From the sea to the shadows

A few days had passed and we finally arrived at Jimena's Tragedy. Voyage and I spoke with the quartermaster about repairs to the ship since it sustained a bit of damage during the storm. He said he'd look into it. As he walked away I said my goodbyes and began to look for Honoa, she must be here by now according to the sources I was given. However, to make sure the information I was given was correct, I was given the name of one of the local Inns where I could spend a few days in search of her.

The Inn's name was, El avispón plateado, which in the local language meant, The silver hornet. I walked for about a good few miles when I came across a small town and it was there I saw it, the silver hornet. I made my way inside and looked around, it was relatively quiet and calm. People just kept drinking and talking to one another minding their own business, two half-elves were working the bar and three halfling women were handing out drinks big and small, one of them bumped into me by accident, "AY! Perdon mijo. Are you alright, I didn't spill anything on you did I?" "No, no. You're fine." She let out a sigh of relief and went on her way, as I looked around more I noticed two figures sitting in the corner of the tavern, both wore black cloaks that covered most of their face, blue clothing under their armor, and dark grey wolf furs. This was the clothing usually associated with Ulfguadrian spies.

I walked over to them and sat next to one of them, and in sign language, I told them who I was. They responded in kind and took off their hoods to reveal their faces. One was a half-elven woman with blonde hair shaved on both sides, but the hair on top was dreadlocks tied into a ponytail, the other was a human with a similar hairstyle, only he had a long beard that was braided on the end tips, and he had a large scar on his face, possibly from a large bear or some other form of a beast. "So Crowfeather, finally decided to follow in your father's footsteps eh?

Took you long enough." the man said, taking a sip of his drink. "Yeah, now, what have you got on Honoa Blackleaf?" "Right to business eh? Well then, you should know that she arrived just two days ago. And she's been coming here to meet with a hooded figure." When the man finished speaking, the half-elf woman spoke right after, "We suspect he's either elvish or half-elvish considering they've mainly spoken in their native tongue every time they meet. From the sounds of it, it sounds rather bad," "What have they been saying?" "Something having to do with a child, extortion. If I had to make up an exact quote, they might have said, "We have the child." "Good, we ask for a ransom and we take it." "and the child?" "Kill their leader, then toss the child into the wild, let nature have its way with it." That's all I could tell." "A child? Why would they need a child? And what was that about a leader?" The two spies looked at each other then back at me.

The half-elf spoke again, "We're not sure. We suspect it must be a child from the Iron forest. The Ironwood elves will usually do anything to save one of their own, even go as far as paying ransoms and full-on war." "She's right, and I may be wrong, but I assume they plan to leave the child with the red elves. Merciless bastards, anyone outside their territory they do not hesitate to kill, from what I hear it even applies to their own kind." "I don't know too much about the red elves, care to explain?" the man nods, "Not too much known about the red elves, but what is known is terrifying. Most accounts of the encounters had been here at Jimena's Tragedy, bordering areas near the Desert of the Black Dunes, small areas in Poppytown Village, and occasionally near the empire of Vescolar and the black mountain." "I know I had a short encounter with them myself on my way back to Ulvenguard." "We've heard, but these encounters, they were nowhere near as good as yours," he said before taking another swig.

"A nomad once watched one of his clansmen walk closer and closer to the forest, he told him to get back, but he told him he heard nothing and that it was safe. Out of nowhere, a spear flew at him with such force it managed to lift him off the ground and practically fly right back into their campsite. They buried him with the spear out of fear they might be next." "Are many encounters like that?" "Indeed, in one rare instance, a poor halfling farmer from Poppytown accidentally stumbled into their territory and when he realized it he ran off as fast as he could being hunted by a group of them, one unfortunate soul stood in front of him and was ready to deliver a finishing blow but the halfling tripped and took them out of the territory." He sighed before continuing.

"When the red elf realized he was outside his land and tried to come back in, an entire volley of arrows littered his body and a fire spell finished him off and burned both him and whatever arrows connected to the body to ash. However, the young halfling lad did manage to get a good look at what he looked like. He said that he had wild and wavy red hair, a shade of green eyes, he assumed that it was most likely the reason behind why they were called "Red Elves" in the first place, they are all elves with red hair." "So? There are tons of elves and half-elves with red hair out in the world. What makes them so special?" I asked them.

"What makes them so special is how ridiculously dangerous they are, sure you might see an elf or two with red hair in one place, but they can't use a bow as they can, fight and throw spears as they can, use daggers and swords like they can, infiltrate a society as they can. The red elves themselves have spies, rogues, warriors, and mages like no other." "Didn't you just say that they kill their own kind for stepping off their territory?" "Aye, but these spies willingly take their information, write it all down or send it off either magically or send a messenger bird of some kind, then they get themselves killed, or simply end their lives by their own means." "So I'm guessing neither of you wants to deal with any elf or half-elf with red hair on top of their head regardless of if they're red elves or not huh?" They both nodded. "Well, it's getting late, I'll rent a room and we can continue this mission in the morning, sound good?" They nodded and I went to rent a room at the inn.

Early in the morning, a thick cloud of fog obscured every corner of my vision. I was told to meet the spies from last night in a nearby forest to find Honoa. "There you are. You sleep in?" the half-elf woman said, "I almost did, wanted to ask what material those beds were made of before I came, I need to change my mattress back home, not as comfortable as it used to be." She chuckled, "Alright we've tracked her down to this location, people have said they've seen a woman who matched our description carrying what seemed to be a child into these woods." "Why these woods?" I asked, "They say an old man used to live in a cabin by himself, wasn't too much of a recluse, he just stayed there for hunting purposes, full of wildlife this place. Anyway, the man, unfortunately, died when he came into town to sell some furs, the poor old man had a heart attack. Since then it's been abandoned, figure she'd hide out there since no one goes there anymore." "Right. Let's go then." I followed them into the woods.

The fog clearing up only slightly, everywhere I looked a thick fog covered the area, I heard a twig snap and I told the others to stop, we put our hands on each of our weapons, we waited silently. Then out of the fog came a deer, we all jumped back as it pronounced past us and back into the fog. "Told you, the place is full of life." The half-elf said, we kept walking sneaking past a few animals here and there to not disturb them, especially the predators. About a good half hour passed, we finally saw it, it wasn't too bad, to be honest, it'd make for a good vacation spot if it was remodeled right. "Now we wait here, see if she's really in there." "what would be the play if she is?" "She's a sorceress, knows a lot of fire spells, neither of us know any spells, best take her out quick." "I don't know, if she's alive I get paid more, maybe knock her out, tie her up?" "Aye, that might work out, I think I still have a pair of arcane cuffs on me." "Arcane cuffs?" "They're like regular shackles, only they negate any magic to prevent escape." "Yeah, add rope to that pretty much impossible to leave custody." They both nodded.

We waited outside for a good hour to an hour and a half and we neither heard nor saw anything, "should we go in?" The two spies looked at each other, then back at me, then at each other again, "Yes, let's do it." We hopped over the small bit of hill we hid behind and snuck our way to the front door. The half-elf woman picked the lock and opened the door as quietly as she could. "Go. Now," she said in a loud whisper. We snuck in and took cover behind bookshelves, tables, and other objects getting deeper into this cabin. "Seems like it's all clear." I stood up and looked around the dilapidated building, "the place looks like it'll burn easily. Wood is old and dry, so is everything else in here. No wonder she picked this place to hide in, anyone dumb enough to come in loud, they'd get a face full of fire, she'd be smart enough to trap them in beforehand though." Before we could come up with another strategy to grab her we heard a noise from one of the far corners of the cabin, then a small gasp. I walked over to the source of the noise slowly, "Hello? Anyone there?" from behind a small flipped-over table, a small elven child.

She had long brown hair, light brown skin, dark hazel green eyes, and a small scar on her left cheek. She seemed scared of us so I took off my hood and held up my hands, "We're not here to hurt you. Are you alright?" She said nothing, "Um, maybe she can't understand me. Tell me what to say." The half-elf shrugged, "Uhh...Say…" and in elvish she said, "We are not here to harm you, we are here for the woman who brought you here." The little elven girl responded, "She left some time ago, she'll be back any minute." And at that moment we heard the door creak open and we had a limited amount of time to hide. The man hid behind a wall, the half-elf hid behind a door, I hid in the curtains near a bookcase and made as little noise as possible. I watched as the woman we were after scanned the room, then turned to look at the young girl, "Did anyone come in?" the girl shook her head, "I know you're lying," she conjured a fireball in her hand, "Now tell me where they are or I'll burn you along with them." I slowly drew my weapon and waited for the others to attack her all at once. I'm not about to let her hurt this girl, not while I'm around.