"So you entered the desert as well?"

They had set up camp in the middle of the jungle, caring much less about being attacked given that this area was completely abandoned. Feyrith couldn't say that he wasn't still on edge after what had happened with the creature. It could still find them, try to attack them, but he sincerely hoped it wouldn't. It had seemed defeated when it had spoken to him that last time.

"Yeah, it was weird." Lanna nodded as she said it, then shrugging as if she didn't know what else to add to that. Feyrith supposed it made sense, though. Given how he and Ayd had found themselves there in the first place, it wasn't that surprising that those rapidly appearing portals, or tears as the creature had called them, would appear around the others as well. "We saw a large city in the distance, so we went there. Ralis thought the portal we found there would bring us back, and it did."

"And when we got out of there, this is what I looked like," Arbane added, gesturing to his face. The man seemed very irritated, much more than Feyrith had ever seen him for a longer period of time, but Feyrith couldn't blame him. He knew how frustrating it was to not have answers to questions as important as this.

Arbane didn't look like a proper elf, though, which was another very strange thing about this. His eyes looked human, still, and his features were not quite as angular as the average elf's, his ears not long enough. It didn't make any sense to him.

"Maybe it is some kind of illusion?" Feyrith suggested, but Ralis spoke up from the other side of the campfire.

"I cannot detect any illusion."

"Maybe his human self was the illusion the entire time, and he's a half-elf or something," Ayd said far too casually for what they were discussing. Feyrith frowned, completely baffled as to how Ayd could think that at all.

"We cannot procreate with humans," Ralis replied, and Feyrith nodded. She'd taken the words straight from his mouth. Elves and humans were simply incompatible that way, and it was incredibly odd to say the opposite of such a fundamental fact.

Ayd leaned closer to the fire, staring right at Ralis. "And who said that? The Council?"

"Yes, and also every elven scholar since the beginning of recorded history," Ralis said, her expression completely blank. Clearly, she was not interested in starting a fight with Ayd, which Feyrith was very grateful for. He looked at Ayd, who was sitting next to him, expecting him to try to egg Ralis on, but instead, he chuckled, an amused spark in his eye.

"Really makes you wonder how they came to that conclusion, doesn't it?"

Enaryl snorted quietly, covering her mouth and ducking her head immediately as though ashamed for finding this humorous, while next to Feyrith, Lanna let out a full-on laugh, shaking her head.

"Look, I hate being the serious one, but can we focus on me again?" Arbane said, if anything even more irritated. He brought his hands to his ears, rubbing at the pointed ends with something almost like distress in his eyes.

Feyrith wished he knew how to comfort him. Thankfully Lanna intervened then, pulling her husband into a hug, which he immediately returned. Feyrith had never seen the man so upset. It was quite disconcerting, and he had no idea how to make the situation better.

"Hey, whatever is going on, we'll figure it out," Lanna told Arbane quietly, still not letting go, but being next to her in this completely silent place, Feyrith could hear her anyway. He felt like he was intruding on a private moment, but aside from getting up and leaving, there was very little he could do to avoid it. Lanna pulled away a moment later though, stopping Feyrith from feeling awkward.

"Who were your parents?" Ralis asked Arbane, her head tilted in curiosity. Feyrith was very glad she seemed to have no interest in fighting with Ayd anymore, he truly was. They had enough problems.

"Don't know. Orphan."

Ralis hummed, her eyebrows knitted together. Feyrith wouldn't think it strange for Arbane to be an orphan given how many humans died to the beasts each year, but in the context of him being an elf in some way, it certainly brought up questions. Questions they didn't have time for, unfortunately. Though even if they did have it, they would likely not come to any answers.

Feyrith disliked that Ayd had brought up the concept of half-elves because it truly would fit Arbane. He seemed to have features both of a human and an elf. And yet, Feyrith couldn't simply accept that half-elves existed. He'd questioned many of the Council's rules, but this was more of a biological fact. Then again, until now Feyrith had never thought of any elf possibly having a child with a human. What would be the point? A child like that would more than likely possess no magical ability.

"You know nothing's changed, right?" Lanna leaned closer to Arbane as she said this, putting her arm around his shoulders. "You're just as handsome as ever."

Arbane snorted, a big grin on his face. "Oh, I bet you think I'm even more so now."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Now it was Lanna's turn to laugh, whispering something in Arbane's ear that Feyrith couldn't hear. Not that he particularly wanted to, feeling like an intruder.

"We should keep moving," Ralis said, getting up. Feyrith couldn't help but agree. They'd all rested and eaten, the quasir having torn out every plant in the area out of the ground. Their mounts had been ravenous when they'd stopped, clearing the place for their campfire within minutes. And thankfully, Ralis and Enaryl created water for everyone including the quasir, so there was no reason not to keep going.

Feyrith couldn't help but worry what was going to happen once they reached the river, whatever that was going to look like, because it would mean confronting the woman the creature had talked about. He just hoped that together they were powerful enough to stop her from continuing whatever she was doing to drive the beasts out.

As they all mounted their quasir, Ralis took the lead as before, Enaryl staying in the back so they had magical protection on both sides. Ralis didn't hesitate for even a second when choosing the direction they should go in, having apparently remembered where they had been heading. No new earthquakes have happened the entire time they'd been resting, so they had nothing to set them on the right path, so Feyrith was truly glad Ralis knew where to go.

They followed in silence in a single line, just like before, even though the jungle was empty, as far as they knew. If not for the creature, they hadn't been attacked by anything the entire time since they'd come to this part of the jungle using the portal. But still, no one dared say anything. Feyrith kept staring at Arbane who was riding in front of him, studying as much of his face as he could from this angle. He didn't mean to stare like this, but he couldn't help it. It was simply so bizarre to see someone he'd known for over a month, who he'd seen every day since being banished from Aendor, suddenly having at least a partial visage of an elf.

They traveled through the thick jungle for what felt like hours, but with so little light, it was difficult to tell how much time had passed. Feyrith barely noticed, especially because everyone was staying quiet, letting his mind wander despite the way his insides twisted whenever he thought about what might happen once they reached their goal.

But then something brought him out of his thoughts. He could hear something. Was that...someone yelling? But who else could be here, besides them? Was this the woman they were looking for?

He stopped when the others did, clearly also having noticed the sounds of commotion, and he squinted into the darkness, noticing a very faint yellow light somewhere in the distance, almost fully blocked out by the trees. But in the impenetrable darkness of the jungle, it was impossible to miss.

"Be careful," Ralis said, rather unnecessarily given that everyone was on high alert. "This could be the reason we are here."

"So are we following the noise?" asked Ayd from behind Feyrith. His voice didn't betray any fear, though he certainly didn't sound happy about this. And neither way Feyrith. Whoever was making those noises might need their help or they might also very well attack them, and they had no way of knowing which was the case without investigating.

Ralis looked back at them, but no one said anything, only exchanging determined nods. Feyrith steeled himself as Ralis nudged her quasir to start running again, heading right for the noise and light, and their entire group followed behind her.

The closer they got, the louder the noises, the more visible the light, and the faster Feyrith's heartbeat. He could hear several people yelling now, and the sounds of fire bursting to life. But that fire wasn't the source of the light, it couldn't be—the light was golden, strong and unrelenting, unmoving.

Feyrith's eyes widened when he realized what that light must have been. A shield, he was sure of it. Paired with the sounds of fire, he was sure now—there must have been at least one elf, but more likely more than that. Just that thought made his insides twist in dread, and yet he was more than happy to go faster when Ralis' mount started to gallop, morbidly curious what they were about to see.

"Come die, little elves!" thundered a horrible voice that sent shivers down Feyrith's spine. It sounded like two people talking at once, one voice incredibly deep, the other high. It sounded...well, as unnatural and otherworldly as that creature had. "The trees welcome you."

A new burst of fire, an unbelievably powerful one, illuminated the area, and finally, for a brief moment, Feyrith could see who the voice had been talking to. There was a group of maybe thirty people and their quasir, most of them huddled together under a magical shield larger than any Feyrith had ever seen before, going through tree trunks to cover everyone. And all around them were branches extending from the surrounding trees, trying to get through, stabbing at the shield, reaching for them, no doubt with the intention of killing them.

There was no figure made of plants to give the voice a body, but Feyrith didn't doubt for a second that they were dealing with something similar to the creature who had tried to steal his body. But he didn't think it was the same creature. It hadn't sounded the same at all.

Ralis didn't stop until she was close enough to use her magic on the branches, aiming her staff to set the trees on fire as soon as she could. Enaryl joined her, zipping past the rest of their group and summoning fire as well, helping the elves on the other side of the twisting branches. The golden shield was almost too bright to look at in the darkness, even next to the light of the fire, but Feyrith didn't take his eyes off the scene for even a moment, stopping a few feet away from the flames.

He would have felt useless, just sitting on his quasir, waiting, but with the combined forces of Ralis, Enaryl, and the elves on the other side, the branches burned away very quickly, far too quickly for whatever was controlling them to keep up. Once the trees began to burn properly, though, the remaining branches seemed to shrink away, a horrible, ear-piercing shrieking following.

Feyrith had to cover his ears then, gritting his teeth. It felt as though the screaming was burrowing its way into his head, but it was gone the next second.

"Damn you," the voice croaked, making Feyrith shiver. And then there was silence, the only noise the cracking of burning wood. Feyrith wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, not sure whether it was the heat from the flames or the experience that had made him sweat, but any sense of relief at their victory was short-lived when he finally took a good look at the elves forming a protective circle around the ones in the middle of their group.

Feyrith almost gasped, but he couldn't get a word out. Edwyr was standing there, right in front of him, staring back at him, shock in his eyes, though it was nothing like the shock Feyrith was feeling. Because if Edwyr was here, then that meant that the people with him weren't just elves.

They were the elves whostole his magic.