The black-robed man approached them steadily. Jade shot a look towards Acantha, who shrugged. He didn’t seem hostile.
“Good morning,” Jade greeted the stranger.
The stranger stood still and lifted his head. From under his hood, long blonde locks of hair flowed out. His face was barely visible.
“Good morning,” the man replied in a husky voice, “do you happen to know the way to the forge lords?”
“Eh,” Jade hesitated, she prepared to ask him what he meant, but Acantha took over.
“Yes, we just visited them, actually.”
“Great, could you show me the way?”
“What business do you have with them?” Jade asked. Why would they tell a random stranger where their friends lived? That felt like a bad idea.
“Business,” the stranger answered defiantly, it sounded almost like a snarl.
Acantha nodded and started on her way back to the lake, “We’ll lead you to them.”
They walked the short distance back to the lake. Before Acantha could show the man the tunnel entry, he walked up to the lake and raised his staff. Three times he lowered his staff on the shore, then he waited. Acantha and Jade exchanged a look as they waited with the hooded man for something, anything, to happen.
The ground started vibrating, rippling the surface of the water. The small lake started turning as if it was mounted on a screw-top that was gently being loosened. The lake was lifted a few meters above the surrounding shore, underneath it, stood Black, next to the pit of fire that had also somehow submerged.
“Hello Kevins! Long time no see,” Black greeted the stranger warmly. He then noticed his company. “Ah! I see you met Acantha and Jade.”
Kevins nodded towards the two.
“Thank you for showing me the way.” From under the darkness of his hood he displayed a wolfish smile. “Goodbye.”
The stranger then turned his back towards Acantha and Jade. He walked towards Black, who waved at the two still standing there. Then they started talking.
“Let’s get back,” Jade said to Acantha.
The spawn nodded absentmindedly. She was looking at the two men. Jade understood her curiosity, but it was none of their business. Gently she pushed the girls shoulder to urge her along.
***
Back at the camp, the two friends gathered all the villagers. There were about thirty people, most of them elves, some of them plant spawn. Morn was not back yet.
“As you well know, we have started building a palisade to protect our village,” Acantha addressed the villagers.
She stood in the center of what was three quarter of a circle of people. Jade stood next to her, she thought it better to let Acantha do the talking. She was the daemon slayer after all. Jade looked around and saw the faces of the elves either intensely focused, looking around, looking towards the floor or just standing there with their eyes glazed over. The spawn were doing better, though some of them seemed to just stand there smiling and nodding. This was going to be rough.
“Jade and I have found craft lords that taught us how to change nature to do our bidding. We will teach you what we know and together we can build a palisade.”
Two people clapped.
Acantha and Jade divided the group and started teaching them. Soon, they understood what Black had said to them earlier; not everyone was naturally gifted to practice certain crafts. Acantha managed to teach nine people to bend, of which most of them spawn. Jade taught four people to knap. Some people just did not get what they were trying to teach them.
“Those elves are totally spacing out on me,” Acantha said to Jade.
“It’s not their fault, do you see what they’re doing?” Jade pointed to a man who was trailing his fingers across a trees surface.
“Whatever he’s doing, that’s not bending.” Acantha said.
“Right! That’s not what you taught him at all.”
“Right?” Acantha raised an eyebrow at Jade.
“Remember what Decker said when he saw me trying to bend?”
“He said you were a knap– Oh!”
Jade smiled, glad her friend understood.
“So what’s this guy doing?” Acantha observed, “That doesn’t look like knapping.”
“Maybe it’s something we don’t know about yet.”
“Can’t you ask?”
“Sure, we could go back to Black and Decker.”
“No I mean, can’t you ask right now?”
“What, you mean ask the Source?” Jade diverted her head. “Are you insane? Why don’t you eat his brain and find out.”
Acantha gave Jade a look. To which Jade replied with a shrug:
“That’s what spawn do, right?”
“I am not eating clan members,” Acantha stated for the record.
“That’s a relief,” Jade said mockingly, “I did have my doubts.”
They stood there observing the elf fondling the tree.
“Well,” Acantha continued, “We might as well go ask the forge lords.”
Jade looked towards the sky. The sun was low, it would be dark in a few hours. They agreed on going first thing in the morning.
***
Acantha stood in the cave. It was empty. No fire.
“Decker?” Jade called out from the workshop.
Acantha noticed that the doors were gone and the neatly formed doorpost had adapted a more natural form. The cave was abandoned. Jade walked back to Acantha.
“They’re gone,” she said, her face looked worried, “All the furniture and tools are gone too.”
Acantha nodded.
“You think they’re in danger?” Jade asked.
Acantha shrugged. She was disappointed to have lost the two people she could still learn so much from.
“Let’s get back,” she proposed. Maybe she could ask Aoda if she knew something.
***
Aoda didn’t know anything. She didn’t seem particularly worried about the missing forge lords either.
“They go asss they pleassee,” the snake goddess sang to Acantha in her gentle voice.
They stood on top of the small hill that Acantha came to refer to as Aoda’s lookout. Acantha looked over the village and saw that the villagers were progressing nicely. Half of the village was surrounded by a trench with poles sticking out of them. Half of the trench was covered with brambles to make it harder for anything to get through. She saw Jade walking around and helping out with carrying trees that she cut from the forest.
“When is Morn coming back?” Acantha asked.
“Any day now.”
Aoda looked into the forest. Acantha joined her, staring in the distance, hoping for her friend to come back soon.