Chapter Three: Erebus

We're introduced to our third protagonist, and amnesiac Dark-Elf named Erebus.

Chapter Three: Erebus

Erebus awoke in the middle of a clearing in a leafy forest. He sat up and looked around. He had no idea how he had gotten here. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember much of anything. Digging into the deepest recesses of his mind, he struggled to piece together any shred of memory of could. He knew his name, Erebus Alva’Koli, he knew he was a Dark-Elf from the Tenebrous Expanse, a series of tunnels built into the mountains leading down towards their center, expanding into what was almost another world. The Tenebrous Expanse was home of the Dark-Elves and several other creatures that rarely saw light. Though he could remember the Expanse, he could not recall where in it he lived, or who his family was. And for the life of him, he couldn’t remember how he got into this blasted forest.

He stood and brushed the dirt off of his leather leggings. He was surrounded by trees. Proper, leafy trees. Not the ghastly dead looking fauna of the Tenebrous Expanse, so clearly he was on the surface world. He walked around the forest until he located a dirt road covered in hoofprints. Clearly if he followed this road he would come to some sort of civilization. He began to follow the road, knowing not where it would take him. Erebus watched the silver moon glisten above his head as walked down the road. It seemed familiar, like it should hold some importance to him, but he couldn’t figure out why. Its familiarity sat in the back of his head, frustrating him like an itch he was unable to scratch.

After walking for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably just minutes, he stopped. He felt a presence watching him from the trees. He scanned the dark forest easily, his eyes accustomed to functioning in the dark. He spotted a deer standing in the bushes, watching him intently. Suddenly, something came over Erebus. He closed his eyes and extended his mind, searching for the presence of the deer’s consciousness. There! He felt it. His mind reached out until finally he grasped that of the deer’s. Initially the deer resisted, but calmed down after coaxing from Erebus.

I mean you no harm. I’m a druid. A druid. He realized this as he said it, he must have been trained in the ways of nature magic at some point earlier in his life because his head was filled with the knowledge of many spells, some clearer than others. His memory loss was strange, it seemed almost selective. He could remember certain places and faces, but couldn’t recall any names or events that went with them. It was like a puzzle, but he had lost some of the pieces. I need your help please.

He felt fear disappear from the mind of the deer. How can I assist you?

I don’t know where I am. I can’t seem to remember much of anything, Erebus explained.

I don’t know what this forest is called in your tongue, but there is a small village of humans not far from here. Travel down the road about ten miles, you’ll pass through it. A small wagon carrying supplies traveled down this road a little bit ago. You might catch them to ask for more information, the deer explained.

Thank you. You have aided me much, Erebus thanked the deer and let go of his connection with its mind. He turned towards the road and began running, hoping to catch up with the wagon the animal had mentioned. As he ran, he noticed the sounds of the forest more clearly than anything else. The rustling of the leaves, the snoring of the diurnal animals at rest, a brook babbling somewhere nearby. He felt at home in the forest, even though he had no recollection of how he had gotten here.

Eventually, his eyes saw the wagon in the distance. To normal eyes the wagon would still be invisible, shrouded by the dark of night, but Erebus was a Dark-Elf, so his eyes cut through the night without difficulty. As he grew closer to the wagon he could see that it was a modest thing, about ten feet long and six feet across. One human sat at the front of the wagon driving the two horses that pulled it, with his back turned towards Erebus. A second man was sleeping in the back of the wagon amidst the various crates and burlap sacks of supplies. This struck Erebus as odd. Most traders would camp for the night and allow their horses to rest, not take turns driving through the dark. Either they were close enough to the village that it didn't make sense to camp in the woods for the night, or they were on the run.

“Hello,” Erebus called out to the man driving the wagon. “I am in need of some assistance.”

The man turned, his hand over his eyes, indicating that he was searching for where the voice came from. “Alright then, who’s there? Show yourself!” The man’s eyes didn’t work well in the darkness.

“I seem to have lost my way out here in these woods, and my head is awful fuzzy, I can’t seem to remember much of anything,” Erebus explained, but his words were cut off by the man’s sudden shouts.

“You! You’re the Dark-Elf! Tommy wake up, it’s the Dark-Elf, he found us!”

The second man, the one sleeping in the wagon woke with a start, eyes wide with fear. “Get us out of here! Drive!” The second man yelled.

The driver whipped the reins, spurring the horses into action. They took off, pulling the wagon with them. Erebus sighed. This was not going well. He raised his hands in front of him and closed his eyes, focusing hard. He could feel the energy flowing through him and out into the surrounding vegetation. Concentrating, he willed the plants to obey him. Suddenly, thick green vines erupted from the ground and the trees, wrapping themselves around the wagon wheels forcing it to stop moving. The horses stopped running soon after, realizing that the wagon wouldn’t budge.

“H-hey now, what’s going on?” The sleeping man, Tommy, stammered.

“All I need is for you to answer some of my questions,” Erebus said evenly. “If you cooperate, I’ll let you go.”

Then, out of nowhere, the man driving the wagon grabbed the bow on the seat beside him, spun around, and loosed an arrow in Erebus’ direction. The action caught Erebus by surprise, leaving him no time to try and evade the attack. The arrow smacked into Erebus’ right shoulder and he let out a small cry, a mixture of alarm and pain. He could feel his own warm blood begin to gently ooze from his new wound. Erebus was frustrated now. Renewing his concentration, he willed two of the vines to wrap themselves around the man who had shot him. One vine wrapped around his chest, the other around his legs. The man was lifted from the wagon and held suspended a few feet in front of Erebus.

The Dark-Elf walked towards the man, who was whimpering now, and drew his scimitar from the sheath on his belt, albeit awkwardly. The sword felt strange in his left hand, but it wouldn’t be of much use in his right at the moment. Not until he took care of this bloody arrow. Erebus gently touched the point of his sword to the center of the man’s slightly pudgy belly. He could see genuine fear in the man’s eyes. Erebus didn’t really want to kill the poor sap, but if he wanted to procure some real answers from Tommy, the other man, he would need to make a point. “You should have answered my questions,” Erebus said, and with that, he drove his sword through the man’s midsection, a spray of blood erupting from his back. The vines released their hold, dropping the limp, bleeding body to the forest floor.

Erebus turned towards Tommy. He pointed his scimitar at the man who was huddled against the supply crates on the wagon. “Start talking. You acted like you know who I am. Why? Where am I?”

Tommy answered, eyes locked on the bloody instrument that had taken his partner’s life just moments before. “Alby and I, we took you here and dropped you in this clearing. The man, he payed us real well, said he needed you far away. I don’t know who he is though, I swear it! He didn’t tell us a whole lot either, just what we needed to know. Which wasn’t much. Just that you were going to be sleeping and that we should dispose of you wherever we saw fit.”

Erebus mulled over the information in his head. “This man, what did he look like?”

"He was tall, it was hard to see his face though, he wore a hood the whole time. He had a long beard, I’m fairly certain. Silver, if memory serves me right.”

Erebus cursed internally. The man didn’t sound at all familiar. He hadn’t expected anything different, but hoped the description might at least spark some feeling of recognition. His memory loss was proving to be a hassle.

“Where did you meet this man?” Erebus asked.

“Ebongulch. It’s a small village on the western edge of the Evereach Forest,” Tommy explained. None of the names sounded familiar to Erebus.

“Where are we now?” The Dark-Elf inquired.

“The eastern edge of the Evereach, a few miles outside of Barkleaf.” Another town Erebus could not remember.

“Do you have a map with you?” Erebus asked.

“Yes I do,” Tommy said, his voice still containing a note of fear.

“I need it. Give it to me,” Erebus said.

Tommy shot Erebus an indignant look. “You can’t have my map, I need it to navigate the forest! The Evereach is damn near impossible to navigate! Even with a map, I’d get lost in a matter of minutes without it.”

“And you’ll be dead if you don’t give it to me,” Erebus replied matter-of-factly.

Tommy swallowed audibly. Then, straightening himself in an attempt to look threatening, he said, “No. I’m not scared of you. Your element of surprise is gone. You don’t look so tough.”

“If you do not give me your map, I will kill you and take it from your cold, lifeless hands,” Erebus said, repeating his earlier threat.

Tommy stepped off of the wagon and drew a silver knife from his belt, pointing it at Erebus. “I said, I’m not scared of you.”

Erebus raised his scimitar, still feeling slightly off balance in his left hand, and jumped at Tommy, bringing his sword down in an arcing overhead blow. Tommy managed to step back out of the way of the attack and deflect Erebus’ sword with the edge of his knife. Before Tommy could retaliate, Erebus spun, lashing out at Tommy who scrambled to parry the attack. When their weapons clashed, Erebus used the superior momentum of his larger blade to push Tommy off balance. Then, Erebus extended his right arm in front of him. His shoulder seared with pain, but he ignored it. A thick tendril of flame extended from Erebus’ fingertips, reaching towards Tommy. The fire grabbed at his clothes, setting them alight. Then suddenly Tommy was swallowed by the vicious flames, his screams of pain echoing through the forest. Erebus stepped towards the burning man and ran his scimitar through his chest. When Tommy’s body crumpled, lifeless, to the forest floor, Erebus waved his hand dismissing the flames before any of the vegetation could ignite.

Erebus heard a nervous whinny from the horses drawing Tommy and Alby’s wagon. Scared of the bright flames and loud screams, they began trot off. Erebus quickly reached out with his mind attempting to soothe the creatures. It took some persuading, but eventually he managed to convince the horses that they were in no danger. Walking towards the horses, he raised his scimitar and brought it down in a large arc, detaching their reigns from the wagon. The horses whinnied their appreciation and cantered off into the forest, seeming to know where they were headed.

Erebus then turned his attention towards the arrow jutting out of his right shoulder. He gripped the oak shaft of the arrow with his left fist. Then, gritting his teeth, he ripped the arrow free of his arm, causing the recently staunched flow of blood to begin again. He ripped a section of fabric off of the bottom of his leather jerkin and wrapped it around his wound, creating a makeshift bandage.

Next, Erebus climbed into the wagon. He began rummaging through the various crates and burlap sacks, sorting through food, textiles, and goods of other varieties. Where was the map? He crawled into the seat where Alby, the wagon driver, was sitting earlier. A quiver of arrows sat on the seat to Erebus’ right. Underneath it, he spotted a wrinkled piece of parchment. He picked it up and unfolded it gingerly. On it, a sketch of the surrounding area was scrawled on the parchment. Dots on the paper indicated cities and towns, their names scribbled underneath them. The Evereach Forest stretched east to west across almost the entire map. He found the dot labeled ‘Barkleaf’. He traced his finger west an inch or two, locating his approximate location. Next, he found ‘Ebongulch’. He had found his destination.

Erebus could feel the drain in energy his magic had cost him, so he decided to rest for a little while and set out for Ebongulch in the morning. Stepping off of the road, he found a place to sit and meditate for a few hours while he regained his strength before the next day.