That very next morning the group had found themselves next to a wide river. To those with distracted eyes, its soft flowing water looked to be completely still and the only real way of knowing the truth would be for the individual to stand at the river's edge and watch as several leaves and branches bundled together as they floated without a care along its surface. The branches were small in size; the biggest of the bunch was no wider than the size of her thumb and couldn't have been longer than her forearm. The leaves were only slightly larger than the branches they had befriended along their watery journey. A few of the leaves had pools of water within their folds as every so often the green; leafy blades would bob above and below the water's surface while the branches rocked back and forth as they bumped into their companions. Iskra wondered if it had been the wind that had torn them from their respective trees, or if an animal of some kind had managed to tear them away.
"I wonder where this leads," Iskra said to no one in particular as she quietly wondered if this was the same river whose shores she had found herself on the receiving end of a goblin ambush. "I can't imagine it going very far. Especially with the mountain range that separates Voldigrov with the rest of the kingdom."
"If I had to guess," Echoed the voice of Argonok as the dwarf stepped closer to the water's edge. The Fire Guard, forever clad in his heavy suit of armor, lifted his weapon and jabbed at the slow moving river. A sickening hiss bubbled up from the surface as a thick black smoke oozed from the once calm surface while the man poked and prodded at a few of the passing branches with the pommel of his halberdier. "This river leads into a forest that's received quite the nasty reputation, something about a curse and bloodthirsty forest spirits."
The young girl gagged and coughed at the stomach churning smell. She waved away a cloud of nearby smoke and quickly turned her head to avoid taking in even more of the vile stuff. Iskra wondered what could have caused such a reaction from the water. To her it was obvious that the Fire Guards Halberdier was the cause, but the question as to what the weapon had done to the water was something that she found lingering in the back of her mind.
"What do you mean by ‘cursed?' " Iskra covered her face with her tunic before looking down at the dwarf, curious to find out what he meant by his choice in words.
For her troubles, Argonok shrugged his shoulders and jabbed at the water once more. For her troubles, the sickening hiss and darkened smoke returned, this time with the wind blowing the thick haze away from the pair. "The forest is alive or something, according to the rumors that is. Zharatan, in his infinite wisdom, was curious to know what could be found within its borders and sent a small group of men to return with something valuable. Only one man returned."
The dwarf didn't say anything after that as he continued to poke and prod at the river.
Curious to find out more about this mystical forest the dwarves had found and frustrated at the aspect of having to endure more of the dwarfs' newfound habit, she reached out towards Argonok's halberdier. She just wanted the smell to go away.
"Careful," His voice sounded angry as he moved to avoid the young girl's hand. "Only I'm allowed to touch this thing. I think you wouldn't want your hand to be consumed by the enchantments that were used during its forging."
Iskra frowned at the faceless dwarf as he backed away from both her and the river. Slowly, she brought back her arm before crossing it over her chest. "Fine, "The girl said as she tilted her head towards the river. "Tell me more about this forest and I won't touch it."
Argonok made a noise similar to someone clicking their tongue on the roof of their mouth. Iskra was reminded of last night's conversation where the dwarf mentioned the fact that he had nobody to speak of. The raven haired girl wondered how the dwarf could make such a sound. Perhaps Velicion could explain it or maybe even the previously mentioned Zharatan. Surely a dwarf would know more about what exactly a Fire Guard was and how they came to be.
"I don't know much as I didn't care to hear about it," The dwarf began as he continued to take a few steps back, unsure if the curious girl would suddenly lunge for his weapon. "But the story is that the forest is home to wild spirits. The sort of spirits that don't appreciate people coming into their home. At all."
"And?" Iskra slowly dragged the word from her mouth as she motioned for the dwarf to continue.
"The group was attacked by a multitude of treekin, weird forest creatures, and corrupted humans. Nasty stuff apparently, a few of the members were torn limb from limb. Not sure how he managed to escape, but he did."
Iskra cocked her head at the mention of whatever it was that treekin were, she had never heard of such things and then there was this whole thing about corrupted humans. Whatever that meant.
"What are treekin?" She was far more curious about this strange forest than she probably should have been, but Iskra wanted to know as much as she could.
"A type of forest spirit that inhabits trees previously blessed by the lands fae overlords." Iskra jumped in shock as Velicions gentle voice came from behind. The girl forgot that the sorceress had been relatively close by. "In laymen's terms, they take on the appearance of trees but with arms and legs and have a habit of stalking those that dare trespass onto their sacred lands."
Velicion placed a hand over the girls left shoulder as she leaned into the girl's ear. "Those that can't escape are brought deeper into their realm where their bodies and minds are forever altered. Roots, branches, and bark grow from their now twisted forms as they mindlessly wander through the magical woods. Slaves to the whims of the spirits for all eternity." The sorceress let out a menacing chuckle as she patted the young girl's shoulder while Iskra looked frightfully towards the ground, none too pleased with the tone that the elven woman presented.
"You guys are just trying to scare me." Was all that the teenager could muster.
"I'm not," Velicion began as she brought the girl closer to her. "There are plenty of tales where curious elven children wandered into such forests only to be torn apart or turned into monstrous little devils that harassed their home villages." The elf gave a grim smile before quickly planting a long and loving kiss on Iskra's cheek.
What a weird thing to do, the girl thought as she rubbed at the affected area while Velicion pulled away.
"Curious little children should stay in their homes and play with their toys," The elven woman said as she poked the air around Iskra. "That's the lesson those types of tales are trying to teach you. Though from my experience you little bastards would rather break a bone or two if it meant that you could have the slightest bit of fun."
Iskra mouthed a wordless reply as she wondered why anyone in their right mind would do that.
"It's best if we just avoid the forest altogether," Argonok joined in as he leaned into his weapon. "I'd rather not share my armor with a bunch of magical little sprouts who think they could control me."
Iskra looked away from the both of them and returned her gaze upon the slow moving river. Perfectly contempt to drop the issue altogether.
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Iskra let out a sigh of relief as she carefully dipped her feet into the cold water, she wiggled her toes beneath the freezing surface to help regain some feeling she had lost ever since the group had left their makeshift camp earlier that morning. She never realized how tiring walking through the wilderness truly was, and to an extent, she was glad that she had been born into a life of luxury. Even if that life was now gone and was no longer relevant to her current situation.
She was just glad that Velicion had called for a halt the very moment the group had found themselves near a bend in the river. The water was at a level low enough to where one could waltz right up to its waters and take off their boots if they wished to cool off, which was something that the raven haired girl had done almost straight away. With the belief that they were safe from any sort of harm, she had ignored the sorceress's calls for her to stay close. She would be beyond surprised if the group had somehow found themselves in the midst of an ambush, especially considering how flat and sparse the surrounding terrain was.
Since they had first stumbled upon the river earlier that morning, the forest had quickly begun to thin out. The once thick copse of massive trees eventually thinned and slowly began to disappear from their view altogether.
Iskra was glad that they now found themselves in a more pleasant environment. Gone were the moments of her tripping over unseen roots or being smacked by branches that somehow managed to avoid Prince Aurelius and hit her square in the neck and face. Leaving behind red marks and slight scratches as the low hanging branches swatted at her body as if nature itself found it funny.
Now, however, that was all behind her as all she had to truly worry about was getting enough rest before Velicion called for the group to continue forward with their journey. Iskra raised her arms high into the air as she stretched out her back before quickly plopping herself onto the course dirt that served as the river's embankment. She let out a long, elated sigh of relief as she looked up at the sunny blue sky above. The clouds lazily rolled along their own journey as the sun shined heavily down onto the girls face.
She closed her eyes, ready for however long of a nap she would be able to take. Or, she would have if not for the sudden shouts of surprise coming from somewhere behind her.
Curious as to what would cause such a commotion, she decided to peak her head over the embankment but quickly found that to be a terrible idea as several pair of worn out, but finely made boots rushed over her head before slamming down into the soft, water soaked sand.
Iskra looked over to where the majority of the guilty party had landed; her face was visibly upset as she was none too pleased that her head had been nearly kicked in by the leather boots that the elves wore upon their persons. Prince Aurelius and the black haired elf were shoulder to shoulder while the twins had already bounded towards the other side, pointing upwards into the air before quickly mimicking the actions of someone firing a bow.
Excited shouts were abundant among the teenage elves as they gestured wildly towards the distance. Laughter, both sarcastic and genuine, was ever present as various hands slapped the shoulders or backs of the person they were closest to. Everyone, save for Velicion and Argonok, was down in the embankment.
Iskra didn't mind that the boys had come rushing down to her spot; she just wished that they hadn't nearly kicked her head in while doing so. She just wanted to know what all of the commotion was about.
She was just about to call for Velicions to explain what in the world was happening when she realized that the sorceress's shadow loomed over her.
"Close one, wasn't it?" The lithe woman said as she gestured towards the group of boys with a flick of her chin.
"What's going on?" A minuscule amount of anger was present in her voice, but her curiosity had proven to be the stronger emotion out of the two.
"Lokhan spotted a group of trolls off in the distance. That led to Taloris saying something about killing one of them, and that set off the whole group."
Iskra said nothing for a moment as she realized that she had just learned two of her companion's names for the first time. Had it really taken this long for her to do so? She shook her head clear of those thoughts as she realized that learning their names wasn't the most important matter at hand. She was far more concerned about the trolls and what might happen.
"Are they coming towards us? Should we leave?" The girl asked with a hint of fear in her voice as her mind began to imagine all sorts of machinations of what the creatures could do to the group. She opened her mouth to ask more on the matter but was quickly cut off by an approaching Argonok; the familiar metallic clunking of metal against metal was an assured sign of his approaching footsteps.
"I wouldn't worry about it," The bored sounding dwarf said as he walked over to where Iskra stood before quietly sitting down. "Those trolls aren't even aware of their surroundings, and they won't notice us even if we were to bathe ourselves in their favorite sauces and cooked ourselves up for them to eat. Plus they're heading in the opposite direction, so no need to worry."
Iskra was relieved to hear what the dwarf had to say, but that still didn't explain why the others were so excited about an increasingly distant group of trolls.
"So then, what's with the-"
"Excitement?" Velicion interrupted her as she looked back down towards the girl. A smile appeared on her face as she made to mimic her dwarven companion and sat next to the standing human girl.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Iskra nodded in the affirmative as she looked between the two of them.
"Being as they're a bunch of kids, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the first time they've ever laid eyes on an actual troll. Living or dead." Argonok, wishing to confirm his suspicions, turned towards the sorceress. "They're nothing but a bunch of spoiled noble brats aren't they?"
Velicion nodded her head in silence. The dwarf was dead on the money.
"Besides the obvious being Prince Aurelius, the elves that are with you now are nothing more than a bunch of fourth or fifth sons of various nobility. Both large and small in all things upper society," Velicion turned towards Iskra as she continued with her explanation. "For the most part, these kids were sheltered. Well, as sheltered as one could be in Dar'Nari Nobility."
"So then," Iskra could see where Velicion was going with her explanation and if she understood it right, then she suspected that the boys that were with them today were nothing more than kids who wanted to make a name for themselves. Prince Aurelius included. "What's with all of this excitement? Did you guys not see a single troll in your previous journeys?"
"No," The sorceress let out a snort as she shook her head. "Orcs and Goblins? Yes. Humans and Elves? Of course. Things like Trolls and Treekin? Not even from the most alcohol induced rumor had we ever ran into one of those things, and trust me," Velicion held up a hand with a finger pointed towards the sky as she took a deep breath. "You don't ever want to fight either of those last two. I've had to fight both multiple times and on the few occasions I've battled with a Forest Spirit army that had all manners of things such as Trolls, Hydras and other nasty creatures. I wouldn't recommend it."
"Bah, Trolls are easy pickings once you know where to stab and cut them." Argonok butted into the conversation with one of his fists slamming hard onto the ground. Chunks of loose dirt flew into the river while the dwarf continued his bolstering. "Just launch a few globs of demon fire at them and they'll light up like any ol' forest fire."
"Some Trolls aren't as flammable as you would think, little dwarf." Velicion said as she leaned over towards Argonok before he could continue spinning a tale or two about slaying the current subject. "I thought just like you, but when I had to-"
"Didn't you hear me you deafened elf? I said demon fire! Demon! Fire!" Argonok snapped his gauntleted fingers before quickly mimicking the actions of someone lighting a campfire. "They'll burn up real quick with the stuff I've got."
Velicion gave an expression that Iskra could only assume to mean that the sorceress wasn't at all impressed with what the dwarf was throwing her way.
"That's cheating, and you know it-"Iskra had enough of their argument and quickly began to tune out the Sorceress and Fire Guard. The two of them quickly going on their way to ramble about how one should approach a troll and what was the best way to deal with one of them.
The young girl turned towards the excited group of boys as they continued with their own conversation that she had no doubt had to do with their fantasies of taking down the group of trolls, whether that was by themselves or with various members of the elven cadre. If it hadn't been for the two adults of the group that continued to yell into the young girl's ears, then she would have felt jealousy for her apparent lack of an equally excited conversation partner.
Though if she were to be perfectly honest with herself, if she had someone of a similar age to her then their conversations would most likely be about shining jewelry and silky smooth dresses and not boasts of violent victories and fiery mayhem.
That wasn't to say that she wasn't curious about what it would be like to have a few trolls at her beck and call. If what little information about them was the slightest bit true, then Iskra was sure that she could find the perfect job for the apparent nasty creatures to wreck the most devastating carnage.
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After the groups initial excitement with the sighting of the group of Trolls had worn off and the group had recollected their wits. Iskra's band of misfits had eventually carried on with their journey and spent the next two days quietly following the river. There were a few occasions where they had thought that several flocks of massive birds of prey would swoop in and steal their next meal or two, but the nasty sounding birds had been chased off with several well placed shots from the twins.
That never stopped them from trying however. Velicion had found it peculiar that there were wild birds smart enough to follow a small group of people as they traveled the wild. The sorceress had questions that led her to stipulate them being tamed beasts, but once the group had found themselves close to Argonoks apparent cursed forest the whole flock had vanished without a trace.
By the time the group had set up camp for the night, the sun had already begun to set. A dim orange light blanketed the land around them as the drunken haze of the late evening sun glimmered over the distant mountains.
The camp's fire cackled in abundance as several members of the group continued to feed the ever hungry flames. Conversations were sparse as the group had found it more worth their time to spend their energy eating the evening meal than to run their mouths on a variety of topics.
Once again, the group was having venison of some kind. It had been gutted, cleaned and chopped into eatable proportions before being cooked over the open fire. In the end, Iskra had four pieces of meat before finding the strength in her stomach to begin biting down on a fifth and final piece of the wild animal. Iskra was surprised by how hungry she had always found herself by the end of the day. She never realized that walking for such vast distances would end up causing such an appetite in her.
She just wished that there was some flavor to it; all she could really taste was the smoke and fire from when it was cooked.
Iskra was sandwiched between Argonok and Velicion while the remainder of the group were on their own, quietly chatting away about various topics that the young girl suspected had more to do with trolls than anything else.
Argonok, of course, did not eat. He had no need for anything other than the lingering urge to kill that constantly ate away at his mind. Killing things was how he sedated the ever gnawing pains of his newfound source of hunger.
"That's really creepy," Iskra had said to him which in turn warranted a laugh from the armored dwarf. "Don't you ever have anything more positive to say?"
She had begun to notice that, more often than not, Argonok was the sour sort of fellow who preferred a grimmer atmosphere with every waking hour that the two spent together. She suspected it was largely in part to what the dwarf had previously told her. Of how he murdered his family, friends, and neighbors and had been sentenced to live a hellish life in a cursed suit of armor.
Thankfully Velicion had a more upbeat personality, but that didn't stop the young girl from finding the older woman to be an annoyance in her own right.
Looking between the two she wondered if there was a god, or two, that had decided to judge the girl through a uniquely twisted form of divine punishment. How else would she explain having an elven sorceress and a murderous dwarf constantly glued to her shadow?
"Can't help it," The dwarf replied. "I just enjoy seeing people upset over what I say." Argonok let out another laugh as he leaned back, letting his arms plant themselves into the ground to help stabilize his body.
Velicion clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she rolled her eyes. Unimpressed with what the dwarf had to say. "I think you're just trying to make yourself look cooler than you actually are."
"You wish, elf." Argonok turned towards the sorceress as he gave his retort.
Iskra could see clear as day where this conversation was about to lead and decided it was best if she were to cut it off before it came into fruition. She would like to have a decent night's sleep without having her eardrums ringing from the constant shouts and wild gestures that Iskra was quickly associating these two with.
"Maybe," Her hand shot up towards Velicion who looked ready to give her own retort. Thankfully, the sorceress kept quiet as Iskra continued to speak. "Instead of arguing with one another for the umpteenth time over these past few days the two of you can help me decide if we should head towards the west or to the east."
The three of them remained quiet for a short moment.
Iskra quietly congratulated herself for a job well done in having stopped another loud and obnoxious argument from occurring.
"Let's assume that we need to head north," Argonok began; his voice was much quieter than just a few moments ago. "Then to the east of us would be even more mountains. I'm not entirely sure what we would run into if we were to go in that direction."
"Do we know what would be to the west?"
Velicion shook her head, the sorceress had never been this far south and had only recently arrived within the Dark Lands fairly recently. Her knowledge of the local area would be mediocre at best and downright ignorant at worst.
Argonok, for his efforts, appeared to give the question some thought.
"Who knows," The dwarf said with a subdued voice as he looked towards the forest. "I haven't heard much about this area. I'm not even sure that Zharatan has sent a single scout to at least attempt to survey the area beyond where we are right now."
This time it was Iskra's turn to give some thought to the dwarfs' words.
If what he had said was true, and she had no reason to believe the man would lie to her, then heading out west would be one of the most dangerous portions of their journey. She thought back to when she first met the dwarves. Zharatan had claimed they had spent several years within the area before officially settling down. She was sure that the dwarves had at least mapped out a healthy portion of the region as a whole. If not the whole area, but then they wouldn't need to. Especially if the dwarven leader was telling the truth in regards to their objective, excavating and mining the various mineral veins that supposedly dot the area around their fortress.
This led to Iskra thinking back towards her original question. Should they head east towards the mountains, where there will assuredly be goblins waiting to ambush them? Or should they head out west, where the entire land is a big mystery, and the mists of the unknown will slowly recoil before them?
Between such odd choices, Iskra realized that she only had one real option given to her. The second one was an illusion she had created for reasons unknown to her conscious mind. Maybe that was just how all brains worked, making things far more complicated than they should be in order to force the person to be more critical in their choices.
In the morning they would head west, into the wild and uncharted land that lay beyond. With it, they will slowly head back north and make their return to Ruined Home.
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The next day came and went without issue as the group pushed westwards. It was a dull journey, one with nothing to see except for the flat plains of the land around them. They had seen no rivers, hills or wild animals for most of their journey. Only a flat plain filled with untamed wild grass that danced freely in the gentle breeze. The air was warm but kind to their bodies as they pushed on until they stopped at midday on the second day.
During their rest, it had been decided that the group had gone far enough and it was time for them to turn north and return to Ruined Home. It didn't take long for them to run into trouble.
A piercing cry shortly followed by a pair of guttural howls reached their ears, forcing the entire group to turn their attention towards the source of the primal sound.
Velicion snapped her fingers while giving orders to the boys. They quickly, and quietly, obeyed and dashed off to spy on whatever was happening.
"Let's go see what the hubbub is all about," Argonok said as he motioned his head in the direction where the elven teenagers had run off to. "Could be something interesting, yeah?"
Iskra, unsure if this was the right thing to do, nodded her head in silence and quietly trailed behind the Fire Guard. She would be lying if she had said she wasn't curious, but that didn't stop her from realizing her nervousness about any potential danger.
It only took a few moments before the three of them caught up with Prince Aurelius and the others. The four of them were hiding behind a patch of tall stalks, the thick bundle of plant matter rustled in the wind as Taloris waved at them to stay low while he placed a finger over his lips. Ear wrenching voices could be heard close by.
Iskra winced in pain as the unidentified figures spoke to one another in their alien tongue.
Velicion leaned over towards one of the twins and spoke a few words, most likely asking about the situation they now faced.
The twin looked back and said very little before quickly pointing to their left and right.
The young girl did her best to try and follow along but found the conversation to be too quick to attempt an understanding.
Velicion nodded once, satisfied with what she had learned, and moved back before slowly leaning into Iskra's ear. "There are two orcs just beyond these massive weeds. They're accompanied by two wargs. Going by the type of gear that the animals seem to be carrying, they appear to be mounts for the orcs."
Unable to see over the shoulders of the elven teenagers, Iskra was forced to take the sorceress at her word. That didn't stop the young girl from asking a question that popped into her mind. "Why haven't they noticed us," She said with a dash of nervousness. "Aren't they just giant wolves?"
"Not quite," Velicion shook her head as she answered the girl's query. "Wargs have an extremely dull sense of smell and are poor hunters on their own right. I will never understand why Orcs, or Goblins, continue to use them as hunting animals."
"Why are they here?"
"They appear to be arguing over a goblin," The sorceress turned her head to one side as she strained her ears to listen to the orcs conversation. "One wishes to bring him back to their chieftain while the other just wants to kill it. Apparently, the goblin is a fugitive for some reason or another."
Iskra lowered her head as her mind consumed the information given to her. The orcs and the wargs they had brought with them were a problem, one that could be easily dealt with if the twins were quick enough to dispatch them with their bows. The issue that ate at her mind was what to do with the goblin that was said to be facing a deadly fate.
If the goblin was allowed to be killed, then the elves would merely have to deal with the pair of orcs and their mounts. A simple enough solution to a problem that appeared to be an open and shut case, but Iskra felt as if she should do something entirely different.
If the group was to kill orcs and their wargs, then they could attempt to rescue the pitiful creature from its untimely fate. For the moment at least. Iskra wasn't entirely sold on this plan, but it did intrigue her.
Goblins, from her experience, were entirely ugly creatures that had no beauty to them and only existed to look as disgusting as possible. They might even be the scraps of flesh thrown together to by the gods when the world was first being created, an afterthought to an afterthought if one had to put words to what Iskra had felt was correct. Their misshapen jaws and sunken, beady red eyes were proof of this belief.
Though this didn't mean that they had their own uses. With what little information she had on the race, Iskra wondered if she could use them for her own purposes. If she were to forge an alliance with a tribe or two then that could mean that the Dark Lands were readied to be tamed and civilized. This thought forced a mischievous smile to creep onto her face as her mind continued to work out a complex and weirdly convoluted potential future. A future that saw her in a place of ultimate power.
If they were to save this single goblin, then that could mean the start to a life of power and luxury. A life that she wanted back.
"Velicion," A harsh whisper escaped from her lips as she looked back towards the elven sorceress. "Do you think we can save the goblin? Kill the orcs and the wargs before they decide on what to do?"
Velicion, for her part, gave the girl a strange look. No doubt curious as to what the raven haired girl was planning. "I don't see why not," Her reply came swiftly as she looked between the elvish twins and the human girl. "Is that what you want to do?"
Without a word, Iskra nodded her head as she looked straight into the elven woman's eyes. She was dead serious.
Velicion muttered in elvish as she turned and crept towards the bow wielding twins. The sorceress reached out and placed a hand on their closest shoulders. The two boys turned to look at her as she gave them an order.
The brothers looked to each other and quietly nodded as they drew their bows and slowly rose to get a clear shot on their targets.