520 Hedgegrove
“What are you talented at?”
Elena was surprised at Ren’s question and couldn’t form an answer on the spot. “Asking me so suddenly . . . hmm . . .”
Elena skimmed her jawline, head raising over the clouds, thinking. “Let’s see . . . from all the things I can think of . . . yep, that’s the only thing that came to mind.”
She threw a toothy grin at Ren’s way and answered, “I’m good at fighting.”
To that, Ren agreed with a slight laugh.
“Agh, you smiled!” The Princess exclaimed. “This is the first time I saw you laugh.”
“Really?” Ren didn’t know that.
Elena nodded and switched her attention to the road. “Yes. You should smile more often. It makes you look approachable.”
“. . .” Ren didn’t comment. The smile on his face was gone. He admitted that being happy was hard nowadays, and he didn’t know what he should be smiling about.
Their adventure continued, and not long after, the sound of a horn rang in their ears, signaling another Wild Hunt. After the horn came the rustling of leaves, and the animals scurrying to get back into their hiding spot.
Every few minutes, Ren and Elena had found themselves battling Feys of the wild hunt, each fiercer than before. But nothing the two of them couldn’t handle.
Still, Ren had to wonder, with all these Feys that they had to kill, how would the others fair?
The faces of the girls in Golden Phoenix appeared in Ren’s mind as well as Isolde and Roz. He hoped they were alright, at least. Isolde and the girls might be alright because they had the numbers, but Roz might be in trouble if he was alone.
Come to think of it . . . how could that kid afford a ticket in the first place?
Someone might have sponsored him.
Ren thought of the beast that accompanied Roz. It was a regular-looking beast belonging to the bear family. But he recalled that Roz’s class allowed him to change his allies into beasts if he wanted to.
Lira . . . he seemed to recall. He remembered that it was Roz who vouched for her attendance, but he actually didn’t see the girl firsthand.
Ren didn’t think about it anymore because it was none of his business.
Eventually, Ren and Elena survived another day of the Wild Hunt, and this time, they didn’t stop the night to rest. They pressed on to Hedgegrove, for it was only miles away from their location, taking advantage that the Wild Hunt was over to hasten their pace.
Came morning, Ren and Elena finally made it to the edge of the Hedgegrove, which Ren was very thankful about. He saw their progress in the form of the green hedges, 30 meters tall and 30 meters thick.
Ren thought it was an eternity reaching this place when it had only been three days and two nights.
“The roads ahead are narrower, and the maze inside is so huge we could be trapped in there forever without a beast to track the right path,” Elena explained, and Tiki disappeared right under them.
This time Ren was prepared, and he landed on both feet while Tiki was reduced to a smaller size and hopped onto the Princess’s shoulder.
“From here forward, we will go on foot,” Elena started and led the way. “Be careful of the green hedges. Their brush is loose enough to be pushed into and hide inside, but getting out requires great strength.
“Also, don’t even think of climbing the walls. They changed shapes to avoid ropes, grappling hooks, and other impossible climbing skills.”
“Got it,” Ren replied. He noticed that the roads were 6 meters at their slimmest and 9 meters wide at their widest. The maze had no ceiling and was constantly exposed to the sky. The weather around Hedgegrove was perpetually twilight unless Queen Floraia changed it.
They were Topiary Gates, physical entrances, and exits to Hedgegrove. The gates were made of 2 meters of interwoven heartwood branches and were stronger than steel.
They were patrolled by True Elf guards and random topiary beasts like brown bears, a tiger, an elephant, a giant spider, a dire wolf, a warhorse, etc. These beasts have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical attacks but were vulnerable to fire damage.
“Halt. You are at the entrance of Hedgegrove. State your business,” the guard said.
Elena went to the guards and talked with them. Ren didn’t know what they were talking about, but he soon found himself entering the opened gates of Hedgegrove.
“What did you tell them?” Ren asked, curious.
Elena shrugged. “That we’re traveling merchant. Here to do business within the place.”
“And they believe you?”
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Ren squinted his eyes read what was written on the scroll. It was a merchant identification scroll that worked as entry cards. It even had Elena’s face on its page.
“Where did you get that?”
Elena gave an elegant half shrugged. “I’m a princess, remember? I can get my hands on anything.”
“Right. But isn’t it easier if you told them who you are? They might teleport us directly to the Fairy Queen of Spring.”
“Dear Ren, I thought that you were smart?”
Ren didn’t comment.
“If I told them who I am, they would call my mother first, and once that happened, then it’s game over for me.”
“So how do you plan to get an audience with Princess Floraia then?”
Elena gave her a mischievous look. “A simple infiltration plan, of course.” she winked and continued on ahead.
Ren took a deep breath and sighed the air he held in a long blast while shaking his head.
On the way, Ren was amazed at how big and confusing Hedgegrove was. They even passed a Fey Village Crossing. They were big open squares filled with shops, markets, and food vendors. They sell the most basic equipment, though their prices were triple than in other shops.
They didn’t linger long and continued into the Ley Line Intersections. They were spots that were magically aligned with the Spring Palace. These spots were free of random encounters, though existing encounters could move or chase the players into them.
Also, there were save/teleportation crystals in every Ley Line Intersections that could open portals from one Ley Line to another, allowing for faster travel.
But right now, they needed to map that Ley Line first before they could hope to teleport into it.