Darkin: The Prophecy of the Key (The Darkin Saga Book 2) by Joseph Turkot

man—there was no trace of the Dryan bodies: he moved us, Remtall realized.
    “One or another would have found you—the Drya are one of many tribes in Aaurlind that are fearful, panicked,” said the man.
    “Panicked over what?”
    “It seems lore runs deep in the primitive races, especially pertaining to an omen of a star,” he replied.
    “Omen of a star?”
    “Yes. You see, there’s been a new star in the sky for weeks now. It grows larger each night as if poised to eventually fall to Darkin.”
    “Ah, I remember there was a council about that, back in Erol Drunne.”
    “Erol Drunne! How far you’ve traveled, and how long it’s been since I myself—” the glowing man was cut off mid-sentence:
    “A—a specter?” cried Ulpo suddenly, standing up. Remtall and the man turned to look at the woken dwarf.
    “I am no specter. Do not be alarmed,” replied the soothing voice of the man.
    “He’s a friend, Ulpo—you see, he’s healed our wounds from the blood of those dumb beasts,” Remtall said. Ulpo looked to his hands, remembering how he’d punched inside the plant’s belly, and how the acidic pus had drenched his fist and forearm; his arm looked as good as new though, and he was sure it was not the doing of Remtall.
    “Thank you,” Ulpo said.
    “It wasn’t a problem, I promise you. I have been thrice assaulted since escaping Palailia, by three of the countless wild tribes of the Endless Forest—each acting under a spell of madness owing as its conjurer the star,” he replied.
    “Palailia!” shouted both Remtall and Ulpo in unison.
    “Yes Palailia. Why such a start?”
    “Because that is where we mean to go!” Remtall declared.
    “I hope you lie, gnome friend. That dreadful place is home to Lord Parasink, enslaver of spirits. Knowing him firsthand, I urge you not to tread there. I have only just escaped—”
    “It is our sole purpose, the only fate we have in Aaurlind!” Remtall affirmed.
    “If then you mean to become enslaved, and I cannot deter you from it, know at least that you’re heading in the entirely wrong direction; you’ve been traveling away from Palailia,” he replied.
    “That’s because I lost my torch, searching for this blasted dwarf! Had it not been for that, and those foul plants, we’d already be there!” Remtall retorted.
    “No, you would not have,” replied the man.
    “How can you know in which direction we have been travelling—you’ve only just found us surrounded in a hive of living vines,” questioned Ulpo.
    “No. I have been following you for nearly a day’s time.”
    “What!” Remtall raged. “Why then did you let the creatures take us?”
    “I wanted to know where their home was, and so I let them take you to it,” he replied coldly.
    “Why?” Ulpo asked.
    “You see, these beasts were the first to attack me when I escaped, and I was rather angered by their hostility—so I wished to exterminate them; and if it concerns you so much, you would do well to know that you passed Palailia’s entrance long before they employed their gas on you.”
    “But—ugh—I can’t believe we missed it. That doesn’t explain why you  followed us in the first place,” Remtall said, on guard.
    “It is not every day one sees a gnome and a dwarf cross your path in Aaurlind—in fact there exist neither of your races in freedom on this continent; there hasn’t for over a hundred years. Not since the golden age of the gnomen mines, before Parasink came. So I intended to find your purpose here but I couldn’t, for you two were trekking through the forest in circles,” he explained.
    “Circles! Impossible…” Ulpo exclaimed. Remtall hung his head, his pride cracking: he’d assured Ulpo he’d done the necessary research and learned the way, discovered the exact route they were to follow, and would know it once they entered the forest.
    “And what folly, bringing only two torches into the Endless Forest!” the glowing man laughed loudly.
    “Enough!”