Chương 47: Outsiders

Luca looked at Evan wide-eyed.

"I'm coming with you, man! We're a team, right? If we're getting eaten by the Forest Folk, I'm totally going to blame you, but I'm not staying behind. Besides, you need me to boost Oliver's health if you want to get him there alive."

"I'm coming with you, too," Jasper said, less enthusiastically.

"I promised Alex I'd keep you all safe."

"Then let's get going," Evan said impatiently. They had wasted more than enough time just standing around arguing.

"Jasper, can that map skill of yours help us find the Forest Folk?" Jasper's eyes unfocused as he accessed his ledger and studied his map.

"They're not very far from here. Maybe a half-day walk." A potion bottle materialized in his hand.

"Here, Oliver, drink this healing potion. Combined with Luca's Refreshing Mist, it'll keep your health up until we get there." Oliver uncorked the bottle and downed the potion in one go. Evan watched on his party screen as his health bar rapidly refilled. By the time the bottle was empty, Oliver was back at two-thirds of his total health.

"I'm feeling much better already," Oliver said,"Are we sure we need to go to the Forest Folk? I really don't like the idea of wasting so much time with a detour, just for a bit of extra healing. Maybe I could just keep drinking healing potions until we complete the mission and can return to Stormhaven?"

"You know how expensive healing potions are," Jasper said.

"This was one of three I have. And look at your health bar. It already dropped a point again just while you were talking. No way we could stretch three potions long enough to get back to Stormhaven, even if we turned around right now, let alone complete the mission first." Oliver's shoulders slumped. Evan could imagine how much he hated being the cause of their delay, but he was determined not to let his friend dive back into his pool of self-pity and misunderstood heroics.

Before Oliver could protest anymore, he grabbed him by the arm and got moving. Evan set a fast pace. Fast enough that the rest of his group struggled to keep up, but Oliver's rapidly dropping health bar, which he checked every few minutes, worried him. He could only hope Jasper's map was correct and they would really find the Forest Folk soon. Of course, the next challenge was convincing these isolationists to help a bunch of outsiders, but Evan could be very convincing if he wanted to.

Between dealing with impaired patients, agitated relatives, burned-out social workers, and arrogant attendings, he'd developed a very impressive set of social skills. Surely these elf-cosplaying hermits couldn't be harder to convince to heal a young man in need than it had been to convince Granny Louise to swallow her pills. They trudged through the forest, following Jasper's directions. Several times they had to pause and hide or change directions to avoid another encounter with a monster.

Each delay cost them valuable time. Time Oliver didn't have, but Evan also knew the worst thing that could happen to them was getting into another fight they were ill-prepared for. The monsters in the Old Forest were a lot stronger than anything they had fought before, especially considering their team was down one man. Despite their detours and forced breaks, Jasper told them they were getting closer to the Forest Folk's territory.

Evan was glad to hear that because Oliver was starting to look very pale and clammy, and he'd stumbled and fallen several times in the past thirty minutes, clearly struggling to keep walking.

"Hey, Luca, can you give Olly another boost? His health bar has gone below fifteen percent again," Evan said.

"I can, but only one more time. I'm almost out of mana and—" An arrow whizzing past an inch from his head cut Luca's sentence off. Evan reached for his sword immediately, but Jasper hissed at him.

"Do. Not. Move." He froze mid-motion, heart beating rapidly. The rest of his group had also stopped moving, peering into the forest warily, trying to figure out where that arrow had come from. Evan turned his head left and right, scanned the area, his eyes darting over the bushes and then up into the trees, but there was no sign of any attacker. Just as he started to wonder if this world had some kind of magical automatic firing system, Jasper slowly raised his hands.

"We're not here to cause trouble," he said, loud and clear. Evan still couldn't tell who he was talking to.

"We're here because we need your help." Just a few steps away from them, two people appeared. They stepped out of the trees so suddenly he could've sworn they'd materialized then and there. How could he have missed them when they'd been so close by the entire time? A camouflage skill? Could they turn themselves invisible? One of them, a young woman, spoke first.

"And why would we help a group of outsiders?" Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Her voice was cold and her face was scrunched up in haughty disdain, but otherwise she was an absolutely stunning beauty of a woman.

Evan knew his friends had told him elves didn't exist in this world, that they were as much a fairy tale here as they were on Earth, but if that woman wasn't an elf, she was surely the closest thing to an elf Evan had ever come across. Tall and slender, with light skin and long blonde hair tied in a braid. Her face looked more like a marble statue than a real-life woman, and her bright blue eyes only enhanced the ethereal effect.

The man next to her was also tall, slender, and blonde, and he was also handsome, although the deep scowl on his face kind of ruined his vibe. Both of them were armed with elegantly carved bows, but Evan couldn't tell which one had fired the shot at Luca. Jasper visibly swallowed before he addressed the woman again.

"Please, our friend here was poisoned by an Earthwyrm. We're too far away from any of our healers. You're his only hope." This time, the man answered.

"We don't concern ourselves with the lives and deaths of outsiders. You wasted your time coming here. Turn back, leave our territory, or pay the price." To Evan's surprise, Luca stepped forward, fists balled and face full of rage.

"I've heard terrible stories about your people since I was a little boy, but it turns out you're even more dishonorable than I thought."

"Luca!" Evan warned, and Jasper audibly gasped. The blonde man immediately pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back, but his companion put her hand on his arm before he nocked the arrow.

"Calm down, Declan." Her gaze flickered over Oliver, who could barely stand, then came to rest on Luca.

"Our kind does not help your kind. We leave each other alone. You must know that." Luca took a shuddering breath.

"Believe me, I would be more than happy to leave you alone, especially your overly violent buddy there, but my friend needs a healer, and you have healers in your settlement, don't you?"

"We do…"

"If your healers are anything like our healer, they take a certain pride in their profession and the oath that comes with it." The blond man nearly growled.

"None of our healers would ever take any kind of oath that would force them to help an outsider." The woman, however, made a thoughtful face.

"I'm not so sure, Declan. Doesn't Grainne always say healers are servants of everyone in need of healing? That they have to heal anyone, regardless of their station in life or what they can offer in return?" Her friend looked at her flabbergasted.

"Yes, old Grainne said that, but I'm certain she didn't mean outsiders."

"Why not? They're humans in need. Just because they're different from us doesn't make their lives less sacred."

"Catriona, you can't be serious!"

"You know how quickly Earthwyrm poison works. That boy will die if he doesn't get help."

"Not our problem!" Declan said, glaring at the group.

"It's their own fault he got hurt. They had no business entering the Old Forest."

"We came here on a rescue mission," Evan said.

"We don't mean you any harm, and we didn't want to disturb your peace, but we followed a group of dangerous criminals into the Old Forest who'd abducted a lot of innocent people." His words made Declan frown, and Catriona tilted her head, looking at him intently.

"Dangerous criminals, you say?"

"They call themselves the Beasts. They've raided several farms and even villages close to the Old Forest and kidnapped the villagers."

"We know who you're talking about. Our trackers spotted them going toward—""Cait!" Declan hissed.

"Don't tell them."

"Why not? It could be helpful for them." Declan let out an exasperated sigh.

"Don't you ever listen to the tribe elders? We do not help outsiders." Catriona squared her shoulders and met her companion's gaze straight on.

"Maybe we should let the elders decide that. I'm taking them to Grainne. She can decide if she's going to help the injured boy, and the rest of his group can make their case with Lamont." Declan let out a frustrated grunt before grabbing Catriona by the arm and dragging her a few feet away, out of Evan's earshot. All he could hear was heated mumbling as they fought each other on the matter. It was Catriona who won the battle.

"We'll take you to our village," she announced.

"I can't promise you anything. It's not for me or my brother to make the decision, but our healer, Grainne, is a kind woman. I think she might have mercy on your friend. Can he walk?" Oliver nodded weakly.

"I can."

"Then follow us. But be quiet. The Earthwyrm you slew wasn't the only one around here."

"Spare your breath," Declan said. He turned around and started walking without looking at Oliver or the rest of their group.

"You know how outsiders are. They're about as quiet as a Stone Golem." Evan had never encountered a Stone Golem, but the Mud Golem he'd fought with Oliver had a pretty impressive roar, so he assumed Stone Golems weren't exactly quiet creatures. Despite Declan's dismissive words, they did their best to follow the two Forest Folk siblings through the forest without any unnecessary noise.

It wasn't working very well, at least not if the times Declan flinched and scrunched his nose were any indication, but at least they encountered no more Earthwyrms during their trek. It was difficult keeping up the pace with Declan and Catriona. The two seemed to float across the forest floor, nimbly climbing, jumping, and balancing where Evan and his friends struggled and stumbled. Oliver had it the worst.

Jasper had given him the second of their three healing potions, but the poison's effects seemed to speed up the longer the poison remained in his body. After an hour or so, Oliver's health bar had dropped below ten percent. He could barely keep himself upright, let alone navigate the tricky terrain. Evan fell back and wrapped his arm around his friend, doing his best to keep him from toppling over.

Catriona kept taking small pauses to wait for their group, and she occasionally threw concerned glances over her shoulder.

"It's not far now," she said after a while.

"We're almost there." Evan was relieved to hear that, because Oliver was not exactly lightweight, and he wasn't sure how much longer they could keep going like this. Just as he considered asking for a break so they could try to build a makeshift stretcher from the loose wood lying on the ground, Declan disappeared from his view, and Catriona stopped walking.

"We're here. This is it. This is Whisperleaf Grove." Evan looked around, confused. All he saw were more trees and more bushes, but no houses or any other sign of civilization. His body tensed and his heart rate spiked. Had the two siblings lured them into a trap? Were Luca's stories right after all, and would the two roast and eat them? Catriona noticed his confusion and smiled.

"Look up."