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Raeliel didn't want to leave Valenthion, but...she had to. "I'm coming. We'll find them, Saelhil, I swear." She went over to Valenthion and Talainna. "Hey...Talainna, don't leave his side. Valenthion, you be sure to protect Talainna, okay? You two watch out for each other." She hugged them both. "We'll be back, I promise. I swear it."

Saelhil nodded firmly, and went off to get his bow, knowing Raeliel would make sure Valenthion would stay safe before they left.

Valenthion hugged Raeliel rather tightly, feeling his stomach tense up. He said nothing, though, and simply nodded. Talainna noticed him get nervous, so she reached over and quietly grabbed his hand. "Keep my brother safe," she said softly to Raeliel as she left, offering a small smile. People everywhere were saying similar quick goodbyes, hugging and kissing briefly before grouping up in the street, awaiting for everyone to be ready before they set out.

Raeliel held Valenthion tightly. "I love you, Valenthion. You're my son." She looked at Talainna. "I will. I promise." She went to find Saelhil and get ready to head out. (Bedtime. Night!)

{Night!}

Saelhil walked out with Raeliel, armed and ready. As they reached the forest, Saelhil separated everyone into groups, sending them out in various directions. Raeliel went with him, of course. He hesitated, but began to climb a tree so he could leaf walk. "Ground or trees?" he asked curtly as he reached up for a branch. He would keep pace with her if she chose trees, but she may go faster if she was on the ground...

Raeliel answered easily. "Ground. That way we get both areas and I won't be holding you back." She started running, searching everywhere on the ground. Two giant armies couldn't just vanish without a trace! It wasn't possible! She looked for signs of battle, for areas of destruction, perhaps a path of war to follow.

Saelhil nodded, moving quickly through the trees, pausing every once in a while to climb higher and get a better few. After while of nothing, a young woman came running.

"Saelhil! Raeliel!" she shouted. "We've found Jerenion!" Jerenion was one of the best archers in the village, and the leader of his own squad. "He's badly injured. Come quickly!" She waited for them to catch up to her a bit, and led them back to where she had just been.

They reached a small clearing where two elves were crouched near an elf lying against a tree, clutching his ribs. He seemed very pale, and his face was grimaced in pain. Saelhil immediately went and crouched by him. "Jerenion... Jerenion, what happened? Where are the others?" A moment passed and Jerenion didn't reply, except for a painful groan.

"He's in too much pain," one of the other elves said softly. "He hasn't spoken since we arrived; he won't let us carry him back to the village for treatment."

Raeliel ran over to Jerenion and knelt down beside him. "Move aside." She had the others give him some room, then she put her hands on him. She focused, and then pressed a little here, and pressed a little there. "...try to speak. What happened?" She had touched on some pressure points to ease the pain and numb his chest a little. Hopefully though he would be able to talk now. She hadn't hit the ones that would affect his mouth.

Jerenion gasped slightly as some of the pressure was released, giving him a bit of ease. "A-Ambush..." he managed in a breathy voice. "Two... Two nights ago. Took out our look-outs. Captured everyone... Some-Some kind of poison..." He grimaced, panting a bit now.

Saelhil looked very worried. "Good, good. Now, where did they take them? Did you hear anything, do you remember which direction?"

Jerenion coughed a bit, some blood coming out of the side of his mouth and nose. "North... M-Maybe to the... the mountains..." He groaned.

"Get a medic!" Saelhil suddenly demanded. "Get him water and find out how to get this poison out of his system. I'm going to look ahead for signs of them."

Raeliel felt her stomach knot up when he spoke of poison. The poison that she had been hit with? "Mountains. We have allies in the mountains! We might stand a chance." She looked at Saelhil. "We need to know the cure. The medic helped me with the spring water. Maybe that will help the others. Have each fill their packs with spring water in case we come across anyone. We're heading north. Now."

Aside from the detour to fill up with the water, and get the other things the medic had used, they were off right away.

"Where on earth are these humans getting such strong poison?" Saelhil muttered as they hurried along.

"It isn't like any I've seen before," one elf that came with them mentioned. "I work with herbs, but I can't think of anything that potent. It's almost as if it's a snake's venom."

"But there are no snakes that poisonous native to this coast," Saelhil said.

"Perhaps they're getting them imported?" the elf suggested.

Raeliel ran along, frowning. "Humans are much more of a nomadic people than the elves. We have a much longer life to live, we are content to stay where we are. But with their short lives, they desire strongly to see as much of the world as they can. It is quite possible that whatever venom they are using is not native to this land."

She didn't want to think about it. If they were captured, why had the humans moved North and not attacked the village? Were they only interested in all the fighters, all the men? Her stomach knotted up just thinking about what this all might mean.

Saelhil grimaced. "But why not just kill our warriors instead of capturing them?" He was very worried, not only for the warriors, but more for the women who were fighting and working as front-line medics. Those humans were brutish; who knew what they would do with his kinsmen? He silently prayed that they were safe, and not being tortured or anything of the sort.

The words left her lips before her mind had even considered it. "Slaves." The idea made her sick, but it was all too possible. "Why else would you capture people of war instead of kill them? To work them as slaves." She ran along as fast as she could, looking for any tracks, any signs. Their people surely would have done something to lead rescuers to them, they had to. Even poisoned, they would have enough sense for that. And if not, then an entire army with an entire sick army captive could not leave a forest untouched.

Saelhil felt his stomach boil in rage. Before he could linger on the thought, the other elf gasped.

"There! look!"

Not too far away, there was a clearing that looked like bears had gone mad, tearing at the bark of trees, ripping down branches, and unsettling the grass and dirt of the Forest floor. Saelhil immediately headed in that direction. He dropped to the ground and looked around. What had happened there? A burnt circle on the grass showed that there had been a fire, so it was most likely a camp site. Was it an animal attack, or had the elves tried to escape, and literally tried to claw their way out of the camp?! He ran his fingers over an area of a tree trunk where the bark had been ripped off. "We're heading in the right direction, at least."

Raeliel pulled him along. "No time to ponder. We're in the right direction, but we need to keep going! We have to catch up, no stopping!" She started running again, her eyes darting around. It was a good sign. They were indeed going the right direction, and they would now have a trail to follow. She followed it with fever. She was going to rescue the others. Woman or not, she was going to rescue the others.

Saelhil quickly got back up into the trees and ran along with Raeliel. He ran in silence for a long while, about an hour, until they began to see a bit more reckage. However, this time there was blood streaked on the ground and on the trees. Saelhil didn't even pause, but he went faster, an urgency now filling his being. Blood shed. Was it human blood, or elvish? He guessed the latter. The sun was beginning to set, but Saelhil showed no signs of stopping.

Raeliel didn't stop either. She ran as fast as she could, dashing along and trying to catch signs of humans or elves. Any living being, or dead even. With all the blood, there were no corpses? If this was the battle area, then surely there should have been. She kept running, even though the lead weight in her stomach told her that every step took her farther away from Talainna and Valenthion.

Nothing. It was getting dark, and there was no trail of any sort beyond the bloody area.

"Saelhil," the other elf mentioned. "We need to turn back. We don't have any food or water besides the spring water. They left two days ago. We should get a bigger group and head off in the morning."

Raeliel slowed down. She could hear them talking. "You two go back. I'm going to keep going. When I find them, I'll send a message." She wasn't going to stop. She couldn't. They were so far. If they waited until morning, the gap between them would just increase. They would never be able to catch up. "I'm going to keep going."

"I'm not going back until I find them," Saelhil said simply. "Go back and get rest. Regroup and send out a larger group in the morning. Raeliel and I will continue on." And so the other elf turned back, alone. He needed to find his kinsmen, and he wasn't leaving Raeliel around humans alone.