns back towards us, her face shining brighter than a bonfire. She'dd run up far too quick for Gareth and I to react.

“Careful girl. Don’t touch it.” Gareth warns as he glances around the area. “This seems to be the only one around here. But let’s not take our safety for granted.”

The tree looks strangely smooth with no warts or cracks on the surface, and very minimal wooden texture compared to the Maples in the central region. The leaves dance silently in the gentle breeze that has started to roll in from further up the hill. We hear Elara mumbling to herself as we approach her.

“Hmm... The bark is smooth, but it’s too tall to be a young tree. There are no exposed roots nor are there any bulges either so it is true...”

She mutters on. With Gareth shooting me a look of defeat, signalling a brief pause in our travel. Looking up, I see Melo perched on top of a branch of the mystical tree. It starts chattering into the air. I turn to Gareth to strike up a conversation.

“It’s great to be out in the sun. I didn’t think one day underground would have such a-”

I stop mid-sentence, startled by the expression on his face. His face is serious and intense, his piercing stare cutting past me. Before I can turn to look at the source of his unease, a voice echoes inside my mind.

“RUN!”

The voice is contorted but resembles that of a young girl.

“Run fast! It’s here!”

I turn to Elara to see her knelt on the ground, puking her guts out. I hadn’t noticed it, but I can barely hear the noise around me. My stomach starts to churn as a pressure builds in my head. I fall to my knees as well, belching and gasping. I hear Gareth’s voice but my mind is too heavy to make sense of it all, although Melo’s frenzied chirping is distinct enough to identify.

“Tell Gareth to start running!” The voice continues in my head.

I can’t take the pain any more and keel over sideways with the acid gagging my throat. I start to vomit. I feel a hand grab me by the collar, frantically tugging me upwards. Bracing my feet against the ground, I push myself up to see Gareth desperately trying to pull both Elara and I. The cacophony in my mind is deafening. His feral shouting, Melo’s sharp chirps, the voice in my head, and now, a new sound unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. It resonates like a thunderous voice yet it’s nothing a human being could ever produce. I can almost make sense of it, but the pain stalls my concentration.

“God damn it Elara! Move those feet!” My ears finally tune into Gareth’s voice.

I start shuffling towards him, praying that I don’t slip. I try to focus my eyes but it’s useless. All I see are our limbs flailing wildly, surrounded by a flurry of leaves swept up by a strong gust of wind. I hear Melo’s chirps slowly moving ahead of us, beckoning us to refuge.

“Meer! Meer! Can you hear me?” Gareth ask. His voice is heavy and distraught.

“I- I can hear yo-” My sentence is cut short by another belch, as I let out a chunk of barf. We make a quick halt.

“Good, I need you to reel in your staff. I can’t pull you both while that latches on to everything around us.”

I take a deep breath, hoping to gather my senses. Looking up, I see Gareth staring down the direction we’d come from. His features look grim and fearful, it’s the first time I’d seen him so. We continue running for what feels like an eternity before we finally halt at a clearing. He lets go of us, standing exhausted while gripping his forearm. The injury he’d sustained is clearly still troubling him.

“Gareth? Are you there? where are we? Why is it so dark?” Elara reaches around her, disoriented.

“Over here Elara.” He replies.

“GARETH? MEER?” Her voice grows more distraught.

“We’re both here.” Gareth says quickly grabs her hands, which startles her. She yelps in surprise, yet he continues holding them between his rough, calloused palms as he gently rubs them. It calms her down. Elara’s eyes stare vacantly into his chest.

“Elara are you alright?” I ask. She doesn’t respond so I try again. “Elara are y-”

“Is Meer here too?” She cuts me off. It’s clear that she can’t hear us either.

I walk up and carefully grab her forearm, which seems to calm her down. I look at Gareth helplessly, however his attention is still directed towards the unknown pursuer.

“What was that behind us?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” He instantly replies.

“Was it a monster?”

“I don’t know.”

“A human?”

“I think... I... I don’t know.”

Whatever it was. It clearly rattled him to his core. I look back only to see the empty forest stretched out in front of us. Melo’s chirping rings out from behind the trees.

“We should keep moving.” Gareth says, as he bends down to gently lift up Elara over his shoulders. Clearly shaken, Elara feels around his shoulder before settling into a comfortable position.

We start the hike again with brisk, and hurried strides. I peer over my shoulder every few seconds, hoping to catch a glimpse of our stalker but with no success. Eventually we make our way to Melo who is now stands atop a large boulder. Its intermittent cries has guided us to a cliff overlooking the mountain pass.

Elara has passed out, or at least I suppose she has. Her chest rises and falls slowly which, at the very least, is a good sign. I have mostly recovered my bearings apart from a rush of giddiness that pops up from time to time. My Spirit has partially recovered as well, enough to cast a Heal on his arm, which I do. Gareth gently lowers Elara to the ground, carefully propping her up against the boulder as he scans the landscape. The evening sun hangs well above the peaks on the horizon.

“There.” He points towards a summit. “Those two peaks on the south-west are visible from our town. It is difficult to make an assumption, but if I were allowed to be optimistic, I’d say we can cover this pass by night and be home by sunrise.”

Stolen novel; please report.

He looks over to Elara, perhaps hoping to see her relieved by the news, but unfortunately, she does not stir.

“Do you need to rest?” I ask. Though it may be unconscious, he still rubs his forearm.

“Don’t worry. I may be old, but I’m spry enough to complete a trek as simple as this.”

I shoot him a worried glance which appears to persuade him as he lets out a sigh of defeat.

“You know, Elara’s constant nagging never gets to me, but when my wife gives me those same pitiful eyes...” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “We can recuperate down there by the stream in the col. I’ve never been this far upstream myself, but the mountain pass is known to be relatively safe from monsters.” He bends down and puts a palm on Elara’s face, checking to ensure she’s alright before lifting her up again.

The stream is clear and cool. I fill up our water-skins while Gareth lays Elara down on a flat bed of pebbles, placing a bag underneath her head for support. I assume we won’t be staying put for too long, but the landscape is a nice change of pace. Especially considering the unfortunate situation we find ourselves in.

“The water access is nice, but are you sure it’s a good idea to travel out in the open like this?’ I ask. He takes a swig of water before answering.

“Yes it is. Apart from it being easier on the body, the lack of wildlife has made the area devoid of any monsters. This stream runs for hundreds of miles up the mountain range however, we’re in the section that is closest to the Whispering Woods, so there are no fish upstream until it meanders away from the Woods. And it is the same down stream as well for a good distance past Stren.”

“So Stren sustains itself only on its farmland?”

“Well, we’ve been able to trade in some livestock but overall, yes. No hunting or fishing. So you can understand why this goblin issue is a big problem for the town.”

‘Do you really think we will make it back by morning?”

“To be honest, I think we will. We did not travel as far as I assumed we did initially.”

The answer is frank, however he falls into a contemplative silence right after. In the midst of our conversation, Elara begins to sit up. Gareth rushes to her side, a half filled water-skin in hand. He gently puts his hand on her back to help her up.

“Elara. Can you hear me?” He snaps his fingers near her face, hoping for a reaction.

“I see...” Her voice is raspy and parched. She reaches her hands out clumsily to his. “Everything is blurry but I see light... and a shadow move.” She grabs it.

“That’s good. You can-”

“Is that you Gareth? Everything sounds muffled. I can’t make out your voice. Thirsty. I need water.”

He passes the water-skin to me, and grabs her hand as he had done before, gently rubbing them which soothes her. I slowly guide the open mouth of the water skin to her mouth, tilting the water over slowly.

“Thank goodness. Hopefully she will make a full recovery. This is why we don’t venture out towards the Woods.” Gareth says.

I remain silent.

The rest is short but rewarding. Elara has, quite quickly really, adjusted to her tentative condition. She makes out the babbling of the stream nearby and asks if we can help her to the river to wash her face and rinse her mouth. Which I do. Gareth rummages through their bags, making sure nothing had been lost during the escape. Every few seconds, I see him peer over towards the cliff we’d come down from. Likely hoping to see the forest empty.

The journey back is arduous, yet peaceful. Gareth, to his credit, hasn’t slowed down at all even while carrying her for almost two hours straight. I refrain from beginning a conversation. I don’t want him to spend any more energy than he needs to.

“I think, I can see Meer. Are you holding your Staff on your left hand?” Elara breaks the silence.

“Yes I am.” I respond, but she does not seem to hear me so I stretch out my arm and flap it vigorously. She lets out a soft giggle. Gareth looks relieved to see her condition improve. The sunset begins and I conjure up a Light spell.

We’ve been walking for about five to six hours with little breaks in between and have finally gotten around the designated hill. The bright light of the town is visible behind the saddle of the further foothills.

Elara’s condition has improved enough for her to discern whose voice may be talking around her, but not yet enough to make out the words being spoken. She keeps her eyes closed for the most part, and even when they are open, her eyes don’t lock on to anything in particular. Melo had finally decided to descend from the treetops and now sleeps on my satchel, clearly tired from the events of the day.

“Meer, I need you to do something for me.” Gareth starts. His voice is calm but serious. “As we’ve mentioned before, this expedition is not very... official. I’ll need you to take care of Elara at the guard house for tonight while I brief our Captain and the Elder in secret. Most of all, I don’t want her Father to see her in this condition. It may take a few days for her to recover, but I request that you stay with her till then.”

“Mm-hmm.” I agree but fail to push any words out of my mouth.

“We’ll go round the town wall and enter through an open area in the back.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Now that I think about it, there is an empty house on the east side of town. It used to be a stable, so it isn’t ideal, but I bet you could spiff it up. I’ll take a look into it.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“I don’t know how long you’ll be here for, but I truly hope you will at least stay for the winter. Also, thank you for going through this with us.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The forest is pitch black, save for my spell, and its reflection in the tears on my face.