The War of the Wold

By Clinton A. Seeber

Months after waking up in a hospital after being found passed out in a dumpster, having awaken from his "dream" about the land of Talmora, the lovely Trena Treelimb and the dark god Samhain Sharmat and his evil bride, Sharmane the Darkstar, Jacob Hope has quit playing guitar for the heavy metal band "Jaded" and entered a country-like drug rehab facility in his hometown of Redwood City, California. But he suddenly one spring night finds that he is being called to the world of Eradus and the realm of Talmora once more. He is reunited with Trena Treelimb and Melek at Redwood in Wildingwood Forest not only to find out that the she-elf that he loves is now a queen but also has an heir. For twenty years had gone by in Eradus since he last he was there. But he has little time to absorb the shock of that news as he and Prince Ruel Hope Treelimb must go on an urgent quest. Zarah the Werj now rules the kingdom of Tar Indra and is the de facto Overlord of the Five Kingdoms of the Werjs. He plans on bringing a vast army to conquer Redwood and force Queen Trena Treelimb to marry him. It will be up to the heir and the otherworldly bard to find out what the source of Overlord Zarah's powers of black magic is, how to destroy it and then to seek and snuff out the source of the power before it is too late!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clinton A. Seeber
• Release date: Aug 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310792038

Clinton A. Seeber

I am a mystery. I am an enigma. Currently, I am like unto an evanescent wisp of vapor. What exactly am I? I have not yet become what I shall be. Only time will tell.

Book preview

The War of the Wold

The Slayer Series Book Two

by Clinton A. Seeber

Jacob Slayer Hope’s new quest to save Redwood

from the Werjs

Published by Clinton A. Seeber at Smashwords

Copyright 2014-2016 by Clinton A. Seeber. All Rights

Reserved

Dedication:

This novel is dedicated to my wonderful dog and friend, Gravy, who passed away at eight years of age just after Christmas 2015. He worked his way into somewhat of a starring role in the second half of this story after his passing. I had always wanted to write him into one of my stories, but never thought that I would be doing that this soon in memory of him. Nonetheless, I have turned tragedy into inspiration, and I think that this story is much better for his presence in it.

These are the only two photographs that I ever had taken of me and him together. They are from circa late 2009. He was a Great Dane Mix. There are 45 photographs of him in my book, Gravy the Wonderful Dog Picture Book, available in e-book format for free at the same sites where you can find my other e-books. An 8.5 by 11 full-color trade paperback edition is also available through limited and select sites at a low price.

Acknowledgements:

I want to acknowledge authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Donaldson and Roger Zelazny whose works I read as a teen and a young man who made me realize early on that I too wanted to be an epic fantasy writer someday. I also want to pay tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, and why not Homer as well? Hey, I had to reach way, way back for at least one. I also want to give a special shout out to Brian G. Burke and also to Candace Morales, WC Quick, Linda M. Crate, Candace Bowser a.k.a. Hargrove Perth, C. Craig Coleman and Mara Powers. If you have never checked out any of these authors’ works, please do so. And, as always, thanks to all of my friends and family. Of course I would be remiss if I did not also include myself - Clinton A. Seeber Wordsmith. LOL!

These are three of the heroes of The War of the Wold. Can you guess who they are? I bet you can!

Doll Divine

Azalea’s Dolls

Table of Contents:

Chapter One: Called Again

Chapter Two: Reunion In Redwood

Chapter Three: Hope Beyond Hope

Chapter Four: White Flame and Blue Flame

Chapter Five: One’s Hope is Another’s Bane

Chapter Six: Many Sweet and Not So Sweet Farewells

Chapter Seven: Arch Mage of Imiril Downs

Chapter Eight: Jump in the Fire

Chapter Nine: White Oaks

Chapter Ten: Green Not So Haven

Chapter Eleven: Madeline’s Merry Homecoming

Chapter Twelve: The Wonder of Whitewall

Chapter Thirteen: King of Knights

Chapter Fourteen: A Dusty Godforsaken Path

Chapter Fifteen: The War of the Wold

Chapter Sixteen: Gravy and the Silver Moon

Chapter Seventeen: Bogs and Smog

Chapter Eighteen: Toil and Trouble

Chapter Nineteen: Onward

Chapter Twenty: Unforgiven

Chapter Twenty-One: Well Come to the Jungle

Chapter Twenty-Two: Vixens and Vipers

Chapter Twenty-Three: Arise and Shine

Chapter Twenty-Four: She Rides

Chapter Twenty-Five: Supplanter In Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Six: Ranger Ravine

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Pan-Tor

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Fatal Fate

Chapter One: Called Again

Jacob Hope, he had walked outside for a cigarette. He was dressed in his favorite outfit: his Slayer t-shirt with the letters written in red and the yellow five-pointed star beneath it over black polyester, tight fitting and dark blue jeans and his black combat boots. As always, he had the old, wooden-hilted hunting knife that he had received from his several years departed maternal grandfather sheathed at his right hip. His body was slim and lean, his complexion ruddy, and his five foot eight inch stature not exactly short, but unassuming for a man.

Jacob stood on the crisp green lawn of the white and wide three-story house on a clear and clean northern California night 'neath a glimmering and soft white full moon and many scores of sparkling white stars. He lit his cigarette, and as he took a drag from it, exhaling the white, puffy smoke into the black night sky, he fancied that the plethora of shining white stars that he turned his head above to were his very ancestors looking down upon him - smiling.

Placing his cigarette pack and his lighter on the lawn beside him, Jacob sat down cross-legged on the grass as he continued his cigarette smoking and star watching. It was a relaxing and peaceful evening in rural northern California. He was thinking now of that crazy autumn night in early November nearly five months ago when he had woken up in the hospital the ensuing afternoon after passing out next to a dumpster in a parking lot after feeding his heroin craving. He had nothing on him other than the clothes he had been wearing and his treasured old knife.

Jacob Hope had soon after quit the heavy metal cover band that he had been a guitarist in, Jaded was their name, and he sought rehabilitation. That is what had led him to where he was at now. This was actually a halfway house and rehab facility. With financial help from family, he had been able to move himself from his nearby town of Redwood City, California to this highly rated facility in the country. He was beginning to get his life together a little bit he felt- he had not used any drugs or alcohol in the three plus months that he had been housed here.

He remembered now more than anything else the dream he had while he was out of it. He remembered finding himself to suddenly be standing on the edge of a forest in a strange world and somekind of voice telling him to proceed to within that wooded land; that had been a voice too splendid to be human or mortal. Upon entering that forest that he later learned bore the name of Wildingwood, he was attacked by a pack of black wolf-like creatures that were nearly as large as bears. That would have been the death of him, but he was saved by a beautiful she-elf riding upon a humongous white eagle. That beautiful elf woman, he learned, was named Trena Treelimb, and she nursed him back to health over the next few days. That is what he remembered the most- that beautiful elf woman whom he had loved.

As it turned out, the sacred life-tree of Wildingwood Forest, the Elder Tree, had been poisoned, and he was believed by the elves of that forest, the Redwood Elves, to be the foretold of hero known as Slayer whose destiny it was to save the Elder Tree, and thus, the whole great land known as Talmora. It turned out to be a long and far-searching quest to do so. He met many companions along the way; several of them had died before it was all over. But the one person he remembered more keenly than all of the others except for lovely Trena was the gigantic and chillingly mysterious wizard-druid called Melek. The memories of that enigmatic and eldritch-like being still made him shudder with awe.

In the end, he would have to defeat the shape-shifting and ancient witch, Sharmane the Darkstar, bride of the dark god, Samhain Sharmat. He would have to do it using his old hunting knife, which turned out to be a weapon of great power named Evilbane. But he had believed that he was most likely just having a drug-induced dream the whole time, and when he finally faced the ancient witch in her lair, he realized that he could not defeat her without first believing that the world he found himself in was real and that he really was Slayer. He was able to make himself believe those things for long enough to slay her, but now he was not so sure again; that world seemed so far behind and distant now.

As Jacob was lost in this haze of thought and emotion, something suddenly pulled him back into the here and now. Some creature small and fast streaked out across the lawn several yards in front of him and came to an abrupt halt directly within his line of forward vision. The creature turned its head and gazed toward him; it was a large white hare with great ears pointing up toward the night sky and gleaming copper eyes. After being sure that it had caught Jacob Hope's attention, the hare turned and hopped out toward the red dirt road. The hare paused at the edge of the lawn and turned its head back toward Jacob; the copper eyes twinkled at him in a way as if urging him to follow.

Forgetting his lighter and cigarettes there on the lawn, and not even having his wallet or cellphone on him, Jacob Hope sprung up and began to chase the hare across the dirt road. Although he was in somewhat better physical shape than he had been a few months ago, and though he had been taking better care of himself since entering rehab, having just celebrated his thirty-third birthday less than two weeks ago on the fifteenth of March, he still wore a thick and curly bush of brown hair upon his head, and he still had that wild-looking and tangled beard and mustache upon his face that, while it was thick, did not grow long.

Jacob ran across the dirt road after the speedy hare to the lawn across the road. The hare halted again just in front of the forest of redwood trees that began about fifty yards from the other side of the road that Jacob had just crossed, eying him and waiting. The hare waited until Jacob was only several feet behind him, then he submerged into the forest; Jacob followed.

Am I Alice? Jacob wondered, Am I about to take the trip to Wonderland? he completed that thought as he ran through a wide trail amongst the three hundred feet-tall, gnarled and red-barked giants. The hare now slowed enough to make sure that Jacob did not stay far behind him, but the large trail was easy enough to follow. After jogging after the hare for nearly a mile and several minutes time, Jacob finally found himself halting in a circular glade in the forest of redwoods that was a good thirty yards in diameter. He was breathing laboriously, and his ribs were aching. That is where the white hare had stopped at the center, facing Jacob Hope with its copper eyes reflecting upon him in anticipation.

Jacob slowly breathed in the fresh and fragrant springtime scent of the forest as he strolled languidly over to the white hare. The soft white full moon seemed to hang immensely overhead, directly above the glade, high in the sky, and he came to a halt just inches in front of the hare.

Well come and well met, Jacob Hope; the hare began to speak in a voice that was kind of zany and cartoonish, almost comical, I have journeyed from afar to bring you back to the land that you once saved.

Uh-huh! Well just don't call me Alice. Jacob Hope replied in his voice that was naturally snarky and somehow diffident at the same time.

Well anyway, Alice... pardon, I meant Jacob... I am the messenger of the Creator; I am come to bring you once again to the world of Eradus and the land of Talmora. You have been called upon to thwart evil once more.

Um... yes... what a splendid messenger the Creator has chosen. Look everyone, I'm talking to a jackrabbit!

And I'm talking to a jackass; the hare enjoyed the stunned look on Jacob Hope's face, I'm not a jackrabbit; I'm a hare. And there isn't anyone else around to hear us.

Look! the hare continued to speak to a befuddled Jacob Hope, Things would really go much smoother if you would just settle down and try to cooperate.

"Yeah, well, it's kind of hard to take you seriously, being as that you're a rabbit - excuse me - a hare... and with that voice."

If you're quite through, would you lay down on the grass so that I can cause sleep to come over you and send you to Eradus?

Whatever you say, Peter Cottontail.

The white hare sighed: This is getting tiresome. Would you just do it?

Okay, okay, sure; I am laying down. Jacob quickly laid upon his back, See?

That's better. the hare said, then began to whisper, Why did I have to deal with him?

Jacob Hope saw a purple haze come over his eyes as he was looking up at the full California moon, and then all was void.

Chapter Two: Reunion In Redwood

Jacob Hope opened his eyes; he couldn't tell if he were asleep for only a brief moment or a very long time. He took in some more of that beautiful and natural springtime scent of the redwood forest. The moon still hung high above him, though it somehow looked more silvery now; the bright white stars were still out in droves. He slowly and languidly got up on his feet and stretched out with a yawn. It appeared as though he were in the same glade in the same redwood forest in northern California, and the white hare was gone. It seemed that the attempt to bring him back to Talmora had failed, and so he decided to walk back down the trail to his current home. He really wanted a cigarette now, and he remembered that he had left his pack of cigarettes and lighter on the lawn outside of the house; he would walk quickly now.

Jacob Hope knew that something was amiss as soon as he stepped out onto the trail; it now appeared to be a winding red dirt trail with the boughs of the redwood trees often interlocking overhead in canopy fashion. He did not recall it being like this on his way here. He had barely caught a glimpse of the person walking ahead of him on the trail before turning out of sight where the trail winded, but it looked to be a male that was quite short, barely five feet tall if even that. He had seemed to be wearing a dark-red wool cloak with the cowl let down, and his ears had seemed to be so large and tall as to be nearly inhuman. Could it be?

Excuse me! Jacob Hope hollered out as he chased after the man.

Trena Treelimb, the tall and fair Redwood Elf, sat on the comfy redwood bark chair cushioned in purple velvet in her splendid private-quarter room within the large redwood tree now known as Queen Home. The nearby large, round window, which had no type of pane or shutter, brought the soft touch of the gentle spring wind upon the delicate features of her smooth and dreamy, pale white face. She sat there dressed in a simple ankle-length robe of green cloth clasped at the collar with a shiny silver brooch shaped like the head of an eagle. The long legs of her lithe body were stretched out in front of the low chair of Redwood Elf design. She was widely known throughout Talmora as the Haught Sprite, which means Tall Elf in the old elven speech from Crystal Isle, the place where all elves originally came from; had she been human, she would still have been considered tall (humans being generally much taller than the tiny folk of the wood).

Trena Treelimb, she sat there with the large and circular mechanical timekeeper wrought of gold in her right hand, the face open and the thin gold chain between the back of the golden device and the palm of her pale hand as her indescribably large and ocean blue eyes reflected back at herself while she watched the time tick away. Her thin, pencil-drawn looking eyebrows were furrowed with thought; her thick and healthy glossy black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and did not cover her exceedingly high-rising white ears. Tick-tock, tick-tock the sound came as she seemed to gaze afar off through the golden device in her hand.

You have been gazing at that thing for a long time, Trena Treelimb. a droning and chilling monotone voice spoke from nearby.

You know how much it means to me, Melek; Trena responded in her soft, kind female voice, it was given to me by Jacob Hope right before he left our world all that time ago.

The enigmatic and gigantic man stood not many feet away from where Trena Treelimb was seated, wrapped in a thick and dark-grey traveling cloak, his face completely masked in shadow within the cowl. In his left hand he held a tall staff of black oak entwined coilingly around a long rod of pure platinum; at the top was carved out of the black oak a huge serpent's head with two green emerald eyes and four silver fangs within its open mouth; in between the four fangs was a little crystal orb two inches in diameter. Melek was a little more than seven feet-tall, and he had to bow his head slightly in order to be able to stand up within the rooms that the Redwood Elves delved within the towering red giants of the forest; black leather gloves concealed his hands, and black leather traveling boots housed his huge feet. Though his staff were taller than almost any Redwood Elf would be standing up, Trena Treelimb being one of the exceptions, the top of it did not reach his shoulder level and only came to somewhere on his breast.

You are sure that the time is now that he will return here? Trena asked, her glossy eyes still staring at the timekeeper.

Yes, as the last of the Order of the Psion, and the keeper of the ancient secrets and the arts of the arcane, I can feel without fail when the time draws nigh that Slayer shall again be beckoned.

Trena Treelimb sighed wistfully.

Do not let your mind be distracted from the matter at hand. Melek continued, It is a very serious matter, and the fate of you, your people and indeed all of Talmora, even the empire itself, hangs in the balance.

I know. Trena Treelimb said, finally shutting the golden timekeeper with a click and tucking it away within her robe.

But do you know what is strange, Melek? she continued, now facing Melek in front of her, After Jacob defeated Sharmane the Darkstar and then faded back into his own world as we met you upon the mountaintop, you rode with me upon Wind Eye to Stonekeep before vanishing almost immediately. You were then not seen or heard from for twenty years; there were no tales of you being seen by anyone throughout all of Talmora. Then, just the other day, you pop up here in Redwood acting as if no time at all had passed, yet much time did pass. What were you doing in solitude for all of that time?

Resting. came the short reply.

For twenty years? Trena Treelimb's voice bordered on disbelief.

Yes, great lady, I literally slept for right at twenty years, so drained was my power after the quest to save the life of the Elder Tree. Then I spent a few months searching for and seeing world events from afar while also studying the prophets and reading the words of those of my order from the past. Then, when I knew all that I could learn, I came straight away to you.

You have been sleeping for my entire life! laughed a smooth baritone voice that had an oddly musical-like quality to it from nearby.

The voice belonged to the third person in the room. Standing a little to the left of where Trena Treelimb sat was a tall person dressed in a forest-green hunting cloak with the cowl drawn back. Like a Redwood Elf, his frame was quite lithe and his ears very tall and high-rising, but he had thick and dark eyebrows naturally arching over his large and deep-set eyes of greenish-blue and a mass of curly and oak-brown hair upon his head. His nose was slender, his lips recessive, and he had apple-colored cheeks. Standing a spot on six feet-tall, he was an absolute giant amongst the Redwood Elves. His feet were shod in long, silver-grey fur boots.

Indeed I have been. Melek looked toward the elven man-lad, It was the longest sleep that I have ever taken, but I am very, very old, and my strength was tested more than it ever had been before.

Yet now you bring such evil tidings.

Such is the way of the world, young one.

Just then a knock came at the arched door at the opposite end of the room from where Trena Treelimb sat upon her chair near the window.

Enter! she intoned in an uncharacteristic-seeming voice of command.

The handleless, dark-red door was pushed open inwardly, and in walked two typically tiny Redwood Elf men with dark hair dressed in light-brown suits of fur armor and redwood spears having stone heads in hand. One came behind the other, and in between them walked a much taller human. After they entered the room, the three spread out side-by-side with Jacob Hope in the middle.

One of the guards was about to speak, but Trena Treelimb suddenly sprung up. Her long legs strode quickly across the floor, and her feet shod in snow-white fur boots trod in silence. Once she reached Jacob Hope, Trena Treelimb pressed her cheek warmly and tightly to his, stooping only very slightly as she cradled her long, lithe and white arms behind his neck. As tall as she was for a Redwood Elf, Trena Treelimb was not so tall as the very young one with the musical voice, and she was, in fact, only a half-inch taller than Jacob Hope.

That will be all, thank you. Trena Treelimb spoke to the two guards as she moved her head, tilting it nearly parallel to look one of them in the eyes.

You have finally been summoned again! Trena's baby blues shined at Jacob after the two guards had left the room and closed the door.

Well, it really hasn't been long, right? Only a few months?

My love, Trena laughed, it has been a bit more than twenty years.

After a quick kiss to his lips, Trena let Jacob go, and she stood back slightly from him. He now realized that time worked differently here than in his world. But, of course, Trena looked nearly exactly the same as she had before. While Jacob knew that Redwood Elves typically lived about twice as long as humans in Talmora, virtually not aging at all physically in two decades time seemed to be an amazing thing to him.

Trena Treelimb speaks truly. came that droning voice which gave Jacob new chills and brought back old memories, You left us last in the winter of the year twenty-one fifty of the Imperial Age in Talmora. It is now the spring of the year twenty-one seventy-one of that same age.

Trena Treelimb now side-stepped to her right so that Jacob Hope may see Melek.

Melek! Jacob breathed in awed ecstasy.

Welcome back, Jacob Hope. Melek uttered, lowering his cowl.

Melek was exactly as Jacob Hope remembered him. His skin was ghostly pale and white; the eyes and shoulder-length hair were darker than coals, and thick sideburns ran down the cheeks and jaws of that tremendous head.

Although his girth was not that great for someone so very tall, his shoulders were about the broadest ever seen, giving him a real air of immensity. He appeared no older at all than before, but Jacob knew that Melek was different from everyone else in Talmora; he was far older than everyone else, and he had quit aging in physical appearance at a certain point.

Much has changed since last you were here, Slayer, as I am sure that Queen Trena Treelimb of the Redwood Elves will attest to.

Queen! Jacob Hope was nigh on breathless as he gazed at his true love in wide-eyed wonder, But... Sinpul Wolfrunner!

Slain in the Five Day War of Stonekeep. Trena Treelimb said sadly, Following our Clan-Khan's death, the elders of the clans voted to restore the monarchy system of old instead of electing a new Clan-Khan. They did so with the thought of only one certain person ruling over them; thus I was setup as queen, and my descendants shall rule after me.

Jacob abruptly bowed on one knee before her.

Don't do that. she rolled her eyes at him, and he came back onto his feet just as suddenly.

Have you not married? How shall you have an heir?

I have not married, but I do have an heir. she said then nodded over toward the tall and ruddy-cheeked young fellow whom Jacob had not even taken notice of until then.

He is our son.

"Did you say our s...son?" Jacob choked as he gaped at the young elf-human in absolute astonishment.

It is so wonderful to finally meet you, father. the young man smiled warmly and sincerely.

He is nineteen years old now. Trena Treelimb beamed at a slack-jawed Jacob Hope, Meet Prince Ruel Hope Treelimb, heir to the throne of Redwood.

The bewildered Jacob Hope quickly did the math in his mind. Since he aged on the time scale of his own world, he was thirty-two when his son was born, and he was now just fourteen years older than him. At this rate, it wouldn't be much longer before his son was effectively older than himself. One more trip home and then back here again would certainly do it. Staggering!

Much as I loathe to disturb this pleasant little family reunion, there is much important news to be discussed. Melek said.

"Do you recall the name Zarah, Jacob?"

That gnome? The one that somehow sneaked into Stonekeep and tried to kill me?

That is the one. He is now the Overlord of Tar Indra, the most preeminent of the Five Kingdoms of the Werjs. He has in fact ruled for a full decade now, and he decided last year that Tar Indra and the other kingdoms of the gnomes had officially ceded from the Talmoric Empire. They have grown strong, and they no longer allow non-Werjs into their boundaries except as slaves. Nor do they pay tribute or custom to the Emperor of Talmora anymore, and neither do they obey imperial law.

Is that all?

No, Melek shook his head, I fear not. The human provinces of the empire closest to the boundaries of the Werjs now live under a yoke of fear and suppression. Though they have not risked open attack yet, they do not need to. The few skirmishes along the borders and the great aura of dark power emanating from Tar Indra is enough to keep the western provinces in fear and stasis.

I am sure that Zarah made some sort of personal pact with Samhain Sharmat somehow. He slayed the former Overlord of Tar Indra and established his reign of terror using a form of black magic so terrible that its power can rival even mine. Nothing like it has been seen or heard of since the days when Samhain Sharmat actually walked upon the surface of the land of Talmora.

Jacob Hope winced and shuddered.

Now he raises a vast army of the combined might of all five of the kingdoms to cross the Land's Heart River into the east and take the Queendom of Redwood. He does this so that the Elder Tree, and thus the power of all life in Talmora, will be in his hands, and so that he can capture Queen Trena Treelimb, forcing her to be his bride.

Jacob Hope's face was wrought with anger and fear now.

What is my part to play in all of this? he wondered.

That is not yet certain. On the second coming of Slayer the prophets are not so clear. Perhaps they, my elders of my order, could not theirselves see very clearly.

There was an awkward pause where everyone was deathly silent. Nothing could be heard other than their own suddenly loud breathing and the spring wind coming in through the window.

Only one clue did I find with definite direction- ‘Slayer when he comes must seek she of great Hope and great singing who dwells melancholic and wistfully, yet whimsically and winsomely, at the heart of Paradeisos Fields.'

I don't know what that means. Jacob Hope confessed diffidently.

Paradeisos Fields is the land directly east of Wildingwood Forest, a land where it is not just spring now, but always; for the seasons there change not. A land it is of greenest green and silver streams and many colorful growing things.

My guess is that there is a way to break this evil, dark arcane power that Zarah wields, a way to take it from him. I believe that the mysterious singing lady of Paradeisos Fields is the one that holds the information, or some sort of key, that can set you on the right path to achieve that breaking of Zarah's power.

So when do we set out? Jacob asked.

"We won't. Melek informed him, Trena Treelimb and I must remain here for now; we have plans to make and preparations to undertake that are very important and cannot be delayed."

But... how can I go alone? I'll get lost in the forest and never make it there! I'll die trying to journey through this world on my own!

You will not be alone, love. Trena Treelimb beamed reassuringly, Our son will accompany you along the way.

Jacob Hope looked with bewilderment in his eyes from Trena Treelimb to Ruel Hope Treelimb and back again.

This is going to be splendid, father! My first journey outside of Wildingwood Forest is also going to be my first journey with you. We shall get to know one another well.

You shall leave in the morning. Melek spoke mundanely.

Trena Treelimb gave Jacob Hope a kiss on the cheek, then a kiss on the neck to her son as she came near to them.

As mother and son spoke briefly, Jacob Hope now took survey of the room. He recognized it as the quarter-room once belonging to Sinpul Wolfrunner, about midway of the thirty or so levels delved into Queen Home. It was not so fancifully decorated as it had been then, though. Other than the large redwood-framed bed, with the tied down bundle straw mattress and a nearby redwood nightstand, there were just a few basic furnishings, including a large, round redwood table at the center of the room, stained and finished to perfection it was, with a large and green-tinged glass oil lamp burning upon the center. One corner of the room was cluttered with alchemical apparatuses and ingredients (fragrant they were). The only real decoration was the four insignia crests of the four noble clans of Redwood, one on each wall, a foot or so in diameter, carved of redwood and trimmed in broided silver. The leaved tree limb of Clan Treelimb, the elven archer chasing the wolf of Clan Wolfrunner, the leaping buck of Clan Deerskin and the bear's paw of Clan Bearclaw were all there.

Near the window was a fireless hearthkindler. Jacob remembered those. They were like fair-sized ovens atop four slender legs with an exhaust pipe at the top of one side. They served as heaters, lamps and ovens; they were made entirely of wood, but they would not burn up with fire inside them because they were specially treated with chemical potions and enchantments by the elven masters of woodlore. The hearthkindlers still fascinated Jacob Hope.

I am sure we can all use some rest. Ruel, tomorrow you shall have your father, but tonight he is mine. Trena Treelimb smiled seductively and winked at Jacob Hope; her eyelashes fluttered.

Early on the very morrow, Trena Treelimb took Jacob Hope on a leisurely walk with her through the Elfin Gardens of Redwood, a garden in a wide clearing near the southwestern edge of Redwood. They were bathed in streaming golden sunlight as they walked among tall green hedgerows nearly their own height; it was almost like a maze. Trena Treelimb warmly embraced Jacob Hope's hand in her own as they strode along languidly, basking in the glory. Amongst the flowering bushes grew roses red and all of the other colors of the rainbow. As beautiful virgins they blossomed in the warm golden rays of their sire. Amongst the spacious turf walkways between the hedgerows of the gardens, there were intermittently spaced, stalk-like sunflower plants towering to heights of seven to ten feet tall. Only about half of these giants of flowering plants had blossoms of the traditional golden-yellow. Many others grew placid pink or shimmering silver, and they were as large as Jacob's face. It made Jacob think of good old blotter paper Pink Sunshine from back in the day. It was possible that perhaps no scent were more strongly or naturally heavenly than the pollen-nectar fragrance of the Elfin Gardens of Redwood.

I planted these gardens almost as soon as I became queen in honor of my friend and teacher, Mercy Hearthealer. Trena told Jacob.

Is she still alive?

No. Trena Treelimb sighed sadly, She passed less than one year ago. Lived for nearly two hundred years did she.

Later that morning, they had walked back toward Queen Home and awaited Ruel Hope Treelimb near the Elder Tree. As always before, there were twelve Elder Wardens circled about the father of all trees in Talmora, but they were spaced fairly far apart as the base of this tree whose bark was vanilla white but had an evanescent-like silver hue shimmering about it was as wide as a cozy family home. The silk robes that the Elder Wardens wore were golden-yellow in color, resembling the leaves of the Elder Tree, and the sashes that were tied about their waists were white like the bark. They did wear light fur armor hidden beneath their robes, but they carried no weapons at all, being masterfully trained in hand-to-hand martial arts. These elves that were Elder Wardens were the most pious and sombre of all Redwood Elves, wholly dedicated to their duty as the caretakers and guardians of the Elder Tree with a fervor that was more deep and emotional than any religious one, having given their lives fully to their duty. They stood as still as statues now but for the sound and movement in their breathing. One could see the message in their glossy, stony eyes - you touch the Elder Tree and you die; it was as simple as that.

No one was certain just how tall this tallest living, growing thing in all of the world was, or if it were true that it was always growing even unto this day, but it was absolutely known that it surpassed one thousand feet in height; by how much was not certain. The tree did not even begin to branch out until over one hundred feet past its base. Those branches were like spindly outstretched arms, and the glistening streams of sunlight coming down from above made the golden man-hand sized leaves dazzling and blinding in their magnificence.

Ruel soon showed up, splendid in his thick forest-green hunting cloak. He beamed winsomely at his parents.

Now it is time to travel to Paradeisos Fields together, Father. he said before embracing his father tightly.

I'm looking forward to it... um... son.

Ruel now stood smiling brightly as his mother reached up and ran her hand gently through his dark, curly hair.

Look forward no more, Father. The time is now upon us. And wait until you find out how we will be traveling!

The innocent joy beaming from the son's eyes flowed directly into the father's.

Chapter Three: Hope Beyond Hope

Now Jacob Hope was still bewildered and overjoyed to have returned to Wildingwood Forest and Redwood and to be once again among the sylvan folk of that place. So he could be forgiven if he were totally confounded by what happened next.

Ruel Hope Treelimb had taken his father to a small glade amongst giant brown oak trees in an area just southeast of Redwood. For this area of giant oaks was less dense than the other areas of Wildingwood Forest that were outside of Redwood and away from the Land's Heart River, and there were many small glades amongst these huge oak trees. Jacob recalled that the Wood Elven Cemetery that he had visited with Trena Treelimb during his first appearance in the land of the Redwood Elves was also in this area.

As they stood upon the green grass and reddish-brown earth in the middle of that glade side-by-side, Ruel loosed a soft whistling sound from between his thin, pursed lips. Presently, two large quadruped forms stepped gently and quietly out from around some of the nearby giant oaks into the glade and halted before them not very far out of reach.

Bears they were! Big black ones with amber eyes! Though they stood there silent and docile, Jacob Hope was frightened out of his mind. As he gasped and turned to run with a wild look of fear in his jaded brown eyes, Jacob's son grasped him by the arm and held him steady.

Do not be frightened, father; these bears will cause you no hurt.

Then, with a sharper and more forceful whistle, Ruel caused the pair of bears to haunch down then lay flat on their bellies. The slightly wider and more massive of the two licked its lips and yawned. The smaller one flicked its tall rounded ears.

I've raised this pair from the time they were tiny cubs, father. I have become a bear tamer!

They have only recently become full-grown adult bears. Ruel continued, When the time is right, they shall breed. One day, I may have scores of tamed bears!

Okay, but why are we visiting them now?

Remember, father, I told you to wait until you find out how we will be traveling on our journey?

Jacob Hope nodded his large head slowly and distant-like, clammy-looking and still quite nervous.

Well, that's what I am showing you. Ruel's lips curled upward, I have trained these bears to be mounted and rode upon such as one might a horse.

Are you sure that's safe? asked a dubious Jacob Hope.

Absolutely, father. They will accept me or any rider that I approve. They will make sure that the rider does not fall off, and they will only attack if we are threatened by an enemy.

This ought to be fun then. the father sighed sardonically.

Father and son were ready to journey off now. Ruel Hope Treelimb had an ash-colored yew longbow across his back and a large quiver full of stone-headed redwood arrows. At his waist, held in place by a lightweight belt of grey wolves' hide, was a tomahawk with a five inch long, sturdy redwood handle and a grey-white stone blade as wide as his own face with a long and curved razor-sharp edge. The handle was specially graved with dark-colored elfish symbols relating to Ruel Hope Treelimb and his family/clan history.

Both father and son had wolves' pelt backpacks on which contained a subsistent amount of food and supplies for their travels. It would not take them long to reach the neighboring Paradeisos Fields from here, but they had no idea where in that wide region they might find this alleged mysterious singing lady. For that land was known to be almost completely uninhabited by humanoids.

Jacob nervously and cautiously mounted the smaller of the two black bears - the female - at his son's urging. The gentleness and willingness of that pair, however, was astounding. Father and son rode off side-by-side upon