Acantha stared at the giant snake that had just landed in front of the three of them. A pretty young woman sat on top of the snake. Her black hair fell down straight over her shoulders. Small, writhing snakes covered her female form that seemed otherwise naked.
“Who are you?” Acantha asked the woman.
“I’m Effy. Aoda told me to retrieve the lost,” The woman held her eyes closed but inclined her head as if she could see, “Now, let’s stop wasting time. Are you coming or would you like me to leave you here?”
Acantha glanced around, the forest was lit up by portals. A possible army would be upon them any time soon. Jade didn’t hesitate and moved forwards. The elf tried to figure out how to mount. The snakes body was thick and almost two meters high. She grabbed and handful of leaf-like scales and hoisted herself up. Morn and Acantha exchanged a look before they too climbed onto the snakes back. Without a word of further encouragement, the snake slid through the forest towards the circle of Lost. It slipped through the trees like leaves floating on an autumn wind.
“There’s a daemon!” Acantha warned Effy.
But the giant insect-like creature had already spotted the incoming dash of green leaves. The snake opened it’s mouth wide to display it’s lethal fangs. The daemon was large, but the snake was larger.
Now that Acantha was close to the circle of people, she could finally see what was keeping their focus. The elves were looking at a giant slab of crystallized amber in front of them. Inside the amber were their guides. The small animals were trapped in the hardened resin. The Lost didn’t know where to go without someone to guide them. Such was the spell of the Totem they’d asked for help.
During her time in the Grove with Aoda, the plant spawn had seen a few elves arrive. All of the elves in the clan seemed out of their mind, broken. Aoda gave a new home to any lost person who offered a silver coin in prayer. She took them in and cared for them. At first, it struck Acantha as odd that most of the Truepath clan were elves. But that was before she had learned about the connection elves had to an all knowing entity called the Source. Elves had the ability to ask questions. Anything they wanted to know, was within their grasp. But they paid for the answers with their memories. This is why elves were more prone to becoming lost. Depending on the question the answer could take away a fraction of a moment, or it could completely erase ones identity.
The snake hissed and prepared to attack, it’s body curled up like a spring with its head far back. But the daemon was quick. Before the snake had an opportunity to unleash it’s bite, the daemon had already grabbed hold of one of the Lost between its mandibles. With a nasty clicking sound it retreated, disappearing into the forest.
“Dang it!” Effy cursed, “He took the little one.”
“Will we be able to catch it?” Acantha said timidly.
“We don’t have time for pursuit. Let’s bring these people home.”
The snake-clad woman diverted her attention back to the circle of elves. Her snake retracted it’s fangs and opened its mouth wide. With a giant toothless bite, it swallowed the slab of amber including the helpless elves. From between the trees, pairs of soldiers wearing bone armor appeared. They started forming a small platoon.
“Hold on,” Effy said.
A strong wind blew Effy’s hair backwards and ruffled the snake’s scales. The wind picked up and the snake was swept away like a feather in the wind. Guided by gusts of air, the snake returned them all home.
***
“How long has it been since Morn left?”
Jade washed her face with water from the pond. It was early morning, the people in the camp started to wake up. Acantha had joined Jade for a freshening up and stood with her feet in the water at the shoreline. Her feet were still rough from rooting during the night. Uprooting in the morning gave her a mixed feeling of disconnection and freedom. She enjoyed feeling the muddy sand between her toes before answering Jade’s question.
“It’s about,” Acantha took a moment to calculate, “ten hours?”
She met Jade’s gaze. The elf looked young, she behaved as such too. Except during the battle. When Jade was fighting, she looked seasoned. Acantha decided it would be because Jade had lost her memories to the Source. Perhaps the Source only took memories of the mind, not of the muscle. She wanted to ask, but held back. There was no need to upset her.
Jade sat down in the grass, her arms wrapped around her legs and chin rested on her knees. She was not wearing her long leather vest and was clad in simple light brown undergarments. She had averted her eyes and stared into the distance.
“Did you meet this Shesha when she came to pick them up?” Jade wanted to know.
“I didn’t, I only heard from Aoda after they left.”
Jade sighed and sat back, leaning on her under arms and stretching out one of her legs. She threw her head back in a quick shake to urge her black hair off her shoulders. The braids on top of her head kept the hair out of her face, but slightly curly strands dangled around freely from the back of her head to a little over her shoulders. Acantha noticed the elf wearing a necklace. A tight brown band with a round turquoise bead pinned on it. The elves green eyes shifted back to meet Acantha’s.
“Ok, so, what’s the plan?” Jade’s face turned from serious into a soft smile.
“Glad you asked,” Acantha smiled back, amused that the elf had guessed what was on her mind. She did have a plan and she wanted assistance, “You remember Decker?”
“Oh shit!” Acantha enjoyed seeing Jade’s eyes growing wider. “You think he’s still stuck down there?”
Acantha laughed heartily.
“That’s what I’d like to find out.”