Banished

Gisela was shaking, but even as I considered offering her some comfort, I found my own body numb, and unwilling to move.

Think,

I told myself.

We have Casey. The otherworlder. Gisela, and some of the Kobalt.

It's fine, right?

I mean, that still gave access to tons of information.

As I pulled myself to my feet, Cameron came over to me.

"What happened?" she asked, and I quickly relayed the news.

"I'm sorry," I said, glancing towards her stomach. "I guess we did that for nothing..."

She took my hand in hers, and shook her head.

"I don't feel that way at all," she said, and as she kissed my hand, I felt some of the heaviness lift from inside of me.

"Gisela. What does this exile mean?" I asked.

She took a deep breath.

"The princess will be uprooted from her grove, and forced from Palancar. She will take new seeds, and set down her own roots in the forest beyond."

"New seeds?" I asked, and Gisela nodded.

"A grove-seed. The seed which springs the great tree."

I cast a longing look beyond the grove to the massive trunks.

The trees made amazing cover, but growing one would probably take several lifetimes.

It was a loss we would have to accept.

"How far away will we be cast?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"The princess will decide."

That worked in my favor; after all, the princess would do as I asked.

Now we'd just need to figure out where was safe, and a good place to settle.

As I took in all of the info, a call came from the bushes beyond, and Gisela led Cameron and me to the edge of the grove, and I reached, just as the princess appeared to be speaking, addressing a massive gathering of Kobalt.

She spoke passionately, and while some wept, everyone paid attention.

"What's she saying?" I whispered to Gisela, but as the girl tried to speak, her voice cracked, and tears began to fall.

I nodded, placing a hand comfortingly over hers, and she accepted my gesture, grasping onto my hand tightly.

After the princess finished speaking, several Kobalt from the crowd came forward to her, and as they gathered around her, the rest of the crowd began to grumble with agitation; but the dissent was quickly silenced by Mater Lucilla, who moved forward, and spoke loudly.

When she was done, the Kobalt who had gathered on our side began to walk towards the brush that led out of the city, and as the princess spotted me, she quickly moved to my side, grasping my hands in hers.

Her eyes were sparkly, and if I weren't aware of what was going on, I'd have been certain that the event was nothing but a celebration.

My love. You return

, her voice spoke into my mind, and I nodded.

I tried to convey my condolences, but she quickly shook the gesture away.

They are fools. We are better for leaving,

she said, and as I shot her a questioning look, she held her hand out, a tiny glowing, green orb, held within it.

Our seed, my love. We will plant it, and our trees will dwarf their cursed grove.

I nodded, but even then, I wondered if perhaps she was placing her trust in a future that was quite far from assured.

Although... that glow.

It reminded me of the energy cores, and I quickly guessed that the seed was no ordinary thing.

What if they grew using some kind of technology beyond my understanding?

I made a mental note to ask about it, as the princess locked our arms together, and with pride, she strode from the city to a reaction that was a mix of stunned silence, and sadness.

As we stepped out of the grove, Gisela began to speak to the princess, but with one silencing gesture, the princess stopped her, and Gisela quickly wiped away the tears, and composed herself before speaking again.

The princess turned to my group, then shot me a look.

The goddesses are many,

she noted, and I gulped.

"Tell the princess that they are free goddesses," I whispered to Gisela.

She shot me a questioning look, but as she relayed the message, the princess smiled.

They will flock to you. I will see to it myself,

the princess said into my mind, and I swallowed nervously again.

I desire a new council,

the princess said, and I nodded, as she continued.

Gisela, and Myrinne; my two most trusted surrogates. Cameron, and another of your goddesses. The rest we will fill in time.

It was a sound composition... but wasn't someone important missing?

"What about me?" I asked, and as Gisela relayed the concern, the princess chuckled.

You stand above the council, my sweet. You will reign as the immortal supreme. The position of princess will henceforth be to advise, and guide your eyes to that which they cannot see.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, as I nodded.

Cameron... and one more.

If I needed someone trustworthy, Francesca was the obvious choice. But the council required the kind of character that was suited to someone more... mature.

I chanced a look at Casey, and as she shot me a questioning look, I decided.

Her?

The princess asked, and she nodded as I indicated my agreement.

Then it is done.

Summon them forth... we will need to chart our migration.

"What about my armor?" I asked Gisela, and she sighed.

"It is ours to keep, but at the cost of our home."

I signaled to Cameron, and as she joined me, we headed over to where Casey was seated.

"I hope you girls don't mind, but I just appointed you to the princess' council," I said, a little jokingly, and Casey sighed.

"As long as we don't have to sleep with you, it's fine," she said.

Cameron's eyes went side as she said this, and as Casey's eyes quickly flicked between us, Cameron looked away, a little hint of a blush on her cheeks.

"What do we need to do," Cameron asked, quickly trying to move on from the subject, and I gestured to where the others had gathered.

"We probably need to decide on where to go now; but I should probably talk to them first," I said, nodding towards Jeannie's group.

"I have some bad news," I said, as I approached Jeannie, and she frowned.

"They won't take us in?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No, it's not that. I had bargained with their princess for us to live here, but her actions have been... somewhat unfavorably received. They've banished her from their lands, as a result."

"Damn," she said, "so what's the plan now?"

"We're sticking with the princess, since she has a pretty solid following, and they have a lot of info on how to live inside this forest; we just need to decide on where to settle down. We're deciding on where to go now," I explained, indicating as the group began to gather.

"Okay. Well, keep us posted," she said, and I nodded, but as I began heading towards the council gathering, I caught sight of Francesca looking over at the group, a sulky expression on her face.

"Hey," I said, as I headed over to her side.

"Hey," she replied, a little glumly.

"Do you think you could interrogate our sulky new member?" I asked, nodding towards the man we'd fought against, and she sighed.

"If that's what you want, then fine," she said, but as she sulked away, I reached for her hand, holding her back.

"Just because you're not involved in everything, doesn't mean you're not important to the group, or to me," I said, and she sighed.

She shot me a pouty look, and as I smiled at her, she replaced her gloomy look with her own little smile.

"Thanks," she said, before heading over to the man, much less sulkily, and as I headed over to the others, I made a mental note to try to find a way to keep her more involved in things in the future.

"So, does the princess have anywhere in mind for settling down?" I asked, as I moved to Gisela's side.

"The princess wishes to defer to your preference," Gisela explained, and I shook my head.

"Your guidance is of utmost importance. Our knowledge of these lands is limited," I explained, and Casey scoffed.

"Speak for yourself. We call this the 'Forest of Eltari' back at the company. It's roughly the same size as all land on earth, combined," she explained, and I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

That's really fucking huge.

"What else do you know?" I asked.

"There are three main races dwelling inside of it; Aequum Druidae, Stilio sentiens, and Arbor Druidae, more commonly referred to by the outsiders here as wood elves, lizardmen, and goblins, respectively."

"Wait, were those the scientific names?"

"Yeah," Casey replied, acting as if I'd stated the obvious.

"Why do you know the scientific names?" I asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Because it was my fucking job to know them," she answered, a bit defensively, and I tilted my head a bit at the revelation.

Casey moved to the center of the group, and with a stick, she carved out a shape that looked a bit like an oblong square with rounded edges.

"This is what the forest, generally, looks like. And here is where we are," she said, pointing to a spot near to the southwestern edge of the drawing, and our newest council member, Myrinne, nodded in agreement.

"As far as I know, these areas belong to the wood elves, and these, to the goblins-"

"Kobalt," I interjected, and Casey seemed to suddenly catch the grimaces that followed her use of the word.

Myrinne indicated a few places on the map, and Gisela now nodded.

"Yes. These are the homes of the two major Kobalt groves. Palancar, and Kara'din," she explained, and Casey nodded.

"Also, this is the major river which supports this forest," she said, drawing a meandering line horizontally across the map, which broke into two streams, one heading north-east, which passed by the wood elf section of the forest, and the other, a little southwards, which passed by the Kobalt cities.

Myrinne poked a series of holes around the two spots, before speaking, herself.

"These are most of the recognized groves outside of the main two," she explained, "but along these sections..." she continued, as she indicated long swaths along the rivers course, "there are many smaller clusters of trees."

"Would we be able to settle down somewhere between the two?" I asked, and Gisela bit her lip.

"It is difficult. The Kobalt will not see us until our grove is at least fifteen trees strong. That could take at least one solar cycle."

"Solar cycle?" I asked.

"Their years are exactly three hundred days long... meaning three hundred of their days, which actually amounts to just ten days longer than an earth year," Casey explained, and I gasped.

"Wait, you're saying we can grow that many trees in a single year? From just that seed?"

Casey sighed.

"You need to forget everything you think you know about what earth technology is capable of. These implants can accelerate more than just healing, if you have the right implements."

"So, fully grown trees?" I asked, and Gisela nodded.

As I pondered the information, Casey and Myrinne continued to make additions to the map, indicating smaller, known groves, as well as smaller rivers which diverged from the main river's course.

"What's in this section, between the two rivers?" I asked.

"A marsh. Mostly populated by the Lizard-folk," Casey said.

I studied the new information.

Palancar and Kara'din were positioned nicely along the river's course, with the little groves pointed out by Myrinne dotting along its banks, and connecting the two major locations.

That ruled out any spots along the river that were closest to where we were, and I frowned, as the most convenient spots along its course were all settled, which I guess, should have been a given.

"What about access to water? Is there some technology to overcome that?" I asked Casey, and she rubbed her chin.

"There's cheapish items that allow you to purify water from any source, but nothing comes to mind that can support this many people."

"Auslander, water is only of worry while trees take root. The roots of sacred grove run deep, tapping the water hidden deep within earth, and bringing forth through veins."

I studied the map, thoughtfully.

"What're you thinking?" Cameron asked.

"If we're putting down serious roots, positioning ourselves deep inside of the forest limits us severely. Our only trading options will be other groves, who are likely to oppose trading with us anyway, and probably won't be able to offer us much more than what we'll be able to eventually produce ourselves."

"Yeah, but inside of this forest is the safest place to settle... remember what I told you about otherworlders?"

I sighed, nodding as I studied the map some more.

"This river... where does it start?" I asked, and Casey pondered a bit.

"Somewhere off this way," she said, indicating towards the western side of the forest. "I'm not that familiar with that region, though."

Gisela indicated to one of the Kobalt men, and he came over.

She spoke to him a bit, pointing at the map, and as he spoke, she nodded.

"Mountains," Gisela confirmed, indicating several spots on the map, with the help of the Kobalt man.

"Any chance you're hiding some masterful knowledge of geography?" I asked Casey, and she shook her head.

"I'm a biologist," she said, and Cameron raised a hand.

"Nolan has some background in Geography, if I'm not mistaken," she said, and Casey shot me a questioning look, as I gestured for her to call him over.

"Geography major, reporting for duty," he said.

"Really? What do you do with a Geography degree?" I asked.

"Teach geography, basically," he answered, and I smirked.

He took a look at the map, then nodded.

"It looks like this is a drainage basin," he said, indicating to the area between the mountains. "Is this river big?"

"Huge," Casey said. "Like twice the size of the amazon, huge," she answered, and he raised an eyebrow as he processed the information.

"And what's this way?" he asked, indicating towards the eastern side of the map.

"There's a huge swamp here, where the river splits off, and further off east, the coast."

He nodded again.

"My guess is that the winds from over this sea breaks against these mountains, bringing lots of moisture with them. Moisture means rain, most of which drains down towards this area," he said, pointing to where the river seemed to begin, somewhere between the groups of mountains.

"Most likely, we'll find smaller channels leading from these mountains to the river below."

"There would be towns around those areas, wouldn't there?" I asked, and Gisela spoke to the Kobalt man, then nodded.

"He says many tribes of hill-folk. Small tribes, but many."

"These hill-folk. Are they human? Uh, fake gods," I elaborated, and Gisela nodded.

I pondered again.

"What about here," I said, pointing to the open spaces on the other sides of the mountains, and as Gisela raised the question, the man shook his head while speaking, and Gisela translated his response.

"No towns, he says. These lands will bear nothing."

"Casey. Could we use our weapons to cut a channel across the mountain?"

"It's possible," she said, eyeing my knife. "These things cut through stone like if its paper. But I think you're underestimating the scope of this forest. That's like, ten thousand kilometers away from where we are."

"Eight thousand, I think; if your drawing is accurate."

"What?"

"If this is the size of Earth's landmasses collectively, then this width would be roughly fourteen thousand kilometers. From where we are, that looks to me to be about eight thousand kilometers, no?"

"Yeah, and that would take forever to walk," she added, incredulously.

"Not forever, maybe like... two hundred and fifty days? Give or take?"

"What?"

"The average person can walk something like thirty kilometers per day... so yeah, that about adds up," I said, and she stared at me.

"You did that math in your head? Are you a psychopath, or a savant?"

"Worse. An investment banker," Cameron replied, chuckling.

"The math checks out," Nolan said, pointing to some calculations on the ground, and Casey stared at me as I shrugged.

"I know I said we need to settle in the forest, but that's a long fucking walk, Nate!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah... but we're in this for the long haul, aren't we? We've got a decent sized group here to settle down. Better walk for a year to somewhere really good, then rush to somewhere, try to settle down, then get run off and have to start over again every few months. Obviously, if we come across something closer that works, I'm all for it, but I'd rather we started heading in the direction of something solid."

Casey massaged her temples, agitatedly, as she tried to process my argument, and Cameron snickered at the exchange.

"Nolan? What do you think? Can we make this spot work?" I asked, and he rubbed his chin.

"From a human perspective, having small tribes to trade with would be good, but we're well out of the way of the larger cities, which isn't great. Quick question, though... why does it have to be in the forest? Saker can't be that far from here, and this whole section of forest is up for grabs, as far as I can tell," he said, gesturing the area just east of Palancar. "Why aren't we just settling over here?"

I shot Casey a look, and she nodded.

"There's some stuff you need to know about those towns, which I plan to share as soon as we can sit down and have a talk with the whole group; but for now, just think of that entire area as out of the question.

Nolan rubbed his chin, then nodded.

"Alright. Well, if this area is out of question, then from looking at this map, I'm gonna have to agree with Nate that crossing the forest is the best option. To know if this spot works mechanically, though, I'd need to know more specific information about the mountains," he explained.

"That Kobalt... what's his name?" I asked Gisela.

"Johann," she answered.

"How good is his knowledge of that area?"

"He has been to a small tribe. Here. Mountain dwellers," Gisela explained, and I nodded.

I requested that she help him communicate with Nolan to get him the information he needed, but I noticed that she quickly delegated the task to Myrinne.

"Are there any places between here and our goal that we can go to, to stay for a short time? Just until we can prepare for the long journey," I asked, and Gisela rubbed her chin.

She spoke to the princess, who seemed annoyed at first, but eventually raised a hand, seemingly in a gesture of acceptance.

"Here. There is small cluster; not subject Palancar rule. This is where princess' vines find root."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

My birthplace,

she spoke into my mind, and I nodded, noting the reluctant expression on her face.

"Will we be granted supplies to at least get there?" I asked Gisela, and she furrowed her brow.

"Palancar will not supply provision," she answered firmly, "but it is fine; this grove is less than half a day-cycle journey."

"And we'll get provisions from there?"

"They cannot supply us, but we can gather what is needed ourselves. Our runners know these woods well," she explained, and I nodded.

"What about shelter? To sleep? Is there anything like the tents that we used last night?"

"The coverings?" Gisela asked, and I nodded.

She pondered for a while.

"It is not our usual way, Auslander. The open air poses no trouble. Forest floor, much more dangerous. Sleep is safer beside fire, and in hanging sack."

"There's no risk of rain?" I asked.

"Rain? What is it?"

"Uh, drops of water falling from the sky."

"Oh, no. The forest canopy is like shield. A big covering over all life within. Water does not fall; it only rises from below, and flows in stream."