"My lord, are you sure it is wise to venture back here with a significantly smaller force?" Only joined by 20 cavalrymen, Cadin and Joken trotted into the forest entrance.
It had been a day that passed and the sun was already up, having eaten and slept well, Cadin was prepared for the task ahead.
"If we wish to secure a greater foothold here. We must make sure they support us further. And supporting them in combat is one of the easier things we could do."
"You are right there, my lord." With no doubt in his mind, Joken moved behind Cadin, leading the cavalrymen.
They carried their bows and quivers along with a shield, their swords rested on the waists.
As they ventured deeper, Cadin started moving his horse closer and closer to the shrubs on the right.
After reaching their destination in an hour, Cadin finally moved his horse into the dense leaves. Above it he could feel the branches brush against his chest armor with his horse moving its head around, irritated by the leaves as Cadin tried to push some of them aside to help it.
Through them, he arrived. The path was the same as yesterday, nothing changed, with the whistling wind still blowing through the pathway, filling the silence that lingered.
"Rather early, but that is good. Shows that you are willing to be early rather than late to a task." A voice yelled from the top. At the top, the same soldier who had brought Cadin to the leaders stood, now bearing more armor than before with a large robe covering his armor with a pulled down hood.
After seeing Cadin, he jumped down.
"Follow me, we shall meet with the leaders." The man led the way, Cadin, Joken, and the men who escorted them walked from behind, staying silent for the whole trip.
The road continued on, still bumpy and bearing little to no marks of anyone walking on it.
"Say, if I may ask. Are you the sole leader of your camp? White haired warrior?"
"Call me Cadin, and yes. I led, expanded, and helped my camp grow."
"So that is how you managed to take down that many camps. That and you have horses, which are rare or so I heard." The man continued, their walk came to a halt as the man raised his right hand.
"We have arrived. Our camp resides at the top, above us." Cadin looked up, his eyes filled with shock and surprise at what he was witnessing. Ropes, wooden platforms, bridges, and people walking all around without a care as they went about their day on the multiple connected trees and their platforms.
"Normally we climb to reach the top or simply jump from branch to branch and reach the home. But we also have our own way of reaching the top." After speaking, the man whistled. Calling out to someone.
A small rectangular platform began descending from one of the trees, held up by a system of ropes, landing on the ground.
"We cannot bring the horses unfortunately. They should stay at the bottom."
"That is fine."
"Joken ordered ten of them to join us, the rest stayed with the steeds." Cadin joined inside the wooden contraption, wooden railings surrounded the sides, providing more safety for anyone going up.
The platform soon became full of other men and Joken, the rest stayed on the ground, moving the horses closer to one another, protecting them.
After all have entered, the platform began ascending up, creaking but sturdy as the ropes continued trying to pull the group up.
After a minute, they arrived at the top, Cadin becoming more mesmerized with the system and what lay in front of him.
People donning leather clothing colored similar to leaves and branches walked around, small wooden huts were constructed throughout the place, with people working inside them and some used as sealed storage buildings. All made of wood and covered with leaf roofs.
'This place is beautiful.' Cadin thought to himself, looking around.
"So all of you dwell high above the ground on these platforms?" He asked.
:"Indeed we do, it is how we normally live our lives."
'If this alliance improves, perhaps they may teach us how to live similarly to them, then settling would not be as hard as I expected. That and we may learn more techniques they use or battle tactics.. So many possibilities that I have not thought of, or remembered in my mind. ' Cadin thought to himself while viewing the wooden homes, still deeply interested in the new way of life he was witnessing in front of him.
"The leaders reside on the other side of this bridge."
A bridge held by planks and ropes stood in front of them, slightly swaying to the wind but still with people walking on it carrying an assortment of items in their hands.
The bridget stayed still while they walked on top of it. People passed by, greeting their newcomers and the soldiers as they passed.
Soon, they arrived on the next platform, it was less populated as the last one with only a few small wooden huts and wooden railings on the edges. Soldiers rested inside the buildings, cleaning and sorting their weapons.
In front of it all though, a building built into the tree itself stood. Decorated with canvas painted green and a few banners fluttering on the sides of a wooden door.
"They lie in that building, let us not keep them waiting." They passed by the many hooded soldiers, their clothing and style similar to what Cadin had seen yesterday.
The door opened quickly, revealing a large room inside, the scent of plants dominating the room. A long table stood in front of them with 3 chairs decorated with flora and engravings stood on the opposite end already occupied by the leaders, having awaited Cadin to arrive.
A set of less adorned and more simple chairs were present on the sides for the rest to sit on. Windows allowed cool wind to blow inside, swaying the leaves of plants inside the area. Above, a large banner stood depicting a tree in a white canvas, faintly illuminated by sunlight.
"The warrior has arrived, and earlier than expected. Take a seat with your escorts." Silvia spoke, her face not covered by any mask, similar to her husband and the young boy who sat next to her.