^^ the Elf Consulate ^^

--- Dimitri ---

I woke up when Davila sprang from my bed, growling, and hummed, sitting up slowly. "You alright?" I murmured.

"Seems I am Due... let's go to see Alene." She sighed, and pulled a shirt on.

I smiled and picked her up, carefully stepping down the steps and then padded over to Helen's house, knocking twice.

Alene pulled the door open swiftly, and wordlessly pulled Davila in, setting her on the long couch she used for just this purpose.

Then she shooed me out, waving at me easily. "Shoo, boy, we've no need of you. 'Tis bad luck for warriors to be in a birthing room!" She snapped, and pushed me out when I'd frozen.

I stumbled, and growled. "I want to be there!" I hit the door gently, not to break it, but only to protest.

"Don't care! Shoo! Go bother your father or something!" She yelled back.

"Sigh... I'll be fine, Dimitri. Go on." Davila called out.

I grumbled and kicked the door, then stepped back, wondering what to do now.

Tamil punched my shoulder, surprising me. "No warriors in birthing chambers, huh?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah..."

She hummed. "Well, then let's go find a place to grow my Tree, eh? Gotta keep busy. Your house is great, but I can't handle the stones." She shrugged at my enquiring glance.

I sighed again. "Alright... you can sing to trees, right? I have magic, but not that magic."

She nodded. "Don't worry, I've done this before... sort of. Come on. How about there?" She pointed to an empty field the younger men sometimes sparred in.

"Hmm... might be big enough..." I nodded.

"Big enough? It's five hundred meters across, at least!" She asked, incredulous.

"Mm. I only plan on planting one tree, Tamil. We don't like trees, here, because of the Great Forest. So this tree will also serve as the Elf Consulate. Your people will have somewhere to stay, that they'll be comfortable in, and you'll have a place to grow... vegetables." I nodded.

She snickered at the detest evident in my voice, and nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. My people will likely come here every once in a while to negotiate trade and such... having a touch of home wouldn't be unwelcome."

I nodded and placed a pile of seeds in the middle of the field, belonging to 144 different types of trees, all the non-carnivorous or non-poisonous trees I knew of.

She placed a hand on my shoulder, and I let her sing a few notes before I took over mentally, and imagined the architecture. Her song was about growth, while my thoughts were about structure, and strength.

A large circle of trees, twisting around each other and creating a hollow center, pressing close to each other and flowering at the top, like a Pine Tree, but with an Oak's limbs and leaves.

I stepped back as the trees started growing, spreading out to get the room they needed for what I was asking. I made sure to make the roots stay within the confines of the field, and reach down, to the groundwater source I knew was directly below us.

As soon as the first set of roots hit that water source, the trees started growing even faster, and soon towered over us, easily 200 feet tall.

The roots and trucks intertwined deeply, then bark as tough as metal grew over the entire outside, stemming from the Ironwood trees. A small opening, created by the roots making an arch into the hollow in the middle, solidified itself as the trees stopped growing taller and thicker, though the branches still expanded up top, growing thicker and more complex.

Tamil gasped when she opened her eyes. "That... is simply amazing. I've never made a tree grow like that! I mean, a week of work would make this, with ten other elves, at the very least!"

I sat down, tired suddenly. "Yeah, well. You're welcome... you may customize it all you like..."

She nodded and patted my head gratefully, then started whistling softly, making platforms, bridges, and gazebo's grow from the bark, supporting themselves quickly. Cracks in the bark soon led into the Hollow, which was filled with all the very fertile dirt that had been replaced by roots, and what hadn't been turned into Tree Matter.

She hummed, halting her haunting melody. "I'll need vegetable seeds and fruit seeds."

"Trees. I made fruit trees." I pointed up at tiny fruits in some of the branches. "Just ask them to grow branches on the inside of the hollow. Should work."

She nodded and started whistling again, making branches laden with the seasonal fruits sprout inside. She gasped at the colors of the leaves, as they finally began growing. "Are those... silver?"

"Most plants here are, in summer, except weeds, like grass, and some other things. In fall they turn gold, which is always beautiful. The Great Forest, if you were watching, was actually more Black than Green. That's because it's summer, and most of the Carnivorous trees in the Great Forest are dormant this season. When they're not hibernating, which is thankfully only during early spring and fall, they're Silver and Purple." I grinned at her exhilarated expression.

"Maybe that's why it was so easy? Magic trees?" She asked.

"Possibly." I shrugged. "I don't know much about magic in general."

She stared at me for a moment. "You... don't know about magic? Seriously? Mr. 'I can make rune-stones that make gods jealous' 'oh, and I can make magic swords, too', and ooh, how about 'I can commune with ancient, all-powerful forests!' And 'I can summon lightning and kill golems and'-"

"Alright, I get it." I grumbled.

"Sorry, I just... I didn't peg you for a Humble Man." She smirked.

"I will ignore that comment. And I'm the only Magician in this entire realm, Tamil. Well, except you and Demos, now." I hummed.

She blinked. "Oh gods I think I just realized that you're entirely self-taught..."

"What?! Really?!? No Way!" I grinned teasingly.

"Shush. So... how do you do what you do, then? Summoning weapons made of lightning, Enchanting weapons, those are advanced magics that only a few people ever learned how to do." She gazed at me expectantly.

"Well... most Giants of the Fell can enchant their work... it's a magic only Giants have. Sure, some human Mages or elves can cast a spell on an item, but Giant Enchantments are in the item. They can't be broken without destroying the object, and vise versa. So that's that one." I explained easily.

She hummed. "Okay, same with elves and enchanting trees."

"Right, exactly. I've got Giant blood, that's why I can't do that. I can sing to my Forge, and sometimes that makes the enchantments stronger, but that's iffy... and the lightning, I was born with that. A gift of Elemental magic from my mother's Clan. My element happens to be lightning." I shrugged and sat down, pulling a pear off a branch nearby, and biting a piece off, offering it to her.

She accepted, for the first time in all the times I'd offered her food, and took a bite, handing it back. "True... hmm... well, I guess that makes sense... so that's all you can do, right? Contact spiritual entities, summon lightning, Chaste Magic, Homunculi, and Giant Enchantments?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"And Rune-Stones, those are Giant Enchantments?"

"The best and most powerful, yes indeed." I grinned, proud of that piece of my heritage, above almost all others.

She chuckled. "There he is, I was getting worried, with Mr. Humble taking his place, eh?"

"You shush, woman! Rudeness, I say!" I declared grandly.

I spotted Demos, toddling towards us as fast as his little legs could carry him, and hummed. "What's wrong, Demos?" I called.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK!"

I groaned. "Can't this idiot not get in trouble? Just once? Once Ever?"

He reached us, and collapsed, heaving for breath. "Forest... is... homicidal." He wheezed.

"Oh, okay. Not your fault this time, I apologize for my rude comment." I hummed.

"What?"

"Doesn't matter. Tamil, you and Demos head to Davila, and make sure she doesn't experience any... interruptions, I suppose. The Fell March to War." I grinned and sprinted towards the edge of the village, roaring the rally for the Forest pushing back.

"TREE HUGGERS!!!" I screamed.

Doors slung open, and all of the able-bodied adults walked out, half-dressed and carrying their weapons.

Davila's great-aunt, a testy old lady who used a Mace and Chain, came out with her hair in curlers, and several people nudged her playfully, walking leisurely towards the Ents that were approaching from the east.

I laughed. "ENT'S!!! GET THE FIRE READY, BOYS AND GIRLS!!! WE WAIT FOR THE CHIEF!!!"

Petrie arrived on cue, and laughed loudly. "AYE, LETS HAVE AT THEM, THEN!" He surged forward, roaring a battle cry.

We followed, and I laughed as Ymitros sprinted past even me and Petrie, all of his Rune-Stones embedded in his shield, and all pulsing.

He roared so loud that the grass shied away from him, and met the first Ent head on.

I winced as the pile of wood that was left crumbled, and doubled my efforts of running. I pulled the emotions of the entire War-band behind me, immediately sprinting to fight beside him, drawing my Claymore.

The sword on my hip pulsed, a decidedly urgent feeling nudging my mind, its best attempt at Telepathy.

'Ent is not a good first enemy for you, little one. Calm.' I responded, and hacked into the massive wooden beast in front of me. Lightning strafed at my command, and the others caught up to us, laying into the line of woodland beasts.

One of our own was wounded, and I dove, driving my shoulder into the side of the Ent about to strike a final blow.

I helped the man up, and shoved him back to the Line, then stood beside Ymitros once again. He laughed in my general direction. "NOT THE TYPE OF ADVENTURE I PICTURED US HAVING, DIMITRI, BUT SO BE IT!!!" He roared, laughing as the battle and excessive use of his Rune-Stone collection driving him a bit Mad.

I spotted something odd, a few men down the line, and squinted. "HOLDEN?!?"

He laughed maniacally and dove into the knees of the Ent's, swinging a pair of axes and taking them down, one by one, while we hurriedly dispatched the distracted and wounded Forest-gods.

I beheaded one with a solid swing, and then slammed my bare foot into its chest, sending it flying back.

I heard yelling behind us, and spotted another eastern clan, the Olmedie, most armed with flaming bows or spears.

I grinned and roared out to the line. "OLMEDIE ARCHERS AND PIKES BEHIND!!!"

They laughed and let the new men and women into the line, then went back to hacking anything that came close to pieces.

I stomped on a tiny stick-bug, and cursed loudly. "TREE SPAWN!!! WE NEED OIL!!!"

"WE DON'T HAVE OIL!"

I cursed and stepped out of the line.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU FUCK?!?" Someone screamed.

I breathed deeply, and then imagined a curtain of lightning, so tight it would even catch the little bugs, then pulled the lightning out of the sky, and the ground.

A wave of what looked like white fire rolled across the impromptu battlefield, scorching a cart of turnips, but otherwise only leaving the Line and Archers alone.

All the bugs burned in the first wave or aftermath, and I placed my feet back into the line. "MOST OF THE BUGS ARE DEAD!" I laughed, relieved, and hacked at the Ent charging me and Ymitros.

He slammed his shield into it, and I pierced its heart, then kicked it back. Petrie called out the command to advance, and we pressed forward, standing atop the burning line of dead Ent's, gaining the high-ground.

The Spiders broke through the trees, and I heard a small Fell I didn't recognize (which meant he was very new) next to me whimper. "Fuckin spiders, why did my first battle have to be spiders?" He whispered, wringing his hands on the shaft of his spear.

I whistled, and Chimera tackled three of the spiders, growing to almost ten times their size. "THE SILVER ONE IS MY PET!" I yelled in an explanation.

The rest of them either converged on Chimera, trying in vain to kill it, or charged us.

When the spider in front of us reached the line, the Boy Fell next to me roared, deciding to face his fear, and surged to meet it, with Ymitros as his wingman.

I laughed covered the hole in the line, swinging my massive sword, in an arc to warn away the Ent who was trying to sneak past, and succeeded in taking his left hand.

The young boy with the spear managed to stab the spider through the jaws and into the brain, but broke his spear.

He returned to the line, and I shoved him back towards the archers. "Go light the Archer's Arrows!"

He thanked me profusely and ran to do as I'd said.

The Ent, sensing my distraction, surged forward, only for a flaming arrow to go down his throat.

I whipped my head around to find Demos and Tamil a hundred meters behind us, firing arrows rapidly into the enemy lines, far beyond even our Giant archers' ranges.

I growled and focused on winning the fight so I could scream at them later.

The Ent choked on fire, slowly slumping, and I chopped off its head, following the order to Advance. We moved forward again, and almost reached the tree line.

"HALT!" Petrie ground out.

We stopped, letting the enemies flee, and slowly retreated, eyes forward, watching the forest for any last tricks. The Chimera turned into a Falcon, and took off, circling to look for any dangers coming our way.

I waited, then sniffed. "Do you smell-"

A small rabbit ran out of the forest, then stopped, staring at us.

"TIGHTEN YOUR SPHINCTERS YOU BASTARDS, CAUSE WE'RE FIGHTING JACKALOPES NEXT!!!" I roared.

The line universally tightened every orifice they had, gulping down fear-puke.

A single Jackalope stalked out of the forest, gazing at us predatorily, and then sat down, lazily cleaning its antlers with its long tongue.

"Where are the Murkwood's? The Erin's? Falcon-Bloods?" I hissed.

Petrie growled. "They aren't coming. Cowards, the lot of them! Like always, the Fell will protect the City!... and the Olmedie." He nodded to a pikeman next to him.

The small boy who'd been next to me returned, holding a new sword and shield. "Shit, shit, shit, shit...-" he kept muttering, staring at the calm Jackalope.

Then the reason for its calmness became clear.

From between every tree in front of the line, a single Jackalope emerged serenely. If it hadn't have been in these circumstances, it would've been beautiful.

But these were likely going to kill several of my Clan, and I was nearly out of Magic, even with the Chaste Markings constantly pouring the emotions of my War-band into me.

I got an idea, and laughed loudly. The young Fell looked at me like I was insane, but  Ymitros either caught on, or was just so far gone anything was funny, because he laughed with me as loudly as he could.

Soon, the entire line was laughing and jeering at the Jackalopes.

"THAT'S ALL, THAT IS?! THAT'S IT?!?!SOME 'GREAT FOREST' YOU ARE, EH?!" I laughed, mocking the forest.

Instantly, as Moral returned, full-forced, my energy started re-filling. The Jackalopes snarled softly, and the first one to exit the forest stood, from its relaxed lounging, and chattered in that odd howl only their kind could replicate.

The line counted silently, I could see, and it was 500 against 250. 2-1.

"I LIKE THESE ODDS!!! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TWO RABBIT SKINS TO COVER MY ENTIRE FLOOR!!!" I laughed, and the line of Jackalopes charged, snarling.

Petrie whistled. "ARCHERS!"

Arrows took down almost a quarter of the oncoming hoard, though some only for a few moments, as they got back up and kept going, despite their wounds.

A glance over my shoulder showed Tamil and Demos shooting more arrows than I thought possible, stealing them from our archers thoughtlessly. Two of the other archers were filling their quivers instead of shooting, which amused me.

I looked down at the boy Fell. "Rabbits are better than spiders, eh?"

He grinned and nodded, then raised his shield.

I sheathed my claymore, and drew the smaller sword. I looked at it in my hand, and then at the New Fell boy. "Oi. Use this. That sword is shit." I tossed his behind us, and placed the sword in his hand, then redrew my claymore.

The sword purred, happy to be used at last, and jerked him out of the Line, charging towards the hoard of killer rabbits.

I laughed and followed, as well as the rest of the line, slamming my shoulder through Ent corpses that were blocking the advance. "FOR THE GLORY OF THE FELL!!!" I roared, and buried my claymore into a rabbit's skull, ripping it out and slashing at another that was about to take the boy's head off. "Use the Rune-Stone, boy!" I snapped, and skewered another, tossing it aside.

He concentrated, standing still, and I hissed in annoyance, until he swung the sword, and the first beast it touched turned into a pile of hot coals, instantly.

He gasped and then swung again, taking down another, which turned to ice, and melted, and another, who turned to stone. As the almost-random Elemental effects became more predictable, we followed him into the line of fur and teeth.

The last one was slain by a group of Olmedie with spears, and I grinned and threw the boy onto my shoulder, sheathing my sword, and returning his to him. "Your name, kid?"

"Simon?"

"SIMON THE BRAVE!!! HE LED THE FINAL CHARGE!!!" I roared, and tossed him into the crowd of Fell.

They threw him onto their shoulders, laughing loudly, smacking his shoulders, and generally abusing his bruised body happily.

We started the after-battle clean-up, gathering our dead and the dead enemies. The Ent's would become the funeral pyres for the ten of us that died, seven Olmedie and three Fell. The rabbit skins and meat would go to the Tanners, and be distributed amongst the Clans that participated in the battle.

I stomped over to Tamil and Demos, snarling, and prepared to berate them for leaving the mother of my child whilst in labor, and unable to fight for herself.