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.
"How is it?" Valia asked.
"It's bad. My best choice is to rip it out now and use potions to mend the damage."
Noah conjured a small sack filled with several plastic orbs from his ring. He also summoned a titanium syringe shaped like a golf tee and used the tip to puncture the surface of one of the orbs. He pressed the opening to the other end of the syringe to create a seal, then embedded the tip into his thigh, right next to the arrow.
He then pushed down on the orb and injected its payload: morphine. It was just one of many substances he could produce with alchemy, the same with the plastic shell and the syringe. Encapsulating one material with another was his only way to determine the shape of his creations. He'd magically warped the plastic to encase the morphine and formed the syringe by sealing a grass stem in titanium.
The morphine significantly eased the pain, at least enough for what was to come. Noah took a deep breath and grasped the arrow. He began to pull, feeling it slowly dislodge from the inside of his leg. He could control his breathing thanks to his pain tolerance, but his face turned red from the exertion. Pulling it out of the back of his thigh was hard enough, but he had to make sure the barbs came out in the same way they went in. Sweat dripped from his nose as the arrow moved back, millimeter by millimeter, further fraying the severed tissue.
Then, suddenly, it popped right out of his leg. Noah released his held breath and gasped for air, but then he looked at the arrow and loudly swore. The head had broken off and was still stuck in the center of his leg. This was no longer something he could take care of while sitting on a horse. He took out a healing potion and poured some on the wound, causing the hole in his leg to close and stop any more bleeding. He swallowed two morphine pills sealed in crystalized sugar, hoping they'd soon kick in.
"We need to find the elves, quick."
"That won't be a problem," Valia said as she pointed up.
Ten elves were standing on the branches, all with bows and arrows trained on her and Noah. Their clothes, made of fine silk, were colored green to help them blend in with the foliage, and their bows were higher quality than many knights' bows. Male and female, they all surpassed humans in appearance, and even from a distance, Noah could see the tips of their ears.
"These forests are forbidden. Who are you?" their leader demanded.
"I am Valia Zodiac of House Tsyrfil. This is my companion, Sir Noah. We come in peace and wish to speak to the queen."
There was a slight tremor among the elves. There was no way they didn't know of such a legendary warrior.
"You wear Utheric knight rings. Are you messengers of the king? Or spies trying to sneak into our border?"
"We are not here under anyone's orders. My brother, Valon, has gone missing. Noah and I are searching for him, and hope that he, or at least the means of finding him, lie within Sylphtoria," she replied. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about his whereabouts, do you?"
Without lowering his bow, the elf pulled his eye away from the arrow. "Valia Zodiac, you and I have met before. I am Izan, of House Felolk. I remember you passing through Sylphtoria a long time ago. I remember your brother. How many years has it been since you left us?"
"Maybe a century, if I recall right."
"A century shouldn't be long enough to forget that humans are barred from our woods. What makes you think you can bring him here?"
