Elowen took in the sights as he walked through the woods. The vegetation was dense here, much more so than what should be normal for a forest in the human kingdoms. He assumed that had to be a side effect of the Great Tree living here.

  Elowen sent a small pulse of mana through one of the trees as he passed by on instinct. The pulse went through the tree’s trunk up to its canopy, down to its roots, and back to him. This showed him that the tree was growing quite nicely, though its branches seemed more stressed than was typical.

  There was probably a hurricane a few months ago. Elowen thought to himself. Trees are slow to recover from high-speed winds. But the roots don’t feel as saturated as they should be. Maybe a tornado then? Those are unusual for a forest this dense, but I guess that could have been a result of the level shift.

  Elowen relayed his findings with his partner as they walked through the forest. As he finished sharing his conclusions, they spotted something extremely out of the ordinary.

  There was a large wall in front of them with a wooden door marking the entrance to what could be almost considered a fortress. In front of the doorway were two armed and armored… golems?... guarding the entrance. Elowen could sense that the large amount of mana was coming from the center of the fort, and he could see the top 50 feet of the Great Tree over the wall.

  Elowen looked at his partner in confusion. This wasn’t mentioned in the reports from the high-lord’s grandson. In fact, the only thing that was mentioned was its location and that it was relatively friendly with anything that displayed intelligence. It also appeared to enjoy pranks, though that was common amongst most Great Trees.

  Silvan looked back at him with an equally confused face, though hers also showed signs that she was ready to attack if needed.

  Most Great Trees that grew in the wild were far more aggressive than if they had been raised in the safety of the elven grove. It’s for that reason that they are taken to safety as early in their developmental stages as possible. A typical Great Tree raised in the grove would only be between 5 and 15 feet tall at 4 years of age, and between levels 14 to 20. The fact that this tree was so high leveled means that it was probably accustomed to violence.

  Elowen looked at the ‘guards’ with a serious expression. If the Tree had learned to make golems already, then this could turn violent at the drop of a hat. But if these were just statues put up for show, then maybe they would be fine.

  Silvan squeezed his hand and approached the doorway ever so slowly. As she made her move, Eowen kept a steady gaze on the guards. He stirred his mana and prepared to cast a defensive spell through one of his magical items if they should so much as move an inch to harm his love. Even if they were made by a Great Tree, they weren't the Great Tree themselves, and were therefore fair game.

  Silvan made it to the door and proceeded to knock three times. There was no answer, but after a few moments, the door slowly swung open, seemingly on its own. Silvan turned back to her partner and raised an eyebrow. Elowen was still cautious, but approached as well.

  “I take it this means we’re allowed in?” she asked. Elowen didn’t have much of an answer except to slowly nod. There wasn’t exactly a sign or anything, but the door was quite literally opened for them.

  Elowen looked up and saw there was no ceiling to the fortress. From here, he could see a lot more of the Great Tree, including getting a better look at its bark. It had a dull greyish color to it, signaling it likely had an evolution of Hard Bark, probably Iron Bark. That was yet another sign of its possible violent nature. But he was still inclined to trust the report he was given.

  “Let’s check the place out before trying to make contact.”

  Silvan agreed and they both went further in.

  As they walked the halls, it became clear that this place was intended to house a large number of people. There were rooms with beds lining both sides of the hallway, with what looked like a communal eating area at the front. In the hall on the far side of the gathering area laid a staircase leading down to more rooms. It was dark down there, though they both had a Dark Vision skill, so it was no problem. The downstairs was nearly identical, though lacking the gathering areas and exits.

  When they finished their tour of the fortress – or rather, highly secure inn – they chose some rooms for themselves and discussed the best way to initiate contact with the Great Tree.

  “Lord Taryn mentioned that the Great Tree was capable of communicating with him and his party, but he never mentioned how. From what I saw, the bottom portion of the trunk was protected by a layer of condensed dirt, so we can’t converse via our usual methods. Should we try talking to the ‘guards’ at the entrances?”

  “Perhaps. We need to find a way to touch the Great Tree in order to form the connection. Maybe we should just climb the wall and reach it that way instead? I’m unsure if those are golems or if they’re statues. They appear battle ready, so I’d rather stay away if we can avoid it.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Elowen had sensed some magical energy coming from the guards as he passed them. He wasn’t sure if that was just leftover residue of the Tree creating them, or if that was the passive energy output of a golem. Though, if they were golems, they would need a way to recharge their energy, so they might be connected to the Great Tree. If they were to touch one of them, they might get their connection to talk!

  But those spears seemed deadly. It was doubtful that the Tree had any skill related to using them, but Elowen also didn’t want to find out. The Great Trees in the groves back home had all sorts of unexpected skills. Realistically, if the grove was ever under attack, Elowen was sure the Great Trees would be perfectly capable of defending themselves.

  They sat in silence for a few moments until they heard the rustling of the Great Tree’s canopy. He looked up and saw a pair of birds flying over to a collection of its branches and began eating some of the fruits the Great Tree grew. They looked like the fruits that were laid out in one of the bowls in the gathering areas of the inn.

  As he watched the birds eat, a smile began to creep upon his face. If the Tree was gentle enough to feed some birds, then it should be docile enough to at least try talking to the guards.

  Elowen lowered his gaze to his love and saw the same smile he had plastered on her face. She was so beautiful when she smiled. His heart skipped a beat and he felt full of love as he watched the scene before him.

  When she finally lowered her eyes to meet his, they both knew they would be fine approaching the armored statues. They got up out of the bed they had commandeered and walked hand in hand to the entrance. Elowen grabbed the door’s handle to head outside and felt the connection immediately form.

  How could I have forgotten? The Great Tree literally opened the door for us.

  Elowen wanted to face palm, but had to maintain his composure, especially during the initial meeting of a wild Great Tree. He released his partner’s hand and grabbed her wrist to bring it to the door as well. He could see the realization that they had been overthinking things dawn on her as well. She wasn’t as composed as he was though and laughed at their situation.

  As he watched her with a mirth of his own, he felt a large presence reach out to them. It was the mind of the Great Tree.

  “How did you force this connection? I can tell this is not Mental Magic, yet I cannot remove the link you have forced upon me from my mind. What do you want?”

  The two elves immediately knelt when they felt the enormity of the mind that spoke to them. This was no adolescent being they were talking to. This Tree felt like one of the ancient ones; either that or one of the old ones.

  “Great Tree of the forest, we are representatives of the elven race, come to introduce ourselves. I am Elowen, partner of Silvan, guardians of the Verdant Grove, home to the Great Trees of Vir. We have gathered and protected your kind for many of our generations, tended Great Trees such as yourself that are as old and wise as any in all of Vir. As for the connection, I apologize if it feels intrusive, but it is the main method that we elves have of connecting to Great Trees such as yourself.”

  Elowen could feel displeasure at his words, but maintained the connection nonetheless. He regretted that it caused discomfort, as it did for some Trees, but this was the only way he had at the moment of conversing with the Tree.

  Elowen, head bowed, heard some movement on the opposite side of the door, then felt a pressure as something tried to push the door open. The elves both stood and moved out of the way all while maintaining contact with the door. Through the opening, they saw one of the guards from outside.

  Elowen felt a large amount of energy flowing through the guard, which likely meant that it was in fact a golem. He feared that it was reacting to its master’s emotions, but the thing only waved one of its hands towards them in a shooing motion. Elowen responded, hoping that he could appease the Tree and get the golem to calm down as well.

  “Great Tree, we need to maintain contact in order to comun-“

  Elowen was interrupted as the golem guard rested its spear against the wall and physically pushed the pair back. It was gentle but firm, so they relinquished their hold on the door, expecting the link to fizzle out immediately. Instead, the link was actually strengthened, allowing them to more easily hear the words of the Great Tree as it spoke to them in its deep mental voice. This also allowed the emotions of the Great Tree to run over more freely as well. It was very much so unhappy at being interrupted.

  “That’s better. Now, what is it you want? I have a project that I was working on until you two distracted me.”

  Elowen was at a loss for words. Very few Great Trees ever pick up Telepathy, let alone Mental Magic. That’s what he had to assume this was, given the Tree’s earlier mentioning of the skill. Silvan took up the conversation in his stead.

  “Great Tree, we are here to escort you to the Verdant Grove, where you can be introduced to others of your kind. Not only that, but you will also be given protection and access to knowledge of skills specific to your species. It would be a great boon to you should you come with us.”

  The Great Tree didn’t even hesitate before rejecting them, interrupting the long speech that she was prepared to give on the benefits of moving.

  “I’ll pass, thanks. I’m perfectly happy where I am. If that’s all, then I’ll be going now. I’ll ask that you not use that skill on me again, though. It’s rather irritating.”

  Both elves felt a wave of nausea overcome them as the Tree sent his impression of how the skill felt to him to them. If that was how the Tree felt when he used the skill, then Elowen vowed to never use it on him again. But he couldn’t let the conversation end like this. There was too much at risk for the Tree, and he wanted to do his best to bring him back.

  “Wait! What if we offer to help in return for hearing us out? We have knowledge of a large variety of skills, so we could be great assistants for any project you might have. We could be great assets to you if you allow us.”

  Elowen could feel some annoyance through the connection, but also some admission that the Tree needed help with whatever he was working on. He silently celebrated his success, making sure to keep that at the back of his mind.

  The Great Tree spoke again, this time with a bit less attitude than before.

  “Fine, but unless either of you has a golem in your back pocket, or can build one on your own, then you won’t be of much help.”

  Elowen grinned and reached into the folds of his clothes and pulled out a certain acorn. This introduction was turning out much more interesting than he originally thought.