And Elspeth falls into step beside the horse, racing through the forest.

Plan is to claw their way through the enchantments, now that she knows how they work. The trees are threaded to each other to redirect you in circles. There's some give to it. Find threaded trees. Insist on going between them. Twist it, and twist it, and twist it until the threads are trying to hold the whole forest in one spot.

They ride for hours. She sings over osanwe to her son.

Elspeth introduces herself to her sword. What is it like to be a sword?

Being a sword in an armory is pretty tedious. Being a sword running through the forest is pretty great. It'll be better if she knows how to use him, does she?

She's working on it. Here's what she's got. None of the people in her memories had smart swords, though, so perhaps that is different, and also on her world swords are mostly a human thing so the tactics aren't adapted for her strength/speed/agility/sensory acuity.

Her sword is delighted to work with her to figure out the best swordfighting tactics for a half-vampire! Elves do have superior-to-humans strength, speed, agility, and sensory acuity, but they don't even come close to equalling her on any of those but the last.

What a helpful sword. She hopes she doesn't ever need it - sorry sword - but it will be nice to have an option that doesn't involve sinking her teeth into things if situations call for violence.

She'll probably need it! Most people around here should really be stabbed. He'll also cooperate with sparring.

Sparring could be interesting.

After about eight hours of riding she says that she thinks she's getting somewhere. 

How does this inescapable forest even work, anyway?

So she explains how the enchantment chains the trees together so trying to travel between them lands you somewhere else, and what she's trying to do.

...would it by any chance help if Elspeth asserted that there was enough space between various trees?

Yep. That might help.

How would I say it in your language?

"There's space to pass between these trees."

Elspeth repeats that. She has reason to believe her senses are lying to her; she can talk through that just like she could if it were one of Zafrina's illusions.

Brilliant. That'll speed it up - can you do those trees right there, those trees over there -

Elspeth can do that! She can repeat the sentence over and over.

And suddenly there's sunlight streaming through some trees. Aredhel is delighted. Those trees, those trees -

There's space between them! Elspeth says so and if Elspeth says so it is because it's true.

And they're clear.

They're on an open plain, hilly, mountain ranges to the north, forest to the west. 

We head east, she says. And you meet my cousins.

Okay. I'm really surprised I've stayed awake this long and now there's a visible sun I'm pretty sure my sleep cycle will snap to it. Early evening is most likely when I'll fall asleep.

Okay. We can be in Himlad by then at this pace, we can sleep over there.

Okay, good.