Author's Preface
The ship finally docked in Elyndor, the home of the elves. Thalendor was their capital, the place where Nyx told Ryan to head. Ryan stepped off the ship and immediately stopped. Pale stone buildings lined the harbor, their walls covered in vines that seemed to grow deliberately around windows and doors. Elves filled the streets between the docks and markets. Some had pale skin and golden hair, others gray skin and darker features like Nyx.
"So many elves, normal ones, even the dark elves. Why is everything in my comics wrong? I thought dark elves hated other elves?" Ryan shook his head. He headed to a nearby stall where an elf woman stood beneath a sign that read Information. Her clothes were tattered, with dirt and grime covering both her clothes and face. "Excuse me, young lady," Ryan said as he approached.
"Young lady? Oh, you're adorable. Honey, I am one hundred and seventeen years old, but what can I do for you?"
Ryan asked her a few questions about the god of Elyndor, how to get to the capital, the type of monsters and dungeons he may encounter, and if it was safe to travel alone.
"It's never safe to travel alone, hun. At least it's not recommended. There are beasts in the forest on the way to Thalendor. It is a three-to-five-day walk from here, depending on how quickly you move. As for our god, Sylvara is who watches over all elves."
"How much would it cost for me to join a caravan headed to the capital?" Ryan asked.
"A few gold coins in your human currency. Really depends on how much the caravan leader thinks they can swindle out of you."
Ryan opened up the pouch his parents gave him. He frowned and looked back up at the elf. He tossed her two bronze coins. "Thanks for the information." The elf took the coins and ran off screaming, "Brother! We can get some bread today!"
"Seems they have commoners here too. Wonderful, I hope noble elves aren't like they are in the novels back home."
Ryan spent the next hour going from caravan to caravan, asking the price of a trip to Thalendor. Each caravan leader did exactly as that woman said they would.
"10 gold coins."
"8 gold coins."
5 gold coins was the cheapest he had heard the entire time. Eventually, he stopped asking. He found himself a map of the kingdom and decided to take the trek to the capital on foot, by himself.
"Three-to-five-day hump is nothing. Especially without a rifle and a rucksack. I'll definitely make it in three." Ryan smiled and headed toward the north side of the port city and the main road that would take him to the capital.
Ryan spent the next two days following the main road. He jogged most of the way. When the road entered a forest, he slowed to a snail's pace. His eyes darted left and right, up and down. He took in every sound, every slight movement in the woods. Every blade of grass that moved unnaturally. "Fucking PTSD carries over too, huh?" Ryan continued to walk through a dense forest. Trees as tall as the eye could see, dense long grass filled in the space. Each blade was 2 feet tall. Insects of different colors crawled along the grass and the floor. Strange birds flew through the air chirping away. Small creatures cut through the grass. The sun barely had room to scrape through the canopy to light his way. As night fell, Ryan found a hole in one of the trees. He squeezed his way into the hole. "It's not comfortable, but it's safe." Ryan summoned two of his tendrils to cover the hole up as he closed his eyes to rest for the night.
The sun rose in the sky. Sunlight squeezed through the tendrils and into Ryan's eyes. He opened his eyes and yawned. He recalled his tendrils, poked his head out of the hole in the tree, and glanced left and right. He saw nothing. Finally, he crawled out. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he stretched his body as wide as he could. "Feels good to be young again. Even in that weird position, I slept like a baby." Ryan reached down and pulled some jerky out of his bag that his mother made him. He started gnawing on it as he headed north toward Thalendor. Ryan eventually noticed it. A few miles ahead, just past the forest and located on a huge hill, sat the capital city. The tallest buildings could just barely be seen. "Holy shit, three days. I knew it." Ryan kept walking, his mind relaxed. His right hand was now running through the blades of grass as he walked. For a moment, the forest went dead silent. Ryan stopped and looked around. "Man, for a beast-packed forest, it sure has been quiet."
Ryan's hands immediately covered his mouth. "Fuck... I said it, didn't I? The boys would give me so much shit for saying that." Ryan instantly turned and scanned the area. Behind him, the tall grass started to move unnaturally. Then two small green goblins walked out of the grass into the road and stared at Ryan. "Of fucking course, me and my big damn mouth." Ryan took a deep breath. "Okay, they are tiny, but there might be more than two." Ryan looked behind him. He realized there was only about a quarter of a mile of forest left. Past that, it was a giant open field. He bent down and picked up a rock and threw it at the goblins. It hit one in the head. Both goblins took off toward Ryan. He turned and sprinted toward the clearing, smiling and laughing as he did. He turned his head to see if the goblins were still chasing, and they were. "Fast little fuckers."
Ryan reached the clearing and stopped. As he turned, the goblins also reached the clearing. "Okay, only looks like two of them. Good, I can handle that." The goblins stared at Ryan. One raised a hand in the air. Ryan immediately summoned his tendrils from their shadows. Both goblins turned their heads back and watched as the tendrils slammed down over and over again onto their skulls. Ryan walked slowly over toward the goblins. One was still breathing. Ryan grabbed the knife he bought and slowly stuck it into the goblin's throat, ending its life. Before anything else could happen, Ryan heard it.
DING
[System initializing...]
"What the fuck is this?"