The plants slithered up on Ray's body tightening their grip, while, simultaneously, some of them pierced into the Spirit, withering away, soon replaced by new ones.
'Damn! I was so close.'
Still biting into the neck of the Spirit, Ray's whole body tensed.
The feeling of having your blood circulation cut off was by no means a pleasant one, not to mention it happening gradually from the feet up.
Ray wasn't a very pain resistant person, and with all his survival instincts going off, he had no choice but to loosen his bite, allowing the Spirit to remove himself from the predicament.
But although it was already free, the plants didn't slacken at all and only advanced faster, steadily covering his legs and torso.
"HAHAHA, Hume that is what you get for challenging this Spirit! Minions wrap him up and take him with us. He has to learn what it means to anger the forest!"
Laughing maniacally the Spirit decided not to kill Ray and, instead, bring him deeper into the forest. The Lõtv quickly bound the rest of his body with vines and other plants, grabbed both ends and carried him like a pig on a stick.
The moment the Spirit opened up the distance between them Ray had already given up all resistance and let the Lõtv kidnap him without complaining.
As he dangled up and down, Ray thought about what the Spirit had previously said. Was it really his fault? Just because he was weak and without authority others could walk over him? Did this world have no such things as Human rights?
Unfortunately pondering over something he had next to no information about, was bound no bring no results and so he tried to shake off these useless thoughts, taking the passing scenery in.
Every tree was thick enough to need three people to hug them. The vegetation grew all over the place, leaving no visible path or trail, even though the occasional animal showing itself and the myriad of yells and cries indicated the forest being filled with life.
He could also see that what he thought of as mist, when he first arrived, was actually small white bugs living in swarms and moving with the wind, adding a natural flair to their presence.
Time fleeting by like this, they soon came near a clearing, that resembled a village. Houses were built on the trees and ground, with ladders and bridges connecting them. Lõtv walked everywhere, most of them carrying materials to somewhere or assembling them on the spot. Neither children, elderly nor any other race or species were present. It appeared that only the Spirit and Lõtv were living here, isolated from the rest of the forest.
After a while, the two Lõtv that were carrying Ray branched of the rest and brought him into a house at the foot of one of the larger trees.
Inside was no furniture; the windows were mostly blocked up, limiting the light coming in. At the back, a thick branch of the old tree standing behind the house grew inside, seemingly acting as a supporting pillar. Unlike the fresh odor of timber, one would expect in such a cottage it smelled of decaying matter and rotting greenery, stinging in one's eyes. The mold crawling one the walls and creaking floor plates didn't add to the good impression either.
Not bothering to accommodate a prisoner, they threw Ray in a corner and left without saying a word about what would happen to him from on.
'Don't worry I'll cope on my own. Thank you!'
...
"By Etia's grace, now it even captured a Human.
Haaah, Is this nightmare never going to end."
"!"
Out of the darkness of the back of the house, a voice suddenly sighed and spoke in a mournful tone.
Twisting his head, Ray saw an old man limping in front of him. His features resembled the Lõtv too much for it to be a coincidence, but instead of the young and healthy ones he had seen so far, this one was clearly on the brink of death, with only his vigorous demeanor hinting at a glory long forgotten.
"Haha, don't be surprised, child. I'm only an old man. I couldn't harm you even if I wanted to."
"Now let me get those plants off you first. I can't imagine that being comfortable."
The old man kneeled in front of Ray and slowly entangled him with a benevolent smile plastered on his face.
"Thank you. Are you also a prisoner here,...?"
"Kymil, and yes something like that. In fact, we all aren't allowed to go out until it is our turn again."
'We all?'
Looking behind Kymil, Ray spotted another 15-20 people squirming in the darkness. All of them seemed to be of old age and fairly frail. Some looked at him with vigilance and some with an almost childlike curiosity, but since none of them came near or tried to talk to him, he focused on Kymil again.
"What do you mean with your turn? Do you know what the Spirit is gonna do with us?"
Kymil's eyes dimmed. Hesitating for a while, he seemed to come to some kind of decision.
"Since you are already here with us there is no point in hiding this from you. Come, sit up. It's a rather long story, but else do we have to do?"
For the next few hours, Kymil told Ray about what happened at this place...the village without a name.
....
Situated at the border between the Woods of Alquorai and the Barren Mountain range was an outpost created by the elves to control and monitor whoever came into the forest. The peace with the neighboring countries, however, wasn't breached in a long time and the outpost was slowly forgotten. All soldiers and high ranked personnel abandoned it, leaving only a few workers and their families behind, who reconstructed it into a farming village. Although the village still belonged to the greater elven clans, it was independent in all but name, with next to no interaction between them and other villages or clans. Unfortunately, this autonomy became their downfall as they weren't able to successfully contact larger settlements when disaster struck in the form of an epidemic.
At this moment, like a savior, the Spirit appeared and promised healing and immunity to the virus, in exchange for control of a part of the forest. The villager agreed delighted and prepared everything the Spirit asked for.
"Children are easier to heal so this one will start with them," he said and wanted all Children to assemble in the center of the village.
As all parents always think of their children first and hope the best for them, nobody had any objections and did as he instructed.
Gathered, the kids were covered in a certain ivy, which bound itself tightly around the children's body so none of them could move during the process.
Standing aside, the adults were wary and anxious, but since nobody knew anything about healing no one spoke up and let the Spirit do as it wanted. For a while, nothing substantial happened, and a few of the parents began to become suspicious of the so-called healing process when the same ivy that bound the kids sprung up from the ground beneath them and pierced their skin, sinking deep into their flesh.
Screaming they tried to remove the plants from their bodies but noticed promptly that they could only extract the ivy if they pulled out all the innard they were connected to.
In agonizing pain, they also had to realize their vitality was being sucked out from them. Their skin shriveling and flesh decaying more and more of the adults fell, dying to the inhuman torture they were subjected to.
Even the children weren't spared, as all of the stolen vitality flowed into their bodies, forcefully accelerating their growth. With their bones cracking, skin tearing and souls burning one after the other they became adults, the Lõtv. When all of the children finished transforming, the surviving adults were spared, imprisoned in a house and only let out when the Spirit needed them to replenish the vitality of the Lõtv.
Obviously, the survivors were furious at first. With more than half the population killed, the children enslaved and themselves being treated like cattle, the situation neared genocide, but every revolt or act of defiance was instantly and violently struck down by the Lõtv, the children of the survivors.
...
"You cannot imagine the anguish of being attacked by your own flesh and blood." Kymil shook his head "All because of that cursed Spirit!"
'So that's why there are only 'old' people here and outside only the Lõtv.'
"Wait. Why did the Spirit demand control over this part of the forest, when he was going to enslave everyone anyway?"
"It seems you are not very enlighted on the way of magic young lad.
Well, I guess that is to be expected since you are a human."
'Another one looking down on humans...Great.'
Although he grew slightly irritated at the contempt towards humans, it was an excellent way to ask questions without being suspected, so he didn't argue with the old man.
"A Spirit is an accumulation of mana that gained sentience through a long period of time of exposure to a law of the universe; thus they are unrivaled in the use of magic befitting their element. But every power has it's price and limitations, and Spirits are no exception to this rule. For what they receive at birth they are restricted to using magic within the confines of their birthplace. If they want to use magic outside of that area, they have to become the rightful owners of it first, which makes expanding their sphere of influence the first and foremost goal of every Spirit.
Fortunately, that plague outside is still relatively young and inexperienced in the use of magic; else I don't know what would have happened by now."
"But is a simple verbal agreement really enough to transfer the ownership of a place? And as far as I understood it, the forest doesn't even belong to you, but the 'Greater Elven Clans' so you shouldn't be able to give it away, right?"
Sighing the old elve continued.
"Haaa, as I said a Spirit is pure mana. It doesn't follow established customs by Humans or Elves, only the laws of this world.
How we were recognized as the owners of this plot of land and what needs to be done to transfer the ownership of it, I cannot tell you, for even I don't know, but it happened, and that is all that matters."
"Now let us drop this topic. You should sleep, tomorrow will be a long day."