18

18

In the morning, the travelers were awakened by a terrible commotion and commotion. When they got up and gathered their belongings, they pushed their way among the black birds to where they thought the most noise was coming from. Right by the forest stood a group of small people and several White Dogs.

The White Dogs were even larger than those accompanying them, but their fur wasn't as thick and shaggy, but smooth and close-fitting, and their eyes were just as blue. Their pointed ears protruded on either side of their heads and ended in tufts, while their tails, held high, were long and seemingly hairless.

As Leaf, Wind, and Rose approached behind Zon, Dero, and Ker, the White Dogs began to growl softly.

"Excuse the noise, travelers, but the scouts of the Forest Dogs and White Dogs have just arrived." A Thrush, the Golden-crested One, appeared before them. "Allow me to introduce you. These are the White Dogs; the one at the front is their leader, his name is White Fang. And here is the chief of the Forest Dogs—" "

They call me Oak, I am the chief of the Forest Dogs." The little Man interrupted Golden-crested. His skin was strangely colored, seemingly white, but tinged with green and brown. He was as tall as Ker, so when Dero and Zon looked at him, they had to look down on him. He was very thin, wearing only a loincloth made of a large leaf around his hips. His eyes were brown and gleaming, and on his back was some kind of weapon. All three guessed that this thing was a weapon, seeing the sharp points on the ends of the twigs. "Don't be surprised by our appearance, we're not surprised by yours. Every race, every people, looks different, though I've heard our languages ​​are similar.

" "Hello Oak, hello White Fang, my name is Dero, and this is my brother Zon, we are Frostoids. We come from a land where the snow never melts. This is Ker, he's a Ziemon, he travels with us from his land, where we came looking for our father, just as he now comes to yours. He accompanies us willingly, and here are our Dogs: Rose Wind and Leaf. Thank you for coming to see us.

" "We heard you're looking for your father, who was kidnapped by the Lord. We will help you find him, for we want to drive the Lord from these lands, we want peace in our forests, and more and more other races are roaming them, such as these White Dogs here." When White Fang said this, he growled softly. "We don't chase away anyone seeking refuge from the Lord in our forests, but eventually his hands will reach for us, and we can't let that happen. I know the Lord rounds up various people by placing collars around their necks, and those with greater magical abilities he kidnaps, intending to strip them of their abilities and take them over. Are you surprised?

" "Not entirely, Chief Oak, we simply understood why he kidnapped our father and what he wants from him. But where did you get this information?" Dero and Zon sat down in front of the Forester so as not to look down on him.

"We have spies there; they have similar collars around their necks, but they're not magical. The Lord's headquarters is still quite far away, so we'll leave as soon as we're ready; it will take us around the full moon's rebirth.

" "We were thinking of freeing our Forester Gurders, so we're joining in too," Drozder said.

"The more of us there are, the better. However, your Birds wear collars. How do you plan to get rid of them without killing them?"

"We don't know yet, but I'm sure something can be done, and I intend to take advantage of every opportunity.

" "These collars aren't just metal, they're primarily magic.

" "Yes."

"You don't have any Mages, you can only kill with your singing.

" "But you have powerful magicians whom the Lord hasn't managed to capture.

" "So you expect help from us?

" "Yes.

" "Okay, after all, everyone wants to get rid of the Lord," Oak agreed without further discussion. "Now we invite the travelers for breakfast and a chat; I want to learn about you." He added, turning to Zon, considering him the leader. "The dogs can come too, unless they prefer to wander with their distant cousins."

Rose and Leaf approached the White Dogs, while Wind decided to keep an eye on his friends, so they could help and call their siblings if necessary.

The Foresters led the newcomers deeper into the forest. The trees grew very close together here, and all three were delighted by the sight of the thick trunks, enormous branches, and various shades of green. Oak put down his weapon and sat on a small stump under one of these trees.

"We live in the trees, but unfortunately I can't invite you there. We don't welcome strangers, even if they're friends. Please sit on the grass; we'll be serving food shortly."

As soon as he said this, Forest Woman approached them. She was a beautiful woman dressed like the Chief, only with a loincloth around her waist, carrying large leaves with pieces of fruit on them. Behind her walked the children, all naked, each holding either leaves with fruit or wooden bowls of water.

"What kind of weapon is that?" Zon couldn't bear it any longer. He had been staring at Forest Woman's back, where his weapon was slung over his shoulder, the entire time they were walking through the forest.

"It's a bow; there are arrows for it." Oak handed him the weapon, showing him a short wooden arrow with a metal blade. "It's our only weapon, apart from magicians, who can carry and throw various objects, and many other things." Oak wasn't forthcoming about magicians.

"Where do you get such blades?" – Ker asked in his mind, wondering what had stunned the other.

– You Earthlings are strange people, I can't hear you in my ears or in my head. – Oak shook his head. – It's a matter of magicians, they can melt metal and shape arrowheads.

– Can they melt metal? You said the collars the kidnapped Gurdere wear are made of metal, so why don't you free them?

– First you have to catch one to remove the collar, and how do you remove them when they're up and we're down? – One of the Forestmen was descending from one of the trees. His skin was entirely brown, but it covered more than the Chief and the woman who served them. He had a loincloth and a chest cloth in addition to his.

– Let me introduce you – Oak rose from the stump. – This is First Mage Lesion.

"Greetings, travelers. I see that, as usual, the Boss didn't invite you upstairs. That's understandable, we're not guests there." The magician sat down on the grass beside them. "Yes, so as I said, there's no way to free them."

"Perhaps we could put them to sleep," Ker said, remembering something. "Do you remember how my people freed your father the first time?"

"Yes, but there were more of you, you're only one." Dero shook his head.

"Your people can put us to sleep?" The mage was impressed. "It's very difficult, only one of us can do it, my son Ash, and even then it takes quite a while.

" "So there are two of you, that's still not enough," Zon said, still playing with his arrow.

"But we could try with one first, but we'd have to find one who would travel alone." Ker lit up as if sensing a new adventure. "

This boy is incredible, as hungry for adventure as anyone in our tribe has ever been," Dero thought. "We're here out of necessity, not of our own free will, though if we knew what awaited us when we left home, we'd probably go anyway, just to get our father back.

" "We need to think this over calmly, and now it's time to hit the road." She Who Shares the Tree with Me, please inform Golden-crested Drozden of this decision. The oak addressed the woman who had been serving them.

"She Who Shares the Tree with? Is she your wife?

" "Yes, if a wife means a life partner, the one who gives you children and takes care of you.

" "So, a wife," Zon replied with a smile. "Unfortunately, I probably will never have someone who will share my life with me, not anymore." He muttered to himself, rising from the grass and hefting his baggage onto his back.