The trees around us were nearly incomprehensibly large. I wasn’t even sure how the elf we were following had gotten up, or where they had been standing. There were massive branches, of course, but they were mostly a hundred feet off the ground. I looked around, thinking I might see more guards or scouts, but found none. Then as we walked around the great roots a tree, we were suddenly met with a dwelling.

Something akin to shutters made of leaves and twigs covered a hole in the roots, while some sort of cloth or thin hide draped over what was probably a doorway. Had we passed other such dwellings along the way, or was this one the most remote?

“Wise one,” called the escort. “A planar traveler has stumbled into our domain.”

“Enter,” came an old and somewhat creaky voice. The escort pulled back the cloth, gesturing for Midnight and I to go in. Inside I was surprised to find worked furniture. I thought they had avoided using wood, but there were tables and stools, as well as another dividing cloth behind which I presumed there was a bed. Even so, the whole thing was buried under the massive roots of a tree- and the floor was still bare dirt. Everything was fit into the natural curves of the dwelling. “I see. An orc, and… a familiar?”

“That’s correct,” Midnight replied. “Though I’m not a cat.”

The individual speaking was clearly elven as well- or at least something close to elven. There was just one issue, that they were old. Wrinkled skin, drooping ears, age spots and every sort of thing one did not think of with elves. Then again, I was aware elves could get old… they just usually did so gracefully, and slowly. “You two are planar travelers?” the figure asked from where they sat at a table, perusing some sort of book. “Please, sit.”

I was quite glad to, because the roof wasn’t particularly convenient for someone of my height. And by ‘roof’ I meant ‘wherever the large roots decided to grow over this area’. “Yes. We came here after rescuing a friend, and there are several others along with us. We did not intend to enter your territory, but were unfamiliar with everything.”

I felt a trickle of mana, almost undetectable given the ambient mana but quite obvious once I picked it out. This individual was performing some sort of magic- or using another class ability. “It does seem that you are ignorant of many things. Tell me, where do you think you are?”

“This forest or… this plane?” I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know either. My studies might be lacking on planes, but I haven’t heard of anything quite like this. Some of the celestial planes should have forests, but I wouldn’t expect them to have dragons…” I shook my head.

“Well, it is not strange that you would be unaware of details regarding the old world,” the wrinkled figure said, placing their hands that looked almost like gnarled twigs on the table in front of them. “It is difficult to come to this place.”

“It wasn’t under our own power,” I confirmed. “Actually, I’m not sure if this is even the right world. Do you know of Granbold?”

“Is that some place on the current material plane?” they asked. “Whether it is a city or a country, I have no knowledge of it. But don’t let that cause you concern. There is very little contact between us, and there is supposed to be less travel.” They paused, “Another world, you said?” I had, more or less. But it wasn’t really a question. “It should be even more difficult to get here from such a place.”

“One of the most powerful villains from that world has recently developed the ability to create portals nearly at will. It was through one of his portals that we escaped with my friend.”

“We are aware of these portals,” the elf replied.

“You are? Well, I’d say we’d like to return through them but… they’d just lead us back into danger. And the one we came through should be closed anyway.”

“How do you know this?”

“A Sending spell to speak to my world.”

“Your world? I see, that would make sense. If you consider that place your own, the connection might be sufficient to have a non-negligible contact rate.”

“And the quantity of mana here is great enough I could try quite regularly,” I pointed out. “Ah… I do believe he’s siphoning off some of that power.”

“Interesting. You are quite honest.”

“Shouldn’t I be? You’re checking for that anyway.”

“So I am. You can tell that?”

“Well, sure. I think it’s fairly common to be able to sense mana usage.”

“You still must have been exposed to a wide variety of magic relative to your age to sense me working. Or I have lost my touch.”

“Magic? Not particularly,” I admitted. “But definitely various powers.”

“Mysterious powers?”

“Relatively commonplace in my… in the other world.” Was it my world now? I guess so. But it still felt weird to admit it. “But not so ubiquitous as classes.”

“I am aware of some of the oddity of other worlds.” The figure nodded, sandy hair moving in front of darker skin. “So what are you doing here?”

“Well, nothing specifically. We were simply fleeing some enemies and stumbled into your area.”

“By random chance? I suppose it is possible, but unlikely.”

“We were led by a scout trying to find the safest routes. I can imagine that would ultimately coincide with your territory.”

“Indeed. And then you were brought to me.”

“Apparently,” I said. “We’re not allowed to be here, it seems. I asked to be escorted around, but was then brought to you.”

“That does sound like Ailen.” The figure cleared their throat. “Ailen! Escort this fellow and his group to Comhghall!”

“Who is that?” I asked.

“Your best chance of returning somewhere familiar.”

“Oh. Alright,” I nodded. “I thought… well, I suppose that even a figure like yourself might not have Gate.”

A half smile. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

I frowned, “I suppose so.” My limited understanding of social skills led me to believe we were done, especially with Ailen standing at the doorway semi-patiently. “Thank you for your time.” Ailen moved ahead of me, presumably back along our route. I felt like I was still missing a lot of information. “Sorry to get you dragged up in this. I’m sure you had other things to do.”

“It is but a short trip. Easy enough to do at the request of a wise one.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said. “I had thought you would be… less friendly. Because I’m an orc.”

“We might be ancient enemies with your kind, but here those words are more true. It is ancient. Today, the truce stands firm. Confirming that you were truly lost, it would be inappropriate to do more.”

“... Alright,” I looked at Midnight, intentionally swapping my language. “I don’t really get what’s going on, but they seem nice.”

“It seems like we’re being removed from the area expediently,” Midnight said. “But at least they’re not rude about it.”

It didn’t take long for us to return to the rest of our companions, who looked quite relieved. I gave them the quick explanation, ending with, “Ailen will apparently be escorting us to someone who can potentially help.”

“At least we have someone who knows the area,” Izzy said. “Our trek through this area has been circuitous enough.”

I translated for her, and Ailen just nodded.

“Do you need to get anything before we go?” I asked. “We’ll wait here.”

“I am prepared,” Ailen said, gesturing to bow and quiver.

Good. Seemed like we weren’t too far.

I should have suspected something when we stopped by a river. Or when Ailen foraged berries- though it was good for us to learn some particular ones were edible. Izzy had avoided berries because of how volatile they could be as food. A particular berry could range from a standard blueberry to deadly nightshade without appearing much different. It was possible that Ceira could magically determine what was safe- that sounded like a druid thing- but it was best for her to reserve her points for things we actually needed. Though it seemed like we would be fine. We should be returning home soon, and we had shelter.

“We should rest for the night,” Ailen said as it began to get dark. “Dangers abound during the night.”

I nodded. Keeping Translation active constantly was easy with the levels of ambient mana, so I made sure to do that. “You said that it was a short trip. Should we expect to arrive tomorrow?”

Ailen looked at me like… well, I didn’t know quite what that look said. A bit of confusion, mixed with pity? “Not that short. Should all go well, I would expect to arrive in less than a month.”

“I… am unsure if Translation did its job correctly. By a month, do you mean thirty days?”

“That is the standard length of a month, yes,” Ailen said. “The journey could take several days less or more in either direction.”

I broke the bad news as we ate. Ailen looked with curiosity at the Shelter spell, sitting at an extra stool along with the rest of us.

“A month?” Ceira said. “I’m going to miss so much!”

“At least we have a path to return,” Senan said.

“I was just about to start my new job, too,” Izzy said.

“Sorry,” I said.

“It’s fine. I would rather help out a friend… friends.” She nodded, “I knew it was dangerous when I joined you.”

Ultimately, what could we say but it was unfortunate that we’d have to wait a month- just to get to the next step, which might not even bring us back. But we couldn’t guarantee I would level up sufficiently to change anything in that time, and if I did it meant we encountered a lot of danger.

Ailen clearly didn’t know what was happening in the conversation, but made a comment anyway. “Dried meat, is it?”

“Is that a problem?” I asked. “Are elves vegetarian? Or vegan?”

“I don’t know what a ‘vegan’ is,” Ailen said. “But you will not sustain long term travel well with just one type of sustenance. You will need more than just meat.”

“If you could help us find some more berries,” I said. “We would appreciate it.”

“What are you talking about?” Izzy asked.

“Well I- Actually, it would just be easier to cast Translation on Ailen, wouldn’t it?” Sure, technically Midnight and I were getting a two-for-one deal, but we only had one person we needed to speak to. If I used Translate on Ailen, everyone would be able to talk freely. A silly mistake.

“I will accept your magic for the sake of convenience,” Ailen said.

And that was that.

As we settled down for bed, Ailen got up and went outside. I followed. “Sorry, I didn’t think about making more beds. I’m still new to this spell. I think the floor will be more comfortable.”

Ailen looked at me, face inscrutable. Harder to read than normal, and I wasn’t great at that with anyone but those I was most familiar with. “I prefer to sleep outside.”

“Without a bedroll?”

“Of course. My clothes provide sufficient warmth for the season.”

“Is it really alright to bring you a month’s travel away without notice? And then you have to come back.”

“My return will be more swift,” Ailen said. “And it is but a month. My kind are longer lived than yours.”

“Hmm. I haven’t met that many elves, but I don’t think they were so casual about that much time.”

“Likely a side effect of dwelling among others,” Ailen said.

And then, apparently, the conversation was over. I said goodnight, and we slept. In the morning, we were off once more, going through a forest of gigantic proportions.

Izzy and Ailen were out front, occasionally speaking- sometimes Izzy asked something, and other times Ailen was the first to speak. I didn’t really overhear them.

“We’re getting close,” Ailen said, turning back towards the group as a whole.

“To what?” I asked.

“Food,” Ailen said. They gestured, and we began to follow. Then, we arrived in a grove of trees- almost appearing tiny compared to the rest of the forest. Perhaps they were shrubs instead? Either way, heavy fruits hung from their branches. “Here it is.”

“Great,” Ceira said. “I could really stand to eat something besides dried panther.” As she stepped forward, Ailen placed a hand on her shoulder… stopping her just in time for one of the trees to only smash the area in front of her instead of pulverizing her.

“You do not mind fighting for your sustenance, do you?” Ailen asked. Not that we had much of a choice now. But also, of course I didn’t mind.