Avalyne Series 02: The Easterling (9 page)

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While the
woods of Iolan were considered part of Halas, its distance from the court of Kangaloon necessitated the establishment of a smaller colony by one of his vassals, a former Forest Guard Captain called Gavril.

Lord Gavril
was a friend to Aeron since his childhood. The former Captain had fought with his father during the Primordial Wars and was one of the oldest elves in Avalyne. The two men had journeyed together following the end of the war and had grown up together in Sanhael before Mael had destroyed the city and claimed it for his own.  The settlement established by Lord Gavril was called Eden Iolan and despite the ancient terrors that lived there, the elves of Eden Iolan had learnt enough about its many paths to avoid falling prey to them. 

Despite his friendship with the King, Gavril was a different sort of elf. While Halion had little time for
mortals, Gavril ensured his own Forest Guard kept watch over the woods to ensure travellers were guided away from danger. It was Gavril who taught Aeron all he knew about the bow and his archers were known to be finest in elvendom.

While most would think otherwise, elves preferred using the sword
instead of the bow. Unless an archer had exceptional skill, as did Gavril's archers and now Aeron himself, the density of trees and branches made it problematic for an arrow to find its mark in such close quarters. Archers with moderate skill would find it extremely difficult to properly use a bow and most opted for the blade instead.

The forest was thick and as soon as they crossed the tree line away from the river b
ank, the sunlight which had been warming their backs all morning, vanished beneath the thick canopy of leaves overhead. The trees of the Eden Iolan were old, many of them had been standing for hundreds if not thousands of years. They reached into the sky and their barks were sheathed in moss and lichens making them appear likes giant blades of grass.

Melia tried to see the path that Aeron navigated so effortlessly and found herself lost amongst the waist high shrubs and plants. The terrain was uneven, wit
h boulders and gnarled roots protruding from the rich loamy soil similarly covered with moss. Younger saplings grew next to the older trees with streams of light crisscrossing the place through the thick roof of leaves above.

‘
What are these ancient evils?’ Melia asked once they had left the boat behind to continue the rest of their journey on foot. ‘Arianne spoke of their menace but did not say what they were.’

‘
Well,’ Aeron’s eyes were fixed ahead as he read the landscape and followed the unseen path through the forest, ‘there are many that reside here. You know of the spiders we drove out some time ago or rather we thought we did before Caras Anara.’ It still stung Aeron to think of the creatures that had decimated the small coastal town and nearly killed Celene and Arianne.

Without blinking, Melia countered immediately,
‘I have been instructed by Kyou to tell you that you are to be told it was not your fault if you bring Caras Anara.’ She finished her recital by smiling sweetly at him.

Aeron made a face.
‘That dwarf thinks he is so smart. Put him on a horse and let us see how smart he is,’ He grumbled before resuming his answer to her question regarding the creatures that roamed these woods.

‘
It is believed that a plant Primordial called Viridae in the service of Mael was pursued here by the Celestial Atae and upon her death at his hands, scattered her seed across these woods. Much of these ancient evil that I speak of are her progeny. Not all of which I am certain we have seen yet.  We know of the Night Hunters, creatures appear only during the dark but appear as harmless shrubs during the day. At night, they take on the shape a creature that moves on four legs and hunt their prey in packs. Anything they find, they kill and devour.’

Instinctively, Melia’s hand went to her sword since they were in fact surrounded by shrubs.

‘Then there are the Asanek, spirits that dwell in tree stumps and can turn themselves into the form of small children. They wander the woods until some well meaning person encounters them believing they are giving aid to a lost child but unaware that at first opportunity they will be eaten. After feeding, these ‘children’ return to their original forms.  Of course the worst of these are the Mother Trees.’

‘
Mother trees?’ Melia asked warily, certain that by the time he was done, she was never again entering any forest ever again.

‘
Yes, we have no other way to describe them. These are the ones that are most concerning. A mother tree does not move but they can spawn creatures that scour the woods for food to be brought back to her. Over the years, Gavril and his Guard had patrolled the forests of Iolan to ensure that any mortal passing through stays well away from the places were these creatures are known to exist.’

‘
Well Prince,’ Melia said giving him a look, ‘you have succeeded in seeing to it that I am utterly terrified now.’

Aeron paused and looked over his shoulder at her,
‘do not worry. I will protect you, fair maiden.’

Melia snorted.

Despite the tales he was telling her, Aeron could feel his spirits rising as he took a deep breath of the forest scent. In his youth, he had visited these woods and later on, when Dare was old enough to leave Eden Halas, Aeron had brought him to visit with Gavril who was a very different elf from his own severe father. It almost felt like he was boy again, thrilling in the simple joy of who he was and being happily content by that alone.

Melia did nothing to dampen his mood because she was rather amused by his
boyish demeanour even though everything he described about these woods made her wished to run out of it. Still, it was difficult not to be swept up by his uplifted spirits and it surprised her how much she enjoyed seeing him happy. He seemed familiar with every tree, every path, where there might be danger and which way was safest to travel. Melia supposed she could have found her way through this maze had she attempted this journey alone but after hearing what lived here, she was grateful for his company.

It was with a sudden start that Melia realised that enjoying his company so much, she had forgotten why she was going to
Tor Iolan. Damn him, she fumed inwardly, this was exactly what she feared. He was distracting her!

‘
How far away are we from Tor Iolan?’ Melia asked suddenly, her tone turning hard.

‘
Two days from here,’ Aeron replied, noticing that sudden change in her demeanour. He wondered what caused this sudden shift and wished he could be assured of an answer instead of a sharp rebuke if he dared to ask. ‘We will go tomorrow at first light. First we must stop at Eden Iolan.’

‘
Must we go there?’ She asked with a little more sharpness than she had intended.

She knew it was wrong to be so abrasive with him but she could not help feeling a little resentment at his being able to make her forget her goal. For so long had she searched for her mother, driven
forward when most would have faltered and then finding nothing for her efforts.

Now that she was in reach of an answer, she was allowing herself to be distracted by
a handsome Prince of all things! It was the sort of nonsense little girls dreamed of when they were still playing with their dolls The absurdity of it made Melia angry at herself for even indulging it. What fool chose to become lost in the eyes of an elf? There was no future with one, nothing but years where he remained beautiful while her body disintegrated before his eyes. It was folly!

And yet each moment she
spent with him, she found herself pulled towards a catastrophe she was powerless to avoid because her heart had betrayed her.

Aeron
stared at her, unable to understand why her mood had become so dark. They had been together for almost a week and in that time their arguments though well frequent were laced with good humour and gentle mischief, not this cold edge that he could feel piercing his skin.

‘
We have been travelling in Iolan for almost a day and night will be here soon. I do not plan to sleep in the open Melia. We will not see the morning. Furthermore, it is extremely discourteous to enter his realm and not pay our respects to Lord Gavril.’ His tone was equally sharp but she had given him just cause.

‘
I suppose,’ she muttered sourly realising that perhaps she was being somewhat unreasonable. ‘I have delayed enough in my journey, I wish only to get to Tor Iolan so that I can have my answers.’

‘
What answers would those be?’ He demanded. Until now he had not asked why she was so determined to reach that misbegotten place because he respected her need for privacy. However, her manner had provoked his own frustration and it frothed to the surface when she spoke so coldly to him.

‘
I told you,’ she paused in her step and stared at him. ‘That is none of your concern.’

‘
Lady,’ Aeron started to say but paused and reined in his anger before it overwhelmed him. ‘I told you before if you desire passage through here, you will observe the proper customs!’

‘
I am not an elf,’ she bit back. ‘I do not have to observe anything!’ With that she stormed past him.

‘
Melia!’ Aeron called after her.

Melia ignored him, having every intention of continuing doing so until
they reached their destination, wherever it was. However, she had taken no more than a few steps away from him when suddenly, stepping out of the trees like phantoms in the dark were an entire contingent of elven warriors. As a watch guard, she knew how to move stealthily but even she was startled by how flawlessly they stepped out of their hiding places as if they slipped through a tear in the fabric of the forest.

She
and Aeron were surrounded.

The leader, a
dark haired elf that had more than a passing resemblance to Aeron, stared at her as if she was something of an oddity.

‘
I am surprised at you Aeron,’ the elf said as Aeron hurried next to her. ‘You are now travelling with the enemy?’

"Melia is not the enemy," Aeron retorted immediately.

"My apologies," the elf returned. "The way you both were arguing, you can understand my mistake."

Despite the elf's sarcasm, Aeron broke into a smile at the sight of his older brother. '
Hadros, what are you doing in Eden Iolan?’

‘
We chased a band of Berserkers into these woods,’ Hadros answered staring at him with that haughty expression that Aeron knew so well growing up. ‘What are
you
doing here? And why are you travelling with this...woman.’ He made no effort to hide the contempt on his face.

Before Melia could
respond, Aeron silence her with a gesture and shot her a look that demanded she give him lead to speak for them both. ‘Hadros, mind your manners. This is the Lady Melia.’

‘
Lady?’ Hadros' brow pressed into his forehead as he regarded Melia with disbelief that she could be described as such. ‘She hardly looks like a lady to me.’ His eyes travelled up and down her form critically, ‘In those clothes, I would say she looks like a man.’

‘
At least one of us does,’ Melia responded icily and immediately produced stifled sniggers amongst some of the elves present.

‘
Melia!’ Aeron ordered, wishing her to remember that Hadros was a Prince of Eden Halas and commanded respect even if he was poor at showing it. Still, Aeron did not deny enjoying immensely seeing his brother put in his place for his discourteous behaviour.  ‘Hadros, the lady is a watch guard and we are travelling companions.’ Aeron explained while he felt Melia’s glare burning into his back.

‘
Really?’ Hadros turned his eyes upon her and seemed to study her in a new light. A little smile curled his lips and at first Melia did not understand why he looked at her that way. The other elves too seemed to study her with renewed interest and Melia began to feel a little self-conscious by their scrutiny.

‘
I would have thought that you would have selected an elven woman to be your 'travelling companion' not a barbarian whose people were known allies of Abraxes. Is she a souvenir from Astaroth?’ Hadros sneered.

‘
Enough brother,’ Aeron said sharply and gripped Melia's elbow to keep her from reacting to Hadros’ insult that she was his whore. ‘Hadros, Melia is my guest and I will have you treat her accordingly. She is a friend to Arianne and helped with the defeat of Syphia. Arianne has asked that I guide her to Tor Iolan. I should not like Arianne to hear that we could afford her friend simple courtesy.’

Hadros
stiffened because if Arianne was displeased by his conduct, that report would find its way to the High Queen and Halion would be furious if it resulted in being rebuked by Lylea for his son’s behaviour.

Surprised and somewhat touched by his defence of her honour, Melia calmed down somewhat and decided her own behaviour bore scrutiny. Aeron was absolutely right of course. Hadros was the heir apparent of Eden Halas and he deserved her respect even if he was a dolt.