Chương 59: Spirit of the Forest

There came a point when Havlo had to accept that he wasn't a good enough tracker to find Lady Amberlin in the dense forest. Seeing no other choice, he cast [Invisibility] and [Flight] and rose up into the sky, making a beeline for the grassy plateau that stood like a tower at the heart of the zone. Everything looked exactly as he remembered, the broad, solitary tree unchanged by the centuries, together with the ghostly apparition of a young boy meditating in its shade.

He landed off to the side, and the boy's head turned in his direction, the eyes remaining closed. The boy's voice was a bit too smooth, a bit too perfect, without the rough edges that gave a normal voice its character.

"How long has it been, Havlo?" This wasn't the spirit's true form, if it had a form at all. He could sense a hint of amusement in its voice, like it was aware of his fumbling attempts to locate Lady Amberlin. No doubt it had been watching him from the moment he stepped into the forest, as nothing in these hills escaped the spirit's gaze.

"Two hundred years," he replied.

"Not that time has any meaning to you."

"It isn't much to you either, is it?" The boy smiled, somehow managing to look very smug without opening his eyes.

"Are you having trouble finding your young friend?" He chose his next words carefully.

"We request passage through your domain, if you would graciously allow us. We have an urgent need to get to the coast." The boy hummed in thought.

"The Ygg Latten Keystone, is it? You fear its destruction?" He'd wanted to avoid speaking with the spirit. It always unnerved him. While his magic resistance should be high enough to prevent any mental manipulation, there was nothing that could stop it from reading his mind. And if you have access to someone's thoughts, you don't need magic to manipulate them. The spirit was clever enough to understand this, and it was this cleverness that worried him most.

"Can you tell me if the Ygg Latten Keystone is intact? Or who destroyed the Moonfoot Keystone?" Whether or not he would trust the spirit's answer was another matter. But if it could give him any sort of lead...

"Don't you remember the limitations of my powers? Do you think anyone with that knowledge has passed through my domain?" Perhaps it had been too much to hope for. After all, the spirit did everything it did to keep outsiders from entering its forest. By and large it was successful at this. Which of course made it a terrible source of information.

"Now, isn't this peculair?" the boy continued.

"You think your friend is the Second Apostle?" The question roused his ire.

"Don't think your tricks will work on me a second time. I haven't forgotten how you made me question the First Apostle." Somehow the boy's smirk managed to grow wider.

"Were they not healthy questions for one in your position to ask?"

"You told me he was a scoundrel and a thief."

"Did he not scound? Did he not take that which wasn't his?"

"He never took anything with a proper owner," he said.

"If there's no owner, then why do they call it tomb robbing?" The spirit was needling him. He needed to stay focused and keep from getting distracted. But seeds of doubt have a way of growing if left unchecked. So he had to ask, "Do you have a good reason to believe that Lady Amberlin isn't the Second Apostle?"

"Do you have good reason to believe that she is?"

"Plenty," he said firmly. There was no need to elaborate when the spirit could readily glean that information from his mind. No one else could have opened and closed the Moonfoot Temple. No one else would have received such gifts from the Goddess.

"Why would the Goddess send down someone like her?" the boy asked.

"Wouldn't she be the worst person to stop the release of the Demon Supreme?" It was true that he'd been struggling with these questions as of late. Did Lady Amberlin really have the power to save the keystones? It had taken the First Apostle years of adventuring to reach the height of his powers. With the first keystone already destroyed, and maybe even more without his notice, was there even time for Lady Amberlin to gather her strength?

"And doesn't that prohibition make it impossible?" the boy continued.

"Why must a hero be forever unaware of their status?" Here the spirit had made a mistake. While this rule had always confounded him, it was also one that he had complete faith in. So it was with this that the rest of his doubts melted away.

"It was an instruction passed on to me through the First Apostle. The fact that the instruction makes no sense has no bearing on Lady Amberlin's identity." It was time for him to turn the questions around on the spirit.

"It would be easy for you to prove, if you've peered into her mind. Did she not come down from the heavens?" The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The spirit remained silent.

"Her mind is closed off to you!" he said excitedly.

"She's immune to your mind tricks. That proves it! That proves she's the Second Apostle."

"An Apostle may be immune to my mind tricks, but are all who are immune to my mind tricks an Apostle?" Instead of answering, Havlo turned his gaze around the plateau. From here, one could see out in every direction. The view was breathtaking. It seemed a shame the spirit wanted to keep it all to itself. But perhaps this was the only way to preserve such natural beauty. He turned back to the boy.

"You've had your fun, spirit of the forest. But my quest really is urgent." The boy lifted his arm and pointed at something flying through the air in the distance. Something so far away, Havlo had paid it no mind. Now he squinted. With [Enhanced Perception] he could make out that it was Maelle. On its own, that was surprising enough. But what really got him was—"She's got wings?" He rounded on the spirit.

"Even now you're capable of messing with my mind?" The boy's smirk had grown absolutely infuriating to behold.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Whatever was actually conveying Maelle, it seemed to be taking her toward the coast.

"Isn't there a fishing village out that way?" the boy asked.

"Wouldn't it be nice if the four of you regrouped there at sundown?" Four?

"Do you mean the cat is here too?" he asked. The boy just rolled his eyes.

"They'll all arrive safely?" he demanded.

"Do you think I want you coming back here?" This was as much of a promise as he'd be getting from it. He thanked the spirit as politely as he could manage and then took off into the sky, heading west toward the coast. He felt bad about leaving Maelle to be carried along by the spirit's minions, but she seemed more anxious than hurt. If he made an appearance to her, they would have to continue on foot, and risked not getting out in time to reunite with Lady Amberlin.

The sea came into view, and he spotted the fishing village the spirit had mentioned. He found a knoll where he landed out of sight and released his spells. Then he waited out the next hours in quiet meditation. Maelle was the first one out. He heard her cry of joy, and opened his eyes to her running toward him.

"Havlo! I was so scared! Boots ran off, and I tried to get him back, but then I got lost, and—""It's all right," he assured her.

"You made it through."

"But Boots! And Amberlin! They're still in there!"

"I'm sure they'll show up soon." Maelle looked out toward the coast.

"Is that water? Did we make it through to the other side of the hills?" When she turned back to him, her eyes were filled with curiosity rather than suspicion.

"How'd you get here before me?"

"That place is a bit of an anomaly, isn't it?" he said. Luckily the cryptic answer was enough to satisfy her, and she settled down next to him.

"How do you know Boots and Amberlin will be safe?" she asked.

"I spoke with the spirit of the forest." There was a moment of silence.

"Is that how I got out safely as well?" He nodded.

"What did you have to give up in return?"

"It isn't a demon," he said.

"I just asked it very politely."

"So it's a friendly spirit?"

"Well, not exactly. It's a spirit who doesn't like anyone walking through its home."

"I kind of get that, I guess," Maelle said.

"I wouldn't like strangers walking through my home either." It was a relief to see Maelle so calm. He'd been worried about how she might have been emotionally affected by what she'd been through today. But it seemed that the spirit had been gentle with her. Another benefit of having access to a person's inner thoughts—it knew which lines not to cross. Not long afterward, Boots emerged from the tree line with Lady Amberlin running after him.

The cat stopped short and looked around in confusion, allowing Lady Amberlin to snatch him up and hug him to her chest. Then she spotted the two of them and ran right on over.

"Havlo! Maelle! I'm sorry, I got a bit lost. I didn't make you guys worry, did I?" Havlo opened his mouth to speak, but Maelle cut in first.

"Of course we were worried! That's why we went in after you!"

"You went in after me?" Lady Amberlin's eyes drifted past them to the coastline.

"Is that the beach?" She glanced behind her.

"Did we make it through the hills?" She turned back to the two of them.

"How'd you guys beat me here?" Once again Maelle answered before Havlo could.

"Of course we went in after you! Why'd you have to go and do something so stupid?" Seeing the shock on Lady Amberlin's face, Havlo turned to Maelle and found her wiping tears from her eyes.

"I've already lost enough. I dont want to lose anyone else."

"Oh, Maelle." Lady Amberlin wrapped her arms around the orphan.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel this way." Seeing Lady Amberlin console Maelle, with Boots joining in with tender licks to the girl's face, something clicked for Havlo at last. This might not be the most balanced party, with its three mages and a cat, but it was precisely the sort of party Lady Amberlin would assemble. And had he been a bit wiser, his ruminations on the instructions from the First Apostle would have provided a better hint to the sort of hero the Second Apostle would be.

The First Apostle had been a highly focused and driven man. He'd been sent down at a time of crisis in order to defeat the Demon Supreme. From the first moment he set foot on Kalimor, everything he did had been directed toward that goal. But Lady Amberlin wasn't that sort of hero. Instead she brought to mind the priests and priestesses who'd devoted their lives to the Amber Church, who lived in service to their communities and helped the less fortunate.

The prohibition on revealing her identity could only have been aimed at preserving this part of her character. But why was that so important? He still lacked the wisdom to understand how they were meant to save the keystones this way. He hoped that the visit to the Ygg Latten Keystone would provide some insight.

"So, uh, Havlo..." Lady Amberlin began, looking very apologetic.

"I'll help in any way I can," he said gently.

"Well, I may have to head back through the hills." Maelle pulled back.

"No!"

"I won't, I won't!" Lady Amberlin assured her.

"But that's why it's kind of awkward. You see, I left my gittar back at the village. It was a gift from Havlo, you know."

"Oh." Maelle looked over at him anxiously.

"The village elder seemed like a good man," he said.

"I'm sure he'll hold onto it for us."

"Won't he think that the forest monsters got us?" Lady Amberlin asked.

"In that case he'll hand our personal effects over to the adventurers guild. As long as we check in at a guild office somewhere in the next couple of months, the Maker's Shift system will flag that we survived." This answer seemed to satisfy Lady Amberlin.

"Then I'll have to borrow your flute for a while."

"I keep it for you," he said happily.

"Um, what about your bedroll?" Maelle asked. Lady Amberlin shrugged.

"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it! Come on, it's getting dark. Let's see if that village has any good cakes." The four of them walked toward the fishing village as the sun set over the water behind it.