Dealings With Deities

Chapter 7 - Questions and answers

There was a tense silence as two allies had just become foes. To Goras the second he asked to talk it was as if the air had gotten colder and the campfire noticeably dimmer.

"Put down the stick." Kaiho said calmly.

Looking down Goras realised he had gotten into a defensive stance and was gripping the staff tightly.

He did not remember standing up.

"I..Im sorry human I did not realise."

Goras tried to put down the staff but every instinct in his body was telling him to keep it up, to block the hit, to run. Kaiho hadn't moved from his sitting position, there was no reason for Goras to be in a defensive stance but still, it felt like Kaiho was standing in front of him, attacking rapidly like the warm sting of the fire between them.

Goras watched him put his rectangle away. Shinko's musical dream stopped, causing her to stir until she found comfort on Kaiho's backpack on her other side.

"I am not a species, I am a person, my name is Kaiho."

"Yes ... Kaiho. I am sorry. You have my apologies."

The air grew warmer and the fire brighter, Goras's instincts quietened down as the pressure lowered but he still felt like running was a good idea.

"That is better, it is a pleasure to meet you Goras. Now please sit down. We are going to talk as equals and I'd rather not stand up."

Sitting down, the pressure Goras felt was lifted. He was no longer looking at a foe but once again, a friend. After a short silence, Goras mustered up the courage to talk.

"What you said, about making it to the settlement tomorrow. Is that true?"

this is what he was so tense about? "Yes, that's true."

Leaning forward, Goras could not discern any sign of lying on Kaiho's face. "How?"

"Just use the high roads." Duh

"The what? There is only one road in this great forest and it is nowhere near us or the settlement. Where is this high road?"

Places with magic in the air, such as old cities and ancient forests like this one. Are covered in shortcuts, hidden pathways and locational loops that, if travelled correctly can cut a week's worth of travelling into a few minutes. If you do not know the pathways you are more likely to go backwards and end up where you started. It's the most common reason people who get lost seem to go past the same landmarks continuously. Where Kaiho was from using these paths is called walking the high road or traversing close to the spirit world.

Anywhere can have these paths and anything can be the cause, from walking under a root instead of over to walking backwards and jumping into puddles. The only place where these shortcuts do not normally exist is in wide open spaces

Thinking this over Kaiho came to a conclusion. The fact they do not know this means one of two things, they truly do not know how to find the shortcuts, or this isn't their forest.

"It's best you ask the owners of the forest that question."

Goras's expression wavered as if caught trying to steal important information.

Gotcha "And who are the owners by the way?"

"This forest is the dominion of the Delian guardianship, they are wood-elves." Seeing Kaiho's questioning glance he added. "Please do not be suspicious of us, we are on good terms with our woodland brothers."

"Good enough terms to send an army through their land?"

Once again he was caught off guard "Well uh. They were for the priestesses protection."

This time it was Kaiho's expression that wavered as a smile crept across his face. "Haha, and a fat load of good they did didn't they."

Goras was hurt, these were his sworn battle-brothers, some were the elites of the elven army and his close friends. If he wasn't correct about how uselessly they died Goras would have stood up, battling his instincts to strike Kaiho right then. Instead, he could only look sad remembering the ones he had lost.

Seeing this Kaiho took on a gentler tone. "Now, I'm assuming there is more you want to know. So let's talk and trade, we can start small." He stated plainly, thinking to himself This is a good opportunity to learn about the world.

"Eh?"

The conversation continued, starting off cold and slow but with Kaiho's guiding test questions it reached a steady pace, less and less like the investigation Goras intended it to be. The atmosphere was finally made friendly when Gora's was introduced to a warm drink that Kaiho called 'acuppa t', it reminded him of the exotic drinks from the deserts.

At Kaiho's insistence, each question answered meant the one who answered was allowed to ask one in return. An 'Even trade' of questions. Goras's questions were simple and the answer was not always important. What mattered was if Kaiho was lying or not.

"is Kaiho really your name?"

"No, but it's used enough to be one."

Kaiho answered Goras's questions truthfully but vaguely, answering the question without giving out any new information. When Goras asked why he was in the forest he gave a vague but technically true reply that he was merely passing through and 'got a little lost'.

To Goras, Kaiho's questions were remarkably simple, almost stupid even. Basic directions to towns, which settlement is ruled by what nation and curiously how many types of elves are there. When Gora's listed the many races and distinctions within them, Kaiho just smiled and nodded, jotting something into his rectangle.

On the topic of the races, Gora's remembered something that piqued his curiosity. "When we met you called high elvish 'plain elf'. I have never heard of them before, who are these 'plain' elves?"

*pfft* He pursed his lips to hold back a laugh. "No no, plain elf as in elven common, not elves of the plains. It's a trade language, a balanced mix of simple words from the more common languages."

"A trade language, like that of the merchants? That explains why your choice of words is a little ... off."

Although it is a trade language that all elves could understand, the pronunciation of words differed between the various races. Experienced merchants could tell which race taught you the language and master merchants could even tell who your teacher was, all based on how you said your greeting.

To Goras, Kaiho's speech was like a mix of Wood and Sea elf and the human's gruff way of speaking butchered the smooth elven words ever so slightly. Because of this most elves would hear Kaiho's accent as that of a high-class pirate.

"Does this mean you can speak more than one elven language?"

"Uh uh, one question each." Lifting the cup to his face, Kaiho found it to be empty and tilting the empty flask over it did nothing to resolve this issue. Great, another thing to add to the shopping list "It is getting late, I'll keep watch tonight. You rest and heal your injuries."

Letting out a long exhausted yawn, Goras couldn't deny the fact he would not make for a good lookout tonight. "Very well, just one last question if I may. The priestess seems to like you quite a bit Kaiho. What is it you intend to do once we reach the town and pay our debts?"

"I don't know"

There are many things I intend to do, get a good following, a place to live, deal with that stupid kidnapping goddess. But right now I'm still on holiday so I want to explore and relax.

"Go for a walk I Guess."

With an understanding nod from Goras, Kaiho stood up and left the light of the campfire starting his watch.