The Hero of Brookshire

Chapter Fourteen

"Rise and shine," said Ewyn as he stood over Amere still asleep in bed.

Amere began slowly opening his eyes. He could faintly see the outline silhouette of Ewyn's body. He let out a loud yawn before stretching out his arms.

"I'm up, I'm up," he said frantically, still groggy.

Being awoken by Ewyn reminded Amere of Utorg. Both men shared in common the tendency to stand over Amere as he slept before waking him up. The thought was calming to Amere. Despite it being just an observation made between the two men, it reminded him of a happy memory he shared with Utorg.

"You didn't think I'd let you sleep the day away, did you?"

"No, I didn't. I just thought maybe I'd get the chance to sleep in a little now that I'm not apart of Greigut's bandit gang."

"We've got a lot of work to do. Do you remember?"

"I think so. Exploring a cave deep in the Hisarii Forest that Elorathorn mentioned, right?"

"Correct."

"See? I did remember. I don't easily forget things."

"Before I woke you up, I went and spoke to Elorathorn."

"Really? About what?"

"He gave me a little more information about the cave we're looking for. He says that he believes that the cave is hidden deep within the Hisarii Forest."

"How does he know this? He hasn't set foot outside of the village, right?"

"Ordinarily, he wouldn't if he were an outsider ignorant to the layout of the forest, but he's the tribe leader and a Re'el elf that has lived in the Hisarii Forest for a very long time. He knows that there are caves deep within the forest."

"Then what is keeping him and the rest of the tribe of elves from journeying into the forest?"

"The tribe's hunters keep vanishing whenever they go too deep in the forest to hunt so Elorathorn has stopped sending them out. Instead, he's restricted his tribe of elves from journeying off too far into the forest."

"What does he think is causing his tribe's hunters to vanish?" asked Amere.

"That's a good question. Elorathorn doesn't know what it is specifically, but he does know that it's some kind of evil in the forest."

"Then now is a perfect time to investigate."

"I agree, and that's what we're going to do today. Our goal is to find out what is taking the tribe's elven hunters."

Amere jumped quickly out of bed. He could feel the adrenaline running through his body. The feeling was a welcomed one. It was time for another adventure. The kind he longed for that he hadn't felt since his days with Utorg in the Red Skull Marauders.

In Amere's mind, nothing was going to get in Ewyn and his way. Together, they would find the source of the elves' problem and solve it. In order to gain an alliance with them as Elorathorn promised, they had to.

"Well, if you have no more questions, then I suggest we get a move on," said Ewyn.

Amere nodded his head before Ewyn and him proceeded to leave the inn they were staying in.

The two men journeyed out of the Re'el village and ventured deep into the Hisarii Forest. There were large trees that were scattered around the area. The hollow trees stood still not daring to move and let a leaf fall out of place. They were like statues.