Chapter 10

I was the last to wake up the next day. The other two were already up and eating, crowded around a small fire they made. It was extremely warm in the cave, and the waterfall crashing was louder than i expected. It blocked off the entrance to the cave, almost trapping us inside. As soon as Zath noticed i was awake he passed me some purple berries on a long vine.

"Here, eat," he told me, pushing them into my hand. "You haven't in a while,"

"I suppose i haven't," i rubbed my eye, popping one of the tart berries into my mouth and squishing it with my teeth, the juices exploding and very sour, yet sweet. 

"We should leave soon," Elaria placed an empty vine on the floor. "Who knows where she is,"

"Im sure Alys has taken care of her," Zath replied, picking up a large black fruit and struggling to peel it. 

"I know, but i just can't shake the feeling she's nearby," she replied, shuddering and watching Zath pick at the fruit.

"I know, it's an odd feeling but you get used to it after a while," he shrugged, finally pulling up a small portion of the black skin and pulling on it. Unfortunately, it only pulled up a small bit, leaving him to pick at it again to reveal what looked like a bright pink interior.

"It is, i'll agree with you there," she let out a deep breath and leant against the cave wall, picking up another fruit and biting straight into it.

"She watched you?" i questioned.

"Watched every move, used her magic to be able to see anything that happened in her territory," he replied, pulling more of the skin off.

"So she saw what affects her punishments had on Alys then?" Elaria asked, crossing her arms.

"Every single one of them," Zath nodded gravely. "I overheard from one of the dwarves that the more he talked about the punishments and the more sympathy he got, the worse they became,"

"That's horrible!" she exclaimed, placing the half eaten fruit on the ground.

"That's the witch for you," Zath shook his head. 

"Let's just hope we don't get caught by her again," she replied, looking around the stone cave. "Say, are there any bags in here?" 

"I think there's some over there," Zath pointed to the piles of clothes. "Why?"

Elaria stood up, looking through the piles and after finding three large cloth backpacks proceeded to fill them to the brim with the fruit. 

"What are you doing?" Zath questioned, taking a bite out of the fruit he finally managed to peel.

"You two can eat on the go," she replied, passing Zath the full bag and filling up the next. "We need to get to Domun before the witch finds us,"

"I mean, yeah, but," he swallowed the bite he took. "Why can't we eat here? We're protected,"

"Not for long," she shook her head. "The waterfall opens as soon as the sun has rise, and closes when nobody's in here, so if she catches us, we're essentially dead,"

"She has a point," i put the remaining berries into the bag and picked it up.

"Alright, alright," Zath leaned back, let out a huff and picked up a bag.

"Great!" Elaria smiled at us, just as the waterfall opened and the waters separated.

"Good timing," Zath smiled, walking first.

"I know," she smirked, following.

Not wanting to be left behind, i followed too. The other two seemed to walk fast in the cold, but i was a little slow. It was freezing after all, like stepping into a frozen lake in the middle of winter with nothing to keep you warm. The time was spent in silence, with us dodging trees and hoping we were going the right way. The snow returned, and it wasn't as thick as last night, it was just a thin layer of snow, which was good since i wasn't as used to the cold as elves seemed to be. 

After a while of walking in silence, Zath turned to Elaria. "Your Puella called you Tyria last night,"

"That was my name before i became Elaria," she replied. "I was quite a little warrior when i was younger,"

"Makes a change to now," Zath replied. 

"I've grown a little weak, i'll admit that," she let out a deep breath. "But it can't be helped. After being looked after for so long, it's a little odd having to defend myself,"

"It is," I chipped in, feeling a little left out by the conversation, but put it down to my quiet demeanor. 

"I guess so," Zath shrugged, and suddenly stopped in his tracks. We all stopped too, confused by his abrupt stopping.

"What is it?" Elaria asked, confused. So was i, Zath almost never looked serious.

"I thought i heard something," he shook his head, looking around before beginning to walk again. "Never mind, it was probably my imagination,"

We carried on in silence, the only noises being some odd bird calls and the crunching of snow beneath our feet. Even though it had been a short time, the bag began to weigh on my back and ache. I'd never really had to walk and carry something so heavy before, it was odd to have such a weight on my back, like carrying a bag of bricks, except fruit shaped. The other two seemed fine, but i was beginning to get a little tired. Nevertheless, i carried on, not wanting to be caught by the witch.

This time Elaria stopped to check our surroundings, peeking behind a couple trees and humming to herself. Zath shrugged in response, most likely as confused as i was. 

"I swear i heard someone," she told us, looking around. "It must have been my imagination,"

"Don't worry, it happened to me earlier on," Zath replied. "It must be the forest playing tricks on us,"

"It must be," she replied, sounding unconvinced.

We continued on, making it a few steps forwards before we all stopped, hearing the exact same yell. Elaria quickly began to run to the source, and Zath followed close behind her. Using all the strength i had i managed to keep up with them, even with the bag of bricks sitting on my back and pulling me down into the earth. I managed to evade all the tree roots sticking out of the ground, even the one that almost tripped Zath up, and just kept running. Zath stopped soon, holding his arm out to catch me. 

"Lydan Elenaril Arma Diu, you will leave him alone!" Elaria yelled, standing in front of a tall elf.

"Elaria!" He seemed pleased to see her.

"See, what did i tell you," Alys' muffled voice came from the ground. I looked down to see him lying in the snow, a red patch forming beside him. Zath immediately moved to be beside him, assessing the damage.

"According to rule 295 you can't touch him since he has saved me from death so leave him alone!" she yelled.

"Saved you?" he scoffed. "He kidnapped you,"

"And saved me, according to the rules, which i know you have read, he can't be touched," Elaria smirked in triumph.

"Fine, fine," he sheathed his sword which i had not previously seen since its white colour blended in with the snow.

"Hey, hey, easy, easy," Alys complained as Zath helped him to sit up. "Large wound hurts if you move it,"

"How did you even get it?" Zath asked, looking at his bloodstained shirt.

"I got caught by the witch," he shrugged. "Your friend didn't help too much by trying to fight me,"

"It was a valid thing to do," Lydan rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. 

"Yeah, yeah," Alys rolled his eyes, hissing at Zath when he pulled him up to a sitting position. 

"Sorry," Zath gave him a sheepish smile. 

Elaria put her bag down in a huff, ripping the top off it and into long strands, tying them together to make one long strand. She knelt down beside Alys, looking over the damage and paling. 

"That's quite a wound," she told him, grabbing the long strip of cloth. 

"I know," he replied.  

"How did you even get one so big?" Zath questioned, looking at it. 

"It's called a dagger, and it can cut through flesh," he replied. "Oridottir's fault,"

"Ah," Zath nodded in understanding. "Everything's his fault," 

"Yeah, it generally is," he nodded, looking at Elaria, who was wrapping the cloth around the wound. 

"Don't look," she scolded, pushing his face away from what she was doing. 

"What's the harm in looking?" He asked, looking away in a huff. 

"It'll feel more painful if you look, so don't," she replied, continuing to wrap the shabby cloth around him. 

"Alright," he shrugged, continuing to stare at the trees. 

"So, you brought a human?" Lydan stared at me in distaste. "Let me guess, you're Oridottir?"

"No," I shook my head, slightly offended. "I'm Oliver,"

"He's peaceful Lydan, don't worry," Elaria assured him, tying a tight knot and having Alys slap her hand for doing so. She glared back. 

He looked me over a couple times before letting out a deep breath. "You pull any kind of stunt and you're dead, alright?"

"Lydan!" Elaria exclaimed. 

"Alright," I nodded. "It's fine, you were like that once,"

"I mean, I guess so," she shrugged, letting go of the tight knot she just tied. "But I wasn't as violent,"

"You kinda were," I replied, rubbing my neck. 

"Oh! I'm sorry," she stood up, flustered slightly. "I didn't mean to, honest,"

"It's fine Elaria, you have a right to be scared," I replied. 

She nodded, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. A couple berries fell out of it, but Elaria didn't notice. Zath slowly stood up, helping Alys to stand up slowly, letting out hisses and curses every time he moved his stomach. He grabbed it, squeezing it. 

"Hey! Don't squeeze it," Elaria scolded, glaring at him. "You'll make it bleed more,"

"I guess so," he let go, his voice sounding defeated. 

"Do you still have that extra potion?" Zath asked, helping him to stand up straight. 

"Yeah, I do," he rooted about in his back pocket and pulled out a small vial full of a white liquid. His face fell. "Do I really have to drink another?"

"Yes," Zath replied seriously. "You can't get into Silva Terram without it,"

Alys let out a groan, flicking the top off and downing the liquid in one. He covered his mouth with his hand after he did, dropping the vial in the snow and looking like he was going to throw up, whether it was the paling of his skin or his face that made him look worse I didn't know, but he looked a little peaky. White horns began to poke through his hair, but none of us seemed focused on that. We were all focused on if he was going to throw up or not. 

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he waved his hand in the air for a couple seconds before it returned and he looked again like he was ready to vomit. It moved again a couple seconds later. "That was disgusting. Don't ever make me do that again,"

"Alright," Zath shrugged, smiling. 

Alys glared at him before Lydan coughed two times, turning and walking through the trees. 

"I think he wants us to go," Alys stated. 

"Really? I thought he wanted to use the bathroom," Zath rolled his eyes, slowly beginning to walk and help Alys along. 

"Oh shut up," Alys replied, a slight tinge of happiness present in his voice. 

Elaria laughed at the two and followed along, gesturing for me follow. 

"Hurry up, we need to return you to Domun," he commented. "Va Bor is almost dead, we need as much energy as we can to heal it,"

"Va Bor is… almost dead?" She questioned. 

"That's what I said," he shrugged. 

"Maybe that's what you guys are here for?" Alys suggested. "To save Va Bor?"

"What's Va Bor?" I questioned, a little confused. 

"Va Bor is a mystical tree blessed by the Goddess of Nature, it keeps the elves alive and also the nature alive. If it does, everything dies," Elaria explained. "I suppose it would explain why we're guardians,"

Lydan let out a snort. Elaria elbowed him. "It's true,"

"Whatever," he shrugged it off. "You keep living in your fantasy world,"

"It's true, we all know it," I told him. "We're probably hear to heal Va Bor,"

Lydan stared at me for a while before facing the way he was going. "I suppose so,"

Elaria smiled in triumph at winning. 

The rest of the way was spent with Lydan guiding us through the forest and Alys slowly falling and almost hitting the snow about five times.