After emptying my stomach of some brown sludge that I never ate in the first place, I succeeded in standing. Within three steps a cramp formed in my leg that sent me hobbling after everyone with a worse limp than Karl.
Then we remembered that Paul and Jennifer were still missing and we stopped to rest beside the brook with Hendric while Wind searched for the missing three. Hendric removed his breastplate and used the brook to wipe the gore from the steel. I joined him just upstream to wash the taste of vomit from my mouth and to lap up water like some dog. I felt silly, but canine snouts were not built for drinking like humans were
“Where exactly are we headed?” I asked Hendric afterwards, sitting down on one of the square stones beside him. “Wind mentioned something about an expedition?”
Hendric nodded. “Yeah. We have a camp nearby.”
“What is this expedition for?”
“We’re lookin’ to explore these ruins and find the old wardstone. The council has it in their head to rebuild the city.”
“Ruins?” I asked. “Rebuild the city?”
Hendric pointed to one of the piles of pristine stone blocks half buried in dirt and moss. “You’re sitting on them.”
“Not much of a ruin.” I said. Aside from sourcing the stone, a city would have to be built from scratch. And anyways, who would want to rebuild a city here in the middle of a beetle-infested forest?
“I think I have to agree with you. The council decided to go for it anyway. I suppose if the wardstone is still intact, it’s possible.”
“You talk like you’re not part of the group.” Kevin observed.
“Not the council specifically.” Hendric agreed. “But I’m technically a member of the tribe, so I offered to come along. It’s kind of like a shitty job with shit pay.”
“Then why did you take it?” I asked, not really understanding what he was talking about.
“It’s a bit complicated, but I stick to my own. I’ve worked with Wind and his tribe for most of a decade. He’s saved my life more than once and brought our little group through enough bad patches that we all owe him a thing or two.”
“So this ‘Council’ decided to rebuild an ancient city for some reason, and Wind’s ‘tribe’ offered to help explore the ruins?” I summarized, trying to make sense of Hendric’s explanation.
“Something like that.” Hendric agreed. “I’m not one to give a history lesson, but you should know that things can be a bit rough for your kind in the southern cities. Enough is enough and the council decided to put a plan in motion to change things. I have my doubts, but they seem willing to give it a go.”
“So these southern cities are just going to let you waltz in here and build an empire?” Kevin asked, walking up behind me.
Hendric glanced up from his armor. “Lass, you probably don’t want to hear this, but we’re in the deepest reaches of the Heartwood right now. We’re more than a thousand miles from the nearest patch of true civilization which is Kroll, and the kaldani who live there are supposedly sympathetic to the ‘heli tribes. The first real enemy are the States of Dorin a thousand miles further than that. They probably wouldn’t care even if they knew about it. Even if they did care, what could they do? You don’t march an army across the Heartwood and expect it to come through the other side in one piece, if at all.”
“So what’s the problem then? Why are you so skeptical about them succeeding?” I asked.
“This is the Heartwood! Were you not listening? If an army can’t march unscathed across the Heartwood, how will a bunch of civilians? Those little bugs we fought earlier are some of the tamer things in this forest. There are things outside these ruins that would snap me in half with little more than a glance. Besides, this expedition needs to both find the wardstone and make sure it still functions properly before the Mana Tide arrives in the spring.”
“Scaring our guests with your pessimism already?” Wind interrupted, emerging from the forest with Paul, Jennifer, and the little mewling bundle that was Weston.
“They asked and I’m not one to beat around the bush.” Hendric responded. “Are we all set to go then? The camp’s still a couple miles away.”
**********
We followed the brook downstream much as we had before. The gentle slope of the forest floor shallowed into a broad floodplain and the trees parted to reveal the massive river snaking between the rolling foothills of the mountains.
“We call it the Serpent River.” He explained. “Named after the little beasties that live in it. It’s why no one travels by boat past the borders of the Heartwood.”
Free at last from the endless canopy, I looked up to where the noonday sun beamed down from the clear sky, and then to where gray clouds gathered in the west, promising rain. Far above us the red Rift loomed. It was smaller than the one above Oakdale, no larger than my thumb at arm’s length, but its familiar shape could not be mistaken.
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We ducked back into the trees, following the banks of the river until I caught the faint scent of smoke drifting through the trees. Wind stopped, lifting his nose into the air to let out a very fox-like high-pitched yelping scream. Moments later, a much more normal whistle sounded out from the direction of the clearing.
“That gets me every time.” Hendric said, chuckling at Wind’s call.
“I wouldn’t have to scream like an idiot if you didn’t keep hiding my reed.” Wind grumbled, motioning for us to keep walking.
“And miss the sound of your beautiful voice? Learn to whistle, fox boy.”
“I physically can’t, unlike you apes.”
I got the distinct sense that calling a vul’heli ‘fox boy’ was not ok.
The trees opened into a large clearing at the edge of which two humans and an elf were waiting for us.
The elf, a high elf judging by her pale face and silver-blond hair, wore a simple gambeson and leather pants with an assortment of gem-fitted metal rods strapped to her waist. She gave our group an appraising look.
“I see you found some stragglers.” She observed. “And only level two. Are they of the Lost?” She glanced up to the sky. “Ever since signs of The Fusing began to appear yesterday, I wondered. I hope they don’t delay our plans. Winter is already almost upon us.”
“I believe so.” Wind nodded. “I’m taking them to see Earth and Rain.
“That’s nice and all, but I believe we need to make some introductions.” Hendric said, turning back to our quiet group with a grin. “These three are the other members of our team.” He told us, pointed at the elf. “The elf here is Melwyn, she’s an ice-affinity mage.”
“Pleasure.” Melwyn nodded.
High Elf: Level 132
“This gal is Beth. She’s our shield.” Hendric pointed to a stout human girl with short black hair who wore a full set of silvery plate armor and a massive kite shield latched onto her back. She gave a stiff bow.
Human: Level 112
“And this is Carmen, healer extraordinaire.”
“I’m a light-affinity mage, not a healer.” Grumbled a middle-aged man wearing a mixture of metal and padded armor. Gray speckled his beard and short brown hair while a kind smile danced upon his lips.
Human: Level 129
“We may not look it, but we’re the most competent fighters the expedition has to offer.” Hendric boasted. “If something goes wrong you get one of us first yeah?”
“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Sarah!” Sarah beamed, the first of us to find our words.
“James, Pleasure.” I nodded to them. “So are you mercenaries then?”
“Yep! Registered with the guild and everything.” Hendric beamed.
“It’s just a formality.” Wind said. “We’re not soldiers or hired thugs.”
“Sounds like an adventurer group.” Kevin whispered in my ear. “I bet that’s a thing here.”
After the seven of us introduced ourselves, we followed Wind out of the trees. At the center of the clearing sprawled the expedition camp. Dozens of wood-framed tents of thick canvas and cured hides had been erected in a haphazard arrangement around a central common area. Tied to one of the massive trees beside the camp, ten wooly horned beasts the size of elephants milled about in a tight herd.
Many humanoid individuals of different species scurried to and fro across the camp. I spotted several sanask, elves, and humans, but most were a mixture of the vulpine vul’heli and feline sek’heli. While the former two furless species were bundled against the cold, the latter wore much the same simple garments as Kevin, and I.
Hendric called out a loud greeting as we crossed the field. The camp members idly glanced up only to do a double take when they saw the new individuals following along behind the two scouts. Word spread through the camp like wildfire until everyone paused in their activities to get a better look. I felt Kevin tense beside me. I noticed she’d gone quiet since we met the newcomers and I felt her uncertainty from earlier return.
“Where is Earth and Rain?” Wind asked as we neared the gaggle of onlookers.
“In the command tent.” a crimson-scaled sanask spoke up in a deep voice. He carried a massive anvil of some bluish metal under one arm as if it weighed no more than a small rock. I almost believed it was that light until I saw earth beneath his feet shake with each step.
Sanask: Level 136
Wind nodded and led the way through the crowd and into the encampment. I scanned the crowd, seeing that the levels of nearly everyone lay between 75 and 125 with only a few lower than that. If Wind and Hendric were anything to go by, even the weakest of them could end me with a single punch. It was not a comforting thought.
We passed between the tents and into the open common area at the center of the camp. Five large fire circles had been constructed from the stone bricks. Fires burned in two of them, over each of which hung a massive iron cauldron. Beside the cauldrons, a burly sanask with a butcher’s knife hacked away at a boar-like creature covered in thick gray scales. Every few seconds the sanask tossed a handful of meaty chunks into the cauldron.
Wind led us around the far side of the clearing to a large canvas tent held up with five wooden poles. He motioned for us to wait at the entrance and stepped inside. Several tense minutes later, his head poked out and he ushered us inside.
A roomy tent greeted us, empty but for a large tree trunk sliced cleanly in half to serve as a makeshift table. Upon the table lay a map of ancient, yellowing parchment depicting a roughly circular city with concentric rings of walls. A male sek’heli and a female vul’heli stood behind the table, both dressed in a familiar, if more extravagant, vest and cloak. Each wore identical gold bands etched in strange runes around their upper arms. The two watched us enter with appraising eyes and serious expressions.
“Hello!” My sister waved, a convincingly innocent grin on her vulpine face. “I’m Sarah.”
The rest of us, however, remained silent, the importance of this moment weighing on us. If even a fraction of Hendric’s words were true, we couldn’t survive the Heartwood alone.
“Wind here tells me that you are of the Lost.” The vul’heli woman said with a frown. “I find it highly coincidental that a group of such appears the day after we arrive at our destination.”
“What exactly does Lost mean?” Kevin spoke up beside me. “Beyond the usual definition of the word.”
The vul’heli leader gives Kevin a quizzical look. “If you don't know, explain to me how you arrived here.”
Kevin gave her an abridged explanation of the rift and the initiation, ending with our meeting of Wind and Hendric. Something flashed in the vul’heli’s eyes while Kevin spoke and I got the distinct feeling of Truth hanging in the air. The vul’heli leader’s expression softened.
“I am inclined to believe that you are telling the truth.” She said, looking at each of us in turn, but lingering on Jennifer and the ever-quiet Weston. “And that you are indeed of the Lost."
"I am Dance of the Earth, and my partner here is Midsummer Rain. We are both the leaders of this expedition and the acting Matriarch and Patriarch for the Shadowclaw Tribe. Let me be the first to formally welcome you to Realgar, the twenty third world beneath the Rule of the Empire of the Myriad Realms.”
She paused for a moment, but then continued, her expression hardening once more. “I say this next part with the utmost seriousness and I hope you will heed my warning:
“This world you stand in is not a dream or some fantasy. This is Realgar: a world more wild than civilized. You should treat it as such. The tribe will need to make the decision together, but I believe that we will help you. It is the order of the gods that we open our arms to the Lost, and far beneath my morals to condemn you to death.”