Night had fallen, blanketing the world in a veil of indecipherable shadows, but thanks to the moon, the forest was illuminated, allowing them to transverse it.
Each step through the forest sounded far louder than it should have, the crunch of leaves underneath their feet like resounding bells, waking the entire forest.
While Ash walked in front of them, his sword raised, Eliron’s hands were resting on the hilt of his saber, his ears listening for even the slightest sounds.
Only Yennefer was perfectly relaxed.
The lazy angel was even too slothful to walk, and was instead, was floating just above the forest floor like a ghost, her eyes heavy with sleep.
Then she frowned. "Tch, why does your friend live so deep in the forest?"
Eliron kept his eyes forward. "She doesn’t live in the forest, she just has a hunting hut out here..."
"Lady Artis often goes on hunting trips alone to gather food for the children, she is one of the heroes of the village." Ash added.
"Lady?" Yennefer was surprised at the mention of an honorific.
Ash nodded. "She is the daughter of one of our chiefs."
Even amongst the wood elves, there was a certain hierarchy that existed amongst them.
While the Elven lord was the superior power, there were twelve Elven chiefs that were directly below him.
"Hmmm... what makes a noble a noble?" Yennefer asked.
Eliron nodded. "Good question..."
He remembered it from the novel, plus he also had tons of memories about the village, so explaining it was far too easy.
"Nobility for the Wood Elves is not merely a title, there was a reason why nobles were respected as such..."
"And it stems down to the cause of the discrimination between High Elves and Wood Elves...
Magic."
"Magic?" Yennefer’s brows creased in confusion.
"Yes, magic."
He raised a finger to emphasize his point. "Even the lowest High Elf is capable of using advanced magic, the nobility among them can summon calamity grade spells."
He paused.
"But most wood elves cannot summon a single orthodox spell, because of this, we are often called laggards in the magic world."
Yennefer was absorbing his words with childish curiosity.
To High Elves, magic was everything, it was so ingrained in their culture that it had become their identity.
They continued walking, but the creepy nature of the forest had long blurred to the backs of their minds, their voices sounding louder than the eerie forest sounds.
"So wood elves can’t use a single spell? Like not even a fire ball? Even humans are capable of that."
Ash shook his head. "He’s right my lady, we can barely summon our mana talkless of casting."
Yennefer sighed. "Woah... that sucks..."
Eliron silently agreed, then looked at her. "But amongst the wood elves, there are people who can use spells, albeit a few."
"I’m guessing the nobles?"
Eliron nodded.
"Only our nobles like me, the twelve chiefs and their family members can use spells. So each noble is like a miracle for the wood elves."
Even he could use a spell before he gained his memories from earth... although it was relatively weak.
[Wind slash]
~ Summons a gale of condensed wind that can be shaped according to your will.
Yennefer finally let her feet touch the floor, as she walked beside him, blinking to shake off sleep.
"I... see... Huummm." She yawned.
Eliron’s gaze darkened. They were not the only ones aware of this fact... and because of this, the nobles had been targeted in the attack, and they had lost quite a number of them.
But he chose to not mention that part to Yennnefer.
By now they had walked sufficiently deep into the forest and were already seeing signs of Elven life.
Ash stopped, causing them to stop as well, then he inspected a marking on a tree.
It was a deep groove with the word ’caution’ written in the Elven tongue.
But what was strange about it was that it didn’t seem to be made with a dagger or any weapon Eliron could recognise.
It looked more like fire...
Ash took a step back and turned to face him. "My lord, we are very close."
Eliron looked ahead of them. "Let’s increase our pace, staying in the forest this late won’t do us any good."
Ash nodded and they continued.
Since they were on the verge of reaching her house, Eliron decided to finish his earlier discussion.
"Artie is a little different from the rest of us..."
Yennefer rubbed her eyes. "Really? How so?"
"Even amongst nobles, Artie is a prodigy. She is the best spellcaster in the village as it is."
Even the older generation that had practised magic for decades couldn’t hold a candle to her.
In the novel, when the Wood Elves were destroyed, only Artie remained, her mana stores allowing her to last far longer than the others.
She even managed to escape the village, but she died mysteriously, the novel never mentioning the cause of her death—
"We are here." Ash declared as they burst into a clearing, interrupting his thoughts.
There was a humble wooden cottage made out of fallen branches, shrubs and roots lying in the center of the clearing.
Neatly chopped logs of wood were arranged in a pile by the side, and there was an active fire burning in front of the building, bathing the area in a warm orange light.
But it was no ordinary fire...
There was a light green fume within the flames, smoke of similar colour trickling out of the fire.
’Mugwort?’
The moment they stepped into the clearing...
Vwooosh!
There was a sharp whistling sound as an black arrow cut through the dark night, barely imperceivable to Elven eyes.
"My lord, stay down!"
Ash jumped in front of Eliron, striking forward with his blade. The steel grazed the arrow by the side, just barely, but enough to knock it out of focus, the arrow burrowing into his shoulder.
He let out a breathless grunt, his arm tightening on the wound.
A few seconds slower and he would have been dead.
Yennefer sprung into action, healing his wounds while her eyes searched the area.
But their attacker did not give them a second to recuperate, as a few seconds later, the clouds were shrouded with a dozen arrows.
Eliron’s eyes widened.
There was only one Elf capable of releasing twelve arrows in the space of a second.
Artie...
’But why?’
"Eliron, what are you doing?!" Yennefer screamed in panic as he rushed past them, and right at the approaching arrows.
"My lord!"
VWhoosh!