Noel and I exchanged glances. She looked angry, while I felt confused. I reckoned this was because she knew who these other elves were. I motioned for Noel to step away and we moved behind the camp. We hid behind the cave where elder starry kept the blessings. It was far enough away that nobody would hear us, but we looked around to make sure we were alone.

“Who are they?” I whispered.

“They’re hunters from the Hon and Que tribes,” said Noel. “The Hon are the largest tribe on the Plains of Serenity and the Que have some of the most powerful hunters.”

“But why are they here?” I asked. “It didn’t look like the Oracle was controlling their minds the way she’s controlling Sharun's.”

“Some tribes have always been more loyal to the Oracle than others,” answered Noel. “Out of the twelve tribes of the Plains, only the Hus are skeptical of the Oracle’s authority. Another four, including our Jora tribe, are relatively independent, but respect the Oracle’s power. But the Hon have been aligned with the Oracle since the time of the Mad King. They would do pretty much anything for her, including intimidating the other tribes into falling in line. That’s how they got the Bandari to stop protecting the third exile to the Forest of Three, the elf we call the Forsaken One.”

“So they’re here to intimidate the Jora tribe?” I said. “No, wait. They aren’t here to intimidate the tribe. They’re here to intimidate us!”

Noel nodded. “The Oracle must have found out that we defeated The Terrible. Her master must be furious. And now she’s trying to threaten our family so she can appease her master.”

I didn’t see a way out of this predicament. Noel and I were tired after fighting The Terrible. Absorbing the magical power from the monster’s core had made our magic stronger, giving us a boost in ‘wisdom,’ but we were too exhausted to fight off all these hunters on our own. Besides, they had hostages. Even if we managed to defeat them, how would we protect the Jora tribesmen at the same time? Not to mention having to fight Sharun, the strongest hunter in all the tribes, who would be trying to kill us while we would be unwilling to kill him!

“How long do you think she’ll keep them hostage?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” said Noel. “The Oracle wouldn’t dare wipe out a whole tribe, since it would frighten all the other tribes to revolt against her. Even her biggest supporters, the Hon and Que, won’t be able to help her then.”

“The other tribes…” I said, my voice trailing. “How far away are their camps?”

Noel frowned. “Not far. We only need to be spaced out enough that we don’t hunt and forage in the same area. But the other tribes around us are all loyal to the Oracle. We’re pretty sure that’s on purpose too. Tribes like the Hon will set up camp near us so we can’t communicate as easily with the other independent or skeptical tribes.”

“I see,” I said. There goes one plan, I mused. Wait, maybe not. “You said it isn’t easy to communicate with those tribes. Does that mean it’s possible to do so?”

Noel nodded. “There are two ways we could talk to them. We could pass through some hostile tribe’s area and visit their camps, or we could leave a message at one of the tribal meeting points.”

“Meeting points?” I asked.

“Places where the tribe’s elders or hunting parties might meet to discuss important things like when to begin migrating to the highlands,” said Noel. “One of them is right outside the Oracle’s haunt, but there might be Hon or Que hunters standing guard there.”

“Are there any meeting points that the independent tribes haven’t told the other tribes about?” I asked.

Noel tapped her chin. “Maybe. I overheard the elders talking about a secret ritual once. They left the camp alone, late that night. The next day, they said they had a message for me from my mother’s tribe, the Bandari. The Bandari are also independent, although they aren’t very powerful.”

“Still, getting their support would be better than nothing. Are any of the independent tribes powerful enough to rival the Hon?” I asked.

“Yes, the Kisi tribe. They’re the ones who were pressured into releasing the Forsaken One. They’ve kept their distance from the Oracle ever since, sometimes avoiding meetings near the Oracle’s haunt,” said Noel.

“Is there any way we could contact them?” I asked.

“No, they’re too far away for us to get to them in one night,” she said. “But the Bandari might have a way. We should try contacting them first.”

I nodded. “We should get a move on before the sun sets completely. I’d rather not give away our position with a torch until we’re far enough away from here. Do you know where the elders went for that secret ritual?”

“Yes,” said Noel. She gave me a solemn look. “I heard them talking about it that night. They said something about the tomb of the last king of Jora.”

“The Mad King’s tomb?” I said.

“I think I know where it is,” said Noel. “Since he was exiled into the Forest of Three, he has to be in there somewhere. And since there are three places in the Forest of Three where the Oracle has forbidden ordinary elves from entering without permission, one of those has to be where the Mad King’s tomb is.”

“I’m guessing one of those forbidden places is the cave of The Terrible?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Noel. “And another has a field full of Tocsa mushrooms, so there’s no way the elders would have gone there.”

“Then it must be the third forbidden place in the Forest of Three!” I said. “Is that place deep inside the forest? I don’t want to leave the tribesmen here alone for too long.”

“No, we should be able to return by dawn,” said Noel.

“If we don’t sleep,” I said.

“If we don’t sleep,” confirmed Noel. “And if we don’t collapse from exhaustion.”

I ran my hand through my hair. “We don’t have a choice. There’s no way we can fight all these hunters on our own.”

“We could try asking the Immortal of Desire for help again,” said Noel.

“Do you think the birds will help us this time?” I said. “We just asked them for help with The Terrible.”

“I think we don’t have a choice,” she said. “Our family is in there. We need all the help we can get.”

“Alright,” I said. “Then we should split up. You go find the meeting place near the Mad King’s tomb, and I’ll run back to the Immortal of Desire’s tree.”

Noel shook her head. “I can’t go to the Mad King’s tomb.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“There’s a barrier around that part of the forest. Jora tribesmen can’t enter without the Oracle’s permission. The elders must know a secret way inside, but it’ll take me forever to find it. You don’t have Jora blood, so you should be able to walk right in!” said Noel.

“But I don’t know where the forbidden area is,” I said.

“Go back to the Forest of Three and walk towards The Terrible’s cave. When you hit a large thicket with a stream running through it, turn left. Stick to the stream and you’ll find the barrier. Walk right through and start searching for the Mad King’s tomb,” explained Noel.

I sighed. “That sounds further away than I thought.”

Noel smiled. “Better start running.”

We snuck back around the camp and observed the cornered tribesmen again. Nobody seemed hurt, but we couldn’t find the elder’s anywhere. Maybe they were tied up inside a tent or something. The Oracle had her eyes closed and Sharun stared listlessly into the distance. Noel and I looked at each other, nodded, and ran our separate ways. I ran across the plains as fast as I could. My body was screaming with fatigue, but I had no choice. By the time I arrived at the Forest of Three, the sun had already set. I grabbed a branch and tied some pollen, leaves, and twigs to the top. I lit it with fire magic and ran into the forest.

I found the thicket with the stream and turned left like Noel told me to. Soon, I came across a shimmering, transparent wall. I might have missed it if I didn’t have the torch, which was casting orange reflections across the barrier. The forest continued uninterrupted after the barrier, making me question why the barrier was in such a random location. I stepped across without any resistance, and looked around. Nothing changed. I grabbed my torch and kept running, hoping to find something that looked like a tomb.

In the end, I found a small stone slab in a clearing next to the stream. The stone slab had a tiny symbol carved onto it, not unlike the runes on the entrance to the cave of The Terrible. I crouched down to take a closer look.