Konall lounged next to Asren in the hotel lobby; they had explored two of the locations Asren had mapped out but to no avail. The change in Asren caused Konall to experience that apprehensive feeling all over again. He couldn't work out which Asren he thought was more unnerving, the cold and distant Asren or the relaxed Asren.
The relaxed Asren was a loose term and not to be thought of in the conjunction of the Asren he knew and loved or the relaxed Asren that had met Talon before she was taken. This Asren was relaxed in an unsettling way.
He was relaxed because he knew he was about to enter the battle field, Konall knew he had loved fighting...but not to this degree where Asren seemed able to flip a switch from frost bite to ... deadly excited, if that was the words to describe him. He definitely was looking forward to whatever plan he had formulated in his head.
And he was obviously experienced in this field of Elf hunting.
The whole process fascinated Konall to no end, the way Asren's whole body would transform when he reached one of his marked out areas. He would take a step at a time and wait for a second. It was a long procedure but one that apparently was needed.
He thought back to Asren's explanation, "The last thing you want to happen is to walk too far in to an Elf's territory because depending how strong the elf is... the trees, the grass, the vines basically anything living...will do everything in their power to prevent you from leaving...until the protector arrives. I have seen huge trees uproot themselves to protect the land, believe me Konall it makes that whomping willow thing in that kid's movie look like a flower blowing in the wind."
Konall had frowned in disbelief, he had never heard of this type of behaviour in training. "How will you know when you are in her woods?" He had asked worriedly.
Asren had laughed but his laugh had held no humour, "I'm fairly certain she's not here," he had answered, pausing in his slow approach to look at Konall, "however as I'm uncertain of her strength in this field I want to make sure we don't venture to far in. When you behold an Elves' wood, it takes your breath away, you desire to enter it. Everything is ...so alive...so healthy...animals are frolicking like they have never been preyed upon, trees grow the ripest, juiciest fruits, the grass is so green that it calls to your paws to play upon it...but when you give in to that temptation and pass over the barrier...it all changes. The rainbows and butterflies disappear, the silence becomes so heavy that you feel unable to move and ...you can feel it...the presence of something there that does not welcome you in the slightest. If you retreat with an air of surrender and apology you have a chance to get out...but if you are already in to far...whatever rules the woods makes itself known through commanding the woods to contain you or worse welcoming you itself. Neither is life giving."
Konall sighed and sipped at his tea, one thing he was thankful about was the fact that Asren had taken to scanning the internet at every chance he could, so hotel stays were now a common practice.
They were due to head out tomorrow to the next place Asren had marked on the map. Iceland or Scandinavia it seemed.
"Well, well, well, looks like we can skip Iceland and head straight for Norway," Asren drawled.
"Why is that?" Konall asked placing his cup on the table before him.
"Because the little terror has nailed up her, 'beware of the dog' warning," Asren smiled coldly as he slid over the laptop.
Konall lent forward and read the article quickly. Suddenly, he didn't feel like going to Norway....ever he just wanted to stay right here away from the ...thing that could do that to someone. Even an Ice Slayer female in all her glory would not have taken it that far.
