"What do you think they need so many trees for, Erabel?"
Unable to go further, Erabel and Libel were limited to only observing how the trees were knocked down and then taken out of the forest.
"If they're building boats, then everything would make sense."
Unlike Libel who was unable to see beyond what his eyes showed him, Erabel had already a possible explanation.
"What do you mean, Erabel?"
"The great human cities in the Northern Isles."
Libel's eyes were completely opened by understanding Erabel's reasoning. In his mind Libel was convinced once again, Erabel was really the only one worthy of giving birth to his children.
With regard to the words of Erabel, in spite of their isolation, the elves used to gather information about the outside world when they captured unsuspecting humans who dared to enter the Dark Forest.
The information obtained from the last human captured a couple of decades ago said that the cities in the Northern Islands were extremely rich due to trade. In addition, the same information spoke of the existence of large fleets protecting the seas to prevent any attack on these prosperous cities.
Along the entire north coast of the continent there was not a single city and, therefore, not a single port. Thinking carefully about it, those protective fleets had to be concentrated in the waters of the east and the west, reason why without a doubt a bold strategy to carry out a surprise attack on these cities, was improvising a port in the beaches of the north.
If it were as Erabel imagined it, it would all make sense, the highly equipped troops, the large amounts of wood that were extracted and those screams crying out for a conquest the day before.
By understanding that, Libel relaxed his body with disappointment, everything seemed to indicate that he would be unable to show his worth if those humans were truly passing through.
That faint moment of disappointment was short-lived, for as if Libel's imperceptible sigh of frustration had been a snitching cry, despite the distance, the eyes of a human archer met Libel's eyes.
Pushed by his instinct, which shouted "danger," Libel brought his right hand to his back to take one arrow. Unimaginably, just as his fingers touched one of the arrows, a sharp pain pierced the palm of his hand.
To Erabel's surprise, an arrow had pierced Libel's hand. Spite the restrictions of any simple human: limited sight in darkness and mediocre aim to long distances, no doubt it was the human archer who was responsible of it.
There was no doubt that this human archer had overcome all his supposed restrictions, he had fired an accurate shot at Libel's hand in motion and with a long distance in between.
Without Erabel or Libel having time for a word, they watched in fear as the human archer was already in position to fire a new arrow, and his companion with sword in hand was now fully prepared for battle.
Completely overcome, Erabel and Libel waited death at the hands of the human archer, however, the second arrow was not shot.
As if the first shot had been a simple warning, the human archer kept the second arrow stretched over his bow with his eyes on Erabel and Libel.
Quickly understanding the subtle invitation to withdraw, Erabel quickly rose to her feet and pulling a dismayed Libel, she left the place immediately.
Not a word came out of Erabel's lips for the dismayed Libel, she understood his feeling perfectly. Even though the wound represented no danger to his life, it had been fatal to Libel's pride and will.
Because of their superior dexterity, agility and best eyes, what made elves true masters in the use of the bow, elves traditionally despised humans.
Therefore, the fact that Libel, the best archer in the village had been completely surpassed by a human, was a heavy blow not only for him, but for all the elves of the Dark Forest.
In the midst of that silence, Libel and Erabel gathered to the group of forest guards who had escorted them to halfway path, they, seeing Libel's wound and the faces of both, the forest guards were unable to ask a single question.
Sernil had been completely shocked to see not Libel's wound, but the expression on his face. Libel's expression was that of someone whose pride had been completely shattered, his eyes empty and his shoulders drooping. Sernil was unable to dare to ask about what had happened, she was afraid to hear any answer.
With the first rays of the sun, Erabel's group entered the village in complete silence under the watchful gaze of the rest of the elves. Without wasting any time, Erabel called a new meeting with the Sages.
With just enough time to treat Libel's wound, and avoiding any questions from her fellow elves, Erabel met with the Sages in the Hall of Virtues.
"I see, so that's what happened."
After hearing in detail what happened through Erabel's, Jaal was the only one to speak, both Rarpol and Hacel were overwhelmed.
Faced with the lack of words, Erabel placed on the large wooden table the metal head of an arrow, as well as the pieces of wood from the arrow's mast.
"This is?"
"It is the arrow that struck Libel" -Erabel answered Jaal's question with some regret in her words. The mental damage to Libel had been such that it was difficult even to mention his name.
"What's so important about a simple arrow, Erabel?"
"I haven't had enough time to examine it in more detail, but at first glance I can say I've never seen anything like it."
In response to Erabel, Rarpol took the piece of wood between his old fingers, and then opened his eyes wide with surprise.
"What kind of wood is this? I've never seen anything like it."
"The tip of the arrow is even more intriguing."
Face Erabel's comment, Hacel, who had the greatest knowledge of metals took the tip of the arrow in his hands.
"There's no way this is possible!"
After a few seconds of examining the tip of the arrow in detail, Hacel let those words of astonishment slip away.
"What is the problem, Hacel?"
"It's… it's perfect, there's no trace that it had be treated after it came out of the mold, no, I can't even tell if this was done in a mold. Every detail in it is perfect, it's… it's completely symmetrical. Moreover, although it looks like iron, the metal is different; lighter and yet probably much stronger" -carried by the excitement of his blacksmithing profession, Hacel let out of his mouth every little detail he had observed on the small tip of the arrow.
"Probably the armor and the rest of the weapons of those humans are made of the same material, no, it may even be possible that it is something better than this" -Erabel who had seen those humans with her own eyes, added those words that made Hacel and Rarpol tremble.
"Weapons and armor of quality greater than any known, and skills to surpass even an elven in their own specialty, no doubt these visitors are something to be surprised. Hohoho!" -with the atmosphere becoming more and more tense, Jaal was again the only one to speak. Far from worrying about the situation, it seemed to amuse him.
"*COF COF* Can we be completely sure that the intentions of these humans are in the Northern Islands?" -in the face of Jaal's uncomfortable comment, Rarpol brought the discussion to the important issue.
"That would be the most logical thing, however, we cannot be completely safe without seeing the beach."
Even though Erabel's theory seemed accurate, the fear caused her to have difficulty accepting it completely.
"Trying to get close again would be crazy, this time they could take it as an aggression and decide to attack us."
"That's true Hacel, yet we can't stand idly by."
Although Hacel's words were true, it was also true that, without absolute certainty, no one would be able to feel tranquility.
"We must try to dialogue with the Kobolds, this is a problem that affects them as well."
"A little help is never too much."
In the face of Erabel's proposal, Rarpol showed its approval, while Hacel and Jaal merely nodded in silence.
"We must also draw up a plan to evacuate the forest in the worst-case scenario."
Although Erabel's words were extremely heavy, no one was able to refuse to accept them.
"We must also do something about Libel, his condition will soon begin to affect the Forest Guards and the rest of the village."
Even if she was closer to hating him than to appreciating him, Erabel could not help but be distressed about Libel's condition. The most admired and respected elf in the village, and probably the proudest, had been totally overcome and the repercussions of this would spread panic among the elves. If the bravest and strongest of them, a blood Vieri had been surpassed by a human, what could the rest of the elves do against a thousand such humans?
"That… that will be complicated, thier pride was shattered. I can understand him…" -Erabel's voice was extremely heavy, there was some notorious oppression in her response to Rarpol. "In these humans, I could feel a kind of magic that I had never felt before, no, I'm not even sure if it was magic" -as she said those words, Erabel had been forced to join her hands tightly to prevent them from shaking.
What she had felt in those humans at first aroused her curiosity- "it must be a kind of magic I don't know" -Erabel thought at the time, but after what happened to Libel, that unknown magic ended up making her feel overwhelmed.
The worsening of their situation caused the elves to forget a point of utmost importance, for hundreds of years, to hide their presence within Dark Forest, the elves have captured and eliminated every human who has entered in the forest without exception.
But that wasn't the only thing the elves had overlooked.
Throughout their long history, when the proud gray elves had even thought of going to a lesser species like the Kobolds for help?
Without the elves noticing it, they who are indifferent to the passage of time thanks to their long lives were being forced to change.
The simple presence of those mysterious visitors slowly began to change this world.