Chapter Ten

Gideon looked perplexed as the trees of Arakhora towered over them. His horse stomped about nervously as the thick fog swayed in between the trees. An ominous feeling filled his mind when Rayne proceeded to enter the forest.

"Wait, are you sure we just can't take the long route?" he asked, pointing south along the treeline where a man made dirt path laid in wait. She let out a sigh, having been over his complaining already.

"This is the quickest way to the mountain. If we decide to take the long way, it'll only extend your stay and I'm not having that." she called back to him, letting the fog envelop her until she had completely vanished within. Gideon watched her disappear, and urged his horse forward until the fog swallowed him.

The fog was thick, the visibility limited to about five feet in front of him. He couldn't see Rayne at all, couldn't even hear her horse. In fact, he couldn't hear much of anything, not even his horse's hooves making their way through this forest. He glanced over his shoulder, but the entrance to the forest had disappeared entirely, a wall of trees and fog only greet him now. What he did notice was that he couldn't hear the wind, or even feel it. This place felt as if it was frozen in time and nothing was able to disturb it.

He glanced about worriedly when his mare's ears perked up, swishing left and right, quickening her pace. He gasped at her suddenness until finally the fog separated and he was met with a sight he'd never seen before. Thick trees towered over him, their branches and leaves a canopy with only scattered sunlight breaking through. The grass was lush, and small wild life scattered about once his presence was known. Rayne sat upon her horse when Gideon finally came through and she stuffed something back into one of her pouches.

"Horses in the first layer don't have a sense of direction, so you can easily find yourself back outside if you're not careful enough." she stated matter of factly, running her fingers along her stallion's mane. He trotted up to her side, still looking around him with big, bright eyes.

"I haven't seen anything so..."

"Green?"

He chuckled at that, but the look of bewilderment never left his face, "Why hide this?"

"Because of poachers, enemies, especially the Dark Lord." her voice was low as she spoke, leading her horse in a walk further into the forest, Gideon walking along side of her. He shot a glance at her, but her hood was covering part of her face again.

"What do you know of the Dark Lord?" he asked curiously, watching intently as her shoulders slumped just enough for him to catch before she regained her posture once more. It took her a long moment before responding back.

"He has a castle in the mountains on the other side of the continent. His army is mainly of orcs, ogres, and goblins, but I got word that he was trying to make an alliance with the Dwarven Kingdom, but agreements fell through." she said, Gideon listening intently. For a moment, he caught hesitation before she reached up and lowered her hood. She pulled her long hair free and tied it back.

"But, there is something that no one else knows about the Dark Lord." she proclaimed, drawing more of his attention.

"And what is that?" he asked curiously, but she reached down into one of her larger pouches and pulled out her bow, and as quietly as she could, unfolding it and knocking an arrow. Leaves descended from the branches above them as Rayne squeezed her steed's side gently, having him come to a halt. Gideon paused beside her questioningly, looking around, but spotting nothing in his sights. Her eyes were not on the ground however, they were in the trees above them, darting from branch to branch until finally she raised her bow up to a tree that was thirty feet from them and released the arrow. The sound of a thud from the arrow hitting the tree resounded around them, but a small yell caused Gideon to withdraw his sword instinctively.

"No! This is my only clean shirt and she put an arrow through it!" someone complained loudly, and Rayne lowered her bow, seeming unfazed.

"Idiot! This is why we don't bring you on scouting duty!" another voice interacted with the first, and a grunt ensued, a shadow of a figure hanging from the branches.

"Varian, I see you still lack in your stealth skills." Rayne called to the hanging figure and they carefully climbed down the tree. He walked up casually to Rayne without another thought, a grin on his face. His skin was copper, and he wore a vest made of deer hide, and brown trousers to match. He had short, spiky black hair and caramel colored eyes.

"It's Rayne! Hey Qwell, come on down!" he called back to the tree he had left and another figure jumped down from the branches, yelling as he fell and landed roughly on his feet. He limped his way over, smiling excitedly. His face matched that of Varian, but he had shoulder length black hair, and wore no shirt, but brown trousers instead.

"I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you were traveling overseas?" Qwell asked, and Rayne dismounted, holding onto the reins.

"I was, but I wrapped up the job faster than I expected, so I came back." she said, and looked back at Gideon who still had his sword drawn, "put it away, Ryder, you're not intimidating anyone." she waved her hand at his sword and he scoffed at her, but sheathed the weapon anyways. The elves looked over to Gideon with a raised brow before sharing a look.

"Why did you bring an outsider?" Qwell asked, and Rayne walked with them, Gideon begrudgingly following.

"I'm on a mission to kill Xerath. He's just here to make sure I get it done." she thumbed back toward him. Gideon rolled his eyes at her.

"It's not like I had much of a choice on the matter. I wasn't going to argue with the King of all people." he grumbled, looking around them as they walked along. He caught something dip back behind a tree, but it was too quick to notice.

Varian looked uneasily at Rayne, "Xerath? Like, the wizard, Xerath?" he asked, wrapping his arms around himself, and Qwell smacked his back hard, nearly pushing him off balance.

"Relax, Xerath hasn't poked his head out for ages. He might be long dead already." he tried to ease his brother, but he still continued to tremble. Rayne stopped in her tracks, the brothers knocking into one another. Gideon pulled his horse to a halt, following her gaze to another elf walking toward them. He stood tall, his long brown hair partially pulled back in a braid. His sun-kissed skin was decorated with intricate tattoos, and he wore a sleeveless, dark green robe with gold trimming. Varian and Qwell both stiffened when spotting the newcomer.

The elf smiled gracefully, as he came to a stop in front of the group, but his eyes rested on Rayne alone. Gideon peered over to her, and he thought he noticed a glimmer of recognition cross her face.

"It has been far too long since your departure, Rayne." his words were like honey as he reached out and picked out strands of her hair, bringing it to his lips. Rayne felt her cheeks flare up, yanking her hair away from him.

"I wasn't gone that long, Mel-Darion." she brushed passed him, but without missing a beat, he was walking alongside her.

"To you it may have not been, but to me it felt as if years went by." he smiled down at her, but she pulled the reins forward, having her horse walk between them. Gideon watched the interaction, piecing bits together. Varian and Qwell walked beside him, exchanging small talk, but their eyes were on Mel-Darion and Rayne.

What is their story?

The trees broke away to reveal a small river that slowly grew in size the deeper it went in the forest. On either side of this river were thick trees, each with a wooden staircase spiraling around the trunk, and wooden bridges extended over the river to the trees on the other side. Lanterns were placed along the river bank. Elves with charcoal colored skin were walking about, some carrying baskets on their backs with what appeared to be crops in them. Others had wood axes and hoes. Gideon was looking around in awe. Mel-Darion approached the river where two canoes were waiting.

"Transportation is still the same, Qwell and Varian will take care of your horses while we are in the city." Mel-Darion gestured go the brothers and they took the reins from Gideon and Rayne. Gideon eyed the canoes worriedly.

"Will that hold?" he asked, tapping his plated armor. Mel-Darion waved his hand dismissively toward Gideon.

"Yes yes, it will hold a brute such as yourself." he said, lending his hand out to Rayne, but she simply walked past him and climbed into one of the canoes herself.

"Don't just stand their, Ryder, get your ass in here." she said bluntly, picking up the oar that lay across one of the seats. Gideon hesitated, still unsure if the canoe could surely hold him, but he climbed in after her. The canoe sank slightly deeper into the water, but it still remained afloat. Mel-Darion gestured to a nearby dark elf worker and he climbed in the other canoe, the worker climbing in afterward and taking hold of the oar. He carefully worked the oar against the bank, pushing off into the river and coasted the current, using the oar to keep direction, Rayne following behind them. Gideon returned his gaze back to the surrounding tree homes, still in awe of them when a shadow dashed between the trees.

"Are we being followed?" he asked aloud, and Rayne grunted softly.

"Not exactly. They don't see humans often, and with the growing tensions between Kingdoms, the trade has been less and less frequent." she said, almost carelessly. Gideon looked around at the watchful eyes of the dark elves, curiosity, concern and slight hostility in their eyes.

"I never knew that there were a variety of elves." he spoke up, and Rayne glanced back at him. He was still looking around at everything, like a child at a festival. She felt a twist in her chest, but she ignored it, returning her gaze to the path ahead. The river opened up wider the deeper they went, iridescent plants beneath the water's surface became fluorescent, giving way to the fish beneath them.

"From what I have gathered during my stay here, there are multiple races of elves that live within here, and some that don't. Depending on what your race is determines where you are at rank wise." she stated, and Gideon looked over to her.

"How long were you here for?" he asked, and watched as she inclined her head slightly as if in thought.

"I stayed a year or so before heading overseas." she finally spoke after a minute of thinking it over.

"Why so long?"

"You sure are asking a lot of questions." she pointed out to him, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't be curious about you?" he asked, a dip in his voice when 'curious' left his lips, and she felt a shiver tickle her lower spine.

"There is nothing to be curious about, Ryder. I am a mercenary, that's all there is to it." she finalized the conversation into silence and Gideon let out a small huff.

The river widened until the tree homes were thirty feet out from them when the view of a golden gate appeared into view past the low branches of willow trees. Gideon's eyes widened as he attempted to take in everything. Between the golden bars and even standing tall behind them were golden towers that seemed to spiral into the trees, golden bridges extending to one another. The sunlight made the towers shine blindingly.

The gates opened up to them, the river gradually ending into a stone bank, elven guards wearing bronze plated armor were waiting for their arrival. One of the guardsman was an elvish woman with tanned skin, her bronze armor had intricate gold engraved designs on the breast plate. Her bronze hair was braided back and shaved on both sides, her amber eyes piercing as the trio left the canoes. She sat upon a panther, bronze armor mimicking its riders.

"Mel-Darion, you know you shouldn't be outside the gates without an escort." the woman hissed at him, but he simply waved her off, smiling down at Rayne.

"I see you're still a pain in the ass, Mel." Rayne said, fixing her cloak when the tip of a scimitar entered her line of sight and stopped just inches from her neck. She followed the blade up to the elven woman who was glaring daggers down at her.

"Hold your tongue while in the presence of Prince Mel-Darion!" she barked down at her, her amber eyes narrowed. Rayne pushed the blade aside gingerly, not bothered by the woman's order and proceeded to walk past her. The woman was taken aback by Rayne's sheer ignorance, and swung her scimitar downward to strike at her shoulder. Gideon stepped between the blade and Rayne, his arm raised as the blade clashed with it, cutting into his armor. Rayne stared at him, his sharp eyes fastened on the elf woman. Mel-Darion stepped forward, removing the blade from Gideon's armor, his eyes hardening as he faces the woman, yet his composure seemed relax still.

"Inaleth, you are being quite disrespectful to our guests. Do I need to have you retrained to help you control your temper?" his words were smooth, a soft smile was placed on his lips, but the underlying of those words were cold and it froze Inaleth. Her mount shifted uncomfortably beneath her, and that helped her come back to her senses.

"My apologies, Mel-Darion. I was unaware that you were familiar with these... travelers." the disdain dripped from her tongue as she shifted her eyes between Gideon and Rayne. Gideon looked over his arm carefully, adjusting this way and that, and let out a soft grunt in reprieve.

"No harm, no foul." he said, and Mel-Darion turned to him with a cocky grin.

"I am glad to hear that she did not cut you, for Inaleth is the captain of the guard, and one of our most, let us say, intriguing fighters." he said, and moved on to Rayne's side. Gideon felt his eyebrow twitch slightly as he watched Rayne and Mel-Darion speak to one another. Though from behind it would appear they were just acquaintances, but there was a lingering feeling pestering in the corner of his mind that he just couldn't get rid of, but he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Will you at least stay the night? You will have quite the battle to face once you are on top of that mountain, but only if you can get there." Mel offered as they walked along. The streets buzzed with life as elves of various races meandered about with their shopping. Once they were settled further into the city, Gideon noticed that the towers ahead were the only thing appearing golden, all of the other buildings that represented shops and homes were cabin-like and even more tree homes, yet they were more settled on the ground than dispensed in the air like those outside the city.

Rayne let out a loud sigh at the invitation, "No."

"What if it meant that I could possibly help with this task of yours?" he asked slyly, and Gideon glanced over to him.

"Do you have information about Xerath?" he asked, a group of elves nearby glanced their way, murmuring to one another. Mel-Darion smiled, but lowered his voice.

"Let us get some place a bit more private for that kind of talk."