“Well,” Parn said, dismounting as they approached the forest’s edge. “Here we are. It looks sort of gloomy.”
Deedlit slipped down to stand beside him and steadied herself on the horse’s saddle. What little help Etoh had been able to give her was wearing off and she was beginning to feel weak again. “Of course, it looks gloomy. We try to keep the outside of the Forest as forbidding as possible, so that mortals don’t just walk into it without a reason. You’ve been here before. You know it’s not like this all the way through.”
Parn nodded. What she said was true. Still his memories of the Forest were not reassuring. The Forest had been beautiful, yes, but also dangerous. Still, Parn was hardly afraid of danger.
“Well,” she said at last, “I suppose we’d better go in.” She paused. “It will be different this time. Before, I brought you through the outskirts of the Forest. Now we will go to the very heart of the Forest. You come as my guest, as . . . as an elf-friend. You will be safe from the elves and our allies.”
“So we won’t have to run this time? Or hide emotions?”
“Not at all!” she promised, then turned to the Forest. “Fome Alanis Katoll!” Golden light began to seep out of the Forest, yet Parn thought he saw shadows in it, lurking among the trees. “Come on!” Deedlit took his hand and began to lead him into the Forest.
“Here,” Deedlit said, stopping in a small glen. “This is my home: Heart Glen.”
Parn stared about. It was a beautiful glen. A tiny stream flowed through it, and wildflowers and moss covered the ground with a soft carpet. Yet he could see how it could be a dwelling place. There was no roof nor furniture. “Here?”
Deedlit nodded. “My home and my parents’ and my brother’s.” She noticed his puzzled look. “Oh, I had forgotten. We keep it hidden from strangers.” She cleared her throat. “This is Parn. He’s my guest.”
Parn looked about him in wonder. He was certain that the Glen had not changed, only his vision, which had become uncertain, as if he had suddenly walked into a very bright light. His eyes seemed to be adjusting to it slowly, and finally he could look about the Glen and see clearly. The Glen was much larger than he had originally taken it to be, and in the center of it stood a house of living trees, none of which had been cut, but all of which shone like polished wood. Several branches moved back, as if swayed by a sudden wind, though the air was calm. Behind the branches stood three elves.
All of three appeared sad and weak, as Deedlit herself had. The tallest of the three was man. His hair was silver, and his eyes the pale blue of a winter sky. He was dressed in a blue tunic and breeches, and he leaned upon the doorway of the living house. Beside him a woman stood, with hair of sunlight and eyes bright like spring’s first leaves. She wore a simple white gown, and despite her apparent weakness there was something bright and still very alive about her. The third elf was younger even than Deedlit, looking perhaps fourteen, though Parn guessed the young elf must have lived for at least a century. The younger elf looked much like the older elven man, though his eyes were green-blue, like Deedlit’s.
“Deedlit?” the elven woman asked hesitantly.
Deedlit nodded and began to walk towards her family. “Yes, mother. As soon as I sensed what was happening here, I returned.” She gestured for Parn to come forward. “This is Parn, my friend and companion. He has saved my life so many times that I have given up counting. It was only with his help that I was able to return.”
Parn bowed slightly to the three elves. “I haven’t saved you all that many times, Deed,” he said, blushing slightly at the praise.
Deedlit smiled and continued. “Parn, this is my mother Seralin. And my father Karoth. And this is my younger brother Melinar.”
Karoth bowed formally in echo of Parn’s earlier courtesy, and Melinar reluctantly mirrored the gesture. Seralin, however, was quite a different story. She took Parn’s hand with a smile. “I’m very glad to meet you, Parn. I’m very grateful to you for bringing my daughter back to us. I’ve been so worried about her ever since the Darkness came into the Forest.”
“The Darkness?” Parn asked.
“Of course, Deedlit would not have known what caused the Forest’s illness. I will tell you.” Seralin stopped. “But come in. Do come in. It is wearying for us to stand for too long.”
“Then you are all ill too?”
“All of the elves are touched by the Darkness in the Forest,” Seralin answered, as she lead the way into the house. “All of us are a part of the Forest, young human, and all of us share its life and its illness.”
Parn nodded. “I understand. What is this Darkness? I thought I saw something when Deedlit and I entered the Forest. It looked like shadows.”
“Yes,” Seralin said, “yes, I’m afraid that you saw the Darkness. It has been eating away at the Forest for weeks now.” Seralin gestured to a chair that looked almost as if it was covered entirely in green moss. “Please, make yourself comfortable. I will bring some tea.”
Parn sat down on the chair and was surprised to find that it was quite comfortable. “Thank you, Lady.”
“Call me Seralin.” Seralin began to walk towards the kitchen. “all of you sit down! I’ll be back in a moment!”
Karoth smiled slightly and sat down on a similar chair, as did Melinar. Deedlit lowered herself to the moss-carpeted floor near Parn’s feet, leaving the remaining chair for Seralin when she returned.
“I see that you wear armor,” Karoth said conversationally. “And your shield looks Valisian. Are you a Holy Knight?”
Parn shook his head. “Not really. I’m just a free knight.”
“Parn’s too modest,” Deedlit told her father. “He was named Knight of Lodoss by King Kashue himself. Fahn tried to make him a Holy Knight years ago, but Parn refused.”
The young man blushed slightly. “I didn’t really deserve the honor.”
“So you’re a knight who isn’t bound to any one kingdom?” Karoth asked. “You wander, I suppose?”
“Mostly,” Parn agreed. “Sometimes I stay in Valis or Flaim for a few weeks to visit friends. Lately there hasn’t been much need for a free knight, not since the end of the war. Everyone has been too busy rebuilding their cities to pay attention to anything outside.”
“Well,” Seralin said, re-entering the room. “We certainly have need of some sort of help here, though I doubt there’s anything a warrior can do against the Darkness in our Forest.” She handed Parn a steaming pottery mug, then passed similar mugs out to the others. “Make sure to drink all of that, Deedlit. It has some of Lady Deirolya’s herbs in it. She has found some that seem to hold the weakness off some. It’s the only reason we’re able to walk at all.” Seralin smiled and sat down. “You’re looking very well, considering.”
Deedlit explained softly. “A priest of Falis gave me strength enough to return to the Forest.”
“But he couldn’t heal it?” Karoth asked.
Deedlit shook her head.
Karoth sighed. “I was afraid of that. The Marfa clerics have not been able to heal our Forest either, still I had hoped that Falis-”
Melinar snorted. “I don’t know why we bothered to ask them. Human clerics don’t have enough wisdom or power to heal Forest ills.”
Deedlit glared at her brother. “You don’t know anything about humans.”
“I know that they nearly destroyed us sixty years ago when they opened the Deepest Labyrinth!” Melinar snapped. “All the elves who lived in the Forest of Mirrors died!”
“And it was the six heroes who closed it again; five of whom were human,” Deedlit answered. “Humans may turn to evil paths sometimes, but so do elves. Also, humans turn to bright paths, brighter than our own, I think. When they set themselves against Evil, nothing can stop them. They don’t hide in the Forest and wait for war to come to an end.” She stopped. “Pardon me, Father, Mother. That was rude.”
“True, though,” Seralin said. “Perhaps this Darkness is our punishment for our apathy. We did not fight in the War of Heroes. We waited in the Forest, even as you said.”
“I don’t understand,” Parn said after a long silence. “What is this Darkness?”
“We don’t know,” Seralin answered. “It’s something in the Forest and it is wrong and it is killing the Forest. If you really want to know more you talk to the Shrouded One.”
“Who’s the Shrouded One?” Parn asked.
“Lady Deirolya,” Deedlit said. “That’s all any of us know. She sees things, and custom demands that she never show her face. She hides it behind a dark cowl. There’s something unearthly about her, and very frightening. Most people would rather not talk about her.”
Parn set his chin stubbornly in that way he had just before deciding to do something. Deedlit had come to know that expression well. It was a warning sign that he was about to be more heroic than there were words for. “I will talk to her then so I can fight this Darkness for you.”
“That’s a change,” Melinar said with a harsh laugh. “A human who cares about the Forest. You won’t be able to do any more good than the Marfa clerics. I think the humans brought the Darkness to the Forest. We’ll all die, and not a single human will miss us.”
There was an awkward silence, and Parn stared at Melinar. Then his eyes shifted to Deedlit. “Are you dying, Deedlit?”
She nodded slightly. “I’m sorry, Parn! I didn’t want to tell you.” She turned her face away from him, not wanting him to see that she was crying.
“It’s alright.” Parn stood. “It’s alright, Deed.” She didn’t see it, but she knew that he had set his chin like that again. “I’m going to talk to Lady Deirolya. Where can I find her?”
Melinar sniffed. “I’ll show you the way. No human could find his way through this Forest alone.” He stood. “Follow me, human.”
“I’ll go,” Deedlit offered.
“No,” Parn said. “Stay here, Deed. We’ve been riding all day, and you’re tired.”
“You aren’t worthy of my sister, you know,” Melinar said coldly.
Parn looked at the elf blankly. “What are you talking about?”
Melinar studied the young man’s face, then laughed drily. “You don’t know! You really don’t know. You’re very blind, you know that, human?”
“I suppose I am,” Parn agreed. “All the signs were there, but I never realized how sick she was. If she were to die, I’d never forgive myself.”
“That’s why she didn’t tell you,” Melinar said. “She didn’t want you worrying about her.”
Parn shrugged, and the two walked in silence. Parn was confused. He didn’t understannd Melinar’s antagonism towards him. Clearly, Melinar didn’t like humans, but there was more to it than that. Parn didn’t ask, merely followed Melinar through the Forest.
At last they came into another clearing in which a similar dwelling stood. “There,” Melinar said, “that’s Lady Deirolya’s house. Talk to her if you wish. And one more thing, mortal, stay away from my sister.”
Parn stared after the elf as he walked back into the Forest. Then, he turned towards the house and knocked on a branch.
Part Four:The Shrouded One: What Must I Sacrifice?
