Chapter 20 Chapter 19

After you pass the birch bushes, squat low to the left, and Druzil's telepathic command came.Soldiers have been told not to hurt you.Zirkan Rufo looked around uneasily, fearing that the cold sweat dripping from his brow would take his breath away.The others didn't seem to be paying him any attention.They were all very nervous, even Ivan.A group of people squatted down and crawled forward, knowing in their hearts that monsters were all around them.There were battle cries from the rear and the north, so they knew that Xuelin and Ding Taike were fighting hard to take the pressure off the shoulders of this secret group.

Rufo pondered the instruction about the birch grove.Abeles had just mentioned that place earlier, saying they would pass there in an hour.Rufo didn't have much time left. ※※※ Danica crawled forward, her crystal-bladed short sword clutched tightly in her hand.She saw Abereth beside him, also crouching, advancing toward a guard goblin about twenty feet away from the two other goblins Danica had chosen to target. These targets had to be dealt with quickly and quietly; they could feel the goblins scattered in the surrounding forest, doing their best to avoid a fight.However, the three unfortunate goblins stood in their way, and the group had no time to detour.Small skirmishes continued around them, with sounds coming from both sides and rear.When the enemy enters this area of ​​the forest, Xuelin, Tinteg and the other elves will be very busy soon, and the group of companions led by Aberes must reach Hildeli at full speed without wasting a moment Qishu District - These three goblin guards had to be unlucky.

Danica looked at Aberes, who was now positioned a few feet behind the goblin in charge.The elf nodded to her to go first, and Danica agreed because her task would be harder. She gripped the dagger tightly, feeling the golden tiger carving in one hand and the silver dragon carving in the other.Bending low, she crossed her wrists in front of her at waist height, with the tip of her short sword pointing upward and outward. Only two steps away, the goblins had their backs to her, chatting easily, not noticing anything unusual at all. Danica jumped up from among them.They had only time to catch their breath before the monk swung his arms away in one fluid motion and swung the short sword towards their chins.The goblins twisted, a weak hand raised to grab Danica's wrist.

A cry from nearby made Danica turn her head away.The goblin that Aberes was in charge of stood in front of her, its weapon dropped to the ground, its arms spread wide.The creature jerked violently, its face contorted in confusion. When Abereth's sword pierced the damned creature's chest, Danica understood what was going on. Then only Danica and Abeles were left standing.They nodded at each other and retreated into the bushes, where they stood on guard for a while to make sure no other monsters were around.Together they head back to join the rest of their companions, explaining that the road ahead is now clear.

"We should get to the birch grove as soon as possible without further delay." Aberes explained softly, "The Hildrich tree area is just a mile west of there." Aberes paused, when he As he looked at Zirkan Rufo, a strange expression appeared on his face.Because Rufo was standing there shaking, sweat streaming down his face. "What's wrong?" asked the elf. "If you dare—" Ivan began, but Danica quickly silenced him. "I can't get it out of my mind," Rufo admitted almost frantically.The thin man looked around, his strangely glowing black eyes flicking desperately, as if he thought the monsters in the entire area were going to jump out and land on him.

"It knows our plan," Rufo explained, trying in vain to calm down.After stammering a few frantic words, he finally collapsed. "It knows everything!" Rufo yelled, and the volume of his voice made everyone else crouch in defense reflexively, looking around. "I'll let everyone die!" "Tell him to be quiet!" Abereth whispered, and he slipped a few steps away to make sure no enemies were nearby. Danica and Cadderly took Rufo's hands and made him sit down. "Who knows everything?" Cadderly urged, eyeing Danica with an expression of anger that Cadderly vaguely thought she was about to punch a hole in Rufo's head.

"It's not my fault," Rufo said loudly, "I tried to resist it—the little devil!—I tried my best." "Ooh." Pikel spat out the words, reflecting everyone's thoughts. "You try to resist the imp, but you can't," Cadderly pressed on. "How? You have to tell me." "In my head!" Rufo replied, now careful to keep his voice at a whisper, "the little devil can read my thoughts and get information from my head, although I don't speak to it." Cadderly looked at Danica, his face puckered in confusion. "I've never heard of such a thing," he said. "Dorigen's little devil has telepathy, that's all I know." He turned back to Rufo, "but invading your mind, Staying there without your permission?"

"If you're lying..." Danica threatened, shaking a fist at Rufo. "Unless—" Cadderly said to himself, clutching his smooth chin, trying to think of some old story that would give him some idea of ​​what had happened.When he came back to look at everyone, he found that they were all staring at him, waiting. "Have you seen the imp?" Cadderly asked Rufo. "Once," admitted the lanky man, determined to keep his second meeting with Dorigen a secret no matter what. "Did the imp bring you something with you?" Cadderly asked. "Maybe it's a personal item? Or did it touch you, or move your stuff?" He looked over at Ivan and Pikel. , and nod.

"What?" Rufo had only time to say those two words before the two dwarves grabbed him by the ankles and threw him to the ground, and they began systematically stripping the man off.Each item was held up for Cadderly to see, and when he shook his head, it was instantly thrown away. As Pikel was pulling Rufo's tunic back, the dwarf caught sight of something. "Ooh!" Pikel squealed, knowing he might have found something important. "What did you find?" Ivan asked, and when his eyes widened too, Cadderly and Danica moved over to look. "Where did you get this badge?" Cadderly asked.He reckoned they had found the right thing, because the badge was bordered in gold with a gorgeous emerald in the middle, and Rufo's meager means couldn't afford it.

"What badge?" the thin man replied, bewildered. "This one," Cadderly explained, unfastening it and holding it up to show Rufo. Not even Danica could suspect the genuine confusion on Rufo's face.Without thinking twice, Cadderly handed the badge to Ivan, and the dwarf winked at his brother, fished a frog from his pocket, and pinned the badge in the folds of its loose skin. "That keeps the little devil busy," the dwarf explained, "but now I have to grab another dinner!" "That's what allows the imp to invade your mind," Cadderly explained over Danica's small chuckle with the dwarves.Pretty sure of his guess, the young scholar continued with some confidence, "Without it, you're free—unless you choose to have it come back to invade you."

"And you wouldn't do that, would you?" Danica asked, looking suddenly serious.She grabbed Rufo by the shoulders and turned him roughly, facing her smoldering face. Rufo broke free, trying to regain some self-respect. "I admit my mistake," he said, "of course I'm not to blame—" "No one blames you," Cadderly replied, speaking more to Danica than to Rufo. "Okay, you said you betrayed us. What does that mean?" "At the birch grove," Rufo tried, "I was instructed to get out of the way when the enemy attacked." Cadderly looked at Abereth. He had just returned from a patrol and found no enemies nearby.He came and stood beside everyone. "Did you hear that?" asked the young scholar. Abeles nodded heavily. "The forest is eerily quiet," he replied, "and I'm wondering if there's a trick going on." His fixed gaze seemed to brand Rufo on, "Now I understand why. How much have you told the imp? " Cadderly wanted to calm the elf, but he knew that Abereth was not just worried about this small group.All the Elves are gone to the West, and if the enemy knew where they were going, their tracks would be dangerously exposed. "I don't know," Rufo replied, eyes downcast. "That... At that time, it was difficult to pretend..." "We have to assume that Druzil has quite a bit of information from Rufo," Cadderly interjected solemnly, "about our whereabouts and the location of the elves." The twitch in Abereth's face made Kay Deli paused. "Should one of us go back to your people and warn them of the danger?" the young scholar suggested. Abeles thought for a while, obviously heartbroken. "No," he replied slowly, "for my people, the greatest help is that we complete the mission as soon as possible. We can bypass the birch grove and dodge the ambush, although this route will take some time." "And the more time it takes, the more lives the elves will lose," Danica couldn't help adding, her eyes fixed on the thin man without blinking. "I didn't want to come along," Rufo began to protest.But he couldn't hold on to his angry posture, turned around, and finally finished his words weakly, "I know the little devil will follow me." "It would be worse for us if you were left behind," Danica said angrily, "because then we would never know that you betrayed us!" "Enough, stop talking." Cadderly interceded, "We can't change what has happened, let alone waste time arguing." "I agree." Abeles nodded approvingly. "We'll turn south and return west when the path is cleared. And you," he said to Rufo, eyes narrowed, "if that little The demon has found a way to get back into your head again, tell us now!" The elf then set off, Danica following.Rufo was next, flanked by the dwarf brothers, who watched him suspiciously in step. Cadderly hesitated for a moment before joining them.The frog with the badge pinned by Yiwen was still sitting on the ground in front of the young scholar's feet.Cadderly knew it was a risk, but he reached over and took the badge off and pinned it under his coat, because it was a risk he had decided to take.He had fought a spiritual battle with Druzil once, and won.If the imp tried to contact Rufo again, Cadderly would be there waiting for him. Danica and Aberez noticed several enemy guards crouching in the undergrowth, and they changed course to avoid detection.They avoided any fighting as much as possible, for they guessed from Rufo's words that the enemy had sent a sizable force in this area to surprise them. Cadderly felt the telepathic intrusion. Why so slow?The little devil thoughts he was familiar with came.The soldiers were all in position and growing impatient. In response to the message, Cadderly conjured up a mental image of the area where they had found Rufo's insignia, not far to the east of the birch grove.He only hoped that Druzil wouldn't find that he thought differently than Rufo.When the imp's next message came, he was slightly relieved. Good, Druzil told him.You are very close.When your companion moves again, follow them closely, and when you see a birch tree, crouch down to the side.Mistress Dorigen wants to talk to you again. Then, suddenly, Druzil disappeared from Cadderly's mind.The young scholar clutched the badge tightly. "Cadderly?" he heard a voice in the distance.His eyes snapped open—he didn't realize they were closed—and he saw his mates standing around, staring at him curiously. "It's okay." He tried to explain.Aberez grabbed his hand and forced it open. "You should throw this evil thing away!" the elf scolded. "I'm not afraid of that little devil," Cadderly replied, a confident smile that made the others slightly relieved.But that smile vanished as he looked at Rufo, who had just received some new news about his lanky companion.So you met Dorigen?Cadderly thought, but he didn't say it out loud, because he was worried that if he told what the imp told him, it would only add another trouble to the group that they couldn't handle. "Go on," Cadderly said. "We tricked the enemy into sitting there in the birch bushes waiting to pounce, but they're getting impatient." Albereth set off at once, followed by Danica, and Cadderly and the others in the rear. "You don't happen to have my frog with you?" Ivan asked expectantly, rubbing his belly.Cadderly just smiled and shook his head. Abeles turned back to the west after a while, and the elf led them to accelerate all the way, flickering in the shadows of trees in front and beside him, obviously very anxious.They came to a sloping place where the undergrowth was less than usual and was dominated mainly by thick oaks.Though they were not much larger than the trees in other parts of Simista, Cadderly could feel their age, and a haunting sense of perception; as if he was being watched from all sides, from above. So he knew they had come to Hildritch Tree.He went to touch the rough bark of an oak tree, hardened by years of accumulation, centuries of life and death.What wonderful stories these trees might tell him, Cadderly was sure they would.He believed that the trees could and would tell him if he had the time and patience to stop and listen. Pikel, too, seemed overwhelmed by the wondrous power of this group of oldest trees.The dwarf yelled "Ouch!" several times, happily jumping from one oak tree to another.He hugged one of the trees with such strength that when he backed away the bark was left on his hairy face. "This is the Hildritch Tree District." Aberes announced, although he knew that, except maybe Ivan and Rufo, the rest of the companions already knew.Danica nodded, then climbed up the tallest oak tree she could find and looked east to see what was going on there. Cadderly brought out the book of Delaniel Quelquin reverently, for it seemed to make more sense here.He looked at Aberes, his jaw clenched firmly, and he opened the page on which the ancient summoning technique was written.He felt again the sheer power of the trees, their inner life unlike any he had ever seen, and he knew without doubt that he was right in persuading the Prince of Elven to come here.He also knew the truth in his own words: "It will work." ※※※ The Taimerisan stood up, and Xuelin jumped from the saddle.There were trees all around, but as far as she could remember, there shouldn't be any trees here at all. "Tintag?" she called softly.In response, one of the trees changed shape, reverting to the elven magician, and came out to greet Xuelin. "Hello," Tintag replied, smiling despite the precarious situation. Xuelin smiled back and looked around at the artificial trees. "How many?" she asked. "Twenty-seven trees," replied the blue-eyed magician. "This is my strongest spell, and it should catch enemies off guard. Do you like my work?" Xuelin imagined how surprised the faces of the passing orcs and goblins would be when the twenty-seven phantom trees were restored to the appearance of elf warriors!A big smile on her face answered Ding Taige's question. "How are the other fronts?" asked the elf magician. Xuelin's smile disappeared. "Not so good," she admitted, "the enemy is going further south than we thought. The monsters in the east know what we're doing and are turning back and sweeping west. Now the scouts are going to check if the enemy in the southwest is heading east. Join them, or do we still have a chance." Tintage pondered the heavy news.When they planned to emerge from around the Hildritch Tree area, they knew that success would depend on whether it could be done in secret.Now, somehow, the enemy apparently knew their course of action.This is indeed an ominous omen. After a while, several elves rode up, led by King Garandell.But the tense situation has not eased at all. "The south is blocked," said the Elf-king in a stern voice, "and the folly of our coming here is clear." Under the eyes of the elf king's accusation, Xuelin didn't turn her face away.Among the elves of Simista there were only a few who objected to this action, and one of them was Galandelle.Most of the elves were so determined, including Xuelin, that the elf king finally had to agree to this desperate plan. Although the enemy was encircling, Xuelin firmly believed that the elves were right to trust Simista's magic.Xuelin also believes that her favorite forest is worth protecting with her life. "We'll find the weakest point in the enemy's advancing front," Galendelle reasoned. "If we move fast and hard enough, we may be able to break through." "We've known since we came here that the key to success is whether Abereth can summon the Hildriki tree area." Tinteg reminded them. "If we didn't have the courage to stay and witness the whole process, we shouldn't have come at all." Galandale glared at him. "There are only about a hundred elves," he said, "and a handful of horses. The enemies number in the thousands, with giants and ogres." "Then let the war begin," said Shaylin. "Let the enemies come, all of them. When it's over, Simista will belong to the elves again!" "When it's all over," Galendelle raged, "there will be no more Simista."