Eight Small Village Northwest of the Elvenking's halls
15 Lothron, Year 29 F.A.

Evening had long fallen, and once again, Torel found himself at the Twisted Twig. It was a full house this night, loud and boisterous. He sighed and leaned back in the rickety chair as he watched the five other men seated at their table. They spoke little as they downed their ale. All of them looked as he felt: exhausted.

Torel glanced at Prem and caught his eye for a moment. His friend inclined his head ever so slightly in acquiescence, the silent communication undetected by the other four men around them.

Clearing his throat, Torel got Brigus' attention. "I don't think we should go back, Brigus."

Brigus eyes narrowed at him. Torel had not expected his older brother to give up, but neither could he continue in this foolishness.

"And why not?" Brigus asked. He glanced warily about, but no one was paying any attention to their table. "There're no elves in the forest, or we would've seen them by now. There is no danger, so it is only a matter of time before we find it."

It was true. They had found no sign of any one or any thing. Only endless leagues of trees. There was not even any sign of any dwellings in the trees, and his Pa had said the elves that didn't live in the Halls lived in tree houses of some kind. But if that were so, either they had lived more to the south or they had dismantled their dwellings before leaving.

"But we haven't found any sign of their dwellings, no trace of where their king's halls were— It's a waste of time, Brigus. We should return to work and accept that we'll never be rich." Torel met Brigus eyes evenly, aware of the agitation he was stirring in a couple of the men.

He expected Brigus to lash out at him for that remark. He knew how much his brother hated working the fields. Even before their Pa had died, Brigus had grumbled about the work and would disappear at times into town, leaving the work to Torel and their Pa. It had caused their parents much grief.

But Brigus turned in anger to Prem instead. "You put him up to this, boy? Fill his head with how we're fools?"

Prem paled, but held his ground. "We talked about the fact we're losing money searching for something that might not be there, yeah. Almost a week we've been in the forest, and all we've seen is trees. Pretty and all, but I have chores at home. Ma and Pa gonna lecture me to no end when I finally show back up."

Sirk snorted. "Should never have included these babies, Brigus. Barely off their mommas' breasts they are. It's men that will find that there treasure."

Anger flared in Torel's chest. Always Brigus and his friends treated him as if he were still a child, when he was the one supporting his Ma and taking care of what was left of their farm! He pushed back his chair so fast it tilted over as he stood. He heard the crack against the wood floor.

"I am no boy! I was twenty last moon!"

"Don't make you a man, boy," Jasper rasped. "Bet you've never even bedded a girl yet."

Torel's face flushed again. "I have a girl," he grumbled.

"But you ain't bedded her, have you now?"

That was no one's business but his own. Torel started to move towards the older man, but Prem grabbed his sleeve and shook his head. "Sit down, Torel," he murmured. "It ain't worth it."

The other men just smirked, and Torel felt his face burn hotter. His outburst hadn't impressed them. But Prem's check had probably saved him from a pretty sound beating. Jasper wasn't one to start a brawl with. They had heard the man had killed three men in a tavern fight in another town before joining their group.

Instead, Torel swallowed his ire, righted his chair and slumped back into it. "I still don't think we're going to find anything."

"We started this together," Nirk said, "and no one's backing out now. Can't have you tellin' others what we're doing, or trying to claim a share after we find the treasure!"

Brigus nodded. "No one's backing out. My brother's just upset we haven't found anything yet. We'll go in again tomorrow. I've gotten a good feel for those woods now. We just need to replenish our supplies."

"Why don't we just go around and take the elf path from Laketown?" Prem asked.

Torel blinked at the idea. Why hadn't they thought of that before?

"Takes too much time!" Brigus barked. "All we gotta do is head southeast and we'll find that path."

"Unless the elves left some kind of enchantment to prevent anyone from finding it," Prem said.

Jasper snorted. "You really are just a boy if you believe in those fairy stories."

Prem said nothing. Just sat back without any return barb at the man. Torel never could understand how Prem didn't let words like that bother him. But Prem didn't have an older brother that had taunted him as long as he could remember either. Prem only had sisters.

Brigus continued. "We'll find that path and from there it'll be easy to find the King's Halls. Now, let's finish our drinks and be off. We'll leave at dawn."

Torel felt his hope surge again at the thought of finding that path. That was the key. If they didn't find it heading south, then maybe he could convince the men to try Prem's suggestion and head to Laketown. From there, they could easily find the halls and discover if there really was anything worth taking from them.

If not, Torel would go home. He had Dell waiting for him.

To Be Continued…