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Chapter 2
Part 1
Ifan and Mari’s journey to Fandelran Forest took about 45 minutes, riding atop a pair of Inarellian Reds, a favourite horse breed of adventuring types. Rugged and steadfastly reliable, the guild owned near to half the stock of the breed in Treffynnon and the nearby villages. Studding their prized males was one of Hephaestus’ pet projects to help the guild through slow periods. It was a resounding success, with adventurers (freelancers and those from competing guilds) from all around the country buying Terananth Reds, named for the guild by Hephaestus himself.
The pair rode into the forest over a quaint wooden bridge, passing over the river Elwy; the end of Inarellian territory and the beginning of Holiwier’s domain. Fandelran was home to many sites, most important among them was the Vallenfall Well; the source of all magic for the eastern continent of Glynmawr. Holiwier stood as the protector of the Well, amongst other ancient sites in the area, and is believed to have been the first of all trees in the forest to be touched by magic. Mari took the lead, following a beaten path to the east of the bridge. Shortly after riding into the forest proper, Mari reared her horse back gently and turned to face Ifan.
“We’ll be needing the first map now. Do you want to take the lead as navigator, or would you rather I do all the hard work?” Mari smirked at Ifan as he pulled his horse to a stop.
“What a nice offer! I’ll grab the map for you now.” Ifan slipped his feet out of his stirrups and swung his legs off his horse, dropping to the firm, worked earth with a light thud. Rummaging through his bag, he pulled out the three leather tubes and determined which contained the appropriate map before unravelling it for Mari, who had moved to join him while he worked. The two of them had a brief discussion, before settling on their route forward – making note of important landmarks they needed to pass; a small estuary, a large grassy hill that should appear on their left and finally a meadow. Ifan handed Mari the map, and with a false smile, Mari begrudgingly accepted it, rolling it up and placing it back into the leather tube before strapping it to her side.
The two saddled back up on their horses - who had been enjoying some of the light vegetation along the forest path - and continued further into the forest. Most of the path was well trodden, with few concerns for navigating the horses - besides crossing the estuary, which turned out to be a much larger, faster body of water than either expected. Soon, the pair arrived at the meadow and let the horses graze again while they consulted the next map. Dancing in Ifan’s peripherals, a variety of small green figures clambered up and onto the horses, who continued about their business eating the grass in front of their mouths.
“Oi!” Ifan dropped the map from his hands and darted towards the horses, who reared back in surprise as Ifan flailed his arms around. Several of the creatures had made their way on to the horses’ saddles, and as the horses bucked, they gripped tightly at the reins, their small circular mouths releasing strained oohs and ahhs. Light flickered through their leaf covered bodies, and as Ifan approached, those on the ground near the horses’ hooves disappeared from sight, the greens of their coverings melding in with the clover covered ground.
Mari watched as Ifan rescued the horses from their tiny assailants, letting out a sigh and rolling her eyes. “Ifan, those are forest sprites. Children of the forest. They don’t mean us any harm.”
Wrestling the reins from the small creatures riding atop his horse, their tiny arms struggling to keep a hold as they were thrown through the air, Ifan muttered under his breath, “Of course she knows what these are. I’ve spent weeks in these forests before and never once saw them, silly me.”
“What was that?” Mari knelt over and collected the map, as forest sprites collected on her shoulders and began playing with her hair.
“Nothing!” The last of the sprites floated off onto the wind from Ifan’s horse, and he began rubbing the horse’s neck in an effort to calm it down. Soon after, the horse returned to grazing, its bulging brown eye watching Ifan as he stepped back towards Mari.
Some of the sprites moved down Mari’s arm and surveyed the map while perched atop her hand. Mari smiled as she watched the creatures point at the meadow they were standing in on the map, their small mouths agape. A few climbed onto the map itself, and Mari made an effort to hold it as still as possible as they marched all around its surface.
“One’s got your wand by the way.” Ifan gestured to Mari’s hip, as he stepped up alongside her.
“Really?” Mari craned her neck to look down at the wand holster on her waist, accidentally tipping the map as she did. The map-riding sprites desperately clung on to its surface, slipping off slowly and releasing tiny cries of mock fear, before catching the wind once more and floating off, their light giggling fading off into the forest. Mari spotted the offending sprite as it pulled the wand from her side, its slender form sliding out of the leather straps holding it to Mari’s body. Finally loosing the wand from its prison, the sprite bounced off Mari’s leg and began bounding across the meadow, its body vanishing into the foliage while the wand bobbed up and down above its head. “Oi!” Mari’s eyes flashed with panic as she dropped the map to the ground, much to the other sprites’ joy. Before she could move, she noticed a hand reach down and pluck the wand from the sprite’s grasp.
Ifan stood back up and raised his eyebrows at his sister, twirling her wand deftly in his fingers, “No harm, huh?” Tossing the wand back to Mari, his eyes flashed white. The wind around the meadow stopped, and Ifan clapped his hands above his head, releasing a thunderous roar.
“Oh goody –” Mari caught the wand and quickly holstered it before covering her ears.
“Any forest sprites that are still here in the next 10 seconds will be on the business end of my sword. TEN… NINE…” Ifan’s voice boomed, its reverberations shaking the air. “EIGHT…SEVEN…” Sprites gripped fearfully to the bottom of Mari’s skirt, looking up at her for protection.
“You heard him. Go on.” Still covering her ears, Mari gently pushed the forest sprites near her feet away from her. Slowly but surely, the last of the sprites vanished into the surrounding greenery.
“…TWO… ONE.” Ifan’s eyes returned to a pale blue, and the wind returned to the meadow. Both horses remained unperturbed by Ifan’s magical display and continued mindlessly grazing a few feet away. “Right, where were we?”
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