Slowly she climbed the gentle slope until she came to the entrance of the structure. It was designed to heighten its defenses, with much of its outer walls following the mountain’s edge higher than any Mathosian, Elf or Dwarf could reach. Anneleigh peered towards one of the guarded openings, only to find more structure. “A labyrinth, or simple maze?” she wondered of the entrance way.
Unwilling to give up, Anneleigh approached the entrance and appraised the guards. Two large satyrs and a faerie paced the opening. Anneleigh took a stone from the ground and threw it towards the hedgerow beyond the guards. As she hoped, the noise caught the attention of one of the satyr and the trio left their post to investigate. Seizing the opportunity, Anneleigh made her way inside the first entrance. It was not a labyrinth or maze, but simply an entrance wall designed to prevent outsiders from looking directly into the encampment.
Anneleigh’s breath caught in her chest as she walked into the Palisade. The professor said it had sprung up over night, yet this place looked as if it had stood on this spot for generations. The earthy ground was hard packed into well travelled pathways in many areas, but grass grew in others, suggesting protected gardens and untraveled avenues. Vines, saplings and leafy hedges were constructed, or grown, into tall walls, tent like structures and even ramps and over ways. Anneleigh cautiously made her way further into the palisade and found a large and twisted tree that grew close to the wall. Using the tree as cover, she took her dagger from her belt and began to dig at the ground beside the wall. After a few minutes, Anneleigh realized the roots grew too deep to allow a full sample. She began to cut into the root, attempting to cut free her sample. They were on her before she managed the final cut; two Aelfwar sorcerers and a soldier. They had approached her so quickly and silently that Anneleigh had not noticed their arrival. The soldier roughly pulled her to her feet by the arm.“We do not take kindly to strangers in our midst, especially one who so openly tries to injure the forest.” One of the sorcerers said. Her voice was surprisingly calm and smooth. “Take her to Rowan. He can decide what to do with her.”
The trio prodded her quickly along winding and splitting pathways, up and down the ramps made of vine and finally along a much steeper dirt ramp that led to an outcrop of the mountain. From the view out over Silverwood, she knew this must be the highest point in their compound. It held only two small cages, a camp fire and a larger structure that stood higher still on a vine made platform.
Before Anneleigh was able to understand much more of her surroundings, the soldier released he’s grip on her arm and shoved her forward into the nearer of the two cages.
“Should we go and disturb him, or just leave her here for him to find?” The soldier asked.
“Leave her.” said the older of the two sorcerers. Anneleigh felt sure this elf was the one in charge. “I wouldn’t want to disrupt whatever Rowan has going on. If you want to, be my guest. Just be sure to leave me out of it when you’re pleading y our case.”
The soldier shrugged and began to make his way down the pathway. Anneleigh was soon left alone to wonder what would happen next.
As she stared out of the cage bars, Anneleigh noticed she could look out over all of Silverwood. The view was breathtaking and, despite her fear, she took a moment to enjoy it. It was calming, looking at her home as a bird in flight might see it. She began to slow her breathing and find the level head she would need to survive whatever would come next. After she was sure she could recall that image whenever she needed a beautiful sight of home, she turned her to inspect her cage. She forced herself to put the threat of Marshal Rowan out of her mind. Her first concern had to be breaking free.They had removed her daggers from her belt. She could see them leaning against the mountain wall, out of her reach. Unable to cut the vines, Anneleigh looked over the cage interior to find the spot of least resistance. Almost at once she found an area where the larger vines were sparse. She began to pull at the thinner ones, trying to remove or break them with her fingers to enlarge one of the openings between the vines. Within a few minutes, she was able to widen the whole large enough to stretch her arm out. She reached forward, trying to catch the latch of the cage with her outstretched fingers. After a few attempts she forced herself to give up on this plan. The placement of her hole did not allow her to reach around to unfasten the catch on the cage.
She sat for a moment. She could try to recreate her attempt with a new opening closer to the door of the cage or she could try to make use of the hole she already created. The current hole would not allow her to unlock the prison, but it would allow her to easily reach the small fire.
She freed a long, sturdy vine from her forest shoes and stretched it over the fire. At once it caught fire. Slowly, Anneleigh pulled the burning vine into the cage and placed it against the spot where the cage door was fastened to the cage itself. The fires damage spread along the vine, but only along itself. The cage itself caught fire, burned and then extinguished, all without damage.
Anneleigh retreated to the back of her cage and watched as the vine turned to ash in the fire. The cage itself must be protected by the faetouched spells she could not understand. It was the only solution that made any sense. As Anneleigh came to this understanding, her heart sank. She could not cut away the vines, and now could not burn them away. Anneleigh shrunk back into the wall of her cage and curled her knees up to her chest as day turned to night. Though she refused to cry, or to sleep, the arms wrapped around her knees trembled with fear.
Anneleigh watched the moon rise over Silverwood. In years past, the moonlight would have given her direction in night hunts and comfort in a sleepless wood. This night, though she had looked forward to its soft, natural glow, she found it did nothing to comfort her; instead it cast angry shadows on the edges of the mountain.
Darker and darker the night became and still no one came to retrieve her from her cage for further punishment. After the moon past its center and Anneleigh had long ago used much of her energy in fear, she began to hear noises outside her cage. She remained still and tried to see what made the noises. The area around her catch seemed as still as always, yet the noises, a chattering of some sorts, continued.
After a few minutes her cage door swung open. Anneleigh remained at the back of her cage for a few moments, looking out into the darkness, trying to sense a trap or further danger. She nearly hit her head on the low roof when a small, black squirrel poked its head around the doorframe. She looked at it, puzzled. The squirrel stared back, then left the doorway and moved to the edge of the outcrop. When Anneleigh did not move, the squirrel returned to her, nudged its muzzle along her leg and then left the cage again. Twice more it did this strange action before Anneleigh began to feel impatience radiating from the small creature; which only confused her more.
She left the cage, scooped up her daggers, and followed the unusual squirrel further up the ramp. Towards the end, it took a sharp detour further up the mountain. Anneleigh watched and mimicked its movements and soon found she was climbing the steep rock face with ease. As they left the Palisade she began to understand. This squirrel understood they could not leave by conventional means.
The path the squirrel travelled soon levelled out and joined to a long forgotten dirt pathway. In following the path, they soon met with the stone roadway near Argent Glade.
Anneleigh scooped up the Unusual Squirrel and brought it to eye level. “I don’t know what is going on here, but I am grateful to you. If I can help you, ever, come find me.” Anneleigh returned the Squirrel to the ground and it scampered off into Argent Glade.
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