Adventure of Tuiwen 2

The message case lies secured in Tuiwen’s pack as she and Eldred reach the middle of the stone bridge. Morning mist coils over the Forest River, hiding the banks on either side.

A figure bursts from the southern treeline and staggers onto the bridge. His green border-cloak bears a torn scout’s mark, but his bow is already drawn, the arrow aimed at Tuiwen’s chest.

The Southern Scout’s gaze flicks to the sealed pack, then to the mist behind Tuiwen. His breathing steadies. The fear in his face hardens into calculation.

The arrow cuts through the space where Tuiwen's chest was. She ducks, rolls across the cold stones, and comes up moving, her elven blade flashing free.

The charge succeeds. She reaches the Southern Scout before he can loose again, sword leveled at his guard. The arrow only grazes her wounded shoulder, tearing cloth and reopening the ache with a bright line of blood.

He twists aside instead of meeting the blade, letting his bow fall slack as his boots skid toward the bridge's outer edge. The torn scout's mark flutters in the mist.

Below, the hidden river answers with splashes on both sides. Shapes disturb the mist beneath the bridge, while the Southern Scout's hand slips toward a narrow knife at his belt.

Tuiwen drives her shoulder into the scout and shoves for the drop. Her wounded side falters at the crucial instant, and his heel catches the stone lip instead of clearing it.

The Scout crashes against the parapet, one hand clamping around a jutting block. His fallen bow skids into the mist, but his other hand tears free the narrow knife.

Tuiwen releases him rather than wrestle beside the edge. She turns toward the disturbed river, blade raised, while blood seeps through the torn cloth at her shoulder.

Below, pale shapes climb from the mist onto the lower stones. Their hands find the bridge supports, and the Forest River churns beneath the sealed case bearing the Woodland Realm’s seal and Gandalf’s mark.

The Scout hauls himself upright, knife angled toward Tuiwen as the figures rise higher. The open road to the halls lies ahead, but the bridge is no longer clear.

The Forest River answers. Water heaves upward in a silver wall, coiling around the bridge supports and swallowing the mist.

The surge tears the pale climbers from the stones. Their grasping forms vanish into the torrent, and the river hurls them downstream beyond the bridge.

The raised water collapses with a thunderous crash. The sealed case remains fast within Tuiwen's pack, while the scout's knife lowers and distant horns answer from the mist-shrouded banks.

Therefore, Tuiwen turns from the horns and slips off the bridge's far side, using the river's roar and the collapsing mist to conceal her descent.

She reaches the opposite bank unseen and vanishes among the dripping firs, leaving the open bridge and its watchers behind.

But the cost of the narrow escape lands hard. A branch catches her wounded shoulder, reopening the injury; warm blood marks the wet bark behind her.

The horns answer from the mist, but Tuiwen is already swallowed by shadow and fern, her sealed case hidden against her back as hunters converge on the wrong bank.

Tuiwen moves through the firs by memory, choosing a childhood deer-path beneath the dripping boughs. The forest should hide her, but the old route has narrowed into a snare of fallen limbs and thorn.

Her shoulder catches against the growth. The sealed case knocks softly against her back, and the sound carries through the wet hush.

She slips free, but her footing breaks on a slick root. Ferns bow beneath her, and a fresh streak of blood brightens the leaves.

The hunters' horns shift direction across the river. Tuiwen's knowledge has not concealed her trail, it has led her onto ground the enemy has already watched.

Eldred reaches the fir-shadow behind her, breath tight from the pursuit, and points toward the dark beneath the bridge. The hidden warden's way remains open, but the trees around Tuiwen are no longer secret.

The Forest River answers from beyond the firs. Its silver current rises, folding across the bridge approaches before the hunters can reach the span.

Mist tears open beneath the sudden surge. The pale shapes on the near bank recoil as water lashes over the stones and severs their crossing.

Across the churning water, horns falter into scattered echoes. The hunters are stranded on the opposite bank, their pursuit broken for this moment.

The hidden descent beneath the bridge yawns through the dripping roots. Behind Tuiwen, the forest edge fills with searching movement, while the sealed case rests against her wounded shoulder.

Tuiwen lowers her blade and steps into the hidden descent. Wet roots brush her cloak as the stone passage carries her beneath the bridge.

Eldred follows, and the darkness swallows the forest edge behind them. Above, the river's roar becomes a muffled thunder.

The passage opens onto a narrow ledge beneath the bridge. Water streams down the rock, but the sealed case remains dry against Tuiwen's back, its Woodland Realm seal and Gandalf's mark intact.

Far ahead, a faint horn-note trembles through the stone. Beside it, the lower passage divides around a pillar carved with worn river runes.

Silver light slips from Tuiwen's wounded shoulder and gathers in the mist. Two radiant figures, shaped as Tuiwen and Eldred, burst along the upper passage, their footfalls and breath echoing toward the horns.

The answering horns wheel away through the stone. Pursuers rush after the illusion, leaving the ledge and its true passage silent.

The illusion runs farther than Tuiwen intended, crossing the old warden-road and drawing the hunters beyond the bridge. Its fading light reveals fresh silver runes beneath the pillar, marking a dry stair toward the Woodland Realm's gates.

Tuiwen holds the spell through one measured minute. The radiant doubles race beyond the bridge, their false footfalls fading toward the river marshes while the true ledge remains still.

The illusion dwindles into silver motes. In its wake, the fresh runes beneath the pillar brighten, each mark shaped like a river reed bent toward the dry stair.

Tuiwen studies the pattern and reads the wardens' design: the stair leads beneath the bridge and emerges inside the Woodland Realm's outer gate, beyond the exposed span.

The lowest rune touches the sealed case in Tuiwen's pack. Silver fire traces the Woodland Realm's seal and Gandalf's mark, revealing that the hidden stair will open only for its bearer.

Above, a distant horn falters and dies. Below, the dry stair waits in darkness, its first stone beginning to descend as the runes recognize Tuiwen.

Tuiwen descends the dry stair with measured speed, keeping the sealed case clear of her wounded shoulder. The stone accepts her weight without a sound.

The stair bends beneath the bridge, then rises through a narrow cleft of ancient masonry. Pale daylight spills across the final step.

Tuiwen steps through the cleft and emerges inside the Woodland Realm's outer gate. The Forest River roars faintly below, hidden behind stone, while the bridge and its watchers remain outside.

Eldred follows onto the gateward floor, turning back as the hidden stair folds into shadow. Silver runes fade beneath their feet, sealing the passage behind them.

From the gatehouse above, a startled horn gives one sharp note. A sentry's voice calls down through the arch.

Gain the wardens' acceptance