The Forgotten Usque

That night Silas reflected on the days trek through the forest. He was impressed with Olivers resourcefulness. The young man had found game trails to make the journey easier and had pointed out plants such as devils club and stinging nettles to avoid touching. Strangely though, Oliver had continued to pick and collect the nettles after telling Silas not to touch them. Apparently they could be used to make tea and were nutritional. Silas tried to help, grabbing a plant by the stalk and yanking it from the ground. The result was an itchy rash on the hand.

"You can only touch the top of the leaves." Oliver had explained as he picked a fern. "The sori on the bottom of this fern should sooth the itching. Don't worry it won't get any worse then it is now and should be gone by tomorrow." The pollen from the fern really had helped.

Their camp consisted of a basic lean to, a fire pit, and a strange rack of sticks and leaves Oliver claimed he would use to preserve any meat he found. Oliver produced some flint and steel, giving it to Silas telling him to make a fire while he went hunting. Fire made, Silas sat on a mossy rock and relaxed.

A rustle of bushes announced Oliver returning, a deer slung across his back. "What if that was one of those talking deer?" Silas joked, then laughed as Oliver turned pale. "Don't worry. I doubt they even exist."

Silas was further impressed as Oliver continued to gut the dear and make a stew (he had some cooking utensils in his shoulder bag) with nettles, mushrooms, tubers, and blessedly some salt. The rest of the meat he smoked with the contraption he had made earlier.

"What a meal." Silas said patting his belly. "For that I'll take first watch."

"A watch??" Oliver complained. "Why do we need to keep watch?"

"Something seems a little eery about this forest...Don't you agree? Anyways, I have heard some strange stories about this place myself. Get some sleep. Tomorrow I will start teaching you to fight with the sword and spear."

Oliver agreed and crawled into the lean to, wrapping his cloak around himself. Returning to his rock Silas scanned the forest. It really was eery. Sticks cracked under the feet of animals unseen except, occasionally, their eyes, and strange birds hooted. The most disconcerting were the sounds that Silas could not identify. Silas stoked the fire.

"You should leave these forests today," said an antlered woman with cream-white hair, who approached the two practising warriors with a spear of her own held in one hand and a bow worn over her shoulder with a hanging quiver of arrows on her back.

"My people will not permit trespassers to go deeper into these forests. They are not for outsiders to explore; they are extremely dangerous lands neither of you could survive."

She held the tip of her spear out towards one of the many trunks nearby, where something had clearly torn away a chunk of the wood and left deep scratches in the nearby bark. It was one of those details that was surprisingly easy to miss if you didn't know to look for it. "A beast has passed through here recently. I'd say several days, due to the lack of freshness of the track. It could easily return here at any moment and you would not survive the attack, or if you're unlucky something worse could follow it and find you instead."

The woman shrugged her shoulders at Silas, not too fond of giving her own name out to strangers. "The fastest way south is to run south," she explained to him with a tone that held the tiniest hint of sarcasm. "Though good luck keeping up your sense of direction. To lose the sun is an easy thing in these trees, especially where they are thick and forest mists dampen your senses and cause you to lose your composure."

"Your best option is to go back the way you came and head south from there, because no matter how competent a woodsman your companion is, it takes a lifetime of knowledge and experience to truly be at home here."

"Those plains? They are to the southwest and easy enough to find. Simply walk until you see mountains in the distance and trust that those plains and a river are between you," Anu told them, though didn't seem particularly pleased by Oliver's request.

"No, we are not neighbours. There are ten thousand creatures and more in this forest between my people and yours, with creatures and spirits alike living beneath it's canopy. The fact that most outsiders are blind to this is one of the many reasons we do not associate with them. This Medan might claim a portion of this forest as part of their 'Kingdom', but they hold no true power over it. Similarly, you might claim to know the Usque, but really you know little more than trees."

"If you wish to associate with me or my people, you must prove yourself to the spirits. Earn the respect of the woods before asking us favours and we will know you can be trusted."

((Whoops! That was my bad. I have no idea why I thought it was spoken, but I did so yeah let's omit that part. Oh and as for the location of The Free Plains, all the locations seems to be up in the air geography wise right now. Everyone has their own ideas about where things are and the only map we have right now is only of one Kingdom - but I know that more are being worked on to help paint a more complete picture and expand the world. So for now we can just go along with your suggestion for simplicity's sake ^_^))

Anu had only looked on in disapproval as they argued over who was lying to whom and for what reason, not moving from her spot until the loud, probably aggressive sound came from the bushes nearby and likely shocked them all into paying attention.

The woman immediately began to move towards one of the nearby trees, motioning silently to the other two so that they would know to copy her as she she used the shaft of her spear to push herself high enough to climb into the upper branches. She couldn't tell what the creature was but there were very few creatures that could both climb and make such loud noises, so she was rather confident in her plan.

Once considerably safer, she pressed her finger against her lips to signal absolute quiet. Perhaps it wasn't yet aware of their presence.

Anu stood upon her high branch and proudly held her spear out, pointed directly at the huge bear-like beast. She took in a deep breath to fuel a strong, commanding voice and then released it with all her fury. "Do you not know who I am, creature? I am The Antlered Queen of the Tuatha De Nalma, Guardian of these forested lands from the eastern unknowns to the heart of Medan! Calling upon ancient rites and pacts of non-aggression between my people and the spirits and animals of this forest, I order you to stand down on behalf of my father, King Vaalen, and all of his people!"

She took the spear in both hands then and held it threateningly, with one leg held slightly back as though preparing to spring into a deadly lunge. "If you do not comply, your life will be forfeit. If not by the hand of me or my associates, then the very forest itself will hunt you down."

Though not truly a Queen, Anu had never bothered to correct outsiders who thought her one. The Antlered Queen was a character in a legend from long ago, who people from the areas surrounding the forests now believed Anu to be due to her remarkable similarity and actions. Some even believed her to be a minor deity or spirit who looked over the forest as mediator. In reality, she was daughter of the Tuatha tribe and next in line to lead it - at which time she would become a true antlered queen.

"No. I know that for a bear of your size any wound he could inflict upon you would be minor at best. Conflict will just breed more conflict. If you kill him, then his family will come here with torches and take their revenge upon your own - with others getting harmed in the way. Before long, the creatures of this forest will be at war with the men from outside it and the Tuatha de Nalma do not want to fight with Medan. You have your victory here, take it as it is worth and return to your home. If you are hurt, I will dress your wound and provide a healing paste."

"Hold on there!" Silas interjected. "I'm turning back! Adventures through magic forests are exciting, but this isn't what I signed up for. I've got plans and ambitions that can't be acomplished in the wilderness." Oliver looked slightly disheartened at this. "Sorry kid, I'll probably head back to Medan and find my way to these Free Plains."

"What will you do Oliver?" Silas asked. "I can find my way back to the decrepit road on my own. Your moss trick should suffice. I enjoyed traveling with you...but you are a bit young for the mercenary line of work."

"I think I will continue. Though a guide would be nice. Would you guide me after I shot you, miss...uhh... Ursa? Um what's your name?" Oliver asked sheepishly.

"Not a name in any language you could pronounce. Ursa will do well enough. Perhaps my maternal instincts misguide me, but yes, I will guide you as long as you foolishly wish to stay in these woods. I could not abandon a cub to the fates that await the ignorent." Ursa presented her leg to Oliver so that he could remove the arrow. Gently the boy pulled it out and replaced it in his quiver. He pulled an ointment and cloth from his satchle and proceeded to dress and bind the wound. "No use dwadeling. Pack your things and we are off."

Oliver scrambled to pack half the dried meat, waved good by to Silas, then followed the bear into the forest. "Well that was a..." Silas trailed off. The antlered lady really didn't seem interested in conversation. He collected the rest of the meat and his few belongings then proceeded north.