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Shaking my head, I steered Balefire away from them and homed in on the gem for Bear team. I ate my lunch of traveler's bread and dried fruit as I rode, letting Balefire meander a bit so he could catch a swamp rat and munch on some wild nettle for his own lunch.
We reached Bear team's location in the middle of the afternoon, and I thought maybe if I hurried, I could spy on them and Peacock before I had to stop for the day. Maybe I could spend the entirety of tomorrow trailing after Raven and enjoying all the wonders the forest had to offer.
Bear team had been undecided when I saw them last, but it seemed they had finally arrived at a consensus. They were currently standing in a massive grove of tall, smooth-barked silver trees as they talked about logistics. One of them had unrolled a length of paper and was hard at work on a detailed map showing how they arrived at this exact location. Another of them was taking notes and drawing little schematics. It took me a moment to figure out what they were about.
The trees were iron trees. Their wood was one of the most sought-after materials for the construction of guard posts, city walls, and a lot of various tools and items used by people in positions of protection and civil engineering. The trees were a bit like the moonsilver plants in some regard. They took careful management and harvesting. The wood was nearly indestructible, but it had to be harvested only once it matured, and required special tools and magic to allow the trees to be cut down.
There were carefully managed iron tree groves in a few locations throughout Elfhaven, but they weren’t exactly something that was in vast supply, so they were used sparingly for only the most important projects. These trees were a valuable resource for the capital city and for Elfhaven in general. But harvesting them would cause a certain amount of destruction. It was something that would have to be carefully managed if one sought to avoid angering the forest spirits.
I frowned in consideration, not sure if I saw their choice of treasure as a failure or a win. It was definitely a better choice than gold or gems. And more useful to the kingdom at the moment than mage dust, since we had a fresh supply of that. But there were risks involved, and the royals would be very hesitant to disturb the Untamed Wood. I dismounted from Balefire's back and crept closer, hidden by my disguise charm, so I could see the document they were working on and better hear their discussion.
They were carefully outlining how to best go about harvesting only a small portion of the trees with as little destruction to the surrounding area as possible. And they had begun to outline ideas for offerings and tithes to the elder forest spirits to appease them. If nothing else, they were at least being thoughtful. And they were not proposing that the royals should level the entire grove in order to harvest as much wood as possible. Their plans were to only take what the kingdom truly needed to supplement their current supply for absolutely necessary reinforcement of things that kept the citizens of Elfhaven safe. No frivolous projects were to be tolerated.
Eventually, I crept back over and mounted Balefire, deciding that if I had to rate the ideas the teams had come up with as of this moment, I'd put Bear team in second place. Just because they formulated the idea, didn't mean anyone ever had to act on it. The king and queen would know the resource was there if they decided it was ever worth pursuing. And the men of Bear team could show that they had put good thought into selecting their treasure and obtaining it in the safest way possible.
They wouldn't be coming back with iron tree wood in their hands, but in this instance, I thought their maps and written plans would suffice. This resource was more useful to the kingdom than a new gold mine, so it didn't matter that Lion team would probably show up with a few nuggets of gold. And harvesting the iron trees immediately wouldn't save lives like with the moonflower flowers. So, their plans seemed logical.
Though it did make me fear a bit for Raven team's success. There was a lot riding on them finding those moonsilver flowers. And bringing some blooms back home with them would definitely help ensure the win. Glancing at the changing afternoon light and the lengthening shadows around us, I urged Balefire toward wherever Peacock team had ended up.
We found the pretty dandies nearly two hours later, in the middle of a patch of wildflowers, as they attempted to talk a wild nymph into sharing some of the honey from the busy beehives she had been carefully guarding.
I shook my head at their antics. The handsome fae males flirted with the buxom female, who had pendulous bare breasts, long, wicked talons, and legs that ended in deer hooves. Though her people-shaped attributes were fetching, her long hair was matted and tangled, and sharp, predator's teeth flashed when she spoke.
But the highborn males were too certain of their own charms to be much concerned with how dangerous she might be. In the end, she gave them leave to take a bit of honey from one of her hives for their supper. I didn't hear what they offered her in return. But I saw the way her dark eyes followed their movements, and the way her tongue darted out to wet her red lips, and I really hoped they all made it out of the woods alive.
They were still searching for mage dust, but they seemed to have enough sense not to ask the wild nymph for help or directions. One small favor was probably going to cost them enough as it was. The answer to a quest given by the king and queen of Elfhaven would be worth more than they could afford.
I shuddered, but left them to their own devices. Hopefully they warded their camp tonight, or they might find themselves overrun by the nymph and a herd of her hungry sisters.
Balefire and I made good time as we headed back toward Raven team. We had hours to travel now, and there was no way we would make it back to their location today, even if they hadn't moved further away in their search for the moonsilver flowers. I wasn't foolish enough to risk traveling after dark, but I hoped to save myself some travel tomorrow by going as far as I could tonight.
We traveled for a couple more hours, and the sun had nearly set when I slowed Balefire down and looked around for a place to camp. I chose a flat space beneath a kindly old oak and slid off the pooka to have a look around. But that was when disaster struck.
I knew to be wary of the Untamed Wood. But the danger didn't come from the forest or its denizens. Balefire whinnied in his weird, aggressive imitation of a horse sound, as a hooded man stepped out from behind a tree to my right.
"Who are you?" I demanded. "And what do you want?"
He didn't speak, just sent a bolt of magic my way that left me gasping for air and unable to move. It felt like I was being gripped by a massive fist that threatened to squeeze the breath from my lungs and crush my body.
Balefire leapt to defend me, but another man stepped out from behind the tree behind him, and he did something to my pooka companion that made the shapeshifter lose control of his forms. Balefire screamed in a dozen different creature voices as he shifted through all his forms at once, falling to the ground, thrashing into the trees and underbrush as he was crow, great cat, horse, goat, rodent…an endless violent whirlwind of shifting that had to be excruciating.
"Stop it!" I screamed with what little breath I had left in my lungs. "Leave him alone!" But I couldn't draw a big enough breath to say any more. And these people had strong magic, nothing my weak mixed-blood magic could counter.
I heard Balefire scream again, then his crow form shot up above the trees, a black shape nearly invisible against the darkening sky…only to fall again some distance away, looking limp and broken.
I struggled against my magical bindings, but couldn't get free. What little magic I had was for keeping the home and hearth. For caring for a family and a house. Not for fighting off attackers.
"Her mount's gone," one man ground out in a gravelly voice, directing the other. "The forest will do the rest. Knock the nosey bitch out and let's be gone. Make sure you leave no trace of our involvement."
I struggled even harder, making black spots dance at the edges of my vision as the last of the oxygen faded from my blood. The magic released me suddenly, but I knew worse was coming.
I somehow made my shaky legs and heavy feet move, whirling away to run in the direction Balefire had gone. But I didn't get more than a few steps before something hit me in the back of the head and I pitched forward into blackness.
Chapter 27
Darkness. I blinked my eyes several times, but the murky blackness didn't lift. Something cold and hard pressed into my cheek. A stone, my bleary brain told me. I was lying face down, limbs sprawled at an awkward angle. My questing fingers dug into a small patch of thick moss and a scattering of dry leaves and twigs. The surrounding air was cool, heavy with forest scents and dew-damp night. It took me far longer than it should to remember what had happened and where I was.
An eagle-owl cried somewhere off to my left, filling the night with mournful music, and I sat up with a jolt.
