Chapter 348: The Scarlet Forest

On the Ebon Realm, under the fluorescent canopy of the Glimmer Grove forest, walked a small party of three. At first glance, one might have called them an unlikely band of adventurers, though truth be told, none of them were looking for adventure.

But, perhaps fate had other plans for them, or perhaps fate wasn’t real at all, in which case they had somehow found themselves together in a bizarre series of coincidences that could be summed up as nothing more than them dancing to the tune of the universe’s chaotic nature.

Which was true? None of them knew, and if they were being honest with themselves, they didn’t want to.

The only certain truth was that they were an unlikely band of three.

The first of the three was their guide, a young idealistic drow who spent too much time reading her books and too little time walking, if the newfound blisters on the soles of her feet were any indication.

The second of the three was a beautiful noblewoman, a daughter of an orc Great House and Ruling Family of Hollow Shade. She had been raised a warrior like those who came before her, but she had spent most of her days in the comforts of society and magic, far from the battlefield and the wilderness of the Ebon lands.

The third of the three was an odd goblin. A half-goblin, probably, no one was quite sure, but odd, definitely odd. Even when he lived among his kind, he was different and had never quite fit in, as much as he strived to. When he had come to Hollow Shade, his upbringing had only made him stranger in the eyes of the city dwellers. When he came to Undergrowth he was recognized as an Ebon Aspirant and he became something else entirely in the eyes of others, a unique oddity to be admired and feared from afar. But to him, he had only found himself more estranged than ever. His family made him feel as if he wasn’t, but they weren’t here, at the edge of Glimmer Grove, far from Undergrowth where the party of three finally stopped walking.

Plum stumbled to a halt and threw her arms into the air, “Ugh! I can’t do this anymore! My feet are killing me!”

“Why don’t you sit down and let me have a look,” Stryg said and crouched next to her.

Plum nodded gratefully and sat down on a nearby fallen log. With a wince, she gingerly pulled off her boots and socks. The usual healthy grey skin on the soles of her feet was now a bright red, the skin chaffed from countless hours of walking the last four days.

“I can heal the skin and some of the damage beneath, but your body will have to do the rest. It will take some time for your feet to fully heal,” Stryg said thoughtfully.

“Wonderful,” Plum said wryly.

“Hold still for a few minutes.” Stryg channeled white mana into his hands. A faint white glow wrapped around the tips of his fingers and slowly melded into Plum’s feet.

Tauri glanced around the area as Stryg worked, her flail in hand.

Plum raised her eyebrow, “What are you looking for?”

“Any sign of danger,” Tauri said.

“Like Undergrowth’s soldiers? There’s no way they would be this far out,” Plum shook her head.

“Sure, but what about the forest’s fauna?” Tauri said.

“I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen or heard any animals in the last few hours,” Plum noted.

“That’s what worries me,” Tauri frowned.

“It means we’re close,” Stryg said.

“Close to what exactly?” Plum asked.

“…Vulture Woods,” Stryg said.

“That’s what I thought,” Plum said dejectedly.

“Thanks for guiding us this far,” Stryg said quietly. “We’re close, I can feel it. Just a little longer.”

“You sure? I mean, are you sure you want to go back there? We can always leave, you know? Head straight to Hollow Shade and rejoin the others. It’s not too late,” she said in a hopeful voice.

“Plum is right, we can still head back, if you want. I’d rather not go to this ‘murder cave’ if we don’t have to,” Tauri said dryly.

Stryg glanced up at the sun peeking through the canopy. “We still have a little over an hour before the sun begins to set. We should be able to make it to the border if we hurry.”

Tauri sighed, “The least you could do is tell me about the murder cave you’re leading us to.”

Stryg finished his healing spell and stood up. “It’s not a murder cave,” he said solemnly. “Murder would imply it was premeditated. It wasn’t. My tribemates were killed in a matter of seconds because we invaded a predator’s lair. Their deaths were born out of the predator’s self-defense and hunger.”

Tauri blanched, “I… I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

Stryg shrugged stiffly, “It’s fine. You deserve to know the truth about why we’re here.”

“So, why exactly are we going to this… cave?” Tauri asked hesitantly.

“Because I’m going to murder every single lamia in that cave,” Stryg said icily and walked away.

Tauri blinked, “Did he just say lamia? Are we going to have to fight a fucking lair of lamias?”

“Probably,” Plum sighed.

“Now I’m beginning to understand why Loh always said Stryg was a goddamn handful,” Tauri grumbled under her breath.

~~~

Fortunately, their goal was much closer than the party had anticipated. After only a few more minutes of walking the trio had come upon a long narrow clearing. The bright green grass of Glimmer Grove ended at their feet and the dark lush grass of another forest lay beyond.

Tauri and Plum stared at the tall ashen trees across the clearing with wide eyes. Where Glimmer Grove’s trees were curved and gnarly, these trees pointed straight to the sky, their trunks 2 or 3 meters wide and ten times as tall. Their bark was grey, some as pale as eggshells, others as dark as charcoal. Yet they all had the same scarlet red leaves growing on their branches high in the canopy.

Tauri swallowed and licked her dry lips, “So this is Vu—”

“—Vulture Woods,” Stryg whispered. It had been so long, but as he took a deep breath, the scent of the grass and trees filled his mind with old memories. He smiled reminiscently, a warm feeling churning in his chest.

Plum adjusted her glasses and walked over to one of the ashen trees and looked up at its branches in admiration, “I’ve read the stories, but seeing an ashen tree in person is something entirely different. They're enormous.”

“It’s not just the trees,” Tauri said warily. “My father told me the creatures that live in Vulture Woods are much larger too.”

“No wonder they call this place a forest of monsters,” Plum shivered.

“It’s home,” Stryg said. He wasn’t trying to contradict them, he was simply stating how he felt.

“Well, your home is quite the sight,” Tauri said as she walked past the clearing and into the scarlet forest.

The sunset’s light bled through the scarlet canopy and dyed the world around them in a myriad of red hues.

“It’s more beautiful than I thought,” Tauri smiled. Her smile suddenly cracked and she furrowed her brow, “Is it…? Why do I feel cold?”

“I thought it was just me, but the air really is colder over here,” Plum rubbed her arms. “It feels like late autumn.”

“I don’t know, it feels fine to me,” Stryg said.

He slowly walked through the tall grass of the clearing and took a careful step into Vulture Woods. He glanced up at the red canopy and exhaled the nervous breath he had been holding. He was back, he was finally back.

“We'll camp here tonight,” Stryg said.

“I’ll start preparing dinner while you two work on setting up camp,” Plum said promptly. She had tried the other two’s cooking the last few days and had quickly concluded that neither of them could roast even a carrot to save themselves.

“I’ll go collect some brushwood,” Stryg nodded without objecting.

“I’ll pull out the bedrolls,” Tauri said and took off her backpack.

Plum smiled at her small but necessary victory.

~~~

After dinner, Stryg had opted to take the first watch as Tauri and Plum slept near the warm crackling fire. Plum hadn’t brought her own backpack of supplies since she had joined them at the last minute. So they only had two bedrolls and two blankets. Stryg had given his to Plum and had chosen to sleep on the ground with Blossom as a blanket the last few nights.

Strangely enough, he would wake up every morning to small roots growing out from the edge of the white flower cloak, as if the cloak was trying to plant itself on the ground around him. He’d usually just rip off the roots with a light tug and they would shrivel into nothingness after a few seconds.

Even now he didn’t understand how House Thorn’s cloak worked, but it was warm, so he kept it around his shoulders as he kept watch. The cold didn’t particularly bother him, but he was against staying warm either. As he thought about the benefits of temperature, his mind wandered to Feli and how he had never felt cold in bed with her.

It had only been a few days, but he missed his wife, more than he’d like to admit.

His floppy pointed ear suddenly twitched. A ruffle of blankets and a slight grumble echoed from one of the bedrolls. Plum shimmied out of her bedroll and yawned quietly. She spotted Stryg sitting next to a tree, resting his back on the ashen trunk. She quietly tiptoed around Tauri’s bedroll and made her way next to Stryg.

“It’s not your shift yet,” he whispered.

“I know, I couldn’t sleep,” Plum said.

Stryg looked up at her and lifted his arm up, his cloak hanging open. Plum smiled and sat next to him. Without prompting he lowered his arm and wrapped the cloak around them both.

Despite their painful shared pasts, both of them had chosen to not speak of their scars, and tried to move on with what little remained of their friendship. Stryg was grateful for her part in that silent agreement. He had missed his friend.

“…So, this is Blossom. It’s fluffier than I thought,” Plum noted quietly.

“The whole thing is made of petals, what did you expect?”

“Hey, at least I’m not the one who thought Blossom could make them fly.”

“I’m still disappointed about that,” he grumbled.

She nudged his shoulder, “It’s fine, you’re a prime mage, someday you’ll master Yellow’s wind spell-form and you’ll be flying around everywhere.”

“It’s not that simple. Wind magic has various kinds of spells; flight spells are more of a niche, and one that is not only difficult to learn, but very impractical for me.”

“Why?” she furrowed her brow.

“…I weigh a lot more than most people my size. It’d be difficult to lift my body into the air and create a steady current for flight. Maybe if I was an archmage it’d be different, but as I am now…”

“So what you’re really telling me is you’re fat,” she giggled.

“Shut up,” he growled.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay if you’re fat. For reasons I can’t understand, she likes you just the way you are,” Plum looked pointedly at the sleeping Tauri. She glanced at Stryg and grinned lewdly, “You lucky bastard.”

Stryg slightly frowned, “I don’t know… I thought so at first. But after we slept together she’s mostly kept her distance.”

“Wait? You clapped those fine cheeks?” Plum’s eyes widened. “Tell me everything. I want details, details.”

Stryg furrowed his brow, “Are you talking about sex?”

“Obviously. Wait, you’re not?”

“No, we just slept together, literally. We fell asleep in her family’s gardens. It was nice, I guess.”

“…I expected more from you,” Plum said in disgust.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like you’re ‘clapping cheeks’ either.”

“I’ve had my nights,” Plum said proudly. “Undergrowth has many beautiful flowers if you know what I mean.”

Stryg smiled, “Is that so? Anyone in particular?”

“Meh, not yet. Though you clearly found one, that ‘Amethyst Mistress’ or so they call her.”

“You mean Feli?”

“That’s the one.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty great,” he smiled warmly.

“And yet here you are trying to get with every academy boy’s biggest crush,” she grinned. “You Aspirants, you’re gluttony never ceases to amaze me.”

“I’m the only Aspirant you know.”

“My point exactly. So what’s your plan?”

“What do you mean?”

Plum laughed, “You know. What are you going to tell mommy and daddy Katag when they find out you’ve taken very close ‘interests’ with their daughter, and not the one you’re supposed to be marrying.”

Stryg blinked, “Uh… that’s…”

Plum made a deadpan expression, “Tell me you’ve thought about this before right now…”

“Um…”

Plum turned to the sky pleadingly, “Oh gods, why did you bless him with so much power but make him such an idiot?”

Stryg frowned, “Hey—!” He stopped and tilted his head to the side, “Something’s coming…”

“What?” Plum stiffened.

“Don’t move,” Stryg whispered and stood up slowly, leaving Blossom with Plum.

He began channeling orange mana into his hands, but then stopped. A lone wolf stepped out of the shadows of the trees. The wolf’s fur was a dark grey that blended with the shadows, save for her bright yellow eyes that stared at the goblin. The wolf’s shoulders were 5 feet tall and her head was eye level with Stryg.

“Now would be a great time to use your flame magic or flora magic or stone magic, or any offensive spell really,” Plum whispered anxiously.

“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Stryg said carefully.

A dozen pairs of yellow eyes watched the campsite from the shadows all around them.

Stryg didn’t move, he simply stared at the she-wolf that had stepped forward. They both eyed each other silently, searching for a weakness, a crack in the other’s armor.

The wolf stepped closer to Stryg, but he strangely felt no sense of aggression. She sniffed him over and then abruptly grunted as if in approval. She licked his hand and trotted back into the trees. The other dozen pairs of yellow eyes slowly disappeared back into the darkness.

“…What the fuck was that?” Plum mumbled in shock.

“An alpha and her pack searching for dinner,” Stryg whispered.

“And they just decided to leave us alone?” Plum asked, confused.

“We’re not prey.”

“…So, wolves don’t like the taste of drow and goblins, good to know.”

“They do. Just not these, I guess…”

“Then I’m just glad Miss Dire Wolf didn’t try to eat us,” Plum sighed in relief. “Not that I don’t think you couldn’t handle them, but I'd rather avoid bloodshed if we can, right?”

“That wasn’t a dire, just an ordinary wolf,” he noted quietly.

“Oh… Fuck me, then. This place really is a forest of monsters,” Plum laughed, though it sounded more like a cry. “How did your people ever survive in these god-forsaken woods?”

“Together,” Stryg whispered.

Plum nodded in understanding. “…I heard a rumor from Veronica that some drow hunters had spotted a goblin riding a wolf in Vulture Woods a few months back. I thought it was an obvious lie, just another tale from a drunk at a tavern, but now I’m not so sure…”

“It was a lie,” Stryg said resolutely, “Sylvan folk don’t ride wolves. It’s never happened.”

Plum shrugged, “Well, then maybe you’ll be the first.”