Fenris was the first to acknowledge Darius's predicament. He laughed and pointed at Darius's outfit. "Can you breath in that?" The outfit, probably one of Montagor's, was meant for someone smaller with a slim Elven build. This didn't describe Darius. He didn't want to offend Montagor by modifying the outfit to fit him, so he just dealt with it and fired back at Fenris. "Why yes. I can breathe just fine. Unlike some people, I'm used to filling out my outfits like a man." Fenris opened his mouth to respond, but closed it after he couldn't think of a comeback. Faelar laughed at his brother's expense only to have his brother turn on him. "You do realize that you're my twin. So if he says I'm less of a man, that also applies to you." This time Faelar was the one to not have a response. Darius's laughter just happened to mask the sound of his clothes ripping under his arms.
They all made their way down the winding stairs to the dining room, where Montagor had prepared dinner. Their meal very much explained their builds. There was enough meat, which happened to be wild boar, for maybe two people. By Darius's standards, this meant only himself. The rest of the table was filled with bread and various vegetables. As a soldier, he'd traveled the world on various assignments. He'd eaten many things he loved, and many things he didn't. Regardless, he ate everything because food was a way to bridge gaps and build trust between new people. It's important to graciously accept what you are given. Anything else might be taken as an insult and hinder future relations.
On a scale from insect to schnitzel, this meal was a solid Iranian dal adas. It was good, probably the best vegetables he'd ever eaten, but a bit lacking in the meat department for his almost carnivorous dietary preference. The meat was fantastic, juicy, and succulent, there just wasn't enough of it. Of course he still ate everything, but he did take slightly more meat than everyone else. Montagor seemed to notice and responded in kind. "My apologies. I understand elven cuisine can be a bit lacking when it comes to meat." "Oh no it's fine. This is actually very good. Disturbingly so in fact. I can't say I've ever had food this good." "Really? Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy it."
His intention had been to try and smooth things, but in reality he wasn't lying. The only thing that it couldn't beat was the ramen and curry he grew to obsess over during his years deployed in Japan. The elven food was truly on another level, but he needed to get on with business. "You mentioned there's two ways out of the forest right? One is filled with demons and the other is filled with orcs?" "Yes." "Suppose I take the orc route, how much resistance am I looking at?" "Fenris and Faelar looked at him like he was a mad man while Montagor thought about his question. In their eyes, even thinking about entering the forest filled with the Black Tusk tribe was bordering on suicidal. Darius might have killed a few, but they regularly hunted bark beasts for sport.
"I've heard rumors that the Black Tusk tribe have a huge yurt in the middle of the forest that they use for training their adolescent males to adulthood. If that's the case, I imagine they have a good number of strong warriors training them too. My guess would be around fifty or sixty
, with at least half being experienced warriors." "Hmmm. Any chance I could avoid them?" The twin's faces seemed to return to normal at his question. At least he was being reasonable. "Honestly the only way I see you avoiding them is if you could use flight magic. They hunt in the surrounding area, and their hunting parties also act as patrols. Getting through on foot without alerting them would be pretty much impossible."
It was true he didn't know any real magic from this world outside of his abilities. He could probably just gather a cloud to carry him where he wants to go, but he'd rather not flaunt his abilities for everyone to see. He'd at least wait to show his hand until he got a better feel for this world. "Well I guess I'm gonna have to fight the orcs. Too bad, I would have preferred to have found a peaceful way through the forest, but I guess it can't be helped. You did say they're hostile and attack people though so I guess destroying the yurt isn't all bad." "Indeed. I'll buy you some equipment tomorrow though. I'm sure you don't need it, but a sword couldn't hurt right?"
"True. It'll come in handy when I sack their base." "Oh? You intend to attack them head on?" "Yeah. Trying to fight a defensive battle would be stupid with their numerical superiority. Plus, he who strikes first holds the advantage, and I'm not one to let an advantage go to waste." The twin's faces returned to their previous dumbfounded looks. To claim he was going to kill one Black Tooth orc by himself was crazy, but to claim he'd destroy a whole yurt so casually was unthinkable. In their village, only ten could boast having the power to do that alone, and their grandfather was one of them. Their grandfather is known for being sarcastic and condescending, but there wasn't a hint of it in his voice now. He actually thinks he's capable of doing it.
"You seem confident in your ability, but I wish you luck nonetheless." "Well I guess all I can say is thank you." "You're welcome. Now on to you two." He turned his attention towards his grandsons. They looked back with anticipation in unison. "You two will have to face the council tomorrow. They aren't going to let me attend of course. I'm sure Naertho would rather not dual me again, especially after what happened last time." He laughed, but the color drained from their faces. "Anyways, they of course won't pass you without proof of your trial's completion. In my eyes, you completed it splendidly. Anybody else in your place would have surely died. Especially with the restriction of no weapons. Granted, our new human friend here arrived to help, but that was luck. Luck is an important part of battle that must be acknowledged." They seemed to perk up at his words.
"As a reward, I'm giving the inheritance your mother left for you once you came of age. I'm also breaking your seals so that you may finally live unburdened. This will take place after your meeting with the council tomorrow. In the mean time, Darius and myself will have errands to run in town. Clean up when you finish eating. See you tomorrow. I'm proud of you boys." With that he got up and went to his room. Fenris and Faelar were discussing what their inheritance might be when they finally processed the rest of what their grandfather had said.
He was going to break their seals tomorrow. They had overheard him say it during his conversation with Darius, but they hadn't expected it to be tomorrow. They'd lived with those seals for centuries. They had been placed on their backs as infants. It left them with this empty feeling in their stomachs, as if they were hungry, but food couldn't fill it. Whenever they got angry it burned. And whenever they tried to exert themselves it was as if magic weights appeared around their limbs to hold them down. They were still physically stronger than most of the other members of their people, but it was with pained effort. They looked at Darius as if he'd give them confirmation, but he was face deep in his plate. He managed to look up at them for a second with a mouth full of food only to go right back to his plate.
After they all finished eating, Fenris showed Darius to his room while Faelar cleaned up. They went up further to the top of the enormous tree to get to his room. "This is where you'll be staying for the time being." It was a round space with a large fluffy bed in the middle. There was a chest at the foot of the bed to put his nonexistent belongings. A make shift window was carved into the upper part of the wall directly in front of the bed. It was big enough to allow a view of the sky. A perfect night sky untouched by the pollution of his old world. He'd seen incredible night skies on top of the various mountains of Washington, and while being stationed in Japan.
None of it could compare to the views he'd gotten accustomed to during his month in the clouds with Raiga. It was as if he could stare straight into the space beyond this new world. "Hey Darius." "What's up?" "Faelar and me, we gotta talk to you about something tomorrow. So don't leave before we do ok?" He could guess their intention so he agreed and Fenris went downstairs to help his brother. He immediately took off the shirt that was slowly suffocating him. Surprisingly the pants were bigger than the shirt so he left them on and hopped into bed. He gazed through window into the night sky. He wanted one last look before he fell asleep.
He noticed a black streak moving through the sky. He thought it odd that a bird could move in such a way. He felt a familiar mind touch his own and the streak made a beeline for the window. Raiga shrunk down a little more to fit through the window. "Good evening my friend. A beautiful sky tonight isn't it? How've you been? See anything interesting while I was away?" Darius's left eye began to twitch. He was trying to hold back his irritation so as not to alarm his hosts." He resolved himself to getting even at a later date. "Where the hell have you been?" "So rude. Is this how you greet all your friends you haven't seen in ages?"
"Nope. It's just how I greet people that drop me out of the sky." "Oh come on. It was just a little joke." "A joke?! You dropped me from the clouds damn it. I could have died." "But you didn't." He was definitely on his shit list now. To keep from attempting to strangle him, Darius sighed and change the subject. "So you sticking around this time or do you have more business to handle?" "I'm here to stay of course. We're partners after all. Can't abandon your partner right?" "Yeah...." "So what exactly am I sticking around for?"
He took the time to catch Raiga up on current events, and the plan to hit the Orc yurt. "Ah, so I leave for a bit and you're planning an assault on the locals. You work fast my friend." "There's no other way to do this stealthily." "You seem to be forgetting that I can fly. We can literally skip all of this and head to the nearest city." Yeah I'd agree if it was just us. I told you the elven twins I met are likely to end up accompanying us. They don't even know about my abilities, and they definitely aren't ready to meet you yet." "That's a fair point. Wouldn't want them to piss themselves at the sight of my grandeur. Hahahahaha." "I'm gonna have to work on your ego."
"Good luck. Many have tried and all have failed. Hahahaha." A smirk snuck its way to Darius's face. "I don't think you've experienced a roast before." "What's that?" "Oh it's simple. It's when I break you down mentality and emotionally you scaly stale breathed bastard." "Huh...?" "You overgrown salamander. I bet before you got sent here you were still suckling mommy's teat ya baby back bitch." "Ok enough! You made your point." "You sure? I was still warming up. I can keep going." "No! That's quite enough. I'm going to sleep." He again merged himself with Darius's arm and made his why to the cloud tattoo that covered part of his back. Darius, satisfied with himself, sent a mental goodnight to Raiga and went to sleep with a smile on his face.