Within the Trees
Over the next few days, the countryside became infested with knights and soldiers, all recruited from local lords to assist in Noah and Valia's capture. They could never hope to arrest them on their own, but their horns and drums thundered across the landscape, so drawing the attention of one drew the attention of all. However, there was a need to stop at the next village.
On the sixth day since their fight with the knights, they set up camp beyond its outskirts. Hiding in a spit of forest, Valia was tending to the horses. All the sneaking around, back-tracking, and chases had stressed them out, so she was pampering them with treats and a good brushing. She turned around as Noah appeared, seemingly materializing out of thin air with a bag over his shoulder.
"I'm back."
"Did you get me something good?"
"Elven silk, just as you asked," he replied.
He handed her a bag, and she reached inside and joyfully revealed a white shirt of the highest quality of fabric.
"Perfect, thank you. I hope you got something for yourself. Considering the state you were left in from that battle, a wardrobe change isn't even debatable."
"On the contrary, I couldn't resist when I saw the selection. But I thought Sylphtoria didn't engage in trade with Uther?"
"Not with the country itself, but they've made deals with some of the humans who live outside the Anorvan Forest. Though the elves of Sylphtoria are very isolationist, they keep a few avenues open as a show of good faith. However, unless you have permission to enter their domain, you'll be lucky not to be shot on sight."
She removed her cloak, standing nude before him.
"I must say, I'm going to miss watching you perform the Dance of the Ivunara each morning," he said as they both got dressed. The pants he got her were tight but flexible, just like her old pair, and she was poured right into them. Her new shirt was more revealing than her old one, showcasing her endowment.
"I'll admit, the summer air has felt quite pleasant these past few days, but do you have any idea how the elves would react if I arrived wearing nothing but a cloak? By the way, you didn't just outright steal these, did you?"
"I figured you'd ask me that. Don't worry; I left suitable compensation when I took them. Your clothes are paid for."
"See? Your conscience isn't as withered as you think."
"Well, I didn't pay for them; the knights did. I did some looting while they were out cold, Aithorn included."
Valia sighed in disapproval. "How did the village look?"
"They have soldiers everywhere, and everyone is forbidden from wearing hats or hoods that might hide their faces. I couldn't drop my invisibility for even a second."
"It won't be long until we reach Sylphtoria. They will do everything in their power to ensure we don't cross that border."
Valia's prediction came true; the traveling was a nightmare for the next several days, and the fighting was incessant. She and Noah constantly had to flee or knock out soldiers and knights, with every road blocked off and the countryside swarming with spies. Finally, weeks after leaving Colbrand, they were in the home stretch. The towering trees of the elven nation were in sight, just across a vast open space of plains and hills, but they were not alone.
Once more, they were forced to push their horses to their limits and outrace their pursuers, as behind them, more than a hundred knights and soldiers were riding with reckless fury. Aithorn was in the lead on his horse, with Tarnas trailing in his chariot. Despite the results of their last encounter, the knights refused to let Noah and Valia escape, and this was their last chance to catch them.
Arrows rained down from the sky, blasts of fire and lightning shot over their shoulders, and the ground buckled from earth magic throwing up barriers. Valia and Noah rode in random paths to dodge enemy attacks, with their horses leaping over opening crevasses and rising boulders. Valia had her Teez enchantment active, making her body as tough as steel, and the arrows that didn't bounce off her back were deflected with her sword to protect her horse. Noah was taking a more direct approach and firing flashbangs at his pursuers. The men would lose their hearing and sight, and every loud spark terrified the horses and made them panic.
Noah was dripping with sweat and his heart was racing, but his composure didn't break until Aithorn stuck an arrow deep in his thigh. "Goddamn motherfucking arrows!" he hissed.
Minus that lucky shot, he and Valia reached the forest unharmed and dove into its wooded gullet. All the knights and soldiers came to a fearful stop at the forest's edge, bound by law and terror. They knew what would happen if they rode into the forest unwelcome. While lacking the barbarism and savagery of the beastman tribes across Handent, the elves were not known for their hospitality.
"What are you cowards doing? Get in there!" Gradius barked.
"Gradius, hold your tongue!" Aithorn barked. "Just by stepping into those woods, you could trigger a war. Someone like you would be put down like a rabid animal or, worse, a demon. That forest will devour your body and spit out your armor like an empty snail shell."
"If you expect me to quit and let them go, you have another thing coming. Taking their heads is the only way my exile ends. I'm not turning away here."
"Why do you think the king chose me for this mission? I'm the only one who can go in there. The rest of you will remain here and wait for me to send word. No matter how long it takes, under no circumstances are any of you to enter these woods without my say-so, or I'll kill you myself."
He nudged his horse forward and entered the forest, disappearing as though stepping behind a curtain. During that brief pause, Noah and Valia had expanded the distance between them and their pursuers, riding swiftly among the trees, with every inch bringing them deeper into elven territory. The outer edges of the Anorvan Forest were indistinguishable from any other forest on the continent, but the more they traveled, the more Noah could sense the landscape changing.
Mana thickened the air, just like the summer humidity, and when Noah activated his magic, he could even see it like a mist. The trees, ancient beyond measure, dispersed energy like radio waves. Every time he touched the wooden giants, he wondered if he had finally found life forms older than himself. Their bark was tinted with blues and deep violets, the same with their leaves, acting like stained glass and changing the hue of the sunlight. The forest floor was a thick carpet of moss, unbroken and untouched by dead leaves. The wild grasses were like white ribbons, swaying in the still air as though they were light as spider silk.
"I need to stop and tend to my leg. I'm leaving a blood trail."
"Over there, we can hide behind the obelisk."
They rode to a stone pillar jutting out of the forest floor. It was another ruin, offering some cover. Carved by elven hands, the edges of its flat sides were unweathered by time. They hid in its shadow, and Noah examined his leg. The arrow, having grazed his femur, was lodged deep in his thigh. Blood trickled from the wound, hastened by pain-induced muscle spasms.
