Simone tilted her head at Mercedes in confusion. Sulphur? What was that?

  The smaller elf glanced around; the lumpy hills with rough granite boulders punching through the thin topsoil was not her territory. Simone's territory was vast plains of waist-high grass, gently rolling hills, and a wide, sweeping sky unbroken by trees. The lithe elf had no idea where she was, following only the directions that Vitalen had given her.

  That was a struggle. Simone had no desire to be in this unfamiliar land, in unfamiliar surroundings, with a complete stranger that Simone didn't fully trust. Mercedes was an enigma. Despite Simone learning Mercedes’ language, and somehow inadvertently touching the other elf's memories, she couldn't reconcile the extreme differences between the taller elf and herself.

  Simone was of the “People of the Plains”, a loosely affiliated collection of tribes of elf that lived semi-nomadic lives in the vast seas of grass. Far to the east of the plains were the People of the Sea, elves that had left the plains generations before to subsist on the bounties of the sea.

  Despite the fact that the People of the Sea lived in stone homes and built towns similar to what Simone had seen in the mind of Mercedes, they lived in a way that was comprehensible to their cousins of the plains, and honored the spirits in their own way.

  The People of the Forest, mysterious and enigmatic, shared a similar lifestyle with the People of the Plains. Simone's own mother Alteima was descended from the People of the Forest. They all lived in ways that were comprehensible and relatable to Simone.

  Mercedes, however, was completely and categorically different. She lived a life that held no commonalities with Simone. Mercedes was a soldier. What was a soldier? Someone that had been trained to intentionally bring harm to someone else? What sort of place did Mercedes live, where that was necessary?

  Simone existed in a society where war was unknown. Conflict and disagreement existed, but violence and murder were almost unknown. In a society that was focused on cooperative survival in a land populated with difficult weather and dangerous predators, people were raised with not only personal accountability, but also a deep-seated understanding of their necessary roles and value within the group.

  Simone eyed the armored crusader. That armor, all metal, was meant to protect her from the weapons of other people.

  She shook her head a little. Incomprehensible.

  Mercedes glanced at the enigmatic elf, but then her gaze focused past the smaller elf, noticing something that seemed out of place.

  “What's that?” She pointed, startling the smaller elf, who turned to look where Mercedes pointed.

  A stone, cylindrical, lay on its side on the ground, covered in moss. It stood out from the other boulders and stones with how regular it was. To Mercedes, who had grown up in a temple, it looked like part of a pillar.

  Simone walked over to the stone lightly, and ran her hand over the visibly carved surfaces. “This was made.” she observed curiously, and then, rising, spotted another. She trotted over and knelt to investigate it. “These were made by the hands of man.”

  Mercedes approached them warily; ruins in Degan were dangerous places. “How else were they made?” She replied irritably.

  Simone glanced at Mercedes and rolled her eyes. “There are things in this world that aren't people.”

  “Spirits, again?” Mercedes asked curiously.

  Simone nodded, ignoring the notes of skepticism in Mercedes’ voice. “There are places that are sacred to them. So sacred, it is forbidden for others to enter unless expressly invited.” the smaller elf paused. “Even then, there is usually a price to pay.”

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  Simone spotted something, and pointed between several trees. Mercedes followed Simone’s gaze, and spotted a stone arch supported by more pillars further in.

  She glanced to Simone, who shrugged and nodded.

  Even ruined, torn down by wind and rain and trees and creeping vines, there was a certain majesty to the ruins. Carved stone pillars marched in rows towards a mound of rubble, presumably a collapsed building of some sort.

  The ground was leveled out and paved with large flat blocks of stone, their edges seeded with plants that slowly and inexorably tore them apart.

  “What sort of place was this?” Mercedes asked curiously as she prodded a stone bench that was wrapped in ivy with the tip of her sword.

  “I don’t know.” was Simone’s disinterested reply. “I live much further south, and the mysteries of the forest are unknown to me. Perhaps this was made by the People of the Forest at some point.”

  “Aren’t you curious?” Mercedes asked.

  Simone shook her head. “Not really,” was the indifferent reply, followed by a question, “why did you ask, ‘What are you?’ Shouldn’t it be obvious?”

  Mercedes gave the smaller elf a baffled look.

  Simone frowned in thought. It seemed as though Mercedes was a lot like Ash was. It was strange, seeing an elf behaving like a human.

  Simone spread her thin arms, wiry with corded muscle, and tapped her chest. “My clothes.” She stated, directing attention to the designs. “These patterns say which tribe I’m from.” She indicated the rows of patterned triangles and then to the spirals. “This is who and what I am,” she explained. “Even if you were a long way off, you would see these marks and know who and what I am.” Simone’s head tilted to the side. “How do you not understand this?” She asked.

  Mercedes was first going to object, because her people obviously didn’t have such a thing, but just as she was about to open her mouth, her blue cloak fluttered a little in the stirring breeze that drifted fitfully in this strange place.

  All Brothers and Sisters of the Church wore the telltale blue cloaks. She let out a sigh.

  “I’m not of the Plains, Simone.” She decided to reply. “I don’t know what they mean. The people I live with have different symbols.”

  Simone’s head tilted to the side, and she shook her head. Another difference between them.

  Suddenly a chill raced up the smaller elf’s spine, and goosebumps prickled the skin. Simone turned her head, even as she hefted the spear she absently held in her hand.

  She strained her ears, even as Mercedes gave Simone a guarded look- did the taller elf suspect her of something?- but she couldn’t hear anything.

  The import struck her a heartbeat later, dumping icy-hot adrenaline into her veins. She couldn’t hear anything. The world had fallen silent.

  The forest was thin because the topsoil was sparse, the trees spread out because they leached every available nutrient for themselves, preventing other plants from growing too close. Parasitic plants, ferns, and shrubs clustered the trunks as rocky knuckles of implacable granite thrust through the ground in irregular intervals, obscuring visibility.

  Simone’s eyes darted from bush, to boulder, to lichen-spotted pillar, even as she strained her ears for the slightest noise. She wasn’t aware that she’d turned away from Mercedes as she cautiously probed the surroundings with her senses, nor was the smaller elf aware that she’d lowered her stance, spreading her feet, or readied the long and densely carved spear.

  Mercedes’ armor clinked as the taller elf stood, her chainmail tinkling musically.

  “Is something wrong, Simone?” She asked warily.

  “You’re making too much noise.” Simone hissed irritably.

  “I can’t hear anything.” Mercedes replied unselfconsciously.

  Simone rolled her eyes, and just then, she caught a subtle movement by one of the trees. She turned away slightly, presenting her profile to the shadow that moved, lowering the spear. A predator was stalking them.

  Turning the body to the side makes it more difficult for a threat to go for the throat or the vulnerable belly while still allowing for maximum power with a spear thrust, also allowing for rapid changes in direction. Simone had faced down hunting cats and the occasional wolf pack that had left the forests to stalk the plains; as a hunter, often alone, it wasn’t just necessary to learn how to face predators, it was life or death.

  The sudden grit of pulverized stone was immediately followed by the ringing steel of Mercedes’ sword being drawn.

  “Wolves!” Mercedes announced.

  Simone would have liked to turn to face the new threat, but the shadow among the trees was moving towards them. An errant shaft of sunlight filtering down through the trees revealed the biggest wolf Simone had ever seen. Mercedes would have to fend for herself.