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It was late morning before the travelers approached their village.
Lantashi, K'valak and Foxy Brown walked in the western areas of the Wood Sea, itself along the western edge of the continent of Erie. The forests were thick here, the underbrush dense and thorny. But Sylvan and fox knew their way, expertly picking out those areas they knew would lead to the village. They walked openly, as they knew they were being watched by the guard, and did not want to give any reason for suspicion.
Anyone else approaching the village would just have marked it as another part of the wood. But if a traveler knew what to look for, they would not be looking at ground level, which appeared as tree and brush and clearing, but would look above, into the heights.
The trio made their way over to an ancient oak tree, hundreds of feet tall, wide, and majestic.
Lantashi stopped, and knelt down to talk to the fox.
"I cannot take you up there. Not at this time. Maybe later. Will you be okay here?"
Foxy whined, and pawed at the ground. Lantashi smiled, and reached into her pack to pull out a handful of nuts. She lay this on the ground beside the fox, who sniffed it, then pretended to reject it, turning her head away.
Lantashi petted the fox for another minute, then stood up and faced K'valak.
"She'll be fine," the woman said. "Foxy Brown is just letting me know of her displeasure."
K'valak smirked. "Your pet just needs to learn to climb. Let this motivate her."
Lantashi smacked him in the shoulder.
"You are mean, K'valak!"
"I'm just a realist," he replied.
Lantashi took off her boots, and her socks, and shoved them into her pack. She turned, walked around to the far side of the tree, and grabbed the hand-holds disguised to look exactly like bark. She hauled herself up, hand over hand, until she reached the first, massive branch. She crawled on the underside of the branch, her fingers and toes gripping into the hidden niches. After a dozen yards or so, she followed the niches to the upper side of the branch and stood on it. She jumped up, catching the next branch in her hands, and pulled herself up onto that one. She then walked back to the truck. She climbed around to the other side, found more hidden niches, and continued her climb.
Looking behind her, she saw K'valak following her lead, though more slowly and carefully. Foxy was now out of sight, somewhere on the forest floor below. Lantashi continued to climb higher, until she was on an upper branch, still massive, that was no longer within sight of the ground. She looked forward, and it was here she saw beautiful homes, built into the trees, shaped from the trees themselves through Sylvan forest-magic. Walkways, complete with railings made of vines, made their way from tree to tree. Steps made the same way led further upward, to the larger structures of the magistrates, the village elders.
A couple of minutes later K'valak was standing by her side. He was breathing heavily from the climb, but at this point, they could walk to where they needed to go.
"So, to the chief?" he asked.
"Yes, but I'm not sure my father will be happy to see me."
Lantashi and K'valak set out through the maze of walkways, and steps, working their way up to the highest buildings of H'shalyn.
Several minutes later Lantashi and K'valak approached a large structure built within the heights of the Wood Sea. The thick foilage below completely obscured the ground, but the sky above was somewhat visible, and this building allowed for a good view of the stars at night. Like the rest of the village, the structure was molded into the trees, shaped by sylvan magic. In the case of this building, it was formed where three huge oak trees met. Beautiful from the outside, a stranger would nevertheless need to look twice at it to understand what he was seeing.
The pair pushed through a bark doorway. No lock held the door shut, but sylvan powers would not allow entry for those the forest did not recognize as friend.
Inside the structure was what might have been called a "tree cave." In some ways it was similar to the caves of the mountains, but instead of rock the floor, walls and ceilings of this cave were made of bark, but the bark has been smoothed out with sylvan magic. Sylvan jewels had also been woven into the walls, and sunlight filtered through the wood by an art of the sylvan, unknown to any other race.
They walked down the hallway to a large door at the end. While Lantashi, as a daughter of the chief, had the right to enter, she instead stood outside the doorway, and called,
"Father, are you there? May I come in?"
"Come," said a deep voice, one with a musical tone to it. Lantashi pushed the door, and it opened for her. She and K'valak stepped through.
Within, standing behind a large table, was Huyrlikan, the chief of H'shalyn, and Lantashi's father. While they shared some of the same familial traits, Huyrlikan had none of the softness of her daughter. His face was angular, and very handsome in a sylvan way. He was tall, and thin, and had long, silver hair. He wore the long, green robes of a sylvan chieftain.
Lantashi came around the table to her father, knelt, and kissed his hand. It was a traditional, showing her reverence to her father. Huyrlikan accepted the gesture for a moment, but then took her shoulders in his hands, helping her to rise to her feet.
"We have seen you coming, daughter," the chief said. "The forest loves you, more as a friend than a master. It flowed with you as you approached."
Lantashi knew this was a compliment and a criticism mixed together. It was said without warmth.
"I am never alone in my homeland," Lantashi replied. "The forest is always there to speak to me."
"Yet, it is often good not to be seen, especially for a ranger. You should quiet the forest about you."
Lantashi nodded, and bowed her head slightly, again showing deference. Lantashi's heart often rebelled against her father's wishes, but she would not disrespect him, especially in his own village.
Huyrlikan seemed to notice K'valak for the first time. K'valak bowed, and the chief offered him a smile, a warmer smile than he had offered his daughter.
"To have my daughter and the warrior K'valak in my office at the same time is a new occurence," Huyrlikan stated. "There must be an important reason. Please, sit at the chief's table, and tell me of the news you bring."
"Yes, elder," K'valak said. He and Lantashi sat with the chief at the large, round table.