The Ninth and Tenth Elders

Bard had Kai stop as they crested a ridge. Down below was the land of lakes, and their next Elder Tree. It wasn’t a pleasant place, full of beasts and creatures during the day, and now there were the shades at night. This was going to be an interesting next leg of their journey.

He looked back at Sen, who slept on Kai’s back, strapped down as usual. She still wasn’t fully adjusted to the day schedule. Changing their rest patterns based on the environment had made it a challenge, a necessary one, but still. At the current rate, they might barely make it back on the day they should have, especially now that her family and forest were closer than before. He counted that as a minor blessing in disguise.

Kai looked out, and his ears flicked around. Shades. Kai whirled around to face the trees behind them, and Bard caught the sight of their glowing eyes. Some white and some red. Their forms didn’t come at them since the edge had sunlight, but this wasn’t good. It was worse than being in the deserts. Tonight would be a dangerous one. He grabbed his tokens and slowly began to swing them around, picking up speed and volume until the eyes vanished.

As he took a steadying breath, he looked back once more at the woods and heard a strange screech that made him freeze and the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Once he could move, he hastily looked around for the source. This place was far too dangerous. He felt Kai shift and then moved closer to the edge.

“Kai,” Bard warned. He didn’t like where that mind was going. If they jumped, his instruments would likely get damaged. Could they also get hurt? Yes, but it was unlikely. Kai had jumped down from higher places than this, and they had survived.

The screech sounded again, this time closer. Kai moved once more, and then Bard noticed a colored glow. A strange purple, moving through the trees at fast speeds. It seemed to be coming towards them.

“Kai!” Bard shouted, and he heard Kai howl as he jumped. Bard reached towards Sen as her face moved and she woke up. Her scream echoed as they slid down the cliff side. Kai fell onto a tree and redirected their fall. Bard jerked as they made impact. He hastily cast his eyes upward, looking for anything. He was not disappointed. At the top of the cliff. Something dark stood at the edge, purple eyes glaring down at them. He couldn’t make out the shape from this distance, but he felt cold. His hands barely clutched the tokens as he prepped to swing them about. The thing at the top disappeared over the edge, and Bard let out a breath. Sen grabbed his leg, her strappings preventing most movements. He steadied his breathing as Kai began to tread into the woods.

“Awake?” Bard asked, and Sen’s lips pursed into a pout.

“Yes. What’s going on?” she griped.

“Shades. The woods are full of them. We just met something like the harbinger up there, so Kai jumped.” He started to unfasten the straps. He stopped as he heard a screech again and looked back at the cliff. Clouds began to form above, and Bard’s eyes flew wide.

“Kai! Run! Get to Elder Preparation!” Bard shouted as he fell onto Kai’s back to make them more streamlined. Kai bolted. Bard’s mind raced. If they could make it to the woods, then they might be more safe.

A shattering sound of wood breaking reached his ears. Bard looked to the side and noticed the same blackened trees as he had seen from Sen’s woods. Was this place also becoming shaded? His mind went to the two elders here. Were they alright? He looked at his tokens. Not one was black. He recalled the Dryad shaped shade from the silver woods.

If his tokens weren’t black, would that mean they were all still safe?

His mind was drawn from his musings as Kai jumped to the side, avoiding an attacking tree. It’s gnarled limbs and blackened bark was terrifying. As he looked at the trunk, he saw into a hole that had white eyes glowing inside.

Sen screamed as Kai avoided another attack.

“Bard! The trees!” she shouted.

“I know!” Bard shouted back as the noises increased. Why hadn’t the shades taken over all the trees? Perhaps they still needed the cover of the forest to keep safe from the sun. Kai broke free from the forest into a clearing and barreled through it. He kept targeting these clearings as he ran until Bard picked up the sounds of a forest song. It belonged to Preparation. He guided Kai that way, and they ran further in than the edge. Only stopping when the sounds of the shades faded in the background.

Kai panted hard, while Bard sat and shifted his aching muscles. Holding onto Kai in that position had been hard. Sen moaned and Bard quickly removed the straps. She sat up, rubbing her wrists. Kai suddenly dropped to the ground in a humph, and they rolled off his back, unable to keep on.

As Bard reoriented himself, he picked up on a strange part in the melody. It sounded almost like it belonged to another Elder. Elder Life. But she was on the other side of the narrow lands. Had she joined up with another Elder, like Defender had? It would make it easier to have both elders nearby. But it also meant that this was more dire than he had initially thought. Bard quickly grabbed his flute and blew into it, trying to match with the melodies. Several animals fled in surprise, and then a few birds came over to him. They stayed on their branches and chirped at him. Then he heard the songs strengthen.

“Bard?” One Elder’s voice rang.

“Bard Jaystrum?” another Elder’s voice commanded. Bard almost sat in shock. So it was true.

“We’re over here!” Sen shouted as she ran over to Bard. The two Elders shifted and moved towards them. “Bard, I thought we were just going to meet one elder?”

“Apparently it’s been rough here too,” Bard chatted. He felt as confused as she about this, and his mind rapidly put pieces together. Elder Preparation, a wide multi trunk looking tree, was with Elder life, a sweet tree that had red leaves in autumn. Right now, their songs were in harmony, a first for this region as the two generally didn’t like one another but tolerated each other.

“You’re with a Dryad? And she doesn’t seem to be part of my forest,” Elder Life commented.

“I see your preparations are in order, and Kai has gotten bigger,” Elder Preparation said.

“Just what are you doing here?” they said in unison and then paused. Bard stood, ready to show them his respects, but they stopped him.

“In these times, let’s forgo those sorts of talks. We don’t have much time,” Life answered the unspoken question.

“I, I see.” Bard stammered, surprised. So it really was dire. “Sen,” he called her over. When she stood next to him, she waved at the two.

“Bard and I are pledged,” Sen chimed in Asternum. Her happy tone was needed in this stressful time. “But with how dire this seems, I doubt you can spare the time to give me instructions. Instead, is there anything we can do to help?”

“A pledge is it?” Life said thoughtfully. “Then, perhaps… what happened to your people? Your hair seems fine.”

“We were attacked by shades and were forced to flee. I’m certain you’ve noticed the trees that have shaded. This place isn’t safe.” Sen spoke softly, but with a firm tone.

“We’re aware. But the way you came is full of shades now and the steep cliffs. To the south is the desert, but we have to cross between the lakes since they come up to the cliffs. And to travel that way without fuel or light is suicide.” Preparation explained. Bard gritted his teeth. They had sunstones, so night travel wasn’t as bad and, they weren’t too far from the catfolk. If word got to them that the shades were nearby, then it would be even harder to purchase those, and he wasn’t sure they would make it there and back again to try to save them and make it easier to flee.

“Do we know what their motive is?” Sen asked.

“Not really. They seem bent on shading any and all of us. I’ve lost so many…” Life spoke sadly. “If not for Preparation, we would have all been wiped out.”

“Our songs keep them at bay, but even my song was getting pushed back. We’ve bought some time by having both of us together, but we discovered this too late. There are many dryadic shades, and they cause the shade trees to move more violently. Stray too far, and you receive wounds that turn you shade. Stay near our songs and the wounds are only superficial, but our songs seem to grow weaker with each attack. We are slowly being whittled away,” Preparation said. Bard grimaced. He could see the shade from the silver woods, the one with the blackened tokens. Was it possible to shade an Elder Tree? He shuddered at what that would look like.

“We have overstayed our welcome,” Preparation said as a screech called out to the west. Bard chilled at the sound. “Let’s get to the others.”

Life and Preparation left as Bard and Sen mounted Kai and followed at a brisk pace. The woods still hummed with the song, but every once in a while, Bard heard a discordant squelch and then the song got quieter and quieter.

If the catfolk knew this was going on, then why weren’t they here, fighting? He gripped the harness in anger. How was this possible? Why was this happening?

Within minutes, they arrived at the dryadic village. Bard hardly recognized the place. It wasn’t in its right place, and the trees looked, worn out, for lack of a better word. Their song didn’t have the vibrant life instilled in it anymore. It was fading. With the return of the Elders, it did pick up a bit, but this was unsettling.

“Why do you bring that teka here, Life,” A Dryad asked as they came forward. Bard caught onto the slight dialect quickly. He just hoped Sen could understand. She shifted and stood behind him, and there was a collective grumbling and murmurs that arose. Sen grinned and hugged Bard from behind.

“How are they?” Life asked solemnly.

“Nearly dead. I’m sorry. We couldn’t do more,” another Dryad said as he stepped forward. More began their reports, ignoring him and Sen. The suns began to set and the sunstones in their lanterns began to softly glow, causing yet another stir. Several mothers approached until Kai growled. Bard figured, he still remembered their last encounter. Sen jumped down and came over to them.

“What is it you want?” She asked with a friendly smile.

“My child. Can it stay closer to the light?” one mother asked. A few others came closer as well, and it broke Bard’s heart. He patted Kai and ordered him to lay down.

“We won’t remove the sunstones from the lanterns, but you are welcome to have them stay nearby.” Bard said as he came by Sen.

“He speaks Asternum!” One Dryad said in surprise. Others noticed and Life came over.

“Thank you, Bard. If your offer stands, I would like as many of them to stay nearby. The nights get even more dangerous,” she said. Bard noticed the pained looks on the other Dryads.

“I’ll allow it, but I would recommend we make it to the narrow lands. It’ll be safer there. With less spots to defend, and the light can travel farther, it will be a better barrier,” He suggested. The Dryads looked worried. Was there something he was unaware of.

“The shades like to hide in the waters, especially where the light can’t reach. It’s too dangerous to go that way.” Preparation pointed out.

“Bard…” Sen grabbed his sleeve and his attention. “What is the narrow lands?”

Bard sighed and stooped down. In the fading light, he grabbed some rocks and sticks and drew a very rudimentary map.

“This place has many lakes, but there is a narrow neck of land that passes between all of them. From here, it branches west and south. If we could cross it, then the Dryads would be able to reach the city, which is mostly south from here. To the west lies the other Elders we need to meet with. Since the Shades are mostly to the northeast, it would be best to retreat while we still can.” He explained as he moved things about. Sen nodded. “However, in the lakes are more shades and so night travel could be more dangerous. At least, that is the general consensus. But day time means we are contending with the dryads and trees who are hiding in the woods.”

“Not a great setup in general,” Sen murmured.