Dedicated to Curader, the first guy who started consistently voting on every chapter.

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Chapter 15 - Luke the Tree

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"How much further, Skye?" asked Tayne. 

She didn't bother turning around to answer him, keeping her gaze focused on the path ahead--or rather, the path she was making ahead. Branches and leaves bent to her will, leaving a corridor in the undergrowth just big enough for the mounted Silverborn group to pass through before it closed behind them. 

"Not much further," said Skye. "But I can't guarantee it. Trees are hard to communicate details with, surprisingly enough." 

Tayne accepted the answer and fell back into silence. Skye had insisted on leading the group, but he could see how she slumped in the saddle. More than once, she swayed to such an extent that he was sure she'd fall. Despite his doubts, Skye remained determined, even if every so often her hand would rub her forehead before quickly dropping back down. 

They progressed onwards with only their white-flame torches and Skye's occasional green glow for light. As they moved further inward, Tayne began to notice the surroundings change. The trees were younger, the ground flatter and several walls that had long since been claimed by the vegetation. 

Sure enough, it wasn't long before they reached the heart of the once-town, a large, open area, but it wasn't what they expected to find. 

"It's clear," said a bewildered Luke. "Not to mention clean of the plants." 

"Not only that, but the wardstone's charged," said Wrain as he approached the carved crystal structure. "Which means someone other than us has been going around charging them. These smaller ones barely last a year, if they're lucky."

"Well, they keep out corruption," said Luke. "So I'm not going to complain. Means we don't have to clean out the demons before we sit down. Speaking of which..."

The Silverborn followed Luke's lead, quickly setting up a small camp scattered around the wardstone. When asked if campfires were allowed, Tayne agreed wholeheartedly. Deities knew they needed the comfort of fire right now, and it wasn't like their position was a huge secret anyway. Small demons that fit through the gaps in the vines Skye left untouched had skittered among the horses legs, making nuisances of themselves the entire way here. 

And so, it was huddled around the fires, wrapped in their bedrolls that the Silverborn found themselves in the middle of the first night on the shadow cycle, unable to sleep despite the tiredness embedded in their bones. The sole exception to the rule was the Advisor, who curled up in a bedroll right beside the wardstone. 

The Silverborn sat, staring into the fire. No one spoke. None wanted to bring up their lost companions, Tayne included. Everyone knew who was with them and which bodies they'd left behind. Tayne took one look at the faces of his knights and knew that, if they wanted to make it through tomorrow, they needed to focus on what they had left: the positives of this situation they couldn't reverse. 

It was Skye that reinforced their morale. She flitted between the groups, sparing words for each and every Silverborn and their horse before offering to heal the worst of their injuries. By the time she returned to the campfire Tayne sat at, she was utterly exhausted. 

Skye gave Tayne a tired smile when she caught him looking at her. 

"I'll live," she said with a sigh. 

"If you want to rest, we'll keep watch," offered a Silverborn on the other side of the fire. "You've done enough today." 

Skye shook her head. "The trees are still there. I think if I fall asleep now, in the middle of the forest, I might wake up having sprouted leaves and have bark instead of skin."

"You can't shut it off?" asked Tayne.

"I don't know how," she said, shrugging. "Opening myself up to them seemed to lower some bridge in my mind, and now they're sitting on that bridge, I can't pull it back up. I'm just hoping getting out of the forest will fix it."

"For a new Sentinel," said Wrain slowly. "You are doing exceptionally well. If I'd have seen you back in my younger days, I'd have assumed you were a Master, or very close to. It's hard to believe you're only a week into it, although I suppose none have been in your unique situation before."

"What reason do I have to lie to you?" said Skye. She pulled the blanket further up over her shoulders, drawing her knees in close as something seemed to occur to her. "What do you mean, back in your younger days?" 

Luke piped up. "Our dear Wrain over here," he said dramatically. "Is nearly two hundred and fifty years old, young elf." 

"Uh huh," said Skye. Tayne couldn't help his smile: she'd already figured Luke out. "And I'm the deity."

"Two hundred and twenty seven, if you don't mind, Luke," said Wrain. 

Skye hesitated. The Silverborn around the campfire sniggered at her reaction as she did the calculations.

"But that would make you--"

"--Born when the Sentinel order was still in power," confirmed Wrain. "I was a Silverborn back then, as I am now, and I was the one to restart the order in recent years."

"Does... that mean you know anything about magic?" Skye asked softly. 

Tayne wasn't the only one to hear the hope in her voice as Wrain shook his head slowly. 

"Sadly, I cannot give you the knowledge you crave," he said. "We have resources in Alguarde that may help you, but I'm afraid I'll be of little use, aside from the minor concepts I picked up from Tyra and the other Sentinels over the years."

"Tyra was the nature Sentinel that led the fight against Kumos, wasn't she?" asked Jesse.

"Indeed she was," said Wrain. "When the shadow was corrupted and the remaining Sentinels retreated, it effectively boiled down to four Sentinels commanding the rest. Tyra led them, but there was a fire, a water and a celestial that stood with her. Alleria, Anton, and Kiarae. As far as I know, they're all dead now."

"Kiarae?" asked Skye, the tips of her ears twitching slightly as she latched on to the name. "Was she the celestial?" 

"Yes," said Wrain. "Selected at the minimum age with her brother to the Sentinel ranks, one of the youngest in the order to be named a master of her element and gifted with a Sentinel weapon, a diamond-focus staff called Taldorei's light. Why does she interest you so much?" 

Skye, having been leaning forward, rocked back once more and averted her eyes. 

"I just...I've heard her name somewhere before, I think," she said. 

Tayne got the sense she was leaving something out, but no one felt the need to push the matter. Even though the corruption marked her shoulder, a fact highlighted as Skye's fingers now traced its edge unconsciously, it seemed to have no effect on her actions or her magic. For her to control the forest as she did, there was no shadow involved. 

Unless she's got me under one huge illusion and none of this is real, thought Tayne mildly. In which case, I don't want to know what the reality is.

The flames were encouraged by additional wood to keep them high as the night wore on, the conversation turning inevitably, to the day's events. 

"Why do you think the Master didn't join in?" asked Luke. "Seems kind of weird that he sent in over a hundred tainted to deal with us and that winged girl of his but didn't bother coming himself--not that he was invited, of course."

"Most likely he's distracted with something else," said Tayne. "We just have to hope that he stays distracted long enough for us to get to Alguarde." 

Luke frowned. "What's more important than another Sentinel, though?" 

"That's what has me worried," said Tayne. 

Verdrana piped up. "There's always the possibility that... well, he's scared of her," she said, pointing a finger at Skye. 

"He made a hundred Crevtons, Ana," said Luke. "Within the last week, too. Those runes were new. He's not scared of anything except maybe the food bill." 

"Except maybe someone who can take down a hundred Crevtons without breaking a sweat," Verdrana shot back. She glanced at Skye. "I suppose there isn't much point asking how you got captured in the first place if you can do that, right?" 

Skye shuffled uncomfortably. "Didn't have magic then," she said. "I had the choice to try and save someone, and it saw me sacrifice myself for the attempt." 

"But at least it was worth it, right?" said Luke. "I mean, you saved someone and ended up with this handsome devil and his friends!" 

Skye rolled her eyes. "It really wasn't. He's probably back at Naisha, spreading tales of his heroics and how he 'tried to save me' right now. I should have just killed the idiot who got caught and got myself out."

Luke pursed his lips. "Brutal." 

Skye just shrugged. "We elves don't have wards to protect us," she said. "Secrecy is the only thing keeping us alive, and the Master wants to know where we are badly enough for him to do this to me." She gestured to her shoulder and dropped her chin to her knees. "We get captured, we're supposed to release our souls to the Nether before he can rip the secrets from it."

"But you didn't?" said Luke carefully.

Verdrana nudged him in the side. "Captain obvious over here."

"What!" 

"No," said Skye quietly. "I didn't. I couldn't make myself do it when there wasn't a tainted staring me down, still a chance of escape." 

"Well...uh, I'm glad you're here," said Jesse, coughing to cover the following silence. "I mean, yea. I'd probably be dead if you were, um, also dead, so...yup. Thanks."

That got a small smile out of Skye. "At least there's some good in it, Jess." 

The conversation carried on and Tayne found himself drifting away. He couldn't force himself to engage in the light hearted tone Luke was spreading through the knights. Not wanting to ruin it, he excused himself to check on the horses and walked to the edge of the ward where Wing grazed nearby. 

The mare greeted him with a soft nicker. He put a hand through her mane in reply, gently tugging a tangle from the hair and brushing out the rest with his fingers. A minute later, he knew that he'd been followed from the fire. Tayne ignored them until they spoke.

"Are you okay?" asked Wrain. 

"Why wouldn't I be?" muttered Tayne, keeping his attention on Wing. 

Wrain took a position beside Tayne, checking Wing's tack. "It is a burden to lead, and the fact that you feel the loss and your failings so heavily is the thing that assures me I made the right decision."

"It's not just that," said Tayne, forcing the words out. If he sat on them any longer, they were going to decay him from the inside. "When the forest contacted Skye and I tried to help, it took barely a minute before I was convinced I was a tree." He paused, Wrain's silence heavier than the punctured chest armour he'd had to remove when they stopped. "Does that make me weak?" 

Wrain cleared his throat. "It is a testament to your strength that you came back to us at all. Many lost themselves to the magic when the Sentinels were strong, even Sentinels themselves when they delved too deep. For your mind to survive the flood of a new Sentinel's uncontrolled magic and its effects is a feat in itself."

"It was hardly magic," said Tayne. He rubbed his temples, trying to clear the sensation of the forest, the many united as one, that some part of him wanted back. "Jesse got hit by magic. All I did was force Skye to save me."

"What I suspect you experienced is fuelled by pure magic, or ether that is directly funnelled from the Nether realm by the plantlife. From what Tyra once explained to me, plants do not possess souls. They live as a community, bound by the magic of the nature deity." 

"You should tell Skye this," said Tayne. "She'd appreciate it, I'm sure."

"And I shall, when she is ready and has recovered from her ordeal," said Wrain. "But I suspect she is struggling to cope with everything at this point, and more information will only add to that already overwhelming her." He released Wing's mane and clapped Tayne on the shoulder. "For what it's worth, Tayne, you're doing well. You learn more about yourself and your capabilities in defeat than in victory."

And with that inspirational speech, Wrain walked back to the fire, leaving Tayne alone with Wing once more. 

Tayne knew that with the dawn, the Silverborn would have to make a final push for Alguarde, ready or not, and hope Skye could keep any pursuing demons at bay long enough for them to get inside the walls. Hope that the Master didn't decide to show up tonight before they could leave. The old  wardstone of whatever village they camped in now might keep the demons at bay, but Tayne had no doubts the Master would shatter it without a second thought. 

"If he stays distracted tonight, we'll be safe from him during the day," Tayne murmured to Wing. "He can't step to us in the daylight, shadow cycle or no, and by tomorrow night, we'll be in Alguarde." 

Wing nickered back and nudged him with her muzzle, soft against his hands. 

"I'm glad you're okay too," said Tayne. 

He gave her a final pat and wandered back to the fire, ready to join conversation without tying a rock to it. An unexpected sound greeted his approach: laughter. 

Skye was facing Luke, arms folded with a narrowed glare directed straight at the second-in-command, who held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"No, but seriously!" said Luke, looking around for support. "What's with the streak? Is that an elf thing?" 

"Yes, it's an elf thing," said Skye, grabbing the end of her pony tail. "And I think everyone here knows it but you."

"Humour me," said Luke, his eyes sparkling in a way that Tayne knew well: he'd just found a new target to poke fun at. 

"The colour depends on the elf's soul's affinity with the elements," said Jesse slowly. "They're lucky, they know what element their soul is from the moment they're born... but even I knew that, Luke." 

Luke poked the younger Silverborn in the arm. "Shush you. Hey Wrain, since you're older than the bedrock, did we lowly humans ever have a way of telling that kinda thing?" 

"Not that I'm aware of," said Wrain. "Humans rarely knew their alignment even before the Sentinel war. Silverborn knew theirs without a doubt, but now it's practically non-existent knowledge since we have no way to test it." 

Tayne caught his sideways glance at Skye, who was still too busy eyeing Luke to notice.

"So," said Luke, almost too casually to be anything but sneaky. "What's your attachment, Wrain?" 

The elder knight raised an eyebrow at the question. "Celestial, if you must know." 

"Oh," said Luke with a yawn. His eyes slid to Skye. "I picked you as a nature. Slow, calm, peaceful. You know--like a tree."

With a half smile, Skye gestured to the ground. A root beside Luke's hand laced up his wrist before he could shake it off. "I can think of someone else around here that's going to be like a tree if they don't figure out where mute is sooner rather than later," she said.

Verdrana laughed. "Oh, please do. Although you may have to apologise to the forest later." 

"Who, me?" said Luke, looking around. He lifted his head dramatically. "I'm insulted that you would think such a thing about me!"

"Whoever said anything about you, Luke?" said Skye, innocent as ever. 

Tayne was unable to resist the grin tugging at his face as the group continued to turn Luke's joke back on him. Even in this dark night, there was still a light to hang on to. Something still worth fighting for, even if Tayne starting to wonder what the most pressing issue actually was. 

Screw the demons, thought Tayne as Luke once more attempted to rile up Skye. The biggest problem we might have is making it to Alguarde after Skye's turned Luke into a log.

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