Feyrith couldn't stop thinking about what he'd felt back near the jungle. That strange tremor that had disturbed the beasts within it. The more he thought about it, the more he was certain it was likely magical in nature, but what was he meant to do with that knowledge? They couldn't march into the jungle looking for the origin of this phenomenon. They didn't even know if this truly was what was causing the beasts to attack Sunwood so often.

Feyrith once more cursed his lack of magic. He could be so much more helpful to these humans. Perhaps not helpful enough to venture into the jungle and live, but certainly more helpful than he was now. He drew a sharp breath as he felt his eyes start to sting. Even though he currently sitting on the bed in Edwyr's house and therefore had enough privacy, he still refused to do something as unbecoming of an elf as crying.

He had better things to do than wallow in his misery. Like trying to find out what was going on and how to stop it. He wasn't sure where to even start, but after the way Arbane and Lanna had handled themselves helping him get to the mountain ruins, he knew that humans tended to surprise him, so perhaps together they could figure it out. The fact that he, an elf, was hoping that humans would fix a problem for him was rather shameful, but right now he was barely more physically competent than them.

Brought out of his thoughts by a sudden commotion outside, Feyrith jumped off the bed, grabbing his bow and arrows, which he'd left by the door, and rushing out of the house. He'd been hoping that tonight there would be no attack, but it seemed the beasts had other plans.

But as he ran outside and took a quick look around to see which animal was attacking them and where, he stopped as he realized that no one was on high alert. Many humans were gathered close to the gate, but the raised voices he'd heard didn't seem alarmed. At least not the usual kind of alarmed.

Feyrith walked toward them, passing a few humans who seemed to have decided to stay back, not letting his guard down until he could be sure that there was no danger.

And finally, he noticed what seemed to be some newcomers. At least he'd never seen these humans before, and it wasn't often that humans traveled due to how dangerous the land outside of towns and villages was. But these humans seemed haggard and injured. Feyrith could see that even in the dark, the human's blood-soaked clothing and splatters of blood, dirt, or both on their faces and hands.

"The beasts that attacked us were fast," the woman in the front of the group of newcomers said, her voice exhausted and pained. "Faster than any we've ever seen. We could barely catch a glimpse of them before they attacked. We're the only ones who survived." She hung her head. "Our village is...gone."

Feyrith watched as the humans of Sunwood ushered the newcomers in, voices overlapping, leading them in the direction of the local healer, or at least Feyrith assumed that was the case. They did look like they needed healing, which made Feyrith's guilt rise, but there was very little he could do. He could perhaps heal the scrapes of one of them and then be too exhausted to do anything else.

He watched the group leave, only for his eyes to widen when he noticed the man at the very end with a hood over his head. Even though Feyrith could only catch a glimpse of him before all of their backs were turned to him, there was no mistaking the sharp features, the nearly black eyes, and his skin, darker than his companions. That had to be an elf. And given that he'd not healed the others, it was likely a Cursed elf.

Feyrith swallowed. He had no idea how to feel about being in the presence of a Cursed elf, but he supposed his feelings mattered little.

Swallowing down his discomfort with this development, Feyrith tried to ignore what he'd just seen, and instead focused on what was important—the fact that the beasts had apparently destroyed a nearby village.

It seemed the attacks were getting worse, and very quickly. Much more quickly than he could have imagined. Human settlements were usually well fortified to keep beasts out, and from what he'd heard, the worst attacks resulted in a casualty or two, and those were rare. It wasn't normal for an entire village to be wiped out save for a few survivors. He'd never heard of anything like that happening.

They needed to figure out the cause of all this destruction and fix it before even more people lost their lives. But how were they meant to do it? The analytic part of Feyrith's mind told him to go from town to town, asking if they were being attacked more often than usual while surveying the area and making note of anything that could clue them in on where this could be coming from specifically, seeing as the jungle was massive. But how could they accomplish something like this with only three of them?

Even if the newcomers joined them, even if the entirety of Sunwood did, it still seemed hopeless. There was simply too much ground to cover, and not enough time to do it. They couldn't even contact each other easily with a communication stone because they simply had no one who could use them. Feyrith was fairly confident he could manage a short conversation, but he didn't have a stone to use, let alone two of them and someone else who could use magic.

He'd thought they had more time, but if the situation in other towns was this bad already, they didn't have any time left at all. So with that knowledge, what should they do? Try to fortify Sunwood against future attacks? But where would they begin? The town was fairly well protected already, and there was no easy way to protect a town against flying beasts.

Even if they decided to build some kind of fortress to protect themselves, not only would that take a very long time without magic, especially considering they would have to get stone somewhere far away from the town, but it would also not be a guarantee of safety. Some of the animals coming from the jungle were large and strong enough to break most houses apart if they chose to do so, and Feyrith didn't doubt they would resort to that if their hunger was great enough.

There was only one thing they could conceivably do: ask the Council for help. Feyrith hung his head, sighing.

After the way they'd rejected him, he didn't want to face them, or any elf working with the Council for that matter. He wasn't sure what to think of it, still. He felt betrayed by their banishment of him, but at the same time, he also felt like he'd failed by having his magic taken from him. He felt angry, and yet ashamed of that anger at the same time. And he couldn't help but question the Goddess' will in this matter, which only made him feel worse.

But this was bigger than him. He knew that not many elves were stationed in the northern half of the continent, it was possible that the Council didn't know enough about what was happening to know that they should get involved. Feyrith knew that they were busy with their duties managing all of Aendor and every single elf who didn't bear the Curse, but surely they would agree that this was more important.

Perhaps if he got at least one of the newcomers to come with him as well, that would go a long way to convince the elves he wasn't somehow being self-serving, whatever they could think he would hope to gain from pretending there is a crisis. And he should talk to them, as well, and gather information.

But he was sure they were tired and not interested in talking to him right now. As much as he wanted to wake his quasir and rush to Aendor, he would have to wait until tomorrow, and so he set off, heading back to Edwyr's house. He didn't know if he would be able to fall asleep, but he wouldn't be helpful to anyone by being exhausted and unfocused in the morning.

++++++++

Once morning came, Feyrith didn't waste time by stopping to eat something and instead started heading to the healer. If the newcomers weren't there, the healer should know where they had gone, so it was the most logical course of action to him.

But he didn't make it there because he was stopped by Arbane, who he crossed paths with about halfway through the walk.

"Fey, I was just about to come visit you."

Feyrith frowned, not sure what to make of that. That wasn't a normal thing for either Arbane or Lanna to do, which Feyrith suspected was a mix of Feyrith living in Edwyr's house, and them not being close enough. At least that was how Feyrith understood it. It was still somewhat difficult for him to grasp all the ins and outs.

"Oh. Do you need me for something?"

Feyrith couldn't imagine what he'd be needed for given his lack of magic, but Arbane shook his head. Which was even stranger, to be fair.

"Did you hear about the strangers that arrived last night?"

Feyrith blinked. He supposed he should have expected this to be a possible topic of conversation, but he had no idea where Arbane was going with this. "Well, yes, I've seen them."

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"Oh, you have?" Arbane nodded, grimacing. He almost looked embarrassed for some reason. "I may have slept through that development." Feyrith didn't see how that was cause for embarrassment. Humans needed rest, especially after riding a quasir for an entire day. "Well, it's just, I heard they have an elf with them."

Feyrith gave a nod. Yes, he was unfortunately well aware of that.

"I just wanted to warn you about that. He might have some stupid things to say."

Feyrith frowned. Well, now he was more confused than ever. Arbane had come to talk to Feyrith to warn him about the fact that the other elf might be unfriendly to Feyrith? What would be the point of that? He'd already been expecting as much.

"Yes, I was about to go find him and his party," Feyrith changed the subject, not sure how to react to what Arbane had told him. He was sure he was missing something, but he couldn't figure out what. The human style of communication was confusing and messy.

"Right," Arbane nodded, running a hand through his short hair, making it stick out at varying angles. He looked somewhat annoyed for some reason, but it didn't seem to be directed at Feyrith. At least the elf hoped it wasn't. "To gather more information about what we're dealing with?"

"Yes, but mostly to ask them if they would accompany me to Aendor."

Arbane's eyes widened as he gaped at Feyrith for a second. "Wait, what? Why?"

"I must ask the Council for help," Feyrith replied, sighing. Actually voicing his plan made his insides tie themselves into knots. But he had to do it. There was no getting around it. He wished someone else could go instead of him, but the truth was, despite his current state, out of everyone here he was still the person the elves would most likely be willing to talk to. "The newcomers' experiences could be vital in proving to the elves that help is needed."

"They're not going to listen," Arbane argued.

"They have to listen. Or more innocent people will die."

Protecting human life was the ultimate goal of all elves, so Feyrith refused to entertain the thought that they would ignore a crisis like this, no matter how they'd acted toward him. It would mean dishonoring the Goddess.

Arbane sighed, running a hand over his face. "Okay, fine. If you want to try, we'll go."

Once again, Feyrith had to pause for a second to work through his confusion. "You are going with me?"

"Of course," Arbane said, his tone firm and resolute. "It's dangerous out there. I'm not going to wait around here hoping that a group of strangers will protect you."

Feyrith frowned, trying to figure out the meaning behind those words. Now that he had practically no magic, he wasn't exactly irreplicable. Feyrith still wasn't sure if he'd even be allowed to stay in Sunwood if there hadn't been a newly abandoned house available. If Edwyr ever came back, Feyrith wasn't sure how that would be resolved, but of course, he would do his best to avoid any conflict. It was clear even to him that Arbane and Lanna missed their friend, even if they didn't say it.

"Why?" Feyrith asked, giving up on trying to figure out what Arbane was saying. The man had always confused him, especially because he said illogical things often. "You and Lanna are similarly skilled with weapons to me. You will be leaving the town more vulnerable."

Arbane rolled his eyes, but instead of annoyance, there was regret in his gaze. "Because you're my friend, and I care about you. You elves don't really do that, do you?"

Feyrith stared at him with wide eyes. He'd not realized Arbane saw him as a friend rather than simply a somewhat useful acquaintance. That did explain some things, he supposed. "We...care about each other."

"In a vague way that only relates to how useful you are, right?"

Feyrith felt a spark of outrage light up inside him, but almost immediately it went out. Because Arbane was completely correct, even if his tone suggested he'd meant it as a bad thing. And Feyrith was starting to question if maybe some of the elven rules were unnecessary.

It felt like blasphemy to even consider it, but he couldn't help but ponder it. He'd been taught that close relationships clouded the mind, which he was fairly certain was true, but living among the humans had shown him it also served to motivate and rally them. It gave people something to fight for aside from their own lives or a somewhat abstract, divine mission.

It was very interesting but also conflicting.

Arbane cleared his throat, now avoiding eye contact. "I just wanted to make it clear to you that we do see you as our friend, all right? And it has nothing to do with you being able to kill a beast from the other side of Sunwood. Though that is really impressive, by the way."

Feyrith would have pointed out that Arbane was exaggerating, that he'd never shot from that far away, but he could tell that it was meant to be at least somewhat exaggerated. And so he instead tried to wrap his mind around this strange idea of unconditional camaraderie. He understood it somewhat when it related to humans, but not himself.

But perhaps this was not something he should be questioning.

"Maybe if I was this clear with Edwyr he wouldn't have jumped at the first chance to leave," Arbane muttered seemingly to himself, his eyes suddenly jarringly sad. But he quickly cleared his throat again and shook his head when he noticed Feyrith staring at him. "So, um, I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. Anyway, let's go see these survivors."

Feyrith was still somewhat taken aback by the sudden switch between emotions as Arbane clasped his hand on the elf's shoulder, but he followed without a word, his thoughts an unorganized mess. But he had to ponder everything he'd just been told later. Right now they had more pressing issues.

Arbane led him to the tavern, which wasn't a place Feyrith would have thought of going, but he supposed the building offered enough space to house a group of newly arrived people, so it made sense.

He was surprised just how much sense it made, however, when he found out the tavern had two stories, offering a loft with beds. He'd not been in the tavern much at all, so he'd not been aware of this, but he supposed it made some sense. After all, when he'd been traveling to the mountain ruin, there was accommodation for travelers in every town and village they'd visited.

He supposed that this was where he would have ended up if there hadn't been a house available as he ran his eyes over the fairly large room when they knocked on the door and walked in once someone inside told them they could. He left his thoughts at that, though, as he instead focused on the people inside. There were seven of them, four women and three men, including the elf who sitting on the bed farthest from Feyrith, and who Feyrith was trying his best not to look at.

The humans looked to be in better shape than yesterday, the blood and dirt having been washed away, though Feyrith could still see the occasional bruises and scratches. The mood in the room, though, didn't seem to have gotten much better, not that Feyrith could blame them. If his home were destroyed, he'd not be in high spirits either.

"Hi, sorry to bother you," Arbane said, his tone upbeat and yet also gentle. It was endlessly fascinating to Feyrith how much meaning humans managed to fit into words through intonation, unlike the elven, much more monotone approach. But now was not the time to make notes about that. "My friend Fey here has a question for you."

There was a strange feeling in his chest at the word friend, but Feyrith pushed that aside, not willing to think about that right now. He cleared his throat, taking a step forward. Ever since losing his magic, he felt awkward talking to most humans, mostly because without magic he lacked gravitas and didn't inspire much confidence, but he did his best to fight through his discomfort.

"In light of what has been happening, and your arrival here, I would like to ask you if some of you were willing to accompany me to Aendor to ask the Council for help, so nothing like what happened to your village will happen again."

The humans looked at each other, clearly considering it, which was better than an outright rejection, Feyrith supposed, but before anyone could reply, the elf at the back scoffed, getting up and strolling to Feyrith.

"They won't listen," he said, a hint of a smirk on his face but anger in his green eyes. His hair wasn't as short as Edwyr's, going down to his neck, but it was still a far cry from what it should look like. Feyrith couldn't help but notice the short, thin braid on the right side of the elf's head, behind his ear. Feyrith frowned at it, wondering whether this was supposed to honor or mock the Goddess. Given the size, Feyrith was guessing it was somehow meant to be ironic.

"They will. Their most important mission is to help humanity." It felt strange to say their, to not include himself in that sentence, but not only was it incorrect to do so due to his lack of magic, he also didn't want this elf to know Feyrith wasn't just another Cursed elf. He wasn't sure why, but he just knew it would be unpleasant to share such information.

"I envy your optimism," the other elf replied, his tone full of amusement that didn't reach his eyes. "Or perhaps self-delusion."

Feyrith scowled. He didn't appreciate being talked about like this, even if the wrinkles around the other elf's eyes showed him to be Feyrith's elder. But before he could say anything, Arbane spoke.

"All right, buddy, calm down. Fey is just trying to help."

"Yeah, I agree," a woman in the front said. "Asking for help is worth a try. If us telling the elves what happened can help convince them, then I don't see why we shouldn't do it."

A few grumbles of approval filled the room as the others nodded, with the only person unhappy with the development being the elf.

"It's a waste of time. Getting to Aendor and back will take an entire day, maybe more," he argued, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well, then you can stay here, Ayd. Help defend the town. You don't have to come with," the woman replied, raising an eyebrow at him as if challenging him to argue with her. Feyrith wondered if she was the leader. The others seemed to be listening to her, and he was also almost sure she had been the one to explain their situation when they'd arrived last night.

"Good. I never want to go back there," the elf, apparently called Ayd, muttered under his breath, stalking away back to the back of the room. Feyrith did his best to ignore him, focusing instead on the woman.

"So, you will come with me?"

The woman shrugged, giving him a weary smile. "If you think our presence will help, then we have to try. Arrows and steel just aren't enough to defend us anymore, it seems."

A somber silence filled the air, everyone turning their gaze to the wooden floor. It made Feyrith wonder how many people had died in their village. And how many people had died in the other, nearby towns and villages that they simply didn't know about?

"What attacked you?"

The man sitting on a bed to the right, next to the wall shook his head. "Some large, flying lizards. They were so fast."

"Scalewings?" Arbane asked, and the woman shook her head.

"These had four legs. And seemed to hunt in a group." The woman gave Arbane and Feyrith a somewhat sardonic smile. "We didn't stay around long enough to take a proper look once it became clear that we couldn't manage to shoot them down."

Arbane grimaced. "Right."

So a new, likely never before seen beast had attacked them, just like what had happened in Sunwood the day before. This was getting more and more alarming. Feyrith wasn't certain how the situation could keep getting worse, but it certainly was.

"So when do we leave?"