The finale of the deluge was terrifying, as the lightning strikes built to a crescendo so loud I thought I’d go deaf. However, when it was at its loudest, everything suddenly went quiet, so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Uncle walked over to the door and peeked outside. “Hmm, unusual. Not only is the deluge over, but the rains have stopped.”

As soon as he spoke, Narja and Ursus rose and scrambled out the door. “It’s too early. The rains should be going till the end of the month.” Narja and Ursus looked worried, however they recovered quickly, and Ursus grabbed his small pack. “We need to get moving. A lull in the weather like this should be exploited, if possible. We can make good ground since we don’t need to worry about getting drenched.”

Narja nodded and moved towards the stables with Nari, while Glu, Amber and I quickly cleaned up the cups and get ready to go. “What do you make of this, Amber?” She paused momentarily. “Difficult to say, could be because of the deluge, could be something else, too many unknowns.”

Well, I couldn’t deny the obvious lack of information. However, too many things were going wrong on what was supposed to be a simple trip. Coincidence? I doubted that, too many things had happened by now for it to be just a series of unfortunate events. I shook off my contemplation. “You guys ready to go?”

As I asked that, the cabin shook with such ferocity the three of us went down in a pile. I extracted myself from the other two and slowly got back up. Glu jumped up with ease and looked around confused. “What was that?” With no answer forthcoming, the three of us hurried outside.

What we saw was uncle holding down someone by the throat, while a series of arcane bolts were arching from his other hand and keeping the limbs of the individual restrained. “Uncle, what’s going on?” He looked up. “We found our little guest here lurking inside the stables.” He looked down at the cloaked person in front of him. “Now, who and what are you?” The struggling individual flinched for a moment.

“I… I am Sari…” Uncle frowned. He didn’t seem convinced. However, that voice was familiar, albeit… not as powerful as the last time I had heard it. I walked up next to uncle and looked down at the struggling woman. “Sarirrva?”

The moment I asked, she froze up, then deflated for a moment. Then she calmly burst from her arcane restraints, grabbed uncle and lifted him up like a doll, as she rose to her feet and then put him back down. “Well, I suppose playing human is pointless, since you recognized me.”

She gave uncle a polite smile. “You are powerful indeed, young human, and I do not wish to test who would persevere in a battle between us. So allow me to apologize for breaking into your cabin. The weather outside last night was rather unpleasant, as you undoubtedly noticed when you checked the place I crashed last night.” Uncle looked from me to Sarirrva, then back.

His eyes flashed for a moment as he looked at her. “What brings a black dragon so faraway from her lair?” Sarirrva gave a coy smile as she stepped closer to uncle. “I found your niece rather interesting, but then, so are you. Few humans can see my true form without feeling some fear.” She had by now given up all pretence of being human, as trails of smoke were wafting from her mouth and nostrils as she spoke.

Uncle didn’t budge an inch as Sarirrva invaded his personal space. “I think you will find, dragon, that few things intimidate me these days, as I am literally incapable of dying.” He looked at Sarirrva with about the same expression a child looks at a homework assignment.

Sarirrva’s eyes turned to slitted amber as she leaned in even closer, her nose brushing uncles. “Care to test that claim?” Uncle shrugged. “Go ahead, but know that if you do, I will strike back afterwards.” Sarirrva stared at him for a few moments. Then she began laughing.

“I think not, Mordred the Immortal. I find your pluck refreshing, however. Most creatures adopt a sycophantic behavior around me and while it’s proper, get tiresome after a while.” She looked between me and uncle. “I think I will join you on your little trip. I should say hello to my younger sister, after all. Especially after her ascension. And no, you do not get to refuse.”

Uncle said nothing for a while, then shrugged. “It’s not like I could stop you anyhow. Not without too much collateral damage. However, I must insist you keep your behavior… human like.” Sarirrva paused for a moment, then gave him another coy smile as she stepped back. “Under normal circumstances, I would find such a demand insulting. But, very well, Mordred. Since you insist, I will aquiest your request.”

She glanced over at me for a moment, before her slitted eyes turned into sky blue human ones. “Well then, I will be in your care, everyone.” As she turned away, Ursus spoke up. He seemed tense, and for good reason. “Not to be a dampener on the mood, but the Bloodstalker’s are already at capacity. We can’t take another passenger.” Ursus was honest. Between Nari having Glu and Amber, Narja and me riding together and uncle riding with Ursus, there was no more space for another rider.

Sarirrva seemed thoughtful for a moment as she eyed the Bloodstalkers. She opened her mouth to say something, hesitated, then sighed. “Very well, since there is no space for me on those beasts, I suppose I can fly alongside you, now that the lightning hailstorm is over.”

As she said so, uncle walked over to the cabin and tried to retrieve it. However, as it shrunk, it shook and our packs were ejected from the door. Amber hurried over to check if any of her alchemical reagents had been damaged. Nothing seemed broken, but then, I was no expert, and not all of it was liquid. “Everything under control, Amber?”

She finished rummaging through her pack and hoisted it onto her back. “Everything’s good.” she jogged over to Nari together with Glu just as uncle finished shrinking the cabin again. “Well then, if we are now done with the delays, I suggest we continue. There is still some time before sunset, and I’d appreciate it if we didn’t have further delays.” After just a few more minutes, we were on our way again, but the ride was far more comfortable now that it wasn’t raining.

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“Hey, Fox-Man, you see what I see?” I looked up from the book I was reading and looked towards what Nicomphus was pointing at. “Isn’t that… Stop the cart.” Nicomphus shot me a glance, shrugged, and the wagon slowed down and came to a halt beside the dripping wet, and miserable shape that was sitting between two small rocks. “Envy? What are you doing here?”

She looked up at me, then jumped forwards and hugged me while bawling. I hesitated for a moment, before I carefully began patting her back. “There, there, it’s alright, now why don’t you tell me what you’re doing out here, okay?”

It took some coaxing and guesswork, but, we got the gist of what had happened. “So you got lost after getting directions to Ondul?” She sniffled and finally let go of me. “Stupid sun just had to be behind clouds, and I’m no good at navigating open areas like this, where there are no landmarks or anything to go by.”

I looked at Nicomphus, who just shrugged. “Nicomphus and I are headed to Ondul. We might as well give you a ride as well.” Envy sniffled again, but seemed in much better spirits. “Thanks Mr. Rael, Mr. Nicomphus.” I helped her into the Magicart, and she made herself comfortable.

“Are we good, Fox-Man?” Nicomphus looked over his shoulder towards us. “Were good, let’s go.” The Magicart’s Manaconverter screeched, and we were flying across the plain at top speed once more.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sun was setting when we saw a change in the distance. “Hey, uncle, is that?” I looked over at him, with a hopeful expression. He turned towards me. “That’s Ondul forest, alright. We’ll be there soon.” We kept riding and as we did, the clouds began to slowly lighten and as we got to the forest edge, we could see the open sky for the first time in days.

The forest edge differed from what I had imagined. Then again, I had only ever seen forests as pictures in a book, so I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. The sound of the leaves rustling in the wind was, strange, but calming. In the end, I decided I liked it. “So this is a forest. It’s different from what I expected.”

What I didn’t like, was the foreboding shadows underneath the trees, and how the shadows squirmed where the sunlight penetrated the canopy. At the forest edges were, interspersed at even intervals, strange stones. Uncle noticed my interest in them as we stopped. “Those are the Ondul Obelisks. They alert the elves of anyone attempting to enter the forest. I take it you three will be returning home?”

Nari and the others nodded. Ursus reached out a massive hand and uncle grasped it. “That we will, with everything that’s going on right now, neither Narja nor I relish the idea of staying away for too long and Nari’s tribe is in bad shape. To be honest, I was against her going with us, since her tribe needed looking after, but we needed a third rider.”

Nari gave me a hug, and Narja grasped my offered hand with a warm smile. “You will always be welcome among my tribe, Keari. I hope to see you again soon.” I offered my in response. "And should you ever wander close to the mountains of Therinos, come and visit the Mountain Home. They’re a rowdy bunch, but they are good people." Narja gave a nod, and the two said their goodbyes to the others as well.

I turned my attention to the trail we were standing in front of and watched as it disappeared into the trees. “It’s almost like a giant pillared hall.” Amber walked up next to me and tilted her head. “I can see that, in an unorganized and confusing sort of way.”

I turned away from the trees and waved as the three of them mounted the Bloodstalkers and turned back towards the plains once more. “See you again, sometime!” Nari turned around and waved briefly, then they all rode off into the distance. Glu walked over, happily chewing on something. “Big forest, Glu didn’t go here.” She seemed in good spirits.

Uncle and Sarirrva walked over as well. “The Elven forest is a strange place. Elves are Fae and that reflects in their home. Don’t expect the forest to be… compliant with things like flow of time or other mundane natural laws.” Sarirrva peered into the trees with great interest. “Well, Elves aren’t the only Fae living in this place. Monitor your belongings, lest they get stolen by pixies.”

Uncle grumbled and cast spells on our packs. “I just warded them against theft. I am not in the mood to play with those small winged pranksters right now. Now let’s go, we’re burning daylight.” With that, uncle marched down the forest trail, with the rest of us close behind.

The forest was quiet, aside from our footsteps. The constant winds and rain of the Plains was nowhere to be heard. It was eerie. “Uncle, are forests usually this silent?” He hesitated for a moment. “Ondul is wary of outsiders. That goes for all its inhabitants. Once they are used to us, I guess you could hear birdsong and other forest noises. Then again, we are in the presence of a Dragon, so…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but glanced at Sarirrva, who seemed to take great delight in his attention, even if it was negative.

Uncle led us all down the path with an almost bored expression. “Hmm, I would have expected to run into a Warden by now... Strange.” Sarirrva glanced around. “Likewise, there are no pixies or faeries flitting around the place, invisible or otherwise. This is a Fae wood. There should be plenty all over the place.”

We kept going for a while longer, but still nothing. Only the distant rustling of leaves even told me we were moving at all. “Uncle, you said we should have run into a warden. Does that mean this trail should be guarded?” Uncle scratched his beard for a few moments. “All the trails should be guarded, and even if they aren’t, they should know we are here, thanks to the Obelisks. This is highly unusual, unless the elves have suddenly changed their ways in the last three decades.”

Sarirrva scoffed as uncle said that last part. “The day the Elves change is the day I turn into a White. No, something had to have happened, something huge. The complete lack of any Fae at all proves this.” That sounded strange indeed. I couldn’t help but agree with Sarirrva there. Something about the entire forest was giving me a sense of “wrong” that I couldn’t shake.

“Well, with any luck, we will find someone or something soon.” I couldn’t hide the nervousness in my voice as I spoke. And as we continued deeper into the forest, I could only hope that what had befallen the Tribes, had not yet spread to the forest, for all our sake.