Bosom of the mother- part 2
One side of the canyon came alive with stones, dust and rubble, which tumbled down on their miserable little caravan. The horses, noticing the imminent danger first, tore lose, trying to get away from the immediate vicinity of the impact, but still three of the animals and two of the soldiers were buried underneath.
There wasn't a glimpse of the buried victims, and it was unlikely that anyone could have survived such an impact, but the friends wanted to at least try rescuing them. However, Aisha shouted over the noise of the wind:" We don't have time for this! If we stay here, we will all get killed. There is nothing we can do."
They had to rely on their guide's knowledge, and so they had to move on with a heavy heart, wondering whether some unlucky soul was dying miserably under the rubble.
A couple of days later, when everybody was weary, tired and nearly deaf, Gren and Titian, two especially young soldiers were dragged to death when the floor of the walkway beneath their mounts gave way and they all crashed to the canyon floor ninety yards below.
Eventually, when everybody was secretly wondering whether they would ever leave this lethal maze, they found themselves in front of Featherweb Bridge, a network of ropy strands, pulleys and enormous buckets. They all were tired and chose to be transported in the buckets. It wasn't worth crashing to death at the end of their journey out of pride.
Now that they had the worst behind them, they spent the night in Featherweb Camp, the lofty ontenazan town, as their hearing came slowly back. All of them would have loved to have a few more days to take care of their bruises and exhausted bodies, but they didn't dare to waste any time and moved on the next morning.
For the next few days, they travelled through the foothills of the Kelders until after four days, they went over another chain of hills and there it was, covering the entire land ahead of them: The Ganjus forest.
Majestic trees were towering up to the skies and everywhere small animals were scurrying around and birds were singing. Everything looked healthy and pure, and there were none of the barren patches or twisted trees, which were a part of the land everywhere else in Ghelspad. The Ganjus instantly gave them an idea just how Scarn must have once looked before the Titan's war.
They camped on the grassy plain in front of the forest, and on the next morning they entered the forest. Progress was difficult, but nobody minded it. Instead, they enjoyed the rich beauty all around them. When they settled down in a pleasant grove near a small streamlet, they had hardly made any progress, but as Piridur had told them, they could expect elves to show up soon enough.
His words became true shortly after sunset, when a tattooed wood elf approached them. He had long black hair, wore only leather leggings and held a bow in his hand, an arrow pointing to the forest floor.
He looked around shortly, and then announced with a soft voice: "I will speak with your leader.“
Seeing that Piridur preferred to stay behind for now, Trepat stepped up and said in elvish: "That would be me, then.“
The elf nodded: "Of course. I assume you brought the humans and the others here deliberately. Why have you come?"
Knowing that there was no point in lying, since they would need the elves assistance anyway, Trepat told him about the amphora, it's significance and how they intended to destroy it here.
After he had listened intently, the elf introduced himself as Inaciel, and four young elves stepped out of the darkness, introducing themselves as well. Then he said:" I myself can't give you permission to enter any of our sacred places. I can, however, take you to see the Jordeh. They will decide whether or not you will be permitted to continue."
For the next three days, they were lead through the Ganjus. Inaciel and the other elves treated them politely, and the younger elves were even showing a good dose of curiosity. Apparently, they had never met any non-elvish divine races, and because of that, a lot of the customs of the Vigilantes and the friends were highly intriguing to them.
Just after noon on the third day, the elves lead the expedition into a clearing that was big enough for the expedition and their carts. Just when they had settled down, Tamlaine, one of the leaders of the Jordeh, stepped out of one of the trees. She had grey hair and wore a simple brown tunic and her brown eyes were full of wisdom and compassion.
After Inaciel had formally greeted her, she said: "I will speak with their leader."
This time, Piridur rose up and greeted her in Middle Elvish. Tamlaine nodded, and together they disappeared between the trees to speak in private.
Now that there was nothing to do but wait, everybody settled down. Trepat talked with Inaciel about the development of elvish politics, while the soldiers watered their horses and grabbed a bite, here and there exchanging a few words with the elves with whom they had made some connection in the last couple of days.
Suddenly, though, Trepat noticed that something was wrong. Looking up, he noticed what was different. For the last few days, the sky had always been blue and the sun had been shining down on them. Now, however, dark clouds were blocking out the sun. That alone wasn't unusual, but Trepat knew that there hadn't been any indications of a change of weather. This allowed only one conclusion...
"Attention everyone!“ he shouted: "I am afraid a storm-hag is coming!"
Thank you.
