Chapter 139: book 3 chapter 40

“This,” Astari’s voice dripped with annoyance as he glared at Rilitar across the small table. “Is completely unacceptable.” 

Rilitar nodded, “I still can’t find anything else, uncle.” He replied with a small shrug causing Astari’s anger to flare as he slammed his hand on the table. 

Ever since Rilitar followed Eryl into the forest to find the creature his whole demeanor changed. Where he used to be the perfect soldier, now the young man stood… taller. Refusing to attempt to separate her from the creature as if he was afraid of it… no that wasn’t right, Rilitar did not seem scared, it was more like… reverent? Going as far as correcting Astari several times with its name as if it were something he should be bothered with. 

Never mind the story he spun about the creature chasing a Thunder stag of all things, but then for it to be granted a boon from the “guardian”? Yes, the girl was running around with the skull of a thunder stag, but clearly, he was mistaken about its origins. Perhaps the girl had found it? Or maybe, possibly, the guardian had appeared and given the boon to Eryl. That was more believable than that rude gluttonous creature receiving anything from the forest at all.

“Uncle,” Rilitar stood from his seat, dusting himself off as he turned to face him. “Tiniaka told me, before he was injured, that we should not interfere with whatever they are doing. And I am inclined to believe him. I don’t know what exactly Hecatolite or her sister are, but, I don’t think they are here to cause any trouble and will not let my men needlessly prod them.”

“You will not let them?” Astari growled, his face twisting into a snarl as he rose to meet his nephew’s eyes. 

Much to both of their surprise, Rilitar did not back down. Standing his ground as he faced his uncle, his own convictions bolstered his confidence as he stood before the man he once respected. In the past few days his eyes had been opened to something he never knew possible. It was amazing to him how quickly one’s entire world views could shift; how one simple thing could change how one saw everything.

The image of the Hecatolite defiantly standing before the Thunder stag, the fear that gripped his soul as she smiled at the legendary beast without the slightest hint of doubt in her eyes… He understood now what bothered him the most about it. 

The mere sight of the Thunder Stag had cowled him, made him feel small, and he realized that he was in fact weak. And she, the girl he could feel nothing from, stood before it as if challenging everything he knew and smiled. The lunge that Eryl had halted was proof enough that Hecatolite had been absolutely confident that she would be able to defeat the creature and that, more than anything, terrified Rilitar. Even ignoring the soul rattling fear, the insanity induced grin, everything; Hecatolite was confident. Absolutely confident that nothing could have stopped her and so she ignored everything and threw herself at it with everything she had. 

Even if the guardian had not given her its blessings Rilitar believed Hecatolite was not one to be taken lightly, no one that confident should be underestimated. A fact that was reinforced by his men’s reports from her arrival at the docks. 

“Uncle, understand me,” Rilitar straightened his back as he met Astari’s unblinking gaze. Pausing to choose his words carefully he continued, “You are the elder of this village, and as such have absolute power over what happens within the confines of it, but my men and I answer to the council, not you.”

“You,” Astari started but was cut off as Rilitar shook his head. 

“We have our orders Uncle. As the port town closest to the great tree, we have no choice but to impose on your people for the time being but do not misunderstand. We do not answer to you. If you are unhappy with that, take it up with the council.” Rilitar turned on his heels and strode out of the room, leaving no room for argument as he left. 

Not that Astari could say anything to that, it was true that as an elder he did have some power, but Rilitar was part of the Felnnor army; a group that answered directly to the council and as such, were under no obligation to comply with any of his requests. But what could have brought this on? Rilitar had always been somewhat spineless when it came to doing what he was told and suddenly here he was telling Astari off like some low born village head?

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Outside Rilitar let out a long breath, the tension bleeding off of him as he noticed Astari did not follow him. He was sure his uncle would launch a complaint against him but something about this all felt… off. The group with Eryl were dangerous and at this rate his uncle’s prejudices will be his undoing. It was well known that Astari was problematic; It was one of the main factors keeping him from taking a seat on the council, his own closed mindedness, and now that Rilitar had seen it fully he understood his father’s warnings about keeping an eye on him. 

It was with a heavy heart that Rilitar took out a small gem from his pocket, he loved his uncle; despite the man's flaws he was a good elder, intelligent, driven, and above all else he was a good leader… as long as the people under him were elves that was. Sure, he was prejudiced against what he called “low born elves” but he knew the worth of his people and keeping them content, always trying to keep up his image he had done everything right in cultivating this small town. Rilitar respected his uncle, hell at one point he even idolized the man who always seemed to stand above all else, but… If he continues like this… 

Rilitar had spoken to the girls in Eryl’s group, well Hecatolite and Eryl translated for him, and he believed the girls when they said they were of the Lapidary family. Even more so when he saw the spark of determination in the girl, Amethyst’s, eyes when she spoke of trying to open a diplomatic relationship with their nation. A relationship that will be destroyed if this continues. And then…

Another memory surfaced in his mind, a still image of Eryl sitting in the clearing with the faintest smile on her face. Rilitar ’s chest hurt a little as he recalled the look of absolute contentment on her face as she gazed down at Hecatolite. He knew Eryl was special, something about the woman was simply captivating but, he knew in his heart she would never look at anyone else like that. In the very brief time he had with them he could see it, something between the two; the way Hecatolite looked at Eryl, the young woman’s smile somehow widening as Eryl carried her though their town the day they arrived. And the look of endearment Eryl gave Hecatolite despite saying she simply didn’t want the girl to wander off…

Something told Rilitar if Astari continued with his meddling, continued to prod the group… that small smile, that glimpse of absolute beauty, would be lost to the world.

With a snap of his wrist, he sent the stone soaring into the air, a brief report of the last few weeks stored within sent flying towards the great tree; towards his father and the council, hopefully in time to stop this all before it became too much. 

In the last week his uncle had become more unhinged, his requests started out simple. But now it’s becoming something more, going from simply keeping an eye on them to actively stalking them, wanting to try and steal away their belongings like Hecatolite’s bag or Amethyst’s armor; attempting everything he can to keep them in town while he questions Eryl at every opportunity. It’s clearly becoming something more than simple curiosity, but what Rilitar can’t understand is why?

Though Eryl hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with who she is or where she came from, she has done nothing to deserve this level of scrutiny. Trying to insist she teach someone else to speak Solresol in Tiniaka’s place, and insisting she separate herself from the others while they talk… it just didn’t make sense to Rilitar. Eryl was clearly not a normal elf, yes; Rilitar believed she was without a doubt an ancestral elf but wouldn’t that mean Astari should be a little more leery of her. Instead of attempting to cage her, shouldn’t he be more accommodating? If to do nothing but avoid her wrath? 

And then there’s her entourage, the only one Rilitar was confident was not a threat on their own was the healer Himari, and even that was because she was already injured; even with a bad leg she was still a mage, a strong one at that. 

“It doesn’t matter now.” He spoke softly as he walked away, what happened now was out of his hands. All he needed to do now was wait for orders and hopefully not watch his uncle do something he will regret.

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Astari glared out of the window as Rilitar left, his entire body thrumming with anger as ground his teeth. This was simply unacceptable; he will need to have the council replace his nephew now. And why? Because of that damned creature? 

That little grinning thing that clung to Eryl like a tumor, never leaving her side for the last week always interfering with his plans. He resisted the urge to kick the table as he stormed past it to his study. Swearing as his foot caught in a hole in his rug he finally had enough, grabbing the rug and ripping it from the floor, and with great effort, threw it out of his home before returning to his study. 

Slamming himself into his chair he let the events of the past week play though his mind searching for anything he could use.

It had started out simply enough, the group arrived in the village, and they appeared to be rather enamored by it; well the two “sisters” had at least. Both of them ran around greeting everyone they passed with exuberant enthusiasm, stopping only to gawk at a small child they came across in the street before Eryl had called them back. He did manage to get the group to agree to being searched, for “safety” only to find that the creature was in possession of nearly a dozen bands of sold mage bane along with a rod made of the material. He had thought them to be slave collars but upon inspection they were much too small, even if they were for children the design of the bands left no room to put them around someone's neck. It was then the creature explained they were… accessories? The fact the sisters casually wore the anti-magic bands was… shocking. He could not for the life of him find out why they did such a thing, knowing they couldn’t be a simple fashion choice but the creature refused to elaborate further.

He was forced to assume the gun the girl had was sent away on the ship; losing a potentially new weapon during the war was truly unfortunate. But that was completely overshadowed by the items the sister had. Now, much like the girls themselves, the sister’s armor and sword seemed to be obscured by a very powerful deception enchantment, which was the only explanation in his mind for what he saw when identifying the armor. If they were going to go through all the trouble to falsify a relic, why would they bother to make up a god anyway? Though it did not surprise Astari given the group’s apparent immunity to being identified; he had expected their items to be obscured at the very least. Even being unable to identify them properly the number of clear enchantments on the girl’s gear was staggering. Maybe there was some validity to their connection to the Lapidary family after all? He did make a note to attempt to acquire the armor if possible, leading to the first incident with Rilitar. 

Apparently, the idea of trying to get the items from the girls was… disagreeable in the young man’s mind but at the time it was not a precedent, so Astari had left it.

Astari had offered for Eryl to join him and Rilitar for dinner only for the creature to invite itself along with the others. A minor inconvenience at the time but he could deal with it; that was until the two had begun eating. Astari was still unsure what race the two girls were but if for nothing else their appetite was… impressive. He was confident that if Eryl had not commented about going to sleep soon the two girls would still be eating, having devoured enough food for several full grown men along with several pieces of cutlery… He had made a note that the two seemed capable of biting through solid wood, at the very least, without even noticing. Even more alarming was the absolute lack of care as they noticed; apologizing as if it would have absolutely no effect on them at all. 

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At the mention of the time, he had offered Eryl his guest room, and again the creature eagerly agreed on her behalf; dragging the entire group into the room and sealing the door before anyone could object. Ignoring the obvious lack of space in the room for four people, Astari found himself again annoyed by the rude creature as it “forgot” that it locked the door and simply tore the handle off in the morning to leave. 

He had attempted to separate them, offering for Rilitar to take the rest of their group around town while he himself would guide Eryl only for the creature to insist on what it called the “buddy system”, though thankfully splitting the group worked to separate Eryl from the creature as each of the groups would need one person who could speak elven and Solresol. But again, his hopes to attempt to glean information about Eryl were dashed when the other “sister” insisted on being in the group he was in charge of.

Astari hated to admit the creature’s sister seemed to be rather intelligent, given he was forced to amuse her ideas of a treaty between the Empire of Crown and Felnnor; since Eryl refused to speak about anything else that is. Before he could do anything else, however, Rilitar returned with the creature and the other human girl; who, upon returning, insisted the four of them now “explore” before promptly taking Eryl and her sister and running into town themselves.

This was not… bad, given he received reports about the four’s movements after they left giving him a small insight on the four. Well… the sister’s at least. The creature appeared to be just as childish as Astari first thought, blundering her way around town as well as threatening the tailor when he refused to take their gold from Crown. Apparently, they did not prepare for travel having only brought currency from their nation which was a common mistake made by young adventurers; another surprising fact Astari did not expect was that the two girls were in fact adventurers. They managed to hunt down the only adventuring group inside the small town and badger them with questions.

Now the adventuring guild did have a presence within Felnnor, albeit significantly less than in other nations given most “problems” handled by adventures could be taken care of with community service and a strong army presence. The adventuring guild within their nation would be considered more of a hunter’s organization, most often used to gather food or slay monsters that aren’t actively a threat yet.

The low-ranking group they did manage to find had told Astari the sisters claimed to both be very high rank, though he doubted the validity of their badges despite the group’s insistence that forging an adventuring badge to be near impossible. Then again, even if their badges were fake the questions they asked were obviously adventuring geared questions meaning it was likely the two had some ties to the guild. A fact he would need to be leery about if he moved against them. Even with the guilds lack of presence here they were still a powerful organization he would rather not cross.

That night the group did not return to Astari’s home, apparently striking some sort of deal with the only “inn” inside the town. Though to call it an inn would be very generous. The rundown building that acted as the “adventuring hub” in the town, run by a single elderly elven woman, had only two rooms available to active adventures in the area. Astari was beside himself when he heard a high-born elf had even considered such accommodations, more less actually sleeping in such a rundown hovel.

Setting that aside, on the third day the group had  set out to find the town’s shrines, not having any actual churches inside the town; there are several shrines to different gods scattered about. The most notable was the one to the “Mother of the Grove, Goddess Siofra”, in the town's center. Astari was surprised to hear that not only did the sister pray at each one, which was relatively easy given there was only a handful, she had insisted on “cleaning” each of them off and even leaving a few pieces of copper in each of the offering bowls. 

There they met with the town's resident priest, Estel, who later informed Astari the young girl was not only very well versed in the teaching of the Goddess Siofra, Mother of the Grove, but apparently many of the other divine as well. Having spent the entire day with the priest they found themselves attending the classes for young children; a job given to the priest so the other adults could work during the day and the children could still gain something fruitful during that time.

The reports from that event were… strange. It was the first time Eryl had actually done anything of note in the town, helping the priest in guiding the lessons for that day. She had been described as amazingly caring and patient with the children, even playing with them throughout the day. The other three were also complemented in their behavior though the creature had been caught trying to “sneak” away with several of the older children for “adventures” leading to a near several hour “game of hide and seek”. 

Astari had been certain he could use that against them but even Estel had said it was likely the most fun some of the kids have had in a long time, and there was no malice intent behind it. The creature had even guided the children away from going into the forest and warned them of the dangers of leaving the village, a fact Astari had been… confused about given its own propensity for wandering off. 

Much to his annoyance the group had retreated to their room in the inn before he could meet with them leading into the fourth day where he personally went to the inn in the morning and again attempted to invite Eryl to speak with him. Only for the creature to insist again on the “buddy system”, only this time it invited them all to be Eryl’s “buddy”. Astari was certain at this point the creature was actively getting in his way as, despite his best attempts, it was unwavering in insisting that they couldn’t possibly leave, as she said, “such a beautiful young elven woman like Eryl alone with a man they hardly know”. The implication that he, an elder, would attempt anything uncouth was insulting enough, but once it was certain no one else could hear it had told him that “if he didn't want to be seen as a “creeper” he needed to stop sending his soldiers to follow them around.” 

That led to yet another conversation with Rilitar which Astari believes now was directly connected to his nephew’s refusal in his latest plan.

During the day he had spent with them, having given up on separating them, Astari had attempted… well everything he could think of. First approaching the conversation with a friendly and light observation of how well Eryl fit into the town only for the creature to scoff, apparently believing “Eryl could fit into anywhere” a statement that Astari was forced to agree with.

Then he attempted to offer them work which Eryl refused despite his generous offer, the creature thankfully being distracted at the time… though he was curious on why it had decided to take a bite out his dining room table. 

Thankfully its afternoon snack consisting of his furniture was brief, though it insulting his choice of decor was… unwelcomed.  As if he would believe the mysterious little thing had been inside the royal castle of Crown, besides how would it know what the mother of the grove looked like? Now that he thinks about it, where did his bust of the goddess go? Did one of his maids move it?

He looked over to the empty table the statue of the goddess once sat on, certain he had seen it there after the group had left his home. No matter, he will find it later.

Once it became clear the conversation was going nowhere he had tried to coerce Eryl into teaching some of the children how to speak Solresol, though that had gone… horribly wrong. Not that Eryl reacted at all but the creature had apparently taken offence to him trying to “threaten her”, not that he did any such thing. He simply reminded Eryl that he was in fact turning a blind eye to a lot of “little things'', such as a pirate ship appearing with her at its head, along with several other small things the creature had done such as disrupt his town. And, despite not being able to prove it, her “crew” was the only logical explanation of Tinika’s condition.

He did try and make it sound as casual as possible, even choosing to use the children she appeared to enjoy being around. He promised to try and take care of her companions while she did, going as far as to offer to help the sister in getting in contact with the council, though he did not say when; after all the council is rather busy with a war going on.

But the creature had, in no uncertain terms, threatened to eat him if he ever tried to blackmail its family or friends again. Then at the mention of the damage to his table she… well she threw it up onto his floor saying it tasted like “cheap moldy wood anyway”. 

It was at that point Eryl had picked the creature up; relaying the sisters' apologies for the creature's behavior before they excused themselves. It was late the fourth night when he received a report saying the girl in their group, the healer, had been called to heal the person he had tasked with cleaning up the mess. The young man had apparently developed a strange burn-like rash on his hands after cleaning the vomit only for Astari to find a hole had formed in the spot. The rug looked as if it had been burnt through and the wood beneath looked as if it was starting to be eaten away as well.

He was about to call it quits, say it wasn’t worth it and cut his losses when he sat down for breakfast this morning. As he had done every day for the past 78 years he sat down and bowed his head to give thanks to the mother of the forest he… slammed his face into the hard wood when his arm fell through the new hole in his table.

He was sure then, no longer able to see it as the acts of a simple child, some naive coincidence of someone who didn’t know any better. It was bad enough that nothing he was doing had been working since it arrived, for the first time in his life he was at a complete loss as to what was going on or why. How is it Eryl was able to avoid him so expertly, how could a woman like her just appear out of thin air? It was infuriating not being able to get her to crack, to give even the slightest hint as to how she came to be. 

Then there was the creature! In his way, somehow, he knew the creature was to blame, getting in the way every time he got close to getting an answer. How could it just wander around his town unhindered, threatening his people and somehow still being endearing to them? Somehow getting the tailor to not only forgive it but still barter with them for clothing? Try and kidnap elven children, and have not only the priest but the townspeople agree it was all in good fun?

It had to be Eryl, she was protecting it. That’s it, that creature is using her as a shield to protect itself from its own actions. That’s what happened in the forest too, it had wandered off and Eryl ran after it to pick up the mess. That’s how it got that skull it waves around like a toy; it was a boon given to Eryl and it took it. That’s the only explanation, every time it does something she cleans up its mess. Just like then, when it puked in his house Eryl had convinced him to forgive it… just what kind of power did it have over her? Why was she allowing it to lead her around? 

He had attempted to have Rilitar and his men take care of this problem, after all the creature had wandered off once, who’s to say it wouldn't again? But then even his own nephew, his own flesh and blood had turned away from him. All because that creature!

 I am an Elder, a pure-blooded elf, who does that boy think he is! I will need to teach him, but first. Astari stormed through his house, ripping open the door to his room and gathering his gear. Just like all elves he had spent his time in the army, and though, unlike his elder brother, Astari had retireired after his mandatory service. He still had his issued armaments. Donning his armor and grabbing his staff he turned to leave only then having a cohesive thought about his “plan”, the creature has not left Eryl’s side since it was found the first time… I just need more time, just a little more and I can figure it all out. They can’t be together all the time, it doesn't have to be the creature. Its sister, or that human would work just as well. 

With confident strides and a crazed look in his eyes Astari strode into the night, certain that if he could just get a little more time; a few days he could learn all of Eryl’s secrets.