We talked for a little while about a few less consequential things, and then I brought up the topic once more. “Dinelind, would you mind showing us to your settlement? If you’ll teach us the way to the mountains, we’ll do what we can for you.”
“‘Dine’ will do.” She brushed her blonde hair back with her fingers — it was still untied from her run-in with the hydra — and did it back up to around neck length. “That’s more than I could have wished for,” she said, and nodded.
“Thank you.”
We held a course through the wetland down a narrow branch of the river for a while. Around the time the sun started to set, the forest came into view.
But it wasn’t the kind of beautiful forest that Ghelreis had talked about. It had a strong aura of death, like a patient stricken with a terminal disease near the end of his days. The branches of the trees were creepily discolored all over. From their weakly drooping branches hung leaves that were already brown and half-withered.
Following the current, we rowed the boat into the forest. Although the haze was very thin, I could feel toxicity in it, and all around, I could sense the bloodlust of viciously brutal lifeforms. Everyone frowned. Although we’d expected it, the forest was clearly not in a normal state.
From the tiller, Reystov muttered his mind. “This looks awful.”
“Yes, that’s because it is.” Dine admitted it freely. “The forest is completely corrupted and shrinks every year as if it’s necrotizing. The animals here are all crazed monsters. It’s surrounded by mist and marshland, and we have no idea which way we’d have to go to contact any other groups large enough to matter.
And to top it off, the mountain which is our only landmark is a den of demons and a dragon.”
No sooner had she murmured the word “dragon” than its roar echoed once more from the west. Strange birds screeched and flew, and I thought I sensed the forest’s monstrous animals cowering in fear.
“And what’s worse, the dragon’s been like that recently. Some of us even said this might be the end.”
“This… doesn’t look like just the effects of a Taboo Word.”
“Yes. It’s the foul-dragon’s miasma.”
“The foul-dragon?”
The dragon was in the mountains. How could it—
“The tunnels that the dwarves ran underground.”
Al and Ghelreis grimaced when they heard that response.
“For good and bad, we elves of Lothdor and the dwarves of the Iron Country were neighbors. There were a lot of paths between us both above and below ground. So after the Iron Country fell, the miasma of the dragon lying in its ruins flowed through the tunnels to every part of the forest, and it continues to do so today.”
“That’s…”
“Mm…”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t mean to imply anything against you dwarves or anything like that. I was just explaining the facts of the current situation, that’s all.” Dine waved her hand candidly and continued. “The fairies’ boon is weakened around here, and the water, air, and food have all absorbed the poison.
The longer we live, the more the poison builds up inside us. Many here are bedridden and unable to move at this point. The beauty of Lothdor is a thing of the distant past. We don’t intend to accept our destruction or lose our pride, but even so, right now, this place is a dead man walking.”
The boat continued forward. A few fences came into view, then houses. They were dirty, dingy, battered, chalk houses. A few elves shambled out to look at the unfamiliar boat.
“We never expected heroes to come from the outside to slay the foul-dragon.
I feel like I’m dreaming.” Those words that Dine quietly uttered sounded full of all kinds of emotions.
How many people had died of illness already before we even arrived? How many had been driven by the shrinking forest and dwindling food supplies to go out in search of contact with the outside world on a journey from which they would never return? There must have been people who knew her among them. If explorers had found this place earlier, before the foul-dragon problem materialized, would there have been people that could have been saved?
As I entertained those foolish thoughts, Dine walked to the bow of the boat with graceful movements that made her seem almost weightless and spun on her heel to face us. “Welcome to Lothdor.” She had the palm of her right hand placed over her heart, one leg slightly pulled back, and her head bowed. It was an old style of greeting. “We extend our warmest welcome to you, heroes.” Her expression blossomed into a broad smile.
For the next while, things became very busy.
Deciding that Dine had explained the situation well enough now, I requested to be allowed to heal the gravely ill. The leaders of this elven settlement seemed to be unsure whether it was a good idea to expose the most vulnerable among them to strangers who had arrived out of nowhere. I bowed my head earnestly and pleaded to be allowed to heal them.
One of the elder elves with pure-white hair and an old scar noticed our weapons and armor. Through a bout of terrible coughing, he said, “If warriors with kit like this are pleading with us, we should not force them to shame themselves.”
“Let me cure your cough,” I said.
“Wait.” He coughed again. “There are those who need it far more than I—”
“I’ll cure you all.” It was only a matter of who would come first. I intended to cure every elf I laid eyes on.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Healing through benediction is a considerable drain on your concentration and vitality. You can’t heal person after—”
“One or two hundred won’t be a problem.”
“Hundred?!” All the elves who were assembled here, including Dine, stared their eyes out at me.
“I can heal you all, and I will.” I prayed as I spoke. I lowered my eyes slightly, concentrated intently, and asked for the assistance of the god of the flame. The next moment, a dim light glowed, and the elder’s cough was gone. It was over in a few seconds. There was a small commotion among some of the elves; others were speechless.
I could attain a state of deep prayer in the span of a single breath. I’d reached that level naturally through being taught by Mary and praying every day. Merely being blessed with the power of miracles wouldn’t be enough to allow a priest to survive in the thick of battle if they hadn’t mastered this through training.
“Please gather everyone with serious symptoms. Those who can’t be brought here, I will go to visit one by one.” I looked around at everyone. “Don’t worry,”
I said, and placed my hand over my heart. “I’ll heal you all, on the flame of Gracefeel.”
The elves nodded at each other, quickly splitting the task among them. Then they all rushed off to separate parts of the settlement.
By the time I was fully done healing everyone in the community, the sun had long since set. I stood by the river of foul water at the outskirts of the village and exhaled deeply. I could hear the sound of music coming faintly from the village.
Even those in critical condition, debilitated on their death beds with paralyzed limbs, had gotten up one after another. They cried tears of joy when their arms and legs started to work again, and hugged people with no regard for whether they were friends, acquaintances, or strangers.
Everyone was cheering, and from there it was only natural for food and drinks and instruments to be brought out. Soon, a party started. Everyone was all over me as the guest of honor, and I was forced to drink cup after cup of fruit wine. The elves were very interested in talking to Ghelreis and Al. Even Reystov quietly joined in on the drinking. As for Menel, he was dragged around by Dine, who was completely drunk, and they danced in front of the campfire. Whatever kind of dance that had been, he hadn’t looked used to it.