Hamertia: The Elven Folly
Chapter 5

“Jastra! Jastra!” Rychell shouted, seeing the red-haired maiden in the distance. He was nearly out of breath when he reached her.

“Calm down,” she told him. “What’s the problem?”

“We need help getting through the tree wall so we can go collect some hemlock to save Athtar who ate a flower named after him. Can you help?” He spoke so quickly that she could hardly understand him.

“Whoa there, slow down. First of all, who’s we?”

“My adventure buddies!”

“And what exactly do you guys need help with?” she asked, figuring she must have misunderstood him the first time.

“Getting through the northern forest wall!”

Jastra shook her head. “Now how do you expect me to be able to help you with that?”

“Well…look at you,” Rychell replied nervously. “If anybody can bust through a tree wall, it’s you!”

“Oh, come on now, I’m not that strong,” she laughed. “Besides, I’ve agreed to meet with the elven fire mages for some important business.”

“Those guys are so mean,” Rychell groaned. “I’ve never understood it Jastra, you’re high-born, yet you come down here and hang around with…bad guys. I would do anything to get to live in the northern forest!”

Jastra sighed. “Tell you what, I’ll go with you real quick to take a look at this tree wall. If it means that much to you…”

Rychell’s eyes lit up and before Jastra could get another word in, he grabbed her hand and began leading her toward the others.

Before long, Rychell and Jastra came running up to the trio sitting against the tree wall.

“See? I told you Rychell isn’t so bad,” Rydel said with a smile.

“We’re still not on the other side of this wall,” Folwin replied. “Let’s wait until then before we start praising him.”

“Guys, I got Jastra!” the young elf shouted as soon as he reached the group. “She’s gonna get us right through these trees!”

“I said I’ll see what I can do,” Jastra said, taking a look at the tree wall. “No promises yet.”

Jastra walked up and down along the barrier while Elluin and Folwin paced nearby, their eyes to the ground. Rydel and Rychell were the only two who looked even the least bit hopeful. After what felt like an eternity, Jastra found a gap between two trees, just small enough to fit her fingers through.

“This seems to be the most vulnerable area along this whole damn thing,” she announced. “Whoever grew this wall really doesn’t want anyone getting out.”

“Nature is the only thing that put this wall here,” Rydel said quietly. “Everything in the forest but the dwellings we built is natural.”

“Well then, I guess nature doesn’t want you getting out of here,” she smirked. “I don’t know what you expect me to do.”

“Pull the trees apart!” Rychell yelled. “I know you can do it Jastra!”

“Rychell,” Folwin moaned, losing his patience. “Nobody can just pull trees apart. Surely even a blindly optimistic little thing like yourself should know that.”

“Calm down,” Jastra interrupted. “You know, you could really learn something from the kid. He seems to be the only one here with a little bit of hope still left in him, even if you don’t think it makes sense. Hope is always a wise thing to have.”

With that said, Jastra squeezed her fingers into the gap between the trees. She pulled with her all her might. Although her efforts were not initially effective, she kept going. Miraculously, the trees budged, if only a little.

“Progress,” she said, smiling.

Now able to fit both hands between the trees, she continued to pull them apart. Little by little, the mighty trunks were separated until the gap widened to a size just large enough for an elf to fit through. As soon as she took her hands off the trees, Rychell ran up and hugged her.

“See! I knew you could do it! You just have to believe it and try!” he said, eyes beaming with joy. He looked over at the others, a huge smile on his face, far too excited to hold a grudge against them for not believing him.

“Alright, you boys have fun out there,” she said once Rychell released her from the embrace. “Just don’t die or anything.”

The three older elves still had a look of astonishment on their faces.

“Sorry we doubted you, Rychell,” Elluin murmured, his gaze fixated on the entrance to the world beyond the northern forest.

“It’s ok,” Rychell replied. “But now you see what I mean? If you don’t believe something can happen, then it never will.”

They all nodded their heads and approached the gap in the tree wall. One by one, they stepped through the passageway. First Elluin, then Folwin, then Rydel, and finally Rychell. None of them knew what to expect as they left the confines of the forest for the first time in their lives.

Once they made their way through the gap, they realized there was nothing exciting waiting for them on the other side. The land outside the forest was barren of everything but grass. The trees and vegetation that were abundant in their forest home were completely lacking. As far out as the horizon, the only thing visible was green ground and blue sky.

“Well at least it doesn’t look like we’ll be crossing any rivers or climbing over any mountains,” Rydel said after a long moment of silence. “Come on, let’s go find Ath’s hemlock.”

Realizing that she was already late for her meeting with the fire mages, and not really caring enough to go anyway, Jastra decided to make a stop at the library. She stepped through the doorway and was greeted by perhaps the most irritable elf she had ever encountered.

“What is it now?” Xander groaned, almost loud enough to be a scream. “What do you want? How many of you bastards are going to bother me today?”

“The library is open to all, Xander,” Jastra replied bluntly. “I have just as much right to be here as you.”

“Shouldn’t you be in the southern forest hanging around with some of your low-born friends?” he scoffed. “I swear you’re the worst of them all, Jastra. A high-born associating herself with such types. It’s repulsive.

Jastra smirked. “I know what you did to Leofrick, Xander. I know why he isn’t here. Did you really thing you were going to keep it a secret?”

Xander’s heart dropped. His face was frozen, unable to reply.

“Some of the inhabitants of the southern forest found the body last night and brought it back. I was the first one they showed it to. And now I find you here in the library. What do you think that tells me?”

“I…I…” he stuttered, trying to come up with something to say. “I could just kill you, you know,” he said, a nervous tremble in his voice. “Then no one else up here would know about it.”

“No,” she replied coldly, leering at him and broadening her shoulders. “You couldn’t.”

Xander slowly stood up, his body shaking. Usually so confident and sharp-tongued, this feeling of utter fear was completely new to him. “Wh…what are you gonna do? What I did is already done. You…you really don’t have to tell anybody. What good would it do?”

“I really don’t like to meddle in others’ affairs,” she said, maintaining a stern voice. “I really don’t. I’ll agree not to tell anyone, but only because I think doing so would cause too much grief. But you better not ever cross me, or you’ll meet the same fate.”

Xander fearfully nodded his head, a look of absolute terror in his eyes. “Alright…I swear I’ll never cross you.”

Jastra stared him down for a little while longer before abruptly turning around and walking out the door. Xander was still trembling uncontrollably, not able to calm his nerves. He sat back down his chair and returned to looking at his book, yet he found himself unable to focus on the words.

“How can we even be sure Nealey knows what he’s talking about?” Folwin asked as the group walked through the grass field. “The guy is obviously a bit…messed up. I mean, white ground? How could something like that even exist?”

“We’re walking through empty grass land right now,” Rydel replied. “No trees, no bushes, no anything. We actually went through the northern tree wall. It seems to me like anything is possible.”

“Yeah, Rydel gets it!” Rychell exclaimed, slapping the older boy’s hand.

“I think they’re right Folwin,” Elluin chimed in. “Some crazy stuff happened today. Let’s just try to stay positive.”

The confidence and positivity exuded by the other boys was too much for even Folwin to resist. The only thing he could do was smile. “You guys are right. But I gotta say I was expecting something…more out here. It’s just a giant endless grassy field.”

“Well at least it’s not a giant lava pit!” Rychell said cheerfully. “But I guess that would be a bit more exciting…”

“I don’t really care as long as we find the hemlock for Ath,” Rydel said. “I hope he’s still alright…”

Elluin put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s back at home sleeping comfortably in bed. Everything will be fine Rydel. I promise.”

Rydel smiled, happy to have such sympathetic and caring friends. “Thanks Ellie,” he whispered.

The group of elven adventurers continued along on their journey, heading north through the seemingly endless grasslands.

“Hey Onvyr?” Rania said, her head still resting on his shoulder.

“Yeah?” he replied, too focused on his book to say much of anything else.

“Do you really think Leofrick is out doing research?”

“Thought you said you didn’t care,” he snickered, gently nudging her with his arm.

“Yeah, but the more I think about it, the weirder it seems,” she replied, sounding as if she was in a state of deep thought. “Leofrick never leaves his library. He’s always seemed like more of a book learner than a hands-on research kind of guy…Don’t you think it’s a bit weird?”

“I don’t know,” Onvyr half-heartedly replied. “Maybe something really sparked his interest. Kinda like gnomes did for me. Athtar said he was gonna take me to go visit them, but I haven’t seen him around. Don’t know what happened to him.”

Rania shrugged. “Well I just hope Leofrick’s alright. I don’t think he’s ever been outside his entire life.

Onvyr laughed. “I’m sure he’s fine Rania. Let’s just get back to the book now, hmm?”

Elluin, Folwin, Rydel, and Rychell walked all day, yet their surroundings never changed. The ground did not turn white nor did the air grow cold. The only evidence of progress being made was that they could no longer see the tree wall behind them.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to stop for the day,” Elluin announced. “Pick a spot that looks comfortable and get some rest.”

“This is ridiculous,” Folwin remarked. “How big can this place be? Why would such a huge place filled with…nothingness even exist anyway?”

“It’s not nothingness,” Rychell said. “There’s grass, air, sky…and I’m sure if you dig the grass up there’d be dirt…”

“I bet the boggarts would love this place,” Rychell added. “Ath is always talking about how the gnomes complain about them. Apparently, all they ever do is dig holes in the ground, as if they don’t know how to do anything else.”

“Well at least the gnomes know how to garden, so let’s be thankful for that,” Elluin said. “Alright everybody, the suns going down. No use travelling tired and in the dark. Pick a spot and get some sleep.”

Realizing that no particular spot was going to be better than any other, the elves stretched out on the ground and tried to get as comfortable as possible. It was quite a change from their large, lush beds they had back home.

Folwin found his spot near Rychell and lounged down next to him. “Hey, I’m sorry about doubting you earlier. You were right about Jastra getting us through the tree wall and I’m sure you’re right about us finding the hemlock too. You’re really not so bad.”

“It’s alright,” Rychell smiled, turning his head to look at Folwin. “I knew you’d come around. You just have to believe everything will turn out right.”

“I’m glad you came along,” Folwin said, returning the boy’s smile. “Good night, bud.”

Back in the forest, Kellam and Puff were preparing for the night. Although Kellam had a room assigned to him in the living quarters high above the forest floor, he preferred to sleep the same way he spent his waking hours; completely immersed in nature. Finding his resting place deep within the forest’s vegetation, the low-borns who ventured north during the night never seemed to cross his path.

“Puff, you know as well as anyone that I always try to see the good in every elf,” he said, confiding in his animal companion. “That I believe elven nature, just as the nature of the forest, is inherently good. And yet I struggle to find that sparkle of light within Xander.”

Puff replied with two short, high-pitched squeaks.

“You know, I’m not so sure you’re an owl,” Kellam remarked, to which Puff replied by ruffling his feathers.

“Anyway, perhaps Xander’s good is in there somewhere, but he certainly isn’t letting anyone see it…”

Kellam lay down on a pile of fern leaves and Puff found his place on his master’s chest, just as he did every night.

The sun rose to mark the start of a new day as the group of adventurers stood up and stretched, stiff from spending the night lying on the hard ground.

“We better get there today,” Elluin said. “How big could this northern land be?”

“The sooner the better,” Folwin agreed. “Come on, let’s get moving.”

The elves set back out on their journey. It wasn’t much later that they noticed the wind growing colder. They regretted not dressing in warmer garments. However, the temperature in the forest had always been consistently warm, so they had no warmer clothing to begin with. It was not long after the air grew cold that they noticed the ground beginning to turn white; although it was not so much the ground itself turning white, but rather lightly coated with something none of them had ever seen before.

“I guess Nealey was right,” Elluin said in astonishment.

“Told you!” Rychell replied. “But where’s the hemlock? I don’t see any plants anywhere.”

“Let’s just keep going,” Rydel advised. “We probably just have to go farther north and we’ll come across it.”

The others nodded in agreement, trying to keep their hopes up. Just as the grasslands had been void of any plant life, this new land appeared to be the same way; the only difference between them being what the ground was covered with.

“What is this stuff anyway?” Elluin asked after they resumed walking, pausing for a moment to reach down and hold the strange substance in his hands. “It’s just like…cold, white fluff. Have any of you ever seen it before?”

“The world outside the forest is a strange place, El,” Folwin said. “It’s probably why Nealey is so screwed up. This is no place for elves.”

“It even starts to turn to water when you hold it,” Elluin continued, not really paying attention to what his friend had said. “Wow…”

“Come on El, stop playing with it,” Folwin commanded. “I just wanna get what he came here for and get back home. Like I said, this is no place for an elf.”

After a long moment of staring at the white substance, Elluin snapped out of his trance and continued walking with the others. They meandered along until the sun approached its high point in the sky, the cold preventing them from moving any faster, when suddenly several figures appeared out in the distance.

“What is that?” Rydel asked in a shaky voice.

No one responded to his question. The white material that covered the ground had begun to fall from the sky, obstructing their view. The figures, now four in total, began moving closer to them. Unsure of how to react, the elves simply stood there frozen in place. As the figures came nearer, they were now able to observe some of their features. What they saw was the last thing they would have expected.

Onvyr and Rania arrived at the library to browse some more reading material. They had just finished their gnome book, leaving Onvyr more anxious than ever to meet them; if only he could find Athtar. They walked through the door to find Xander sitting in the same spot as the day before, a large pile of books in front of him.

“Hey Xander,” Rania said, to which he only replied with an incoherent grumble. “When is Leofrick gonna be back from doing his research.”

“How would I know?” Xander barked. “It’s not as if I would concern myself with the business of someone like him. It’s beneath me! Anyway, shouldn’t you two lovers be down on the bridge reading your book about those filthy little…beasts?”

“They’re gnomes,” Onvyr chimed in, clearly offended by the remark. “And they’re the only reason you’re able to eat.”

Xander scoffed. “Well what do you want? As usual, I’m very busy.”

“Busy doing what?” Onvyr asked. “We’ve been coming to the library forever and have never once seen you in here until now. Why is that?”

“I am a very educated, elite elf,” he replied, exuding an obnoxious sense of pride. “As an elite elf, I read. I’ve just recently decided it was getting a bit cramped in my room so I decided to come down here. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Whatever you say, Xander,” Onvyr smirked, pulling a book from the shelf. “Let’s go Rania.”

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