Walking in through the large door, I am greeted by the rather pleasant smell of old wood that is mixed with the scent of some kind of food and something… else. Is that honey? It kind of smells like honey; a sweet and flowery scent.
Once inside, I take in the rather spacious interior: It is obviously a living quarter; The room has a natural, open design with flowing curves and unparallel walls that gives a very "natural cavern" kind of vibe to it.
In the right side of the room there is a decently sized barely-round table, complete with three accompanying wooden chairs that surround the table and look quite comfortable, are standing in a partially walled off area to the right of the entrance.
From the look and feel of the room, it seems to be close to what I would imagine would be in a kitchen/dining room.
On the far side of the room is a small door which I imagine would lead into a pantry/storeroom.
Straight in front of me is what I assume is a living room. The area is sparsely decorated with furniture, bookshelves and a lot of… devices, for a lack of word; Of which I have no clue what they are supposed to be or do.
In the middle of the room is a rather spacious area with no decorations or furniture; I would guess going by the marks on the floor that it is used for some kind of ritual or perhaps for practice of some kind.
To the left is a… a bathroom.
'How does a bathroom work in a tree cavern without plumbing or running water? … Magic, I guess?' Shaking my head at the absurdity, I refocus on surveying the room.
From what I can see, there seems to be a toilet, what I think is a shower and a bath in the bathroom.
'Perhaps this whole room was originally naturally made?' I ponder absently as I take in the scene before me.
Hearing a noise stirs me out of my thoughts. The sound is coming from the rightmost "room", the kitchen; Peering into the room, I see the elf coming out from the door to what I am assuming is the pantry/storeroom.
He is carrying food and quickly walks over to the table and sets the food, or at least I assume it is some kind of food anyway, down before he sharply turns and looks at me pointedly.
There is some kind of bread, a bottle with some kind of liquid in it and a liquid in a jar that smells sweet, honey, perhaps?
"Are you done gawking? I don't have all day." He says pointedly as he sits down on one of the comfy-looking chairs and motions impatiently for me to hurry up and sit down before he promptly starts eating.
Feeling at a loss, I can only look around awkwardly for a few seconds before I start making my way over to the table and sit down opposite the elf.
… …
A few moments pass in awkward silence as I just sit there, not sure if I can eat the food, if I am supposed to wait for him to finish or if I'm supposed to do something else I haven't thought of.
"What are you waiting for? You're hungry right? Hurry up and eat already." The elf, Ter'vi, grumbles at me between mouthfuls of food.
With permission given, I simply nod my head to his statement and start eating too.
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Breakfast was quite quickly finished in silence. The elf didn't seem to be hostile towards me any more, at least not for the moment; But I still keep on my guard because I have no idea if or when he will go full on murder-hobo on me like he did before.
Once food was finished, the elf… Ahem, the great wizard of the woods, Ter'vi, as he so likes to refer to himself, started asking me a whole lot of questions.
It all started out with questions like: Where I came from, how I learned my magic (To which I answered vaguely that I just awoke to it one day.);
Only to then suddenly ask me what I think about Lemba (Which apparently was the name of the bread-thingy that he shared with me) or trees, like, just what I think about trees in general.
He has been asking questions for probably an hour now, with quite a few seemingly random questions thrown in every now and then.
… I am starting to think that this guy may have been out here alone for a long, long time, and he may have gone a little loony from the seclusion.
'So that makes two then; I think I'm losing it a little lately myself…'
I ponder dazedly while the elf went to relieve himself as a thought suddenly hits me.
'Wait. If you yourself think that you are going crazy, does that mean that you aren't crazy yet? Or is that just the craziness making you think that you are still sane enough to know what not being crazy is? … … '
Feeling a headache coming on, I sigh and start massaging my temples.
'Ugh; I'm so confused.
Let's just put it aside for now... '
A moment later Ter'vi returns, and with him, the questioning resumes.
"Now, where were we? Ah, yes: Demons. What do you know about the demons?" He asks, watching my reaction intently.
'Demons…?' I repeat absently in my mind as I ponder how to answer his question. "Not much, really.
I almost got killed by a high demon the other day but I don't really know much about them… I know that they can use magic. Powerful magic. And that they are dangerous. Very dangerous." I say carefully.
Snorting, he shakes his head and throws his hands up at my answer.
"What are you, a child?! Any random kid knows that much. What, did you live under a rock or something? Or are you just daft?" He retorts heatedly, but continues before I have time to reply: "Nevermind; It is my fault thinking you were anything more than an idiot who got lost in the woodlands of Eteria." He says exasperatedly as he continues rambling on about idiots and being daft.
'I'm starting to think that the "a little loony" may have been quite an understatement. This guy has gone full-on crazy…' I reflect as I shrug and ignore his ramblings in favor of pondering what I should do from here on out.
'I wonder what I should do from here on out… How do I get out of this forest alive? How am I even supposed to navigate my way to civilization…? I ponder thoughtfully as the elf keeps nattering on; Currently raving on about imbecile kings and queens.
'Right; I need to tell the Kings and queens about the demon army thing so that I can cut my ties with that goddess…' I remind myself, my sight falling down onto the "mark of a Chosen" that is etched unto the backside of my left hand. I look at the mark for a long moment before my sight moves on unto my sword and it's inhabitant.
'Stupid goddess and stupid… whatever he is; Riatos. Why can't they just leave me alone to live my life in peace for…' I grumble to myself as I am reminded of the unreasonable pacts I was forced into by these "higher beings".
I'm brought out of my thoughts abruptly as Ter'vi starts calling out to me, having finally noticed that I'm not listening to him. "Hey. Hey! Listen, damn it! This is important!"
Looking up at him, I tilt my head at him questiongly. "What is?"
Narrowing his eyes, he squints at me for a moment. "The Kings and queens. You need to speak to them, yes? Well, I can teach you how to get there." He says and continues speaking in a slower and more considerate tone:
"I just need a… favor; Yes, a favor. I just need a favor in return." He says, and somewhere in the back of my head an uncomfortable feeling is quickly growing stronger.
'... Well that doesn't sound ominous at all…' I retort sarcastically to myself as I sigh. "What do you want?" I ask tiredly.
"Well, it's not so much 'What I want', and more of a 'Who I want'.
I want you to bring me the essence of an elder dryad, one residing in the origin of these woodlands; The dark-lands of Eteria." Ter'vi says neutrally all the while alarm bells are going crazy in my mind.
Keeping my face carefully neutral, I stare at him blankly until he reacts by averting his gaze. "It's quite obvious that you're trying to send me on a quest that will more than likely result in my death." I say coldly while pinning him with my stare.
"I don't appreciate that. Not at all actually."
He simply shrugs nonchalantly in response. "I don't want to die; Therefore the only logical conclusion is to send someone else and hope that they somehow manage to come back alive with my prize."
After another long moment of staring at the elf, I sigh and slump back in the chair. It doesn't seem like he is lying; Crazy as he may be, at least he seems to be honest about his objectives.
"Fine. I'll go get this… essence thing for you then. But I need to know what I am up against, and what I can do to tilt the odds in my favor; Including any particularly effective magic, or any weakness of them that you know of."
I say firmly. But moments later a thought hits me.
"… Also, I want you to teach me all teleport, movement or transportation magic that you know. Before I go to deal with the dryads."
Giving me an incredulous look, he shakes his head. "I'm not an idiot. Do you think I was born yesterday? I'm 300 years old!" He exclaims heatedly.
A moment later, he calms himself and continues.
"I'm not teaching you a teleport spell before I get what I want.
Transport and movement spells? Hmm.. If they are combat type movement spells, then maybe." Ter'vi continues thoughtfully.
'Eh, figures. It was a long shot anyway…'
"Fine. Teach me combat type movement spells now; And when I come back, you teach me all teleport and transportation spells that you know."
Taking a pondering pose for a moment, he then shrugs and nods. "Very well. We have an agreement."
"I will need more than a verbal promise, if I'm going to risk my life doing this." I state as I stand up from the chair.
"To make sure you don't break your promise."
Giving me a thoughtful look, the elf nods slowly. "...Very well. Then I will swear an Oath to the Gods then." He says and does a strange gesture with his right hand, where he makes a circle and then draws a vertical line followed by a horizontal line through it before he starts reciting some kind of pledge.
"I, arch mage Ter'vi al Terios, swear to uphold the promise between me and…" He pauses briefly and looks at me awkwardly. "Uhm, what's your name?"
…
"...Rayder White." I say blankly.
Coughing, he continues his reciting where he left off: "Between me and Rayder White; or I shall face the pains and judgment of the God of justice and honor, Justica."
As he finishes reciting his speech, the sound of a clear ringing bell sounds throughout the room.
"I, JUSTICA, GOD OF JUSTICE AND HONOR HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THIS OATH; UPHOLD THE OATH, OR FACE MY JUDGEMENT." A booming voice suddenly sounds, coming from nowhere and everywhere in the room.
"Whoa!? What the…" I exclaim in surprise, searching the room for an apparent source of the strange voice. There is no source to be found however. "... That scared the shit out of me…" I mumble under my breath as I refocus on the elf on the opposite side of the table, who nods at me.
"It is done." He says neutrally.
"Now, I'm going to teach you what you need to know, and you better listen closely; Because I really don't care much for repeating myself." He says seriously before he starts walking towards the living room.
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End of chapter 24