ZE - Chapter 46: The Zlorian Forest

Disclaimer:

“Dialogue”

 ‘Thoughts’

 -Author notes-

Chapter 46: The Zlorian Forest

After a three-hour journey, the group caught a glimpse of the familiar forest.

Normally, this would have taken just slightly over an hour by mount.

But Zephyr was having a bit of trouble getting the giant lizard to listen to him.

Instead, it tended to change direction at seemingly random times, making him waste a lot of effort to correct the direction.

“Finally…we made it…” Seth was feeling a bit dizzy after the long ride.

“It's not my fault, he won't listen to me!” Zephyr complained while pointing at his mount.

“It's a she,” Tolfin corrected him. “All zarlas mounts are female. The males are too wild and impossible to turn into mounts.”

“Even wilder than thi- ouch!”

[You have been poisoned]

“She bit my finger!” Zephyr shouted.

“That's because she doesn't respect you, Zephyr. You need to impose your authority, make her listen to you,” Tolfin advised.

“Wait, they gave me some antidote for that.” Seth pulled a small bottle from his bag. “Here, just take a small sip.”

“Blegh!” Zephyr almost vomited when the disgustingly tasting liquid went in his mouth.

[Your status has returned to normal]

“At least it works fast…” He said.

“Are we going to go through the forest while riding the zarlas?” Seth asked. He never heard of a mount that could travel through such terrain.

“Of course, this is why we brought them. These creatures are very agile and strong. Traveling in a forest will be no problem,” Tolfin assured them.

“What about this enemy tribe that you warned us about?” Zephyr wanted to know more about what to expect in there.

“The Forest Walkers, yes. They attack anyone who enters their forest. They use a very cowardly style of combat…. they hide among the trees and use their bows to shoot at us. Their arrows are coated with all sorts of toxins. Even one scratch and you are in trouble,” Tolfin said.

“Have you faced them yourself before?” Seth asked.

“A couple of times, yes. I have lost a few good warriors to their arrows, and even I was close to dying once,” Tolfin admitted.

‘Even someone as strong as Tolfin was close to being killed by them…’ Zephyr became slightly worried after hearing that. But it's not like they had an alternative route.

According to Tolfin, the other options are much worse.

“Advance with caution and keep an eye on the trees,” Tolfin warned them.

Both Seth and Zephyr nodded, and they then ventured into the forest.

In the past, this was just a small group of trees located north of Zloria Castle that couldn't even be called a forest, it was more like a grove.

It was meant to be used exclusively for the royal family, so no one else was allowed entrance.

But now, the small grove had grown enough to cover the entire Kingdom.

“It's extremely dense, even at the entrance,” Seth noted. The only forest he knew was the one north of his village. This one had a much older feeling.

Tolfin held his massive axe in hand and used it to chop away the shrubbery, roots, and other things that got in their way.

The natural inhabitants of this forest traveled mostly by jumping over the trees, so there were no paths or roads at the ground level.

“How long will it take us to cross this forest?” Zephyr decided to ask.

“At least a week. If we don't run into trouble,” answered Tolfin.

“A week?! That long just to cross a forest?” Seth exclaimed.

“It's not just the distance.” He chopped away another large branch. “It's very difficult to advance due to all the obstacles.”

“He is right, without a proper path, we can only move very slowly,” said Zephyr.

“Once we reach the middle part of the forest, we will find a river. It will get easier to travel there,” said Tolfin.

Seth looked around the trees. “But if we move at such a slow pace, won't we be an easy target for those Forest Walkers?”

“That's the idea… the forest itself is also one of their weapons. This is what made them so hard to deal with…” Tolfin huffed.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

They continued to move at a slow pace, with Tolfin going as vanguard and Zephyr following close behind.

After a few hours, they didn't seem to have made much progress as everything looked the same.

The trees were so close to each other that their canopies touched, forming a ceiling made of leaves.

This ceiling would block most of the sunlight, allowing just a tiny part to pass and create a dimly lit environment, which just added another layer of difficulty to traveling through the forest.

Zephyr was glad that Tolfin had stopped them from entering this place by themselves.

Who knows what could have happened to him and Seth if they had gone in, tired and with no supplies.

‘Nothing good, that's for sure… could the old lady have dreamt about such an outcome?... and that is why she sent Tolfin to look for us.’ Zephyr thought.

The concept of dreams about the future and using them to change one's fate was all very strange to him.