Chapter 4: Walk

I took a deep breath in through my nose and sighed out through my mouth.

“Ah~”

It was apparently obnoxious enough to scare a few more birds, but I didn’t care. I was kind of glad I sneezed back then. Aside from inadvertently teaching those goblins a lesson about how puny they were, I also managed to clear my nose out. My breathing was clear once again and it felt great.

I trusted the gobliness’s information. She seemed honest enough. That pixie dust would be hard to get elsewise. Plus, if she had been lying she would’ve tried to offer the real location to save her life from my snot. Of course, if she had offered info then it wouldn’t mean she was telling the truth, but that she didn’t offer it at all lead me to think she was being true with her words.

Northeast took me deeper into the forest were the taller trees grew. It made sense for wood elves to settle there, since it was a tad more cumbersome for me to traverse that area. Shame too, as it’d take me a little time to reach it.

I traveled along, crunching trees and whatever else fell under my tread. I was focused on finding that settlement, so I when I saw another half-deer woman in my path I simply stepped on her, not breaking my stride.

Was she looking for the cervitaur I ate this morning? Perhaps they were friends or lovers. I didn’t speculate much, nor did I care. I didn’t even stoop the few seconds it’d take to snatch her up and gulp her down. Aside from staying focused on finding the village, I was saving room in my stomach in case this hidden settlement wasn’t exactly welcoming to my visit. So, I just felt her body break under the ball of my foot and on.

Soon, most trees started reaching my shins with few cresting my knees. Then, most crested my knees with a few reaching the top of my thighs. Eventually I reached deeper into the forest where trees tall to my chest were the norm, albeit with plenty of shorter trees beneath.

Quite a few trees even reached my shoulders. Some, more daring, towered just a bit above me even. Instead of stomping what was in my path, there were times I had to knock a towering aged oak over with a sway from my hips or a shove from my arms. For the ones smaller than my chest, a good shove sufficed.

I shoved a tree just below my chest, and chuckled as it started a minor chain reaction falling over a few of the smaller trees nearby. I stopped a moment to watch that.

Of course, there was plenty of room to move between the trees too when I saw fit for it. Those big trees needed a lot of space to themselves to spread their roots and the like: space that could only be filled by the much shorter trees and other lesser flora.

I wondered why the fae seemed to prefer the death of a few smaller plants than a single large tree like the many around me. Seemed to make some sense to worry about quantity more than quality when it came to the plants, and I stomped far more shrubs than trees in my strolls. Perhaps it’s cause the larger trees might take longer to grow? Well, in just over 20 years of age I towered over most the trees so, seemed like it’s a tree problem, not mine, I thought.

Eventually, after a good deal of walking I stumbled upon a clearing. What made me realize this was the spot was the fact that is was a natural clearing. The wood elves didn’t seem to type to cut down trees to make a clearing for themselves, but no group of little people would’ve passed up on such a nice land situation either.

A few boulders were what made the clearing natural, as they’d complicate tree growth. It wasn’t fully clear of course: there were smaller plants, shrubs, grass and the like of course. Still, it was certainly clear enough to me. None of the boulders could handle my might as I stepped on them and pounded them to dust beneath my tread.

Sure enough, I squinted at the end of the vast open area and saw a collection of tall empty trees which towered over me. It seemed suspicious, so I trailed my gaze to the left and noticed a slight shimmer with a bit of a curve. That was probably the end of the illusion.

I talked while I moved.

“Drop the illusion magic. I’m walking over anyways, and you probably want to let it down before I walk into whatever wall or fort you’ve built.”

I worked in a few more steps till they dropped the barrier. The sight of a settlement built around the trees greeted me. A large wall was the most prominent feature, made with sturdy oak logs fortified further with plates of lumber squares. Slender brown-skinned folk hastily rolled up ladders of vine and logs as they saw my approach.

Past the wall I gazed at an impressive display of tree homes. Wooden walkways spiraled down the great looming oaks and also bridged between them. I saw wood and flora made homes in the hollows of the trees.

Whatever structures didn’t tower over the wall were obscured by it, I presumed. The illusion was accurate in that the trees were the same, only what the elves built around it was hidden. I hadn’t looked too hard, but overall I was admittedly impressed to be greeted by such a nature-adapted city.

Arrows flew at me. I was greeted by arrows too, it seemed.

It didn’t matter. I forgave their foolish, feeble attacks just as much as my body forgot them. Their tiny arrows were nothing, not even a tickle. My body pushed them out as it healed the few that managed to lightly pierce into my skin. There wasn’t a drop of blood.

No, that slight didn’t matter, so long as they were receptive to the offer I had for them.

“Let’s chat.”, I shouted.