“Now, there were a number of Wild Elven cities, prior to the Massacre, but we believe half, if not more, have been abandoned. We don’t know exactly where the remaining Wild Elves live now, so our best plan is to teleport here…” Tavorwen declared, tapping the area as we spread out a map of the region.
It was hard to tell the scale, but the forests of the Wood Elves connected to more woods that extended to the southern edge of the map. The east coast swooped in forming a gulf that cut west before sweeping out again to the east as you went north. The coast then meandered a bit, as it became the northern coast. The Northern coast swept northwest with a mountain range dominating the coast. There was a small ridge of mountains that branched out to just over the Wood Elven forest. Between the main mountain range and the lower range was the valley and plains that Kathra had claimed and El’Muth’Ran was marked on the map just below the northern ridge, near the end of the mountains, but well in from the coast. The rest of the map, extending from the Elven forests to the western and southern edges were the grasslands.
The place Tavorwen indicated was the northwest point of the Forest of the Wood Elves.
“From there we can check on the cities of Teluvin, Maelgrim, Fumeir, Chiontovar, and Vroekim.” Tavorwen continued. “If we cannot find any of our sisters there, then we’ll have to push in deeper to the old capital of Hoiventhre.”
There was some debate about how many supplies we could carry until I ended it by stating I would carry the rest we needed.
“But Master! That would be dishonorable!” Sevrina objected.
“No.” I put my foot down. “I’m not going to go packless while we are struggling to carry enough supplies. I am strong enough to carry all the extra we need and more.”
It took a bit more insistence, but in the end, they relented. With my pack being allocated too, we were easily able to distribute the supplies. Especially since the ten stones, or roughly twenty-five pounds, that were assigned to my pack were lighter than my old rucksack.
“Now, what do we do about Amura?” Creadean finally spat it out.
“She’s coming.” I declared adamantly. “I was told to keep her close, and I will.”
Amura’s face brightened for a second and I felt… Happiness? Pride?… through our bond.
“Yes, but how do we see to her safety?” Credean demanded. “Do we split our forces to keep the two of you safe? I’m sorry, but if the choice is between saving her and saving our Master, I know of few who would not choose to save you, Master.”
“Amura, if you are willing to tell us, are there any weapons or anything that you could use to protect yourself?” I asked.
She blinked at me. “You would grant me… a weapon?”
I met her gaze. “Would you use it against me or any of the members of our house?”
She shook her head, “No, master, I would not.”
I could tell a Creadean and a few of the others were uncomfortable with the idea of an armed Shadow Elf in their midst, but I could also see their acknowledgment that if she was coming with us, it was the best thing.
“I am… a failure with multiple blades, but I am passable with a single blade,” Amura explained.
“Anbethir, can you help her get a sword?” I requested. “And we’ll need to get you something more defensive than your current clothes.”
While I enjoyed the view as she seemed to like wearing revealing clothes, all that exposed skin was a definite target.
“I believe Anbethir and I can make her battle garb.” Lymarith declared, and Anbethir nodded her agreement.
“Then I’ll leave that up to you two.” I accepted.
Everyone broke and the house was bustling with people preparing everything.
We ate one last dinner before our trip and retired for the night. Benavur joined me in bed for the night, and, to my surprise, Amura cuddled up with me as well. Amura was still wearing her normal clothing, leaving a lot of her bare skin to make contact. I still slept wearing just my undergarments but that didn’t seem to matter to either of the elves in my bed. Amura said nothing but pressed her cold forearms and legs against me.
Now, I’ve heard men complain about women putting their cold feet on their legs. As a man that always slept hot… I kinda liked it. It was like having a personal air conditioner snuggling up to you all night.
In the morning when I woke, Amura was pressed entirely against me with a content look on her face and her skin against mine felt normal, so I’d clearly warmed her during the night. On my other side, Benavur was cuddled up just as close on the other side. I enjoyed the cuddles for a minute until I felt Amura stir, and then pull back. She climbed out of bed and I pretended not to notice, so she could leave without embarrassment.
We all rose, and Diamiutar prepared a filling breakfast of some sort of egg, a heavy flatbread, and salted cured meat that reminded me of bacon, but was clearly not pork, but was just as tasty.
“The protein will sustain you longer.” She explained.
When Amura joined us, she was wearing her new battle garb. She had a simple leather corset, laced up in the front, with detached leather sleeves that connected to a leather shoulder cover. Leather-segmented skirt and boots that reached from the floor and rose up above the hem of her skirts. The whole thing was covered in runes. One of the curved elven blades hung at her waist.
Lymarith walked in, absolutely exhausted.
“Did you work through the night?” I asked her.
Lymarith yawned, “Yes… but I can sleep now, and Anbethir is ready to go. And if it keeps her safe, it was worth it.”
“You did a good job.” Amura quietly acknowledged. “It fits well, and I appreciate your willingness to make it the way I wanted it.”
After breakfast, the packs were distributed. Again I was reminded of how light and easy things had been ever since my visit with X’thallion where he had given me ‘a boon of strength’ as he called it. I had no idea what that meant, but more and more I was thinking it was just literal, and I was simply stronger than I had been. I bet I could carry a hundred-pound ruck and not give a fuck. It was incredible.
The House Matrons all gathered around and gave kisses as I bid them farewell.
“Come back safe to us,” Diamiutar begged. “Be careful.”
When we all made our way to the platforms where we had teleported to and from each time, we found Narusil there.
“Narusil, you know you can’t…” I started.
“I know. I must remain and keep our son safe.” Narusil assured me. “But I may at least perform the spell to teleport you and see you safely on your way.”
I nodded. That was a reasonable request. She gave me a hug as we waited for everything to be ready. It took a few moments for Risavis to arrive with her enormous wolf. Once everything was ready, I stood in the center of the chalk circle for the teleportation circle with my nine battle matrons, the giant wolf, two battle maidens, and Amura.
Narusil began quietly reciting the spell to teleport us. She sadly nodded to us as the world began to melt into a swirl of colors. My gut felt a jerk and then the swirl reformed and we stood on the floor of the forest. We stretched and Flendreir stepped to the side and dry heaved, retching and coughing, but not actually vomiting.
“Sorry.” Flendreir apologized. “That always gets to me, but that was… ugh… not good.”
“You’d been doing so well.” Anbethir sighed. “It got to you again?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine in a minute.” Flendreir assured us.
I hadn’t noticed that teleportation made me a tight touch queasy before, but not that bad. I guess it affected some people worse than others. I hadn’t really looked for it before.
What I was really looking at, however, was the land to the west. A hundred yards to the west, the trees opened and the swaying grassland took over. There were smaller trees that extended for a few hundred feet, but the grasslands stretched on. I walked to the edge of the forest and looked out. To the north, I could see the very distant mountains, looking so small, but in order for them to be seen at this kind of distance, based on the maps, they had to be massive.
Once Flendreir collected herself, we stepped out from the trees and began to cross the grasslands. Risavis rode Irsivir, ranging farther out, and riding in arcs around us, to get a better view, but as far as you could see, it seemed almost pointless. There were hills, yes, but for the most part, you could see what felt like miles in every direction. We headed southwest.
“Where are these cities?” I wondered out loud.
“Do you see that mass?” Tavorwen asked, pointing.
There was a small dot in the distance.
“That’s…” I breathed.
“That is Teluvin. It looks far away, but with luck, we can reach it in a couple of hours.” She affirmed. “If all goes well, we’ll either find our sisters there, or we’ll be able to make it to Maelgrim before nightfall.”
I used my scope to try and see, but all I could see was a slightly larger mass, with corners, identifying them as buildings.
There were enough small rivulets and ponds that we could refill our water as we walked, without spending the effort to conjure water. Sevrina was able to cast a simple spell to ensure the water was safe to drink before we collected it.