Hymn of Elys

Chapter Seven

They were on the edge of the forest. It looked like something from a story book to Alice, the branches full and lush, the trunks of the trees were thick and covered a furry moss. The lower branches of the trees swept low, close to the small trail that lead inside the wood. Sunlight streaked through breaks in the trees, but the forest was mostly dim since the large amount of leaves hid the forest from the sun. She could hear the hum of cicadas.

It took Alice's breath away.

Lysbeth and Max gave her a moment, as though they knew how overwhelming this was for her. "It still amazes even me." Max said, his mouth twisted into a wry smile.

"It almost reminds me of back home, back in South Carolina," Alice smiled brightly, fondly reminiscing of hiking through the woods with her foster family and of afternoon picnics in the park. "My family always spent a lot of time outside."

"That sounds lovely," Lysbeth replied, but it didn't quite sound authentic. Her voice had the quality like she didn't know what to say, or didn't have any experiences like that. "We don't have much daylight left, so we better get this hunt on the road!"

"We don't?" she asked as she followed the other two into Dolcet Forest. "How can you tell?"

Max swept a branch out of the way for the two of them, allowing them to pass by before he lowered it back into place. The branch creaked as it fell back into place. "If you look at the menu, it tells you the in-game time."

"Or, if you want a realistic experience, you can tell by the positioning of the sun." Lysbeth's tone was slightly condescending as she looked at Max, as if they had had this conversation many times before and he had yet to heed her advice.

"Time in Elys passes by quickly. The hours are accelerated, compared to the real world." Max stepped over a mud puddle, helping Lysbeth pass by it with a hand on her arm.

Alice jumped over it, wincing as the mud splashed over her sandals. Grace had never come to her naturally, that she could admit; and the feeling of mud in her shoes was gross.

Inside of the woods, birds sang from their perches in the branches overhead. The air was filled with a light humidity that the area outside hadn't. Somehow, Dolcet forest seemed as if it was separate from the town and the field just outside of it's full forests.

"How do we know where the den is?" she asked, sweeping her gaze over to Max and Lysbeth.

Max shrugged, his long strides crushing the flora on the ground as he waded through weeds the height of his calves. "We explore until we find what we're looking for."

Lysbeth's disappointment with him was almost palpable as she shook her head. To Alice, she tried to explain a bit more. "The memory jewel gives you a vicinity that the quest is in, using the divine's power. After that, people use their tracking skills to acquire their targets. It's innovative." She placed heavy emphasis on that as she glanced back at Max, as if this was another aspect they differed on, in relation to the game. "You get used to it after a little while."

Alice nodded, trying not to slip on a muddy patch of grass. It looked as if a rain storm had passed by within the last day, and the foliage of the trees had kept it from drying. Although Lysbeth was wearing high-heels, Alice seemed to be the only one having trouble keeping her footing. "There has to be an easier way to travel...," she grumbled to herself.

"Well, in a dense forest, what do you expect?" Max asked, his tone slightly patronizing. He sounded like a father chastising his child.

Something in the wet mud caused him to pause, and he started to kneel closer to the ground. "We should be closing in on the den now."