The next few days kept a slow pace, with the two skirting the edge of the sprawling forest. They watched the treeline the whole while. Taln muttered again about the "damn elves", mixed in with a few choice curses.
Taln was rather surprised at the progress Siv had made in such a small time with his weapons. Chains were unheard of- it was exceedingly rare that both he and Nalana had experience with them, and that Siv happened to be close enough for Taln to notice his Marking.
The boy was coarse, but had an intelligence about him. Taln, for the first time in several lifetimes, felt that maybe there was a chance of him dying soon. He had lived and lived. He was tired.
"Hey, old man, how much longer is this gonna take? I've got a hunger that I think some wild venison would solve." Siv laughed at his own joke. Taln frowned a bit deeper.
"By today we should reach the path." He looked again at the forest. It wasn't right. He hadn't been here in a while, sure, but this amount of change in such a comparably short time was more than unusual.
The most unsettling part was that he had happened upon no elves, or even other travelers. The forest was a common place for young human couples to go-- some bullshit about the forest granting fertility if you copulated on its grounds. Disgusting.
Taln's apprehension had only grown as they neared the path. If there were no elves along the edge of the forest, it could mean two things. Neither of them good.
One, that they were forced to focus their efforts on the main path and dwellings, leaving the rest of the forest to fend for itself. This being the lesser evil of the two possibilities.
The second was that they were all dead.
That was unlikely, however. The elves were tenacious, long lived and with a constitution that could, well, not quite compete with Taln's own, but definitely surpassed that of a normal human's by leaps and bounds.
Not a very impressive feat. Humans were bags of fragile flesh that reproduced enough to make any elf lightheaded at the mere thought.
Now, for the elves to have abandoned the outer dwellings and provinces, something cataclysmic must have occurred. They had tended to these lands since before Taln was alive, which was saying something. He had seen them and the forest weather truly calamitous times.
He thought it must have something to do with this damned silence. The first couple days Taln had inwardly laughed at the boy's jumpiness, but now it was putting even him on edge.
Such a place was not meant to be silent. It was meant to be a wellspring of life, one of the most bio diverse and welcoming places on the continent. The forest also had a strange sentience- one that would punish trespassers, and safeguard respectful travelers.
If it wasn't in such a state, Taln would have been comfortable walking straight into it. He had once been rather close with it's master, after all.
"Wow." Siv's jaw was slack. "I see why they call it the Spine."
They were in view of the Spine at last--jagged peaks tore at the sky in hateful lament of fate, dwarfing even the giants of T'syr's Forest. Twilight had crept upon the forest, casting long shadows on the trees, but the snow-covered peaks were awash with the golden sun.
"They call it a spine because that's what it is. Gods bleed when they fall. This one tore the world in half." Taln said gravely. Here, the Spine curved into the forest for miles, thinning the canopy so that the peaks were visible. That was why they could see it over the trees now, having traveled far enough southeast. The path led through the forest, up the foothills of the mountain, and to a pass that led all the way down to the coast.
Thankfully, they would not be going through the literally godforsaken pass.
The boy screwed his face up at Taln. "How could a god get that big? I mean, I know its a god and all but for mountains to make up its spine?"
Taln shrugged. "It was thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years ago. The elves even believed it to be a minor god. Though, a minor god from that epoch would be able to level nations in this one." He resumed walking. "There are some who believe all the lands and all the water of the world are made of a dead god."
Siv looked troubled. "Is the stag that big?"
"Maybe." Taln gave him a reproachful look. "To a shrimp like you."
Siv glowered at the older man. "Oh, now the old man has jokes. Keep this up and I'll have to kill you." He puffed out his chest, trying his best to give the man a glare.
The boy was still too boyish for the threat to land, however. Now that he was no longer emaciated, his strawberry blond hair had thickened, falling over his forehead. His eyes, dark rimmed with a startlingly light blue core, shone against his pale skin. Overall, far too innocent to look dangerous.
"Come, boy. And quit talking. We will reach the path before nightfall."
...
An hour more passed, and Siv grew more impatient by the minute. The old man didn't have much to say, and his stony face never even changed expression.
Finally, Siv could see the dim light of fire ahead. He let out a noise, looking to Taln. The man looked at him sideways, but sped up his pace.
As they grew closer, Siv's eyes made out a figure standing in front of the massive fire. He was turned away from them. The crackling grew louder.
The fire was truly large, and a mouth watering scent of cooked meat was wafting from the area.
They were now only meters from the man. Taln called out a wary greeting. The figure slowly turned around.
He motioned for them to come closer. As they did, the firelight lit up their features.
The dancing flames on the other man's face lit up a sudden beaming grin.
"Taln! Why, what a pleasure it is to see you!" His voice was peppy.
"Ilrien." Taln said tersely.
Siv looked from the beaming man to the stony faced Taln. Neither of them moved from their positions.
"Are you cooking meat?" Siv asked the man, swallowing.
"Ah, indeed I am! A type of meat, that is. This particular type is elves!" His grin grew a bit wider. "Say, most of them are pretty charred by now, but I'd be happy to fish one out for you."
Siv felt bile rising in his throat.
"Leave the boy be, Ilrien." Taln said. "Bring us to your hovel and let us eat some real food."
The man laughed, flames dancing upon his pearly white teeth.
He led them a small way into the forest, eventually reaching a wooden cabin with only two walls. A fire was already burning in there, and they smelled the haunch of venison roasting on a spit. It was a massive piece, and must have once belonged to a stag of monstrous proportions.
As the man pulled up chairs, Siv looked from the meat to Taln with wide eyes. "Is that-"
"No." Taln sat down.
Ilrien, sitting across the fire from Taln, said with his ever-present smile, "So, what's brought you out of your hundred year bender, Taln? Come to pay a visit to your lady?" he winked.
Taln gave no reaction.
"Ah, I know the reason, you old bore. You've grown to be quite predictable in your old age, I'm afraid. Boy! Do you speak, or are you as terse as the stone man?" Ilrien turned his grin on Siv.
"If you give me some of that meat I'll speak all you want." Siv's appetite could never be quelled by something as minor as a funeral pyre. Ilrien leaned forward, whipping his knife from his sheath. He deftly cut some meat from the spit onto a plate, which he handed to Siv.
Siv drew his own dagger and skewered the meat on the end. It was rich, fragrant, and quite delicious despite the lack of spices.
"So, why do you travel with the Shrike, the Oathbreaker, the mighty First Chain?" Ilrien said to Siv.
"Well, don't know about all those titles, but the old man wants me to kill him." Siv said, mouth full of succulent venison.
Ilrien had a gleam to his eyes. "You must be a special boy indeed, to have brought Taln from his bottle."
"Didn't bring anything. He brought me." Siv said.
Siv saw Taln bring his cold gaze from the fire to the jubilant man's face. Ilrien was quite handsome, with porcelain skin, onyx black hair, and eyes to match. He was not as tall as Taln, but nearly so. He wore a tasteful woolen coat that went down past his knees, with a collar curled up around his neck.
The flames danced in the man's eyes as he returned Taln's gaze.
Taln spoke now. "Where are the elves? I find it hard to believe you'd kill them."
"Me? Kill elves? I'd never! They are far too beautiful to be killed by the likes of dirty humans." Ilrien said with a tut. "I've been picking them off the trees. Some... creature has taken to sticking them onto the branches and letting them die a slow painful death whilst they hold in their entrails." Siv frowned at the description. He was trying to eat, here.
Ilrien continued. "Like a thornberry before it ripens, I cannot help them while they live, lest the forest prick me. It was truly a dreadful business, listening to the elves lament whilst they bled and died." He turned to Siv, saying: "You know, elves are considerably strong creatures. They last for quite a while on those trees. Though, some were granted the mercy of a quicker death by the horrid beast that stuck them there. It appears even horrors of the night get hungry."
Siv gave the man a glare. He was definitely trying to upset Siv's stomach. Rebelliously, Siv cut himself more venison and stuffed it in his mouth with a sneer.
Ilrien laughed at his showmanship. "So, what may I call the young master?"
"Siv. Or you can keep calling me young master." Siv said with a full mouth.
"Enough, Ilrien. Tell me what has happened here." Taln said curtly.
Ilrien began eating some of the meat himself, now. "Ah, well. I came to enjoy the company of some beautiful elven maidens, as you know I am wont to do, a full moon ago. And I find the elves in an uproar, and worse yet, elven maidens strung up on the trees! Alas, it seems the forest itself has turned on its keepers." Ilrien finished.
"Impossible. The elves have been masters of the forest for millenia." Taln said.
"Ah, masters, but not the only masters. Eiranhal had up and left some time before the killings began. Such a thing has not happened for millenia. Without Eiranhal to contain the glades, I imagine some truly dreadful beasts have decided to make the whole forest their hunting grounds." Ilrien seemed more serious now. "The last of the elves in this small settlement were killed off a few days ago. I spent the day collecting the corpses, at least the ones the beast had not eaten."
"Did you speak to any that were still alive on the trees?"
"Yes. And they all spoke of the same beast." Ilrien's smile was gone and his eyes had a hard cast to them.
"Wendigo."