Eros

When Fire Rained - 77

Alora didn't need to explain much to the Skytalons. Apparently, Ma' Vineclaw sent a messenger with news of Veramor's invasion to the Archdruid, and they've been scouting ever since. Yesterday, they found Asair's party, and he told them she and Kaido might arrive.

He seemed to have told them plenty about Kaido, as they disarmed him, and kept him under watch. The day after, with nightfall, as they began to set camp, Alora went to their party leader. His name was Sei, a tall, slender elf, with blue skin, pale hair, and vibrant eyes. She didn't need her senses to know that he was a Feral.

"Can we talk?" She asked. He looked at her, then gestured her to follow. They walked between the trees, distancing from the noise. She made her case. Kaido might have lost control, but the lives he saved overwhelmed the lives he took.

"Don't waste your breath trying to convince me, it's already been decided." Sei stopped her before she could tell him of the numerous times Kaido proved his value and loyalty. "The Archdruid will be the one to judge him, as soon as we arrive at the Grove."

Two days later, they arrived. The Grove was where the Arolar Mountains touched the Northern Woods. First of the mountains wasn't as tall or steep as the rest of them. Up its ridge, the Grove was constructed.

It was an ancient city weaved in plateaus of stone and living wood, a proof of the wonder of what the Skytalon ancestors were capable of making. The many Ferals of the Skytalon could maintain it, but all the tribes' Ferals combined couldn't create such foundations. Even before Raul killed a lot of them.

They left the cover of the blue forest, and approached the front wall between the cover of the mountains hugging the Grove. It rose higher than any ladder the Veramorians could've brought. Roots were at its base, wide barks climbed twisted between the uncut rocks, holding them firm in place under a glaze of ice.

The gate was a tall cove in the wall, its double doors made of heavy logs. At a shout from an elf up on the wall, they began to pull open, crushing fresh snow as they drudged. Kaido's guards took place at his either side as they waited.

"So, what is this Archdruid like?" Kaido asked her as they entered the city. Only the few elves that were involved in politics would've bothered to learn Velsarian, and still Alora hesitated before answering.

"Well, he's old. Half a millennia old, they say."

"Is he still functioning?"

"Yeah, he's functioning alright, only..." Alora glanced over her shoulder, and lowered her voice. "He's sort of mad."

"I see." Kaido said, his expression unchanged. "My life hangs in balance tipped by an insane old elf."

"He's not that crazy," Alora frowned. "I think."

"You think?" Kaido asked her, his calm unbreakable.

"I've only seen him once, my family came here to a big feast when I was a girl. I didn't get a chance to talk to him."

"I'll be fine." He concluded. "If he's a little crazy, it might help."

Alora snickered, and he grinned.

Unlike in the human cities, here nature lived side by side with people. Blue trees grew everywhere, the bigger of them housing elves in their massive pale trunks. Walls, not as great as the first one, but of the same fashion divided between the plateaus. Sei led the way up, through gates, stairs, and towers of smooth rocks, tangled together by thick vines.

In the top plateau, even far from below, Alora could see the greatest of all trees. It stood almost as tall as the mountain behind it, its bark ancient and white, its many branches cloaked by lush leaves in every tone of blue, some pale as a snowy dawn, others dark as a starless night. It was beautiful.