Chapter 20: The Forest Rangers

After all the chaos of the cemetery, strolling between the twilight forests in search of herbs was like a walk in the park.

Even the wolves in the East Valley Lumberyard seem a lot cuter after their encounter with the ghouls.

Not much of the cemetery moss was dug up, and throwing away the wet soil and the moisture attached to it, the portion that was really part of the potent herb was probably less than half a pound.

But both men acquiesced that if they could find grave moss in the mass graves out there, they would dig a little if they could, and going back to the cemetery would be out of the question.

Silverleaf is quite abundant in South Irvine, it’s just that it’s often mixed in with the local assortment of shrubby plants less conspicuous and requires a good eye.

After a couple hours of walking, Jace felt like his eyes were seeing double.

As the time changed, he also perceived a change in the lightness and darkness of the forest in relation to the time of day; the black sky was reaching black, and in the morning the dark forest would take on a light blue color, and in the afternoon, which was the time of day, it would become a little bit of a burnt umber.

Neither of the two were surprised that the traps they had set up earlier hadn’t yielded anything.

Grid put away the traps, intending to look further away from Raven’s Ridge, but didn’t find any trap setups that rivaled the one at the previous resting place either.

They had traveled an unknown number of miles, and it was time to find the main road south and return to Crow Ridge.

I’m afraid that they’ll have to go out again tomorrow, as they didn’t find any other herbs besides Silver Leaf Grass and a thorny plant suspected to be Shinan Grass, and one of the most important materials, the Imperial Blood Grass, was also completely out of sight.

Over a knoll and looking down the wide descent ahead, Jace felt a wave of vertigo and nearly fell over as he steadied himself.

Grid looked back at him and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Hungry, a little dizzy from hunger.” Jace pulled out a piece of dried bread and said, “I need to fill up.”

The bread had been sitting dry for a few days and had dried out like a piece of cardboard, and Grid sighed, pulled out a small piece of pale yellow cheese he had brought with him, and said, “A little extra meal for you.”

Already feeling hungrier as he looked at the cheese, Jace took it and filled his mouth, closing his eyes and enjoying the double aroma of the bread and the salty lump of milk mingling with each other under the stirring of his saliva, the milk spewing into his nostrils along the passages of the inside of his mouth, and feeling like his entire being was about to melt.

“It doesn’t taste quite the same as Stormwind’s blue cheese, is this a Dwarven recipe for cheese?”

“Yes, the saltiness isn’t as heavy, but the creaminess is much stronger.” The dwarf stuffed a piece in his mouth himself, and the two leaned in to sit under a tree.

The creamy, milky goo melts in your mouth and no one wants to get back up.

“If we can’t find the royal blood grass, we’ll just go back and forget about it.” Jace licked his lips and fingers and said, “Just sell the ones we’ve collected and I’ll use my share to buy enough materials.”

Grider asked, “So we’re going to make this trip, I wonder if we can sell it for thirty silver coins?”

Jess opened the bag and took a look at it and said, “If that stonecrop is real stonecrop and you sell the graveyard moss, you might be able to sell it for forty… It’s the silverleaf grass that gets the credit in the end.”

“It’s worth it if a man can split twenty silver coins.” Grid said, “It’s not a waste to put up such a fight and be comfortable for two months.”

Jace nodded and leaned straight back on the ground, a wave of weariness so strong that he almost had to open his eyes.

“You don’t want to sleep here, Jace.”

Grid shook him by the shoulder, and in a daze, Jace turned his head sideways, feeling as if there was something red on the far side of his vision.

The red thing’s features drew a jolt from him, and he immediately came to his senses.

He narrowed his eyes and looked over there carefully for a moment, it was hard to believe that it was an Imperial Blood Grass growing on the slope.

“Look over there …… Is it that I am hallucinating, I seem to see the royal blood grass.”

Grid looked in the direction Jace was pointing, and instantly his eyes widened as well.

“It really is, the Imperial Blood Grass!”

Grid climbed to his feet carrying his trap and sword, stumbling out with his small round shield on his back, and Jace rushed to pick up his bags to keep up with him, the two of them stumbling and rolling as they approached the red mass.

Jace plopped down onto his back in the grass, feeling the high raised, bunches of flowers in unsettling pink bunches, and leaves darker than the grass of the Twilight Forest, and yes, it was indeed Royal Blood Grass.

Suddenly, a shrill whistle from high above echoed into the deep forest.

Jace looked up and saw a man sitting in a short tree high up on the slope.

He wore a dark green tunic with a dark brown cloak and hood that blended almost perfectly into the dark woods, so neither of the two even noticed his presence.

“That bunch of grass has an owner, you two should return the way you came.”

The words came from a distance, very softly, and the other man spoke a common language, but with an extremely heavy accent, a bit of the illusion of a Frenchman speaking English.

“Pointy-eared thieves, dammit.” Grid grunted in a forced voice.

Elf?

Jess said, “Put the trap here.”

Grid sneaks a glance at Jace, then sets the beast’s clip down, squelching the noise he makes in an effort to swing away and gently cover it with the tall grass and royal bloodgrass that surrounds it.

As Grid set a trap in the grass, Jace stood up to get the elf’s attention.

“Watch your movements, human.”

A creak of a bowstring being drawn was unmistakable in the quiet twilight forest, and Jace knew the other man had raised his own hunting bow and was aiming it this way.

“Ugh, this beast trap won’t catch an elf.” The dwarf hid behind him and said with an almost breathless motion, “They are hunters who have lived for hundreds of years and would not make such a cheap mistake.”

Jace bit his lip and vocalized, “Take your chances then.”

“Avoid fighting.” The dwarf says, “No need to fight him over a bunch of grass, the elf is at least a member of the alliance, at least for now, don’t get into a fight.”

“An ally with an arrow aimed at us?”

“I’m on my way! Don’t let go of the string!” Jace shouted, taking a step back.

The elf jumped down from the tree and lifted his hood, his long blonde hair fluttering with the cold evening breeze, extremely conspicuous in this dark world.

It was a rather tall man with eyes that emitted an eerie blue light when the hood was lifted, like a lone wolf in the dead of night.

For the first time, Jace faced a hostile elf and felt deeply the terrible intimidation of this ancient race.

It’s a little disheartening, but it’s time to bow down.

“Remember to take your trap with you, Dwarf, you can get a lot of money for it even if you sell it for scrap metal.” The elf chuckled, “Ah, you’re not thinking of using that on me, that’s terrible.”

His tone turned suddenly cold, “Learn from your human friends what it means to know what’s going on, stinking blind man.”

Grid’s hand had already grabbed the trap and was ready to take it away when he heard the words that followed and suddenly stopped moving.

Jace could already feel the murderous aura rising around his feet, and he knew that this fight was now unavoidable.