In Sylvan Shadows - Chapter Twenty

[kalinara]

So last time, Rufo came clean, Cadderly took the amulet, and they found their ritual location!



So we start out the chapter with Cadderly getting a telepathic call from Druzil. Cadderly ignores it though because he's doing ritual prep. Druzil is getting a little desperate, and Cadderly warns the others that their enemies are going to figure things out pretty soon.

Elbereth is nervous, we're told. Everyone will die if this fails, but Elbereth "stood to lose even more" as a failure here will prove that Shilmista's magic is doneso and his people are doomed.

Okay, for once I'm not going to bitch at him. There's a lot of pressure here. Cadderly seems pretty confident though, beginning the chant even as Danica warns about flames in the east.

Cadderly and Elbereth chant back and forth while the others go monster hunting. Ivan gets a funny little "What's an Elbereth?" moment, but Danica's too humorless to appreciate it. Meh.

-

We scene shift to Shayleigh, Galladel and company as a host of orcs chase them. It's a trap though - Tintagel's illusions at work. It goes very well.

Galladel seems to do well for himself, though there's a line about Shayleigh not looking back to him for instruction which seems unnecessary. It's the chaos of battle after all.

And just to emphasize Galladel's role in the story:

"We eight shall stay together,” the elf king said sternly. “The fight will come in full, and if Elbereth’s attempt does not awaken the trees, our course will be whichever way is quickest from Shilmista’s bloody boughs.”

The other riders could tell by Galladel’s grim tone that their king did not hold out much hope for his son’s attempt. And at that dark time, with the forest thick with monsters and smoke, cries of battle erupting from every direction, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of enemy soldiers moving to surround them, not one of Galladel’s cavalry companions could muster the courage to dispute the king’s fears.

We get it, he's a doubting thomas.

--

We switch back to the others. Cadderly and Elbereth continue to chant. Something's definitely happening - Elbereth is slipping out of the trance, even as Cadderly drops his book. Cadderly somehow knows intuitively that he won't need it anymore.

We get some peanut gallery puzzlement from Rufo and the Dwarves and then:

Cadderly blocked them all from his mind. He rushed over to Elbereth and grabbed the elf prince’s hands, tearing one’s stubborn grasp from Elbereth’s sword hilt.

“Teague immen syldritch fae,” the young scholar said firmly. Whether it was his tone or his grave expression, he could not tell, but he knew then that he had gained Elbereth’s full attention, that by his demands, Elbereth had put the closing battle back out of his thoughts. Elbereth took up the chant, and Cadderly continued, keeping a few words ahead of the mesmerized elf.

I mean, Elbereth's an ass, but I could read their interaction as pigtail pulling, I'm just saying.

Anyway.

There's more chanting, by memory now, even though neither one have seen the book enough to have memorized it. This is divine magic shit now. They stop chanting eventually and nearly keel over.

Elbereth thinks it didn't work, but Cadderly notices the absence of birds. He asks them if they can "feel it" and indeed, soon they can.

And then...

Behind Kierkan Rufo, the earth trembled. The angular man spun about to see a gigantic root tear up through the ground. There came a rustle as the branches of a huge oak began to shake, and the sound increased, multiplied, as several other trees joined in.

That's pretty fucking awesome. One of the trees comes toward them and Elbereth shouts an explanation:

All fear had left the elf prince. He jumped out in front of Rufo and cried, “I am Elbereth, son of Galladel, son of Gil-Telleman, son of Dellanil Quil’quien! War has come to Shilmista, a great force not seen since the days of my father’s father’s father! Thus I have summoned you, guardians of Shilmista, to march beside me and cleanse this, our home!”

Ivan even compliments the speech. Aw.

Rufo gets his own little moment, initially doubting his place, but then realizing the trees aren't going to harm him. He ends up climbing an oak as high as he can. Good for him.

Cadderly and Danica hold back, Cadderly warns that Dorigen wants him as a prisoner and knows where they were going. They slip into a shadowy hollow to wait.

--

And the chapter finishes with us getting to see the trees at work, swarming orgos and causing a great deal of havoc. It's pretty satisfying indeed!

Comments

[multi_facets]

Took a few cues from the Ents, eh? I like that.

[kalinara]

It is pretty cool. No complaints. :-D

[kudzumac]

This is why Treants are fun to use- they are big, and no one could expect them to even be in a forest.