Sneaking past

"So this was your plan?!"

Jaden yelled at Aliana with Melanie in his arms. Claire was standing right behind them. Their gazes were trying to search for a way out of their present predicament.

Jaden's eyes had reflections of the shiny objects that glistened amidst the white surrounding them. The forest was being covered by thick fog.

The bark of the trees in front of them was barely visible under the white veil. The shadows of the individuals standing on top of the tree branches could be perceived by the four on the ground.

Melanie was clinging to Jaden while trembling slightly. Claire's grip tightened around the handle of the magic wand as she braced herself for whatever was to come.

Jaden could feel weight on his mind looking at long-eared beings that had cornered them. He and his other three companions were standing on the very land belonging to the said people.

"Humans! Identify yourselves!"

Her blonde hair became visible as her voice echoed in the dense forest. The blue eyes shone while she was jumping down the tree, landing smoothly on the ground.

The leather armour that covered her chest seemed to be the work of some skilled craftsman. The detailing done on her leather leggings was also top-notch.

The daggers held around her hips were made so that she could use them in a situation where the enemy managed to close the distance between them. The black knee-high boots she wore made her moments even swifter.

Her equipment was more than enough to make others not act rashly. Jaden put his hand in front of Claire with a tense frown on his eyebrows.

Aliana's back was in Jaden's field of view. She was the person who devised the plan to sneak into the elven forest. The reason why the elves were aiming arrows at their group.

'It's a relief that Rudia isn't here...'

Jaden was glad that Aliana had asked Rudia to stay behind at the inn they were staying at. Or else she would've also gotten into trouble like him.

Despite what was happening, Jaden couldn't understand one thing. Usually, elves would just use their spirit magic to kick intruders out of the forest as soon as they came across them.

But why was it that they were still being questioned rather than being kicked out? There was only one possibility Jaden could think of.

'Are they waiting for someone's arrival...?'

If not, then there was no way that they would've been still standing inside their territory. Jaden's thoughts stopped as his gaze kept on shifting between Aliana and the elf in front of them.

He was wondering what Aliana would reply to the elf's question. Were she to make a mistake, it wouldn't end well for the four.

Jaden smiled nervously at himself. He had been in such complicated situations before, too.

'How does it always end up like this?'

-6 hours ago-

"We will sneak in when the guards patrolling move a bit away."

Aliana said this while pointing to a place marked red on the map she had put on the table a while ago. That place was near the entrance gate in the north of the Agustus Kingdom.

That was the only path that could take one to the elven forest. Even after going through it, there was one more obstacle awaiting them.

"After that, we will enter the elven forest."

She pointed at the green trees depicted with white smoke on them. The fog surrounding the forest was a trait of it that made intruders lose their way and eventually end up leaving the forest.

In simple words, a sort of security system that, rather than killing the intruders, made them lose their path. And even if someone coincidentally managed to reach nearer to the elven village hidden in the middle of the forest, the elves guarding it would take action.

And about such a place, Aliana talked as if it were easy to enter it. All Jaden could think was that Aliana's plan was beyond absurd.

He was feeling hopeless while listening to her talk non-stop. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but that he couldn't trust the plan she had just explained to him.

"And... what if we get caught?"

He expected Aliana to have thought even further than what he was expecting. That made him assume that her plan was almost sure to succeed.

But that assumption was soon proved wrong. He could feel the colour draining from his face, witnessing the smile on Aliana's lips. This sounded like trouble to him.

"Getting caught is a part of the plan."

Snap

The barrier around the two shattered into fragments, shining like pieces of a broken crystal. Jaden gazed at the brilliant glitter that faded into the thin air.

The fragments had indeed disappeared, but the reflection of something bright still resided within Jaden's eyes. Aliana was smiling with confidence.

Jaden's lips were left gaping for a while before they curled up. Before realising it, he was smiling at himself too.

"So, when are we commencing the plan?"

The tone he spoke in became serious as he put his right hand under his chin. He wasn't really sure if what he was doing was correct or wrong, but he still decided to go along with her plan.

Claire had noticed that the magic put in by Aliana had faded away. She glanced around before sneaking close to them.

Aliana turned around and pulled Claire, who sat right behind her. Claire's face became pale as she felt the hand grab her arm just next to her shoulder.

Freaking out and panicking at Aliana's sudden action, Claire looked here and there. Her lips were gaping when her gaze fell on Jaden, who was smiling at her. That's when the voice in her mind spoke to her.

-[Stop panicking needlessly.]

The nervousness she was feeling vanished thanks to Jaden and the voice. Claire slowly opened her mouth.

"D-do you need something from me?"

Jaden observed her feeling tense since he had no idea what she was going to do. He was expecting her to explain to Claire the plan she had just devised.

Claire gulped down her nervousness, staring at Aliana. Aliana's smile remained unhinged as she replied to her question.

"Later, you and that little girl will be tagging along with us."

------------------------

-5 hours later-

It was late in the evening when the northern gate was being patrolled by four guard knights. They had been ordered to not let anyone pass through the entrance there.

They were talking with each other, having no idea that someone was lurking within the dark alley just close to the entrance. It seemed impossible to sneak past them easily.

"Maybe I should just make them pass out using magic?"

He mumbled to himself, readying himself to walk up to the guards. He felt nervous doing it, but he had no choice if he wanted to get into the forest without getting caught.

He took the first step towards them but couldn't move another step forward. There was someone familiar approaching the guards.

The man's lips were left gaping as he witnessed an absurd turn of events take place in front of him. It was Aliana who was discussing something with the four people for a while.

Soon, she began running in the left direction, which would lead to an alleyway with a dead end. The man, dumbfounded, looked at the guards chasing her.

"What the..."

The absurdity he witnessed didn't end with that. Two people, along with a small child, approached the gate. The next thing he saw was Aliana appearing out of thin air.

The four people walked past the gate after opening it. They looked around before shutting the small door they had used.

He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. But he realised the opportunity lying in front of him.

"Isn't this my chance?"

Without wasting a single second, he sprinted with all his might, making it through the gate. No guards were aware that a few people had fooled them and managed to sneak past the northern gate.

The man continued to follow the group, to whose distraction he had managed to make it till there. The questions rose in his mind as he kept on maintaining a distance between them.

A few minutes passed by doing so, and now they were in front of the dense forest. The thick fog made it impossible to perceive what lay behind it.

The only thing visible was the group walking close to each other. They made their way through the fog while saying something. The man could hear the whispers but couldn't figure out what they were about.

The sun had yet to set, but they already felt like it was night. Their vision was being hindered by the white layer of air that seemed to be covering as much as they could see.

"What do we do next-?"

Jaden said loudly as he sprinted while holding Melanie in his arms. Aliana, who was just a bit ahead of him, heard his words.

Claire wasn't told anything about the plan. She only knew that it was something risky enough to not let a maid accompany them.

"Just wait for it!"

Aliana sped up, saying that. Claire and Jaden were barely keeping up with her.

Almost forty minutes had passed since they entered the forest. Jaden kept his guard up all this while, but nothing serious had happened.

Fwish

Something cut apart the air at a high speed, making Aliana stop her run. Her companion's faces were filled with astonishment as their eyes fell on the object buried in the ground.

An arrow had flew into the ground just a step ahead of Aliana. She had a light smile since it was something she had already expected.

"So this was your plan?!"

Busy analysing the people in front of her, Aliana couldn't hear Jaden's yell at all. She awaited words from the strongest person she could sense amongst the group.

She could see her blonde hair wavering at shoulder length because of the air through the foggy terrain. That person was surely the leader of the bunch.

"Humans! Identify yourselves!"

She had landed on the ground without making a sound of her step. Aliana could tell that the woman was better than the rest of the people present there.

The man following the group of four witnessed Aliana not answer the question. His gaze shifted to the elves on the tree branches aiming arrows at the four.

They pulled the arrows across the strings of their bows. If this had gone on, they would've shot the intruders in front of them.

'Guess there's no other choice.'

The man slowly walked closer to the scene. The elves flinched at the shadowy figure's sudden appearance.

He had put up his empty hands half-way, signalling that he meant no harm. His robe came into everyone's field of vision. He slowly pulled something out of his robe's pocket.

The metal plaque he held in his hand shone golden even amidst the fog. The only item that could shine there with no source of light was bound to be an item made there.

Tink

The sounds of windchimes broke the long silence. The man spoke loudly while waving the golden plaque at the elves.

"They are with me!"