The elf boy spoke, what sounded to Ulric's ears, broken English. He was now almost certain that it wasn't English that his own voice spoke, nor any language spoken on Earth. But his brain had been rewired by the Watcher's tuning to utilize some kind of communal language. Magic. Go figure.

In any case, communication would be drastically sped up compared to pointing at random shit and sayings its name. However, this did indicate a future problem. Ulric was going to, potentially, need to learn several languages to speak and interact with the peoples of this strange world. There were elves. There were Beast-men and ogres. What the hell else was there? Dwarves? Gnomes? Shire-folk? No telling.

It wasn't that unusual for a person to speak three or four languages. Look at the old Europe. There were corners of nations where it wouldn't be uncommon to need French, English, Italian, and Swiss-German all within a hundred mile radius. Really, it was only the more arrogant empiric nations like the Russ, Chino, and Americs that had such dogmatic devotion to their own language. While these peoples engaged in cultural prick waving wars, the rest of the world got on with trying to be a little less awful. And a big part of that was learning each other's languages.

Ulric was fairly well committed to the idea of learning Elven. Where this boy had come from there would be others. He wasn't ever going to be a social butterfly but living on his own in the woods had taught him how important the power of a community could be. He had a great many plans for things that would improve his life here in the camp.

For the most part he had the necessary starting points for the skills he'd need, if not the practiced application of them. He had most of the knowledge to create the things he'd need to make drastically increase his standard of living, his safety, and his weaponry.

The limiting factor was time. Time was needed to make what needed making, to find the materials what needed finding, and, while that was happening, he still needed to improve his mastery of magic, hunt, gather produce, tend fire, and on, and on. It was a shitload of work being a forest hermit. And that was excluding the very high probability of being injured. Every trip to the canopy was a risk.

Those creatures that roamed on the forest floor, for the most part, were the least of the things you'd encounter out here. Some monsterized wolves, some car sized elk, no problem. But, for some reason, the more dangerous things all lived in the canopy. And while they had been absent from the area around where he'd begun his journey that was all, most likely, thanks to the presence of the [Forest Lord]. It had only been a couple of months and things were flooding into the area. This glade was a desert oasis in the endless green. The rock pool, the nutritious plants, they would attract beasts and the beasts that preyed on those beasts. If he wanted to live here for any extended length of time, he'd have to work hard to secure it as his own territory.

If he could find these Elves and establish lines of communication or trade, they might know how to help him get to civilization. They might even just be the civilization for which he was looking. He'd never know unless he investigated himself. And that all started with the boy, who, he decided he would call Brighteyes, until such time as he knew the kid's proper name.

Ulric pointed at himself, reiterating "Ulric Einar", he then pointed at the boy, "Brighteyes. Understand?" at the Elven child's nod he continued.

"You hurt bad? Inside?" Ulric asked, even though he was fairly sure that a severe internal injury would have killed a child so young already and those Vikings wouldn't have bothered hauling a dying hostage through the forest canopy like that. If they only needed a corpse they'd have made one.

"Not bad hurt." Brighteyes told him, meeting his eyes before looking down. His expression had soured. "Ashamed. Caught. Beaten." Ah. A proud lad then. Best to nip that in the bud.

"How did you get captured by those men? They kidnap you from your house? Chief's kid right?" Ulric had his guesses but it was best to better understand the whole picture before he committed to anything.

Brighteyes frowned, shaking his head in the negative. Probably the negative. Body language could be different between cultures. Then he got a suspicious look on his face before asking "How know? Talk bad guys?".

"No. Only reason they'd take you alive. You're a skinny brat too ugly to sell, of course you had to be the chief's get." Ulric saw no reason not to get a little back for the kid calling him an asshole. Forget that it was true. Besides, Brighteyes seemed like he had a good sense of humor, if nothing else, he smiled briefly at the teasing before answering.

"Very stupid. Was in deep woods for training, saw bastards poaching. Desecration. Taking cores no meat, is not way of elf land. Shouted. Friend and I too dumb, too proud. They see chief symbol, take." the pain was obvious on Brighteyes' face at the memory.

The kid had suffered something nobody that young should, being made powerless. It wasn't until you got older you should have to learn that goddawful shit just happened to you sometimes. Forced you into awareness that the world wasn't the safe haven a proper home made it out to be. Part of being an adult was knowing you were going to have to face the world on unfavorable terms. Mostly alone. Kids with parents doing their job were protected from that realization, for as long as possible. It was one of the reasons the death of your parents hit so hard, in Ulric's mind. The people who spent their lives making you ok were gone and it was now all on you to take on every damn thing the world had to throw at you.

It was probably important that Brighteyes get it out of his system now so Ulric just waited him out. Soon enough Brighteyes continued the tale of how he found out people could be a motherfucker sometimes.

"Friend and Me fight. Them too many, we too young. They beat us. Tie me. Big blue one grab friend. Crush head in hands. My friend dead, my fault." Tears threatened.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Ulric felt awful for the kid. He'd suspected a kidnapping, he hadn't expected Brighteyes had watched his friend tortured and murdered. It was a shit hand he'd been dealt. No wonder he'd been so skittish at first. He didn't know what comfort he could offer against that. Wait. There was something he'd been told by his dad, once, when he'd struggled with a friend of his dying in high school to a drunk driver.

"You fought hard as two youths could, against grown men and experienced hunters. They killed for a living, killed things stronger than normal men and they outnumbered you grossly. Don't try to take the blame for what evil men do, you'll never get a moments peace."

It was something a young man did, a mistake they all made. Thinking that they could do something about anything, not knowing that there were things that simply were and could only be endured. Ulric hoped he could take some of the burden off the kid, let him know that he didn't have to be responsible for it all. He'd been around that particular block. It wasn't fun.

"Would it make you feel better to know how I killed the blue Ogre-man?" He didn't know of any other solace he could offer except to give the youth vengeance by proxy.

Brighteyes looked down for a moment then back up into Ulric's eyes, nodding. Fair enough.

"I killed his friends with arrows and, when he tried to charge, I burned him alive. He experienced horrific pain and it took a pretty good while to die. Here's what I used."

Ulric held a hand out towards one of the torn up boulders lying near the rock pool.

[Flame Crash]

The bolt of flame hit the rock and flame rolled outwards, pool of flame burning for several seconds before dying out.

Brighteyes gazed open mouthed as he watched the stone scorch and crack under the heat of the flame. He understood from the damage done to the rock that whatever that magic engulfed wouldn't die easily. Grimly he looked back up to Ulric and nodded once more, saying "Thank you, friend deserve bastards die." It didn't make it better. Not really. But at least he'd be able to know that those monsters wouldn't get to hurt people anymore or continue to pillage the land. Not being perfect didn't make good enough any less.

Ulric decided he'd try to get things out in the open then. "If you know the way, I'll take you home." He pointed towards the ridge that led to the escarpment. "That way is a cliff that takes you down from the plateau to the lower forests. If that's where you're going, I'll need to get some equipment to make the climb." He had no idea how those fuckers had gotten up that cliff, especially not carrying a naked child tied between poles.

Pointing back the opposite way of the distant mountains he continued to try to give Brighteyes some sense of his current whereabouts. He'd been unconscious for a while, after all.

"That way is the deep forest. Beasts and great trees, far as the eye can see. I don't know the way deeper into that wood. Can you find your way home?" Ulric asked, trying to restrain his excitement. It would be a hell of a thing, visiting an Elven village in a faerie forest. Magic. He almost laughed at the absurd reality of it.

Brighteyes was pensive. Whatever it was must have been some heavy thinking because he made like he was going to speak several times before reconsidering and keeping his mouth shut. Finally, he made some decision. A serious expression was on his face as he questioned "You, Ulric, name?" to which Ulric gave him a quick "Yup."

He then asked "You human?" Ulric nodded. He was, or at least he was close enough for the Status. Never mind that asterisk, didn't mean a thing. Probably.

"Ask now, rude. Sorry, [Scan] you?"

Now that raised Ulric's eyebrows. [Scan]? The magic that let someone view your status? The Watcher had warned him about the power of scan, the advantage it gave someone to be able to view the information stored about you via the Akashic record. He thought it over. He didn't have anything to hide but the kid had indicated that it was something of a big deal to scan someone without permission. Probably indicated a violation of privacy or the prelude to hostility. Sort of like looking into the curtains of somebody's house you didn't know. You were probably up to no good, and it wasn't to be done regardless of the situation.

"Only if you show me how to use [Scan] myself." Ulric countered. He didn't mind if the kid looked him over, especially not if it made Brighteyes more comfortable about traveling with a stranger. Even one who had been kind. But he didn't want to put himself in the situation where everybody but him got to use this power. The world was a dangerous place and he planned on living a good long time in it. Caution was a minimum expectation, information was power, yadda, yadda.

The request seemed to surprise the youth, his head tilted to the side as he spoke "You no know? But you strong Magic. It first spell after status."

Ulric shrugged, replying "What can I say Chief? I'm self-taught and the first time I used magic was about seventy sunrises ago now." He really needed a better way of telling time.

Now it was definite, Brighteyes was stunned by this revelation. He initiated what must be [Scan] his already impressive eyes glowing white. Ulric didn't feel anything, maybe a little like somebody behind him staring. That feeling you got when you suspected somebody was talking about you somewhere. About that time, Brighteyes looked at him like you'd look at a tiger that was sitting on a couch with you. A gentle trembling was visible in the youthful limbs.

What the hell was the matter now? Ulric wondered. He'd just seen his stats when he'd finished checking up on that status update. Nothing stood out at the time. Also the kid hadn't said whether he'd teach him [Scan], which was annoying and he was sure he'd failed to keep that annoyance off his face. His poker face was terrible.

Voice definitely shaking Brighteyes asked "You kill [Forest Lord]? Own-self, not already dying?" Oh. Yeah. He'd sort of forgotten that would show up in his status.

"Hey I killed that monster fair and square. And it attacked me first! So, if it was your tribe's spirit animal or something take a walk, I nearly died killing that thing. As a matter of fact…" Ulric took a few minutes to explain his encounter with the old horror. While the story unfolded Brighteyes went from rapt to confused.

Ulric had known it was a sort of big deal. Like killing the dominant lion of a Pride there was going to be a huge shakeup down-stream as everything else adjusted. But that was all, just a big damned strong monster that scared off the local wildlife. He hadn't known that the [Forest Lord] was a near mythical figure in this part of the world. A monster that had ruled this part of the forest uncontested for a generation. Brighteyes informed him, broken speech making clear that the slaying of the [Forest Lord] was far more momentous than Ulric was aware.

"Ulric idiot. Kill [Forest Lord] by accident? Too dumb know territory? Fool man lucky more than all stars in sky." At least it seemed like incredulity had replaced fearful awe, Brighteyes wasn't shaking anymore. And he had the balls to show that cheek again.

"Whole forest move now. Territories shifted, Greater Beasts vying. Ulric idiot. Village need know, we go. You explain father." Brighteyes seemed to have, at least for now, forgotten his own troubles as the full situation in the forest became clear to him, far more clear than it was for Ulric, who had none of the common sense and contextual knowledge of this world. But the little brat had a mouth on him, listen to him throw out insults.

So. It would seem he would get a trip to the Elven village after all. He needed to know more though, this camp was his home. Everything he'd done thus far was to survive and getting this place set up had been most of that. He had food stores to protect. He had a shelter to winterize, it wasn't near good enough serve through a bitter cold. He had to get winter wood chopped. And he was going to have to do it all with stone age hand tools. What he'd give for his old work shop. For his drill press. His lathe. His bench grinder and planer. His routers. A table saw. Ye gods what he would do for a table saw.

Ulric shook his head, dispelling thoughts of the impossible, a modern tinkerer's workshop. He needed to return Brighteyes to his home with the Elves. He needed to figure out a way to establish some line of communication with these strange peoples and maybe even some way to trade for goods and services. He didn't have anything that anyone would want, but he did have some useful skills and these he might be able to put to work.

As he thought about it Ulric realized that, as usual, he was forgetting the magic aspect. He didn't need a saw, he could cut cleanly with air or water jets. A blade of pure heat? A…gasp…laser? Hell, maybe he could figure out how to extract ore or even raw metal from the ground. Have to find it first, but obviously electricity was still electricity in this land. A little magnetic resonance sensor spell keyed to metallics? Some kind of underground density radar magic? He didn't know how to do it, yet, but he remembered the basic principles and he might be able to rig something with a little…

Ulric didn't figure out that he had slid down a wormhole of thought for indeterminate time until he realized his fingertips were starting to get raw and Brighteyes was looking at him like he might be sick.

"Why Ulric talking self? Worms in the head?" The damned boy didn't even have the grace to sound like he was joking.