Chapter 8:

Theo awoke to excited yelling.

“Elana!” Trish exclaimed.

“Ughhh, please be quiet, Trish. My head is killing me.” A new feminine voice responded, Theo assumed this had to be Elana.

Theo looked over and saw that the entire group was currently gathered around the now conscious woman. He decided to stay where he was, not wanting to interrupt the reunion of sorts.

“How are you feeling? Your head hurts, anything else?” Trish responded in a much more subdued tone.

“Hungry.”

“Haaaa, you know that’s not what I meant. But yes I bet you are. You’ve been out for almost 2 days now. Let’s grab you something to eat.”

Trish quickly grabbed one of their packs, and rummaged around in it before handing something to the other woman. From what Theo could see it appeared to be a bar of some kind.

“Thanks.” Elana said and quickly began eating. “So what exactly happened? I remember hearing a noise off to my right, then something hit me hard. Then I woke up here.”

“Silver-toed Lynx are what happened to ya.” Markus interjected.

“What?” Theo saw the woman turn to the older man. “Come on Markus, you can come up with a better lie than that. There’s no way we would have encountered a Silver-toed Lynx.”

The man just softly chuckled. “Aye and not just one, but three of them. Big fellas too. Full grown adults.” The man gestured towards his bandaged arm. “Almost lost my arm making sure you weren’t killed outright.”

The woman just sat there in stunned silence before alarm appeared on her face. “Is everyone alright!?”

“We are all safe Elana” Trish responded. “Though some are more beat up than others. Now before we continue let me do a quick check up. Are you having any issues with your vision or are you feeling any dizziness?”

Elana seemed to relax at that before shaking her head in the negative. Trish followed up with more questions and this routine repeated itself for close to 5 minutes. “Well I can somewhat confidently say that you have no internal injuries. Just got that nasty cut across your forehead.”

Elana nodded her head then seemed to take in their surroundings for the first time. “Where are we? And how did we survive?” seeming to catch herself for a second she looked over at smith. “No offense meant Smith but I’m pretty sure there is no way you and your boys could beat three Silver-toed Lynx.”

The man looked annoyed by the statement, but didn’t appear to be able to refute it.

“Well I would say the answer to both those questions are kind of one in the same.” Markus interjected then looked over at Trish. “Trish, I think you are probably the best person to explain this. You’ve talked with him more than any of us.”

Trish just nodded. “I’ll start with the easier of those two questions. We are currently in a Spirit’s Grove.”

That seemed to floor Elana “A Spirit’s Grove!? You’re not messing with me are you?”

Trish shook her head “Nope we truly are. How we got here well… that’s also the answer to how we survived… so…” Trish then went on to explain the previous events until they arrived at the Grove.

“Okay well that’s a lot to take in… I’m guessing I’ll meet this Theo soon then?”

“Yeah, last I saw he was resting by the Grove Tree. One second let me get him”

She then stood up and walked directly toward Theo. Well I think I know where this is going. Theo stood up and met her half way.

“Good Morning Trish, it appears this morning has had a pleasant surprise?”

“Good Morning Theo, indeed Elana has awoken.” A beautiful smile appeared on her face. “Would you mind joining us? We are trying to catch her up to speed and I think having you there will make things easier to digest.”

Theo simply smiled, and motioned for her to lead the way.

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Elana was confused, and she did not like being confused. That’s why she took these kinds of jobs, they were easy and everything stayed in expectations. But now Trish and Markus were telling her that they had encountered Silver-toed Lynx, and were in a Spirit's Grove.

Sweeping her eyes over the Grove they rested on one of her best friends, who was currently walking back their way with a man she had never seen before. A man who only wore a tiny pair of shorts. Just what the hell happened while I was out? And why is he basically naked?

Elana took in the stranger. He was tall, or at least he looked tall next to Trish who was a fairly short woman. He’s likely taller than Markus. She could see that he was well built as well. He didn’t have the bulging muscles of some of the men back in the city, rather he was lean and sinewy. She could see his muscles contract and relax as he walked towards them. She was pulled from her thoughts as the pair arrived.

“Elana I’d like to introduce you to Theo.” She said pointing at the man “Theo this is Elana. Ah!” The woman seemed to recall something at that point. “You’ve never officially been introduced to the rest of us actually.” She then proceeded to point at each individual member of their party. “Markus, Steve, Scott, Mike, and Smith”

“It’s good to see you well Elana, and hello everyone, it’s nice to know your names. As you know I am Theo.” The man, Theo, answered in a deep and rather husky voice.

Elana simply nodded back at the man. She had always been a blunt person. She also didn’t like mysteries. Those two facts tended to work wonders in her opinion. And right now this Theo was a mystery

“So Theo... Trish tells me you saved us. Thank you for that, but what I would like to know is how did you find us?” Suspicion clear in her tone.

Trish looked flabbergasted. “Elana thats…” However she was cut off as a loud laugh rang out from the stranger.

“Right to the point huh?” A small smile adorned his face as he looked at her. “I didn’t so much find you as I stumbled upon your group.”

“Okay then how did you stumble upon us?”

Another small chuckle left him. “As I said I stumbled upon you, I was out trying to steal an egg of one of the…” He turned to Markus. “Ah Markus what did you call those creatures? I heard you mumble it when we were on our way back.”

Elana noticed Smith and Steve give the man an odd look.

“Oh, the Igova you mean?” Markus responded.

“Right, Igova. I was trying to steal an Igova’s egg for my next meal when I heard a shout off in the distance. I followed the sound and came upon your group engaged with the Lynx. I believe you’ve already heard what happened after that.”

“Right… so you just so happened to stumble upon us while you were out hunting. That sounds fair enough, but why were you hunting all the way out here? This is at least a weeks walk from the closest village. And how did you know about this Grove?”

Trish looked as if she was about to speak up again but Elana saw Markus give her a small tap on the shoulder, and shake of his head.

“Well I can answer your second question quite easily. As for how I knew of the location of the Grove well… that’s because I live here. Well I have for at least the last two years.” His answer floored Elana and from what she could see the rest of their party as well. “As for the hunting well, I was hungry and needed food? That’s really the best I can give you. The area where the Igova tend to stay isn’t that far from the Grove.”

“Wait Theo, you’ve lived in this Grove for the last two years?” Markus interjected.

The man nodded. “At least that long, yes.”

“What do you mean at least that long?” Elana questioned.

The man seemed to debate something before he answered “...Well I haven’t been keeping perfect track of how long I’ve been here for.” Elana had a very strong feeling that there was more to that answer than she was getting. She wasn’t going to push it right now though. The man had after all saved them, and that didn’t sound like a secret that pertained to their group.

“Then have you met the Spirit of this Grove Theo?” Trish asked. Elana saw Markus lean forward slightly as well.

“Spirit? What do you mean by Spirit?”

“Wha...What? Are you an idiot?” Smith interjected. The insult surprised Elana, She didn’t remember Smith being so antagonistic in the past. She saw a frown form on Trish and Markus’s faces.

“We are in a Spirit’s Grove Theo” Trish began. “All such Groves are formed around a central tree.” She pointed at the main tree in the center of the Grove. “We call it the Grove Tree. Each Grove Tree also acts as the home for the Spirit of the Grove. The Spirits are all children of Thumtia.”

“Well shit…” Elana heard him mumble to himself “Okay stupid question but who is Thumtia?” Theo asked, confusion clear on his face. What? He doesn't even know the name of the Goddess of Nature, and yet he has been living in one of her Groves?

Trish gave the man a perplexed look. Elana saw a similar look mirrored on Markus’s face, however the man then nodded to himself. Markus knows something.

“The Goddess of Nature, Thumtia. It is said that she personally plants all of the Grove Trees.”

“Go-Goddess.” Theo had a shell-shocked look on his face. He then shook his head. “No I have not seen anything that would be this Grove’s Spirit, well unless they aren’t self-aware. You all are the first self-aware creatures that I have met.”

Self-aware. That’s an interesting choice of words. Something I would expect out of one of the Scholars of the Grand Library to use… He knows how you talk like that but doesn’t know the Goddess of Nature? The more she learned about this ‘Theo’ the more perplexed she got.

“That makes no sense…” Markus mumbled to himself

“What do you mean Markus?” Theo questioned.

“Well I’ve you’ve truly been here for two years then you surely would have come into contact with the Grove’s Spirit. Grove Spirits tend to make contact with any visitors quickly, they then put down the rules that they expect to be followed whenever someone is within their Grove. That you have been here for two years is surprising enough as it is. Spirits do not tend to let people stay within their Grove for such lengths of time.”

Theo just shook his head, a small frown on his face. “I don’t know. But as far as I know I have never met this spirit.”

They all sat there quietly for a couple of minutes, everyone seemingly stuck with their own thoughts. Elana was the first to speak up again.

“Markus, if what I have been told is true then the Margrave has to be informed.”

Markus nodded his head. “I agree, I would have done so already, but with you unconscious I didn’t like our bets on actually making it back alive. Between the Silver-toed Lynx that was mentioned, I have sensed Igova, and Wind-saber Wolves in the area. Plus who knows what else is out there.”

Elana grimaced, “Then we need to get moving.”

“Unfortunately there is another hang-up. We have no idea where we actually are… I was having trouble following along with you before the Lynx attacked us. Then from there to here was at least 30 minutes of travel.”

The grimace on her face deepened as she turned to Theo. “I thought you said the spot they were attacked was close to the Grove? Well the place the Igova tend to be.”

Theo gave a half shrug “It is, at least by my standards. I could get there in about 15 minutes. The location of the battle was another 5 minutes or so from there, and when I led them back we moved at a slower pace due to the injured.” The man seemed to ponder something for a while before he continued. “I can lead you back to the location I found you at quite easily. Could you make it back from there?”

“Yes, Markus said it’s not far from where I was injured so that should be possible. Thank you.”

“Ah, I do have one condition though.” Here it comes, what will he want? Money? Fame? A position in the Margrave’s administration? While this was running through her head she motioned for him to continue. “Take me with you.”

Elana sat there in stunned silence, she looked around and found similar scenes on the faces of the others. “And if we say no?”

The man got a sheepish look on his face. “I’d just follow you from a distance.”

Another set of loud laughter rang through the Grove, this time from herself. A smile split her lips. “Well quite honest aren’t you?” Reining in her laughter she looked at the rest of her party. “Well what does everyone say?”

“No problems here,” Markus answered. She also got a chorus of agreements from Steve, Scott and Mike.

Trish just nodded her head. “I see no issues with Theo coming. There’s more protection in greater numbers.”

She looked toward Smith, the only person who still hadn’t answered. He just turned his head and scoffed, She took that as a yes. I wonder what happened there.

“Well it seems like we're all in agreement then. Theo looks like you’ve got a deal.”

A large smile then split the man's face. “I’ll go do some foraging then, we’ll want to stock some food for the trip.” She watched as the man turned and headed out of the Grove. “Finally Civilization!” she heard him silently cheer to himself.

“Now not to burst any bubbles, but Elana you still need a couple of days of rest to make sure you’re all good to travel. And Markus your shoulder still isn't fully healed yet, though I’m sure that won’t stop you.” Trish interjected, forcing them back onto their bedrolls for more rest.