The Forest Town

Some of the trees were wider than 10 men lying down, perhaps as much as 40 for the biggest ones. There wasn’t much undergrowth, since not much light made it through the leaves and branches. Troops of mushrooms dotted the ground, sometimes covering the thick roots that broke surface. A they made their way deeper into the woods, Corbin noticed that there were constructions attached to some of the trees and even bridges connecting them. The constructions were so natural that they looked as if they had always been part of the trees.

At the sight of the structures Amane let out a deep sigh, as if a great weight upon her shoulders had been lifted for the first time in a while. Fermin didn’t show much change, though he had been happy enough the entire time, but Ibai and Ilargi were both smiling warmer smiles than they had before.

There was a rustle of leaves and out of nowhere bowmen in dark brown and green cloaks appeared. They had their arrows nocked, but the bows were pointed to the ground and weren’t drawn. They faced Amane and went down to one knee.

“Omki attori, Amane,” one of them said. The rest repeated the same word in unison. She answered them and after a short exchange most of them disappeared back behind the trees, while two of them led forward. There were more and more structures in the trees as they went. Some were perched upon branches, others sprouted like bracket fungi from tree trunks. Some trunks were surrounded by platforms. They were led to a tree, that was even older than the rest. It felt like a person, that had managed to live past 110 years. The bark was gnarled and pale. Holes indicated that bark beetles had made their home inside at some point. The bare branches grew out like twisted horns of a mythical beast. The tree was also hollow. A dark opening lead inside the old trunk. Corbin looked at the other and their faces grew more serious. One after another they entered. Corbin was left at the entrance, unsure whether he was supposed to wait or join them. Ilargi, who had been the last to enter turned around and impatiently waved him over.

The entrance was smaller than it seemed and Corbin had to hunch over. Even Ilargi, who was a head shorter than him had to be careful not to bump her head on the uneven ceiling. The tunnel didn’t look carved, and much like the structures looked like it had grown that way. There was a faint blue glow ahead of them.

At the centre of the old tree was a small chamber lighted by luminous lichen. At the back of the chamber stood a chair of branches and on the chair sat a goat person. The faint blue light painted it blue, but most of its coat was grey, with sparse black hairs, that indicated what it used to look like. What was obvious was that it was old. Its horns were long and twisted; there was some moss growing on them. If they were stretched out, they could have been as big as the goat itself. Its beard reached its legs. They were goat legs, while its arms were clawed and fingered. It regarded the group with its strange large eyes, adorned by rectangular pupils in the amber irises.

Everybody went down to one knee in tandem, leaving only Corbin, who joined them after a small stagger. A deep voice filled the room, it was the goat talking. He couldn’t understand what it said, but after a while he heard it call Amane. She moved right in front of it. The voice was still loud enough to be heard by everyone, but the message was intended only for her. One by one the others were called forth.

“Kemen,” the goat said. He knelt in front of the goat. It addressed him as the others, but he didn’t understand. At some point it also mentioned Ilargi. Corbin looked around and saw from her face, that she was distraught and wanted to protest, but couldn’t produce the words. She looked at Corbin and gave him a poisonous glare. After a few more words, she relented, looking down. What is even going on? I barely understand any of the words. With that the audience was over and they left the ancient tree. They walked in silence for a while, stopping under a secluded tree. There Ilargi all of a sudden kneeled in front of Corbin.

“Thank you, Kemen,” she said. He was shocked by the sudden gesture, but after she lifted her head, he saw that the words were more spat out than said. Why is she so angry with me? I thought we were square already.

“Akrewelt says you go zurgina,” Fermin said, after Amane prodded him with a finger.

“What zurgina?”

“Zurgina woman, go you Kemen, Ilargi,”

Corbin tried getting more out of Fermin, but without much success. Fermin resorted to pantomime, waving his hands in the air and making shapes over his head. In the end they gave up. I need to see some woman together with Ilargi and she is mad, because she needs to repay the debt to me by coming along. At least I think that’s how it is. Do I really want to run around at the behest of a goat person? I should start trying to figure out how to return to my own world. For that I will need to find my bearing in the world. The ones who brought me here can certainly bring me back, but since they immediately threw me in prison, they won’t do me a favour if I just ask them nicely. I wonder if the goat knows of the portals.

Corbin looked at the people they met on their way. A lot of them were wearing cloaks, but there was nothing else strange about most of them. Some were a bit too short and others too tall, perhaps even taller than Ibai but none of that was as strange as seeing a shrub move. No, not a shrub. It’s a person? The roots were twisted into the form of a man, perhaps a woman. The proportions were strange, as the arms reached the ground as the creature hunched over and used all four limbs to walk. Green leaves were growing from the branches of its arms and the head was partially covered in moss and lichen.

They were given lodging in one of the houses in the trees. It was accessible via ladder, which was sturdy enough, but Corbin didn’t dare look down while climbing anyway. The next day they ate in a tavern, which they reached by crossing some of the bridges connecting the trees. They were not alone in the establishment. Several patrons sat around eating and talking. Once more Corbin’s gaze wandered around the room, before settling on a lone hooded figure in the corner of the room. It was shorter than any of the other people, he had seen in the village. It was drinking from a wooden tankard. After drinking another gulp, the hood fell back, revealing pointy ears on a green head. Corbin jumped to his feet.

“Goblin,” he gasped pointing at the creature. The rest of them looked at what he was pointing, but no one gave any more reaction. How can they be so calm, it wasn’t that long ago that we fought with them. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Fermin was pushing him back onto the bench. He gestured to the goblin, who noticed the commotion, but was also calm. It got up and came to their table.

“Kemen, this Zarrek,” he said, and explained the situation to the goblin. It looked Corbin up and down with an interested expression, then grinned, showing the pointy teeth. He extended his hand towards Corbin, who stared at it for a moment, then extended his own.

“Hello Kemen,” he said and gripped the hand.

“Hello,” Corbin replied. After the introductions, the goblin returned to his place and the group went back to eating. Corbin peeked at the goblin, who noticed and winked back. I guess not all goblins are evil. After the hearty breakfast Corbin and Ilargi were given more equipment and promptly sent on their way. The rest of the group stayed in the forest. Amane was important to the local people and both of the other men stuck close behind her at all times.