The Stars are Silent, Ch. 6

Auscol found the darkness of the woods quite comforting but for that
Maribeth continued to trip over the ferns. The snap-stumble she kept
making made it hard to listen for the weight difference in Yelshilel’s
step that meant Riehwol was falling off. To be fair to him, the warrior
had been coming out of the saddle far less than he had been. Auscol
hoped this meant he was recovering. Riehwol had not been looking any
better, but he had taken his weapons up again, even though Maribeth had
made the decent point that disguising him might lower the chances of
them being attacked again. Ah, but the warrior’s pride. They had gone
three days now. Riehwol suspected the bandits were no longer about
because the forest keepers were. They could only hope he was right.

The moon was high and bright, the air clear with the season. The forest
canopy was aglow, and swayed in the wind, making movement indiscernible
in the shadowy depths. Yelshilel’s step was antsy, as the scent of
predators was present. Auscol kept his eyes focused on the ground
before him, careful of the undergrowth. He heard then, the gentle
thumping of hoof beats…deer-like, rather than horse-like. They were
heavy, and they seemed to be approaching.

“Elk?” Auscol asked aloud.

“Hold, Auscol…” Riehwol murmured and attempted to pick himself up in
the saddle. “It should be the keepers.”

“Maribeth,” Auscol motioned to his side, where to she quickly
scampered. He raised his arm in front of her slightly as the elk came
closer. The shadows were tricky, but the great beasts came into view,
each with a rider astride. They were she-elk, probably, since their
necks were not particularly hairy and they were lacking in antlers. Or
was it that late in the season already? The riders were male, Forest
stock, with pale points and even paler eyes. They stopped before Auscol
and his companions, looking over them and then looking at each other.
Yelshilel shifted his weight as Riehwol finally got himself upright.

“We need to see Keathrru,” he said weakly.

“You are?”

“Kerron Riehwol…of Nanoiyu…ah,” he winced and closed his eyes.

“Please pardon my friend, as he is wounded,” Auscol jumped in. “I am
Shinwuan Auscol, and this is our keil, Maribeth. We stumbled
upon some developments that some humans are planning to invade the
forest, and so we came here immediately.”

“One moment,” the keeper said, after exchanging a troubled, surprised
glance with his companion. He produced a small flute from his saddlebag
and played a shrill tune upon it. The two then looked sunward, awaiting
something. Auscol looked back to Riehwol, who had fallen back onto his
stallion’s neck. He was breathing easier again, which was a good sign.

“You okay, Hwol?” he asked anyway. The warrior twitched his small
finger at Auscol in response, an even better sign, albeit rude.

“Shouldn’t we take him down and examine him?” the second keeper said to
the first.

“I feel we’ll only need to put him back on,” the first sat back and
shook his head. “She comes.” Auscol could hear it too, the gallop of an
elk. He glanced back to Maribeth. She was balancing under her pack on
the brink of exhaustion, but seemed alert enough. She’d done well,
adjusting her sleep schedule to suit their need to press on. He turned
his attention to the approaching elk. The massive stag leapt into the
clearing, plowing his cloven hooves into the soft soil of the forest
floor as he slid to a halt before them. His ten points glistened in the
moonlight as he lowered his head, fortunately, only so that his rider
might see. She was a member of the Order of the Stars, her seer’s mark
and acolyte’s haircut apparent signs. She turned her attention to the
first keeper, who quickly told her what he’d been told.

“Auscol, was it?” the seer looked down on him. A quirk of amusement
slipped into the corner of her mouth before she turned to the keepers.
“Take them to Kauthrru at once…except this one. Take him to Chiuwen’s
infirmary. Now, if that’s all.” She turned her mount around and sprang
back out of sight.

“Told you,” said the first to the second, and then to Auscol: “Follow
me.” The two turned their elk somewhat rainward and began leading them
deeper into the forest. If Maribeth’s stumbling bothered them, they
didn’t show it. They walked awhile, the forest getting neither older
nor younger. Auscol began to wonder if they were going anywhere at all
when he was suddenly aware of a faint scraping noise. The sound
intensified until they came upon what took Auscol a moment to recognize
as a dwelling. It was made of logs, stacked one atop the next, around
four different young trees with and tanned skins strung between. An
elderly man was sitting beside the door-hanging, a gorgeous blend of
light and dark tones, while he carved at a piece of wood. When he saw
the elk riders coming, he beckoned a little girl, who was playing
nearby, to his side. He nodded to the keepers, but frowned deeply when
he saw Maribeth. He swept the child into his arms and disappeared into
the house. Auscol snuck a glance at his human companion, and saw she
was actually smiling, if thinly.

As they continued on, there were more houses, built around the trees,
so the canopy did not become much thinner. The undergrowth disappeared,
however, leaving easy paths between the houses, some of which were
quite large, encompassing many trees. They could not have possibly have
not cut any of the trees away, so Auscol decided to ask.

“How many trees do you actually leave when you move into an area?”

“Ideally, more than half,” one of the elkman answered. “We’ve been
nested here a near twenty years now, so the saplings have grown up
around us.”

“But you build into the tree, yes?” Maribeth asked. “How much do they
hold?”

“She means, does the tree support the houses, I think,” Auscol looked
back at Maribeth, who frowned, then nodded.

“Yes,” the elk rider nodded and looked back at Maribeth in amazement.
“It varies from one house to the next. Most of them just hold
separations.”

“Oh,” she said. Mothrevre was fairly busy, with people bustling back
and forth between houses, often with loads in their arms. They drew up
alongside a rather extensive building, and one of the riders
dismounted. He walked over to Yelshilel and began to ease Riehwol down.

“Need any help?” Auscol asked.

“No, he’s alright, yeah?” the rider got Riehwol down with relative
ease. The warrior boy did his best, but ended up leaning heavily on the
keeper. “You going to be okay walking in? Or should I call for someone?”

“It’s not far…right?”

“No,” he keeper began leading Riehwol into the structure. “Can we leave
the horse there or will he wander away?”

“I think he’ll be fine,” Auscol replied, watching Yelshilel shift onto
only three hooves and lower his head.

“This way, then,” the other rider began to move. Auscol quickly dropped
his pack beside the horse and made to follow. In his heart, he offered
some life for Riehwol as he turned to watch Maribeth catch up. They
followed in silence awhile. By and by, they came upon several huge
structures, made entirely of wood, with moss and ivy growing up the
sides. The one their guide led them to seemed to have two stories
stretched between the trees, these ones much larger than the younger
ones they’d seen about earlier. Auscol raised an eyebrow at the immense
door-hanging, which was embroidered rather than stained or painted.

“My advice to you: be prepared to wait,” the forest keeper said as he
pushed aside the cover.

“I was beginning to expect as much,” Auscol replied, following him
inside and pulling Maribeth along by her elbow. A man was seated behind
a very wide writing platform up to his nose in parchment. The forest
keeper quickly explained everything to the man, who nodded with a frown
and dismissed the keeper.

“Sit down,” the parchment man said to Auscol as he stood up himself.
“I’ll inform Keathrru.” With that, he went through a divider off to the
side. Auscol sat down on one of the cushions beside the doorway.
Without a word, Maribeth seated herself beside him. He looked about
awhile. The waiting room had several ink sketched and paintings hanging
on the walls, and the cushions were painted as well. The shelves behind
the writing desk contained not only bound paper, but also sported a few
wooden carvings, and one stone one. It was all far more elaborate than
a tribal seat, and filled Auscol with misgivings as he wondered what
sort of person this Kauthrru was.

A weight on his shoulder halted his thoughts. He saw, out of the corner
of his eye, that Maribeth’s head lay on his shoulder; she had fallen
asleep. He was perplexed a moment, but didn’t dare disturb her. Not
after all she’d been through. He carefully adjusted his own weight so
that both of them would be more comfortable, and held his hand for
silence as the desk man returned.