Yrak led us through a slightly wider path than the one Lise and I found on the way to the cabin. It was somewhat overgrown, as if he didn't use it often. Our walk was silent, thankfully. I wasn't in the mood anyway. After an hour, we reached a point on the trail where it merged with another path. I glanced down the other trail and saw it was much better maintained than the one to Yrak's cabin, as was the trail that Yrak wordlessly led us down.
"Where does that trail lead?" Ana said, moving up to Yrak.
"A woman by the name of Lea, who used to live out here with her husband," Yrak said, not breaking his stride.
"Oh…" Lise trailed off.
"Wolves?" I asked.
"Nay, bandits got him. I checked in on them about once a month. He had been gone a week too long, and I found him. Or rather, what was left of him a bit into the woods."
"That doesn't prove that bandits killed him," I said.
"You're right, it doesn't, but the arrowheads and the sword marks on his bones do, though."
"Did you ever find them?" Ana asked.
"No, I spent a while trying to track them down, but they seem to know the forest more intimately than I do. Which I find worrisome." Yrak sighed. A moment of silence passed as what he said started to sink in. My mind went in several directions. Could the mysterious attackers be elves, or at the very least descendants of them?
"I guess you started to check in on her more after that?" Ana asked.
Aye, once a week, after I found his body. I usually stop by with a few things—namely, food and firewood. Mona's a strong woman to stay out here all by herself. I've tried several times to get her to move back to a town, but she wouldn't hear it."
As Yrak was talking, Ana fell back to walking alongside me. My mind was wandering, thinking about my grandfather's theories about where the Elves disappeared to. She shot me a glance that brought me back from my thoughts. I raised my eyebrows in confusion at her look. I was about to ask her what was wrong, but as I took another step down the path, a sense of dread immediately swept over me. Stopping dead in my tracks, feeling all the color leave my face, I turned to Ana, and she looked about as good as I was feeling.
"You feel it too, then?" I said. Ana nodded, and we both hurried up to Yrak, who had gotten a decent distance away from us.
"Yrak, we just walked into a potent magical aura," I said to him. He shot me a look and glanced at Ana. He stopped and closed his eyes. After about a second or so, Yrak's eyes shot open, and a grin appeared on his face.
"Elves, this magical aura feels the same as the other elven towns I have been to in my travels."
"How are you just noticing this? This aura is overwhelming. We should leave quickly; we're trespassing. From my grandfather's journals, Elves don't like people who wander in." I said, glancing around us. As the words left my mouth, I noticed that the sounds of the forest had gone silent.
"No, we don't." A voice said from behind us. I spun around on my heels and looked in the direction of the voice, and only saw trees and brush.
"Look, we just want to get to the road. We promise we didn't know that these woods belonged to you." Ana said, looking around us. I could hear how scared she was.
"The forest doesn't belong to us. We belong to the forest, Ti'Lek," Another voice said, "and you don't belong to the forest."
"C'Tada tilek'd gez'n guct C'ta May'M'Za," Yrak said. I blinked a few times. It had been years since I heard elven.
"Et, C'Tud y'ka D'Ma'end zuna y'ka yr c'ta May'M'Za," A third voice joined in. I felt Ana step behind me. My eyes were glued to the trees surrounding us, scanning for any trace of our visitors. In my search, I saw Yrak smiling and shot him a confused look.
"If they were to kill us, we never would have heard one of them, let alone three of them," Yrak said while opening his leather pouch, pulling out a pipe and a pinch of what I could only guess was tobacco.
"Your Tezr speaks the truth, Tilek. Our feet are swift, but our arrows are swifter." The first voice answered directly behind us again. I spun around and saw a figure standing there wearing brown armor with flashes of dark green.
"Tazzy C'taqa. My name is Yrak"
"Justin."
"Ana"
"My name is of little importance to you. We normally don't bother with Yic'Dusaq'D. However, you may call us C'Tao." The figure said.
"Then why disturb us? You see that we want to travel through your lands and leave the forest untouched." I said to C'Tao.
"Our reasons are our own, but you are trespassing. So, we want to trade." They said.
"Trade? What could we possibly offer you?" Ana asked.
"It's simple, of course. There is a group of unsavory Ti'lek'D. You will get rid of them." C'Tao said while looking directly at me. That's when it clicked. I hired those men months ago. They just became another pile of coins that arrived over time. They didn't bring in much.
"And you're part of the bargain?" I said, looking into the elf's light green eyes.
"We don't kill you where you stand, Zu'Eq." They said, making my stomach sink. I knew what they had called me. "We care not what Ti'lek'D do to each other. C'Ta May'M'Za only cares about the forest. These Ti'lek'D do no."
"O'Ad, we will fix your problem," Yrak said. I nodded in agreement. News of my alleged death must have reached them by now if it had reached Refuge. If they considered themselves still in my employ, then I would be surprised.
"Hy'Ys. We're glad we didn't have to stain our land with your X'Zy'Ys." C'Tao said to us.
"As are we, R'Quaks," Yrak said, bowing. The neutral expression the elf was wearing had cracked to show slight amusement.
"C'Tekn Oy'I, Tezr. Oy'Iq Ti'Lek D'Tu'Kad. Now, be on your way. Pass through quickly. We don't want you treading on this land longer than is required." They said, looking at me as they said the last sentence. I nodded and ushered Ana and Yrak to start moving.
"De'Ra C'Qej'As'D C'Tao," Yrak said. Ana muttered a farewell, and I kept my eyes on the elf. When I blinked, only the forest remained in my sight.
"They're gone," I said, keeping pace with the other two.
"You know better than that to say such things. We saw only one, heard two more, and I know for a fact there were at least four more scattered through the trees with bows pointing directly at us.
"So you're saying that they left someone to tail us?" Ana asked while looking behind us.
"Of course we are. Hold on, and I'll find our new traveling companion." Yrak stopped in his tracks and began scanning the surrounding woods. After a few minutes, a frown appeared on his face.
"R'Iwn, they're good," Yrak said
"What, your eye not good enough to spot them, Tezr?" I joked.
"Shut up, Zu'eq." Yrak snapped at me.
"Tezr, Zoo'eck? What do those words mean?" Ana piped in, trying to calm the situation.
"Zu'eq mean liar." I muttered, not looking her in the eye. I wasn't exactly proud of being called that.
"And Tezr means half. Short for half-blood." Yrak explained, taking a puff from his pipe.
"Koga…" Ana started to talk.
"What? Most humans are liars," I countered.
"Except they called her a human and not you." Yrak chuckled.
"They did?"
"Yes, Lise, they did. They know who he is and what he's done." Yrak said, looking at me.
"Look, my grandfather wasn't a saint either."
"You two knock it off. I'm not Koga's biggest fan either, but I figured it's better not to be at each other's throats. Besides, there are bits and pieces of Justin sprinkled in his dark and broody exterior, even if he doesn't want to admit or see it." Ana said, stepping in between us. The same eyes that looked at me with kindness were now looking at Yrak. He grumbled something and crossed his arms.
"So about this elf following us?" Ana said, looking at me.
"Well, if Yrak can't spot them, I do have one thing I can try," I said, closing my eyes. As I did, the magical aura of the elven land washed over me. The aura at first was overwhelming. It was as if every leaf, branch, and root were screaming at once. Soon, the screaming gave way to a subtle song that everything was thriving together. I took a deep breath, letting another wave of the forest's aura wash over me as I inhaled; the forest filled my nostrils with the scent of pine trees and a faint dampness. I exhaled, letting trace amounts of my aura into the forest. I inhaled and exhaled, still searching for the tail. After what seemed to be a while, I smiled, and my eyes snapped open.
"Come out, I found you. You're behind that oak tree nestled between two birches." I yelled and looked in their direction. "Either you come out, or we walk over there, and I'm not in the mood to do extra walking right now."
"D'Tu'c!" A voice said from behind the oak. I shook my head as the elf stepped from around the tree. "How did you do that?" they said, walking up to us. If I hadn't kept my eyes on them, then I never would have known they were moving. They moved with the measured grace of someone who has wandered these woods all their life, and they quickly reached us. As they got closer, I could make out that they were wearing similar armor to the elf we spoke to, and they had slightly softer features.
"Tell me your name, Azr," I said.
"Az'Jo'Qe, now tell me," looking into my eyes with contempt.
"Quite simple, I slowly sent my aura out through my breathing, and you inhaled it," I said, smugly.
D'Cimus Leha," Az'Jo'Qe said. Yrak chuckled and smacked them on the back.
"Don't feel too bad; I couldn't find you, and that's what I'm supposed to be good at."
"You'll find lots more things, Yrak," Ana said, smiling warmly at him.
"I've missed just as many as I've spotted." Yeak shrugged. I eyed Az, looking them up and down.
"Let me guess, you're to make sure we actually deal with the bandits?" I said.
"O'aD, I am. I was to observe and not interfere. As you can tell, your orders are now obsolete."
"Well, not really; instead of watching from a distance, you can actually learn about us and see how Descendants of Thyme take care of problems," I smirked at Az.
"C'Tola? Now, I understand why you aren't dead." They said. I was confused. Grandfather never interacted with elves. That's when it clicked. He tried teaching me elven, and I slacked off because I thought the elves were just a myth. He got so angry with me when I did.
"He found the elves. Holy Shit." I muttered. I blinked a few times and started walking on the trail again. As I walked, I heard Ana's Voice in the background of my thoughts. I couldn't tell if she was talking to me or someone else. I personally didn't care. Not one mention of the possibility of there being elves in my Grandfather's Journals, or the late-night debates. I sighed outwardly; I wondered when he stumbled across them.