Chapter 21 Chapter 20 When Magic Power Fills the Air

Why so slow?The telepathic call came, but Cadderly had no time for the imp's intrusion.He dropped the badge on the ground, stomped on it, picked up the Book of Delaniel Quelquin, and continued to scan, double-checking that his translation was correct, before saying the summons to Abelay Listen. Where are you?Druzil's call came again, but far away, and Cadderly pushed it away easily.Still, the young scholar could hear the urgency in Druzil's thoughts, and knew that the cunning little devil would always be rowdy. "We must hurry," Cadderly begged Abereth. "The enemy will soon know that we have bypassed them."

Abeles slowly rubbed the bark of the closest oak tree with his hands, drawing strength from the solid tree.He is the most nervous one in the whole squad.If the call failed, they would all die, but Abereth would lose even more.The root of his entire existence, the magic of Simista, lies in one stroke.If the trees did not answer his call this time, then his father's pessimistic belief that there was no magic left in the clear air of Simista would prove true.How unbelievable and deadly this would be to the people of Aberes. Cadderly held the open book in front of him. "Ready?" asked the young scholar.

"Fire in the east!" Danica called from high up in a nearby tree.She climbed down quickly, and her companions on the ground heard the branches trembling. "A team is approaching quickly." Cadderly nodded to Abereth, grabbing the elf's attention. "Syd Puran Una Malabaki," the scholar began slowly. Abeles opened his hands wide towards the trees, and walked around the nearest oak tree, repeating, "Sid Puran Una Malabraki." "Come on," Danica whispered—hesitatingly—to the dwarves and Rufo. "We have to hold off the enemy before Cadderly and Abereth finish their summons."

"Oh," moaned a disappointed Pikel. "What's Abereth?" Ivan asked, but his humorous smile quickly eased Danica's sudden frown.They were well positioned along the edge of the Hildritch Tree area, hoping their friends would finish their summons before the enemy arrived. No one needs to tell how much they are afraid of the consequences if the summoning fails. ※※※ The tall white horse carried Xuelin effortlessly, jumping over patches of undergrowth and flowing smoothly through densely-grown trees.Xuelin told Taimerisa to slow down several times, not wanting to overtake King Galandale and the other seven elf knights.The steed obeyed her instructions, though the maiden could sense from the tangle of muscles in Temeresa's glistening white neck that it was desperate for a gallop.

A group of orcs roared and howled behind the elves, rushing after them ferociously and hungry.They were a hundred times stronger, equal in number to all the elves left in the forest, and surrounded by evil brethren several times larger than them.The orcs believed that this small group of elves would soon be surrounded and the killing would begin. The orcs believed so, and Galandale, Sherin, and the other elves wanted the orcs to think so. Xuelin led them to a wide clearing with low shrubs and small trees.The elven knights were careful not to step on the young saplings, almost letting their horses walk, regardless of the orc army that was fast approaching in the rear.

The elves came to the other side of the clearing.There, the forest darkened again under a thick canopy of older trees.They urged the horses to go into the shade, and when they were a little into the woods, they pulled the horses back and turned. Unaware of the danger at hand, the foolish orc rushed across the open space. Tintage waited until all the monsters had been lured into his elaborate trap, and then the magician emerged from the camouflaged tree and spoke the activating spell.The twenty-seven trees were restored to their original elven warrior form, rushed into the crowd of beasts, and hacked into the unsuspecting beastmen from various angles.It wasn't until each elf had brought down several foul-smelling beasts that the orcs began to understand what had happened.

Xuelin no longer suppresses Taimerisa.The steed leaped out of the woods, trampling an orc down, while its warrior crouched in the saddle, blond hair flying wildly behind him, and his shining longsword pierced every monster that approached. Galandale and the other elves rushed to guard around the clearing, and if any orc tried to escape, they would be killed immediately.These ugly beasts rolled around, trying to escape, but they couldn't get anywhere. The arrows of the elves shot mercilessly, and the long swords cut deep into the flesh of the orcs. Within seconds, the fight was over, and the orc's corpses lay across the clearing.However, none of the elves felt triumphant, and none were smiling.They know that this battle is just the beginning.Somewhere to the east came the cry of another battle, and farther north the enemy began to set fire.This season was not dry, and the fire did not spread quickly through the forest, but countless monsters followed the fire.

Another group of elves, forced out by the fire, sprinted across the area, the hulking orcs hot on their heels. "Go into the shade!" Xuelin called.Most of Tinteg's team had already moved towards the trees, knowing that if caught in the open, they would die. Xuelin didn't look back for instructions from the Elf King.For the enraged elf girl, the next step was clear.In the chaos of the expanding battlefield and the lingering smoke, she clearly spotted a new enemy target. "Go! Temeresa!" she cried, and the sentient horse clearly agreed with the brave rider's decision, and began a galloping charge towards the orcs chasing the elves.

Another knight moved to follow Shaylin, but Galendelle stopped him. "The eight of us must stay together." The Elf King said firmly, "The war will start in full swing. If Abereth cannot wake up the trees, what we will do next is in the blood-stained woods of Simista, Find the quickest way of escape." The other elf knights could tell from Galendile's sombre tone that the king had not expected much from his son's efforts.And in this dark hour, when the forest was full of monsters and smoke, and the cries of war were coming from every direction, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of enemy soldiers were coming to surround them, these Galandales in armor None of his companions could summon the courage to argue with the king's fears.

※※※ "Tig!" Cadderly called. "Tig!" he heard Alberez repeat. The young scholar accidentally glanced over his shoulder as he heard a fight not far away. "Attention!" he growled, more to himself than to—Abereth.Then he forced himself to turn his gaze back to the Book of Delaniel Quelquin, for the next word that summoned the trees. "Tig!" Abereth repeated the word several times, nearly as frantic as Cadderly.While he danced before a group of oaks, the lives of his people were being sacrificed.He couldn't ignore the fact that, just a few hundred feet away, his people needed him to fight by their side.

Cadderly noticed that the elven prince was losing concentration.The young scholar threw the book away—he somehow felt that he didn't really need it, because the ancient words were already a part of him, or rather, their meaning was crystal clear to him, He only needs to follow his heart, and he can speak the ancient language smoothly. "What are you doing...?" he heard Evan stammer, Zilkhan Rufo added something Cadderly couldn't make out, and Pikel cut in, "Huh?" Cadderly pushed them all away from his mind, and ran towards Abereth.He seized both hands of the Elven Prince, and parted one of them from the grip on the hilt of his sword. "Tig, Imen, Hildrich, Fay." The young scholar said firmly.I don't know if it's because of his tone of voice or his stern expression, but he knows that he has got Abeles' full attention.Because of his order, Abereth kept the imminent battle out of his mind.Abereth resumed the spell, and Cadderly continued, leading the focused elf to continue. The young scholar felt a sprout of energy within him, awakening his soul, and a force he had never known before.His voice quickened—so fast that it was impossible for anyone to keep up. Abereth, however, was led by a similar inner drive, immersed in the rhythm of magic that was beginning to accumulate, repeating every word Cadderly said perfectly, as echoing in the mountains to the voice and intonation of the young scholar. Then the voices of Aberes and Cadderly merged into one, and the summoning words came from their mouths at the same time. It was impossible, Cadderly knew.Because neither of them are familiar with these old sayings enough to read them from memory.But the young scholars had no doubt at all that the words they spoke were exactly as they had been spoken by Delaniel Quelquin on that mysterious day centuries ago. As they drew to a close, the words slowed down, the last ancient text brewing inside.Cadderly grabbed Abereth's hand for support, for he couldn't bear the force. Aberes was equally disturbed, and he held back with all his strength. "Er, Intuneville, Dolas, Que!" they cried together, and the words were ripped out of their hearts by a force that drained them, and their bodies fell limply on each other, Both slipped and fell onto the thick grass. Cadderly had nearly passed out—in fact, he wasn't sure he'd been unconscious for a moment—and when he looked at Abereth, he saw a similar tiredness and bewilderment on the elf's face.Their companions came around, and even Zirkan Rufo looked concerned. "Are you all right, kid?" Cadderly heard Ivan ask, and the young scholar wasn't sure how to answer. With the help of the dwarf, Cadderly managed to stand up, while Danica and Rufo helped Abereth to his feet.The forest was quiet save for the constant din of battle in the distance. After a while, Abeles moaned, "It doesn't work." Cadderly held up his hand, stopping the elf from continuing.He remembered the calls of birds in the forest before he started calling, but he heard nothing now.Perhaps he and Albereth's calls had scared them off, or perhaps they had fled from the looming battle, but Cadderly didn't think so.It seemed to him that the silence of Hildritch Tree was a prelude, a false calm. "Do you know what's going on?" Danica asked him, moving to his side.She studied his face for a while, then repeated the question again, "Do you know what's going on?" "Did you feel it?" Cadderly finally replied, looking up at the huge oak trees all around him. "Energy accumulating?" Barely noticing what he was doing, he bent down, picked up the badge he had just thrown away, and put it in a deep pocket. "Do you feel it?" he asked again, more insistent this time. Danica did feel it, an awakening, a heightened sensitivity all around her, as if she was being watched.She looked towards Abereth, and he looked around expectantly, too. "Oh," Pikel said, but there was no response to his words. "What?" Ivan growled uneasily.He picked up the ax and hopped around in circles, eyeing the trees suspiciously. Behind Zirkan Rufo, the ground began to shake.The lanky man turned to find a huge root uprooted from the soil.A huge oak branch began to shake and creak.The noise grew louder and more numerous, and several other trees began to move. "What did we do?" Aberez asked, surprise mixed with unease in his tone. Cadderly was so overjoyed that he couldn't answer.More roots came out of the ground, more branches dangled and bent down. Ivan was on the verge of an explosion, holding the ax as if he was about to rush to the nearest tree to chop it down.Beside him, Pikel jumped up and down happily, excited by the unfolding druid magic.The heavy-shouldered dwarf grabbed his nervous brother's weapon-bearing hand, wagging a finger in Ivan's face. The companions didn't even notice that they were approaching each other back to back. The first tree, the one behind Rufo, broke free from the ground and took a long stride towards them. "Think about it!" the terrified man said to Aberez. The Elven Prince cast aside all fear.He jumped in front of Rufo and shouted, "I am Abereth, son of Galendare, son of Gil Taylormon, and son of Delaniel Quelquin! War has come to Simista, since There comes an army not seen since the days of my great-grandfather. So I have summoned you, Guardians of Simista, to fight by my side and cleanse our homeland!" Another huge tree came and joined the first, and the others followed suit.Abereth led the way, wanting to return to the battle immediately, but Ivan patted the elf on the shoulder and turned him around. "Well said, Elf," said the apparently relieved dwarf. Abereth smiled solemnly, then looked at Danica who was standing quietly beside Cadderly.Both the young scholar and the woman saw from the expression on the face of the elf prince what he wanted to ask, and almost at the same time, they smiled and nodded in agreement.Aberes smiled back at them, then pulled Ivan to his side, and together they led the procession.So the two very mismatched partners set off together.Pikel followed them, though his mind was now full of what else the moving trees could do. Zirkan Rufo looked around uneasily, not knowing where he should go.His fear of the trees began to subside when he finally believed that the great oaks would not harm him, and found a place among them.He climbed up one of the oaks, and got as high as he could—preferably, he thought, out of reach of the spears thrown by the goblins. Cadderly had left Danica where she was, waiting for a dozen ancient trees to pass by. "Dorigen knows where we're going," he explained after the rumble of the trees moving, "and, I don't know why, but she wants me to be her prisoner." Danica gestured to a shadowed alcove to the side, and it was there that she and Cadderly began to look out.She agreed that if the magician didn't show up within the next few minutes, they would set off again to catch up with Abeles and the others. ※※※ A group of orcs stared curiously at the scene in front of them, not sure how to deal with the approaching oak tree.They jostled each other, scratched at straggly hair, pointed in the direction of the tree in an almost comically threatening manner, and raised their spears. When they saw an elf and two dwarves jumping from the nearest lower branches, they understood a little better—at least these huge trees were not friendly things.The orcs yelled in unison, and one of them threw a spear, but they still couldn't seem to figure out how to deal with this kind of battle. Ivan, Pikel, and Abereth charged at them, eager to start a fight. The chief tree, however, covered a wider area, and threw its great branches down upon the beasts, smashing and flattening them.A few orcs narrowly escaped, broke away from the team, and ran away without even daring to look back. "Ah, it's so boring!" Ivan roared, because when he and the other two companions reached the place where the orcs were, none of them had the ability to resist. "Except for the show!" Ivan added quickly, as he noticed a Uruk held high in the air, kicking uselessly at a branch wrapped tightly around its neck. The curmudgeon grabbed Pikel by the arm. "Go, brother!" Ivan yelled, "Let's find a goblin's head and chop it off!" Pikel looked back longingly at the moving oaks, not wanting to part with them.But there were still plenty of monsters scattered around, and it didn't take long for Ivan to convince his equally ferocious brother that the game had just begun. Aberes saw them rushing into the shadows and immediately fought a small group of goblins.A few seconds later, the remaining two goblins quickly fled towards the forest, followed closely by Ivan and Pikel. The elven prince managed a smile, and hoped just as hard that there was still time to win this battle.