The Legend of Ardanor

The trees are talking. At least that's what it sounded like to Rin, he could hear the birds tweeting, and the rustling of leaves replying. He imagined deep and long conversations happening between all the creatures of the forest and the trees of old.

Thousands of years the trees have been here, in the densely packed forest, had they eyes, they would've seen lots of people, elves, dwarves and even shades come through from near and far.

Rin had never travelled so far out from his village, in fact this forest was forbidden. He didn't see why, not really, yes it was dangerous, but so was everywhere if you looked hard enough. All you had to do was keep your wits about you and you would be fine. Not to mention Rin's secret.

Rin was wandering aimlessly, however he had been marking his route with his hunting knife, he felt bad every time he scratched into the old trees but knew it was a necessity so he didn't get lost. He walked, he ran, he jumped over small trenches and slid under low hanging branches, he climbed over roots bigger than his mud hut house, and he was having the time of his life.

I could live here. He thought, shortly followed by; I would get lost here. And then immediately followed by; I am lost.

He'd done it again, lost in his thoughts, thinking about trees, elves, humans, shades, the war, almost anything apart from where he was going. Slowly, he turned 360 degrees, he thought everywhere around him looked similar, he didn't recognise anything, and yet recognised everything, he was utterly lost. He barked out a short laugh, and looked for his footprints, after a few seconds, he found them, the small indents he'd left behind. He now knew the rough direction he'd come from. He stared in that direction, picking up on small things he'd be able to recognise coming back this way, a broken branch halfway up a tree, a knot in a tree trunk that looked remarkably like a chicken.

Rin figured if he walked in a straight line from here, he could just turn around and come back this way and he would be fine. Unfortunately, despite his best intentions, Rin's brain tended to wander as he did, aimlessly. He would jump from thought to thought, and go down mental rabbit holes, losing himself, suddenly he'd ‘wake up’ and realise he wasn't where he thought he had been, or he didn't recognise where he was, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never stay on track.

He started walking away from the chicken tree and came across an enormous tree not two minutes later. He lay his hand on the tree and walked around its base, counting his steps. He got to 33, and then realised he didn't mark his start point, thinking he must have made it around at least once already, he gripped the handle of his knife again and pulled it free of its thigh strap, placed a hand on the tree, and spoke quietly;

“I apologise if this hurts you Mr Tree, but I must know how many steps around you are, for you are formidable in size and grandeur”. Rin nodded to himself, happy with his testament to the tree, and carved a quick four straight lines, spelling out the letter R.

He started walking again, counting his steps, checking the tree every now and then for his mark. Rin reached 33 steps again, not sure why this was the number he'd settled on. But there was no mark, so he kept going. Another 5, 10, 20, another 33 and still no mark.

He'd now circled the tree for a total of 99 steps, lifting his right foot, the foot closest to the tree, he was ready to make his hundredth step when a deep, gruff voice behind him said;

“I wouldn't do that if I were you”.

Rin's heart jumped out of his skin, then skipped a beat thinking that one of the village elders had found him. Until he realised that even if the village elders had seen him enter the forbidden forest, not one of them would follow, as it would mean banishment for a high ranking member of the village. Not to mention as well that he was over a days' ride from Eagles Nest, his home village, nobody would be able to track him that far.

So who was behind him?

Rin returned his foot to its place, trusting that the voice had either his or the forest's best intentions at heart, and turned his head to look at the figure.

He didn't see much, maybe there was someone over by the chicken tree? He could trace an outline of what he thought could only be a camouflaged, human-sized full length cloak, but he couldn't be sure his mind wasn't just creating that image to put any kind of body to the voice that had called out to him.

“Where are you?” Rin's voice came out more confident than he'd expected, and than he'd felt. He was still searching for movement in the direction he thought the voice came from, eyes fixed on one spot, so his peripherals could pick up on movement.

“Where?” came the reply, again Rin couldn't pinpoint it.

“Neither here nor there,

Not left, nor right,

What you seek,

Is out of sight.”

Rin frowned, he didn't notice any movement, he was hesitant to move his feet after the first warning, so he twisted his hips uncomfortably to get a better look behind him. Had the forest grown more dense? It seemed that way.

“If not where, then who? Who are you?” Rin's tension was releasing, his body relaxing as he figured he wasn't in any immediate danger.

“Ah yes, a better question.

If you search your mind,

You can trust what you find,

As all of the details,

Lay in your bedtime tales.”

Rin considered this, he wasn't sure why the being behind the voice was talking in rhymes and riddles, but the words, the words tugged at a memory. Bedtime tales. Surely not?

“You're what we call a Forrester,” Rin guessed, receiving no reply, he continued, “but others before us have called you a Sorcerer or a Wizard. But Forresters are a myth, or at least that's what I've been led to believe.”

“Do I look like a myth?” Rin thought he could hear a faint smile in the way he responded.

“I don't know, I can't see you yet.” Rin heard a chuckle, a deep, truly humoured chuckle, and then his vision went blurry. Or did everything around him start to move? He felt disoriented and dizzy, all of a sudden the sensation increased and swept over him like a wave. Somehow, he was able to stay on his feet. The feeling passed a few moments later and he could see clearly. He thought he could before, how wrong he had been.

He had been correct, as correct as his assumptions could be at least, the cloaked, camouflaged figure was in fact the Forrester who Rin was talking to, he could see that more clearly now, as well as a lot more movement around him. The leaves and branches, which before he'd thought were blowing in the wind, were sentient, and moving between the trees, conversing with each other. It was a whole community that Rin had been opened up to, his eyes had literally been opened and he didn't understand how or why.

“You can see me now, yes? And more, I would assume. Human eyes and brains don't have the capacity to comprehend everything around them.” The Forrester gave Rin a knowing look. “But that doesn't seem to be a problem for you.” Rin winced at the comment and raised his hand to his beanie. How could this secret I hold most dear to me be known by a complete stranger? The Forrester smiled knowingly, “You have nothing to fear from me young Elf. Yes, I know what you are, although I believed you all to be dead?” He said that last sentence as a question, and with some sense of compassion, despite himself, Rin was starting to like this strange being, and maybe even starting to trust him.

“The war ended most of my kind, yes. I believe myself to be the last Elf, although I do not know for certain. When I was just a child my father sent me away with a sympathetic human family, one of the few, and I have lived among humans, hiding my true identity since then. Tell me Forrester, why did you stop me from continuing around the tree? And why can you talk normally now, when before you answered me in riddles and rhymes?”

The Forrester sighed a lengthy breath before answering, gathering his thoughts,

“100 steps around the tree,

can make a monster out of thee,

not one, nor two, nor three, nor four,

but 100 steps shall rot your core.

As for the riddles and the rhymes,

I truly did not commit those crimes,

But despite my plea I received a curse,

To answer questions, only in verse.

My magic was mistaken for another’s,

In fact it was indeed my brothers,

He stole and thieved to gain in riches,

And I got tracked down by the Witches.”

Rin took all this in, he nodded along, taking mental notes and thought he understood. Only when he asked questions would the Forrester answer in his rhymes, however if no question had been asked, he was free to talk as normal. More importantly: shall rot your core, that caught Rin’s attention, he didn’t know exactly what that would have meant for him, however it obviously wasn't good. He was hesitant to ask more questions as he could tell that the Forrester was sick of talking in that way, so tried a work around.

“My name is Rin, it’s a pleasure to meet you …” He left his sentence unfinished, but deliberately didn’t make it a question to see if this made a difference. The Forrester nodded his approval.

“Argonath is what I go by, and if you figured it out, I would appreciate no more questions, there are as you have just worked out, other ways of getting information.” He said appreciatively.

It seemed as though this Forrester was well versed in the goings on outside of the forest, as well as the politics behind it.

Elves were hunted during the war, which was fought on four fronts. Dwarves who came down from the North, seeking more land to harvest crops and live comfortable lives, Humans and Elves who both lived in harmony in central Ardanor, Coalites who came from the Southern Isles and were originally created by Wizards intending to try and increase the animal population by merging species together using dark magic, unsurprisingly it didn’t go as planned, and most Coalites now lived in colonies of their own making, hating any “Fullforms” as they called them. And Shades, who came on ships from unknown lands to the East, their language and magic was foreign to everything previously known, and they wanted to conquer all of Ardanor.

Unfortunately for Humans and Elves, all of this culminated almost simultaneously, and due to this, some humans either believed it, or started rumours, that the Elves had decided to work against them in secret, and were plotting to bring down Human civilisation. Causing uproar across the country, as well as defending its two borders, and the whole Western side of the Island, there was a civil war being fought between the Humans and the heavily outnumbered Elves. It was a bloodbath, and despite their significant prowess in battle, the Elven numbers dwindled, the Humans rallied, pulled their forces in, and decreased the size of their country, allowing the Dwarves to take some of the Northern land and then just defending against the two that would not and could not be reasoned with.

It worked, they were able to stop the invasion, and force the Shades back, although some still remained in hiding, Rin was sure of it. The Coalites also retreated when they realised they weren’t in for an easy win anymore, leaving behind just the civil unrest. Humans sent out search parties from all of their main towns and cities looking for any remaining Elves, not to make amends, but to wipe them out completely. The Queen believed the only way to bring back peace was to be united as one race, and that meant -in her eyes- the extinction of another. Rin had grown up hiding his true identity, always wearing hats in public to hide the tips of his ears, never showing off his inhuman ability to use weapons or fight, and just generally not having a lot of fun. This was one of the main reasons he loved to get out and explore on his own, to be his own self, and regain some of what was lost.

Argonath was watching Rin, almost like he was watching the gears turn in his mind. Evidently, Argonath’s magic is what had resulted in Rin being able to see everything around him, although he didn’t understand it all, and this must have been the Forresters home. Rin wondered how many people he had stopped walking around the tree, and was going to ask when he remembered the curse.

Rin had a feeling, deep within him, something he’d not felt in a long time. Hope? Admiration? A purpose? A mix of the three, and more? He liked the Forrester, and it seemed to be mutual. I’m going to help him lift the curse, Rin said to himself, and maybe, he can help me find peace with Humankind. A long shot, he knew, but perhaps, together, with Rin’s abilities, and Argonath’s magic and presence, they could do something and make a difference.

Rin smiled at the cloaked figure, Argonath tilted his head, asking a wordless question.

“How would you feel about joining me in a ridiculous quest?” Rin asked playfully.