‘So,’ Eli drawled as he strolled over to look over Robin’s shoulder at the illusory display of text, ‘you’ve been holding out on me. You can read this?’

Robin stood there, his hands suddenly clammy on the cool stone surrounding the control runes of the panel. His neck pricked with small droplets of sweat, in spite of the chilly air of the tower. His mind fumbled for an answer, an explanation, a lie, something but all that he came up with was a less-full version of the truth.

‘Somewhat,’ he said, ‘I can’t understand it all, but some—’

‘And you thought it was a good idea to keep it a secret, sneak behind my back—me, the person who showed you this place and has more claim to it than anyone else?’ Eli’s eyes flashed. ‘You thought it was worth lying to me?’

‘I—no, that’s not—’ Robin stammered. Why was he so on the back foot here? ‘I don’t know you, and—’

‘No. You don’t. And it’s becoming increasingly clear that I do not know you, either.’ Eli’s voice could have frosted a glass of lemonade.

Why was he thinking of lemonade? Robin did not handle confrontation well. His mind kept latching on to distractions so he wouldn’t have to focus on the uncomfortable situation he was in.

‘Well, do you have anything to say for yourself?’ Eli demanded.

Robin flushed. He tried—and failed—to speak a number of times. Was it hot in here? Why was this bothering him so much? His mind swam, his stomach cramped, and the pressure only kept increasing.

And as quickly as it began, it was over.

‘I’m just giving you a hard time,’ Eli said with a laugh, the fierce look melting away like snow in springtime. ‘I’ve known since you tricked Cherry that you had to have some sort of ability that gave you affinity with unknown languages.’

‘I’ll give you a hard time if you’re not careful,’ Robin shot back, relaxing a bit with the realisation that Eli was just teasing.

‘Is that a promise?’ Eli’s gaze caught Robin’s, suddenly intense.

Robin froze. The moment stretched out, seemingly to infinity, before Eli relaxed slightly and winked at him.

‘I’ll take that as a maybe.’ The cleric pointed at the illusory display. ‘But now it’s out in the open, want to tell me what you’ve found? I might be able to help contextualise it for you.’

‘I figured out how to make the scrying function work,’ Robin said. His emotions were in turmoil. First Eli’s joke, then that flirtatious exchange, all on the heels of discovering that he’d been left behind by the people he knew best in this world (for whatever that was worth). It was a lot. Speaking of…he quickly spun the illusory mirror away from the Sisters Sharp. ‘My friends made it out of the wood.’

‘That’s great! They’re free of Cherry’s influence.’ Eli glanced at him and then moderated his tone. ‘I know it’s not great that you’re still stuck here in the wood, but at least they’re alive and free.’

‘Yeah,’ Robin said grudgingly, ‘that’s true.’

‘And we’ll win our own freedom soon, too.’ Eli tapped a finger on the control panel. ‘Especially now you’ve sussed out the scrying mirror on this thing. I had no idea there was so much powerful magic bound up here! And that it still works? Astounding.’

‘What does the scrying mirror have to do with our freedom?’ Robin had a couple of ideas but he wanted to hear Eli’s explanation.

‘I need paints to complete my masterpiece.’ The cleric pointed to the misty mirror. ‘With that, we can scout out the ingredients I need to make them, make sure the way is reasonably safe, nip out, grab the things, and be back before Cherry can nab us again.’

‘And then you’ll have the Grace of Vané back—’

‘—along with all my magic, yes.’ Eli nodded. ‘Then I can deal with those infected wounds you have, and possibly find a way to break the spell on these woods that keeps us from finding out way out.’

New Quest: [Paint the Forest Red]

Aid the priest, Eli, in gathering ingredients so he might complete his masterpiece (and incidentally, heal you before that infection really sets in)! Do so without being caught once again by Cherry or her pixies for a bonus reward!

Reward: +1 Crafting rank (if you pay attention to how he creates his paints).

Bonus Reward: +1 rank in either Stealth or Survival.

Well, that was as good a sign as any that this was the right path. Though something kept whispering at the back of his mind. He shook his head, but all that did was make the sounds skip a track.

🎶Rowan tree, red thread…🎶

There was that song again. And the colour red. Robin hoped it wasn’t an omen. He certainly didn’t want to have to open a vein to paint the forest red. He had a much better use for his blood, and that involved it staying where it was.

‘Right,’ Robin said instead of any of the myriad of other things whirling in his mind, ‘so what do we need to find, then?’ He twisted his hands in the air, and the scrying mirror’s perspective withdrew to an eagle-eye view over the tower and its nearby surroundings.

Eli leaned over the panel, resting his hands lightly on the edges. He was careful not to disturb any of the glowing runes. ‘I’d say we start looking here, here, and here.’ He pointed specifically to three nearby clearings.

Robin couldn’t tell what the priest was looking for, but he had to have something in mind. ‘Anything in particular we’re looking for?’

‘Yes. We need to find a nest.’

‘A nest?’

‘Yes, a nest. I need eggs.’

‘Eggs?’

‘Is there an echo in here? Yes, eggs. What else do you think makes the pigment stick to the wood?’

‘Alright.’ Robin reached out to spin the controls. ‘Eggs it is!’

***

Robin and Eli spent a couple of hours scouting likely areas of the forest with the scrying spell. It was a very handy piece of magic, and Robin was already resenting having to leave it behind when he left this place. Divination was certainly a circle of magic he would need to look into further. Something else to search the Greater and Lesser Arcana interface for while he still had time.

‘There!’ Eli’s sudden exclamation pulled Robin out of his reverie.

‘What? Where?’ Robin’s eyes danced across the scrying mirror.

‘The clearing with a small hill. I think I saw something around the edge. Can you move the viewpoint?’ Eli was staring intently at the image.

Robin twirled the controls, rotating around the hill. It was too regular to be natural. Well, if he were still on Earth, that is, but even here he suspected it was some kind of burial mound. Or Faerie mound, given the nature of the forest. Something else to worry about. Of course it all fell out of his mind when he caught sight of what was lurking on the other side of the hill.

There were two birds there. Though calling these creatures birds was something akin to calling a dire lion a cute widdle puddy tat. The species looked not dissimilar to an ostrich or shoebill on mega-steroids, with plumage of mottled brown and green, plus a beak that wickedly hooked both up and down, as narrow and sharp as an axe-blade.

‘Bladebeaks?’ Robin asked, the word popping into his mind and out his mouth almost on its own.

‘Yes. You’ve seen them before?’ Eli glanced over at him.

‘What? No. Never.’ Robin’s stomach clenched. Why was he so alarmed at Eli’s interest?

‘Well, then you’re very good at guessing.’ Eli looked back to the image. ‘Those are a mated pair of bladebeaks.’

‘How big are they?’ Robin blinked. The smaller of the two specimens had just walked in front of a tree, and unless he missed his guess that thing was at least—

‘Several feet high. Taller than many men or women, that’s for sure.’ Eli said cheerfully. ‘They probably weigh as much as two or three of you.’

‘And you want us to tangle with them?’

‘Big birds, big eggs.’ Eli grinned, though his humour withered a moment later. ‘Think about it. The fewer trips we make, the safer it is overall. Every time we go out, it’s a chance Cherry or her pixies or her ensorcelled walking trees find us and haul us back to her.’

‘Right. Good point.’ Robin slowly cycled the view around the two large birds.

They did seem to be keeping close to a large pile of twigs and leaves that bordered a shallow pit. Inside, Robin could just make out several massive eggs.

That would make a lot of paint. Possibly with enough left over for a week’s worth of omelettes.

‘We’ll need something to carry the eggs in,’ Eli said. ‘It would be a pity if they cracked before we got them back. The shells are incredibly tough, as you can imagine, but even so—’

Robin considered offering to use his ring to store the eggs. They’d certainly fit and that would remove any danger of the things breaking in transit. But that paranoid part of him left over from endless gaming sessions really didn’t want him to reveal any more secrets than he already had.

‘—it’ll be tough to take them down without proper weapons,’ Eli was saying, ‘or any access to my magic, but—’

‘What if we don’t have to?’ Robin interrupted.

‘Don’t have to what?’ Eli looked at him.

‘Take them down.’ Robin was watching the large birds stalk around the nest and dart their heads toward the nearby trees. ‘We don’t need the birds. Sure, some meat might be nice, or the odd feather pillow, but what we really need is the eggs. We don’t need to kill the birds to get them. We just need to draw them both away from the nest long enough to snatch the eggs and run.’

‘True.’ Eli tapped his chin thoughtfully. ‘And the less commotion we raise, the less chance of drawing attention.’

‘That too,’ Robin agreed. ‘So, what do you know about bladebeaks? Any natural predators? Preferred prey? There has to be a way to lure or scare them away long enough to grab a few eggs and run.’ Robin looked at the powerful legs on the birds. ‘Though we’ll have to lose them quickly. They look…fast.’

‘They are,’ Eli smiled grimly, ‘fast and mean. They tend to hold a grudge and are good trackers.’

‘Then we’ll have to make sure they can’t pick up our trail, won’t we?’ Robin countered.

The two put their heads together and began to plan in earnest.