That night the moon shone bright. Holes in the ceiling creating a muster, the floor as a canvas and light as a brush, forms unimaginable arranged on the ground.
A dozen silhouettes withed in the shadows, captivated by the play, but none got close.
With a vigilant gaze, they surveyed the surroundings, letting not the slightest movement escape their eyes.
The whole day, they spent crouching in the darkness, waiting for the Lõtv to come and take one of them.
Although his legs burnt with pain, Ray persevered. This was the first and most important step. Nothing could go wrong.
'They are already at their limit... any more and they'll rush out.'
Heavy panting and grinding teeth were more prevalent than he would like.
The Elves had been on guard since morning, so it wasn't a surprise they were getting impatient. Still, a nervous bloodthirsty bunch of crazed people with weapons isn't the best audience to let wait.
He had to get one the Lõtv here somehow before his whole preparation went down the drain.
Standing up, for the first time in hours, Ray walked to the door. Usually, there were no guards in front of the house, as the whole clearing could be overlooked from the homes atop the trees.
Through a crack, he could see the Lõtv going about their business as always. At least nothing happened that could jeopardize the plan.
Just rushing outside was out of the question. The sharp glint of arrows reflected in the sun told him. The watchful eyes of the minions on the trees wouldn't miss one of them. And he had no doubt if push came to pull the Spirit wouldn't hesitate to kill them all...even if that meant cutting off the lifeline of his subordinates.
Looking down at his wooden pike an idea dawned upon Ray. If they didn't come to the prison voluntarily, he just had to make them have no choice but to.
Without thinking twice, Ray stuck the back end of his pike into the crevice, trying to expand it through brute force.
The door was already old and molded, so making an opening was easier than he thought.
The Lõtv outside looked over, probably wondering about the commotion, but didn't interfere with Ray's actions.
When the hole was big enough for a head to fit through, he stepped back a bit and positioned himself.
Inside the house, the Elves, who were already on edge, watched him curiously. While some thought Ray's efforts in demolishing their door was still part of the plan, and everything went how their 'leader' wanted it to go, others got into a running stance, ready to take off whenever necessary.
Closing one eye Ray aimed at one the Lõtv outside, working tirelessly without the slightest clue that he became a target.
'I only have one shot...Let's hope I can throw better than fight...'
As his tensed muscles loosened, the pike whistled through the air.
The piercing sound of cutting air was the only thing resounding in Ray's ears at that moment. Neither the shocked gasps of the Elves nor the ringing voice in his head, telling him to get out of here, got him out his stupor.
Before anyone could react the pike latched into the throat of the Lõtv, killing it instantly.
The tremor of it hitting the ground booming like an earthquake in Ray's mind.
'Shit! I just wanted to hit his leg!'
A moment of silence followed before the Lõtv cranked their necks, in Ray's direction, all at once. The archers on the trees climbed down, workers dismissed their tasks and Ray started to freak out.
He always thought the Lõtv wouldn't do anything without the Spirit's explicit order, but apparently, he was wrong. The death of one of their comrades seemed to have ignited emotions they shouldn't possess.
Unfortunately, Ray didn't have the leisure to think about the inner workings of these puppets right now. With a horde of them coming closer every second he had to prepare for the storm that was about to happen.
At his back, the Elves seemed confused about the happenings outside. From their position, they couldn't see the Lõtv dying as Ray blocked their sight. The dozens of footsteps coming in their direction but didn't need to be seen to understand what they entailed.
"What happened? Is this still part of the plan?"
"Maybe something went wrong?"
"Shouldn't we get ready to fight?"
Hushed voices spread in the house. Understandably the Elves didn't know what to do. Ray had never given them a detailed explanation of how he envisioned this day to go, so none of them could assess the situation properly.
"Ray! Is everything alright outside? What happened?"
The only one who spoke up and directly addressed Ray was Kymil, who bore an unusually grave expression.
'Right...now is not the moment to flip out. I have to direct them!'
Finally registering the gravity of the situation Ray took in a deep breath. The panic on his face vanished, soon replaced by bravery and confidence.
He turned around and looked over the anxious crowd. One after the other he looked in their eyes, his gaze hardening with every passing moment.
"Don't be afraid, my brethren! I garnered their attention by slightly injuring one. Right now they are marching in our direction, looking for a fight. But that is exactly what we want!"
The unrest between the Elves slowly calmed down. For them as long as they got to kill the Spirit, later on, the proceedings didn't really matter.
Since this was part of the 'plan', why complain?
"Two of you get beside the door, three in front of it! Try to intercept as many of them as possible! The rest of us will go outside through the other exit. We have to act stealthy, so we don't attract the attention of the Lõtv."
Through the confused stares of the Elves, Ray walked up to the left side of the house.
In a practiced manner, he started to remove the planks one by one, revealing a hole big enough for an adult to comfortably get through.
Ray had dug this hole since the very first day he had been confined here.
His way of doing it had similarity to the way a certain prisoner dug his way out of jail with a spoon. Only, his spoon was a rock thrice the size of his fist, and he smashed it against the mud over and over until he was done. With all the crazy Elves scratching walls and talking to themselves, another lunatic hitting the ground with a rock didn't even stand out.
The shock of this revealment was even bigger to the Elves than their fear or excitement.
Wasn't this an escape route? Couldn't they have been gone long before this?
"I know what you are thinking right now, but escaping from here is not that easy. The sentries are spread everywhere, not to the mention the Spirit's control over the forest. Had we escaped we would have been found immediately."
"But what about the bigger Clans? One person would have surely been able to slip through and contact them."
"Yeah, if we had sent one at a time, wouldn't it have been fine?"
With righteous anger, the Elves raised their voices. Accusing Ray and demanding an answer.
'Can't these idiots think for themselves?! Is this the right moment to question me?!'
With the still impending disaster, Ray wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
In his original plan, they would lure the Lõtv one by one into the house, reducing the number of enemies. Afterward, some of the others would go outside to fight the thinned out crowd.
But now, with the circumstances at hand, he had to be flexible. And that meant faster in running away than planned.
Since going outside without the protection of the group was suicide, he had to resolve their doubts.
"The bigger Clans can't help us. Just think about how long it would take for one of us to reach and convince them of deploying troops. We'd long be dead before any of that happened!"
"Our only chance is overpowering the Spirit and his minions. If you still want to save your children then stop talking and follow me to fight!"
The expected response of convinced roars didn't come, but at least they seemed to accept the reality of the situation.
Fighting amongst them wouldn't save anyone, and the only one with a plan was Ray, so they decided to follow.
As he crawled through the hole, the footsteps from outside came to a halt.
He thought they had somehow seen him, but the thumping sound from the door indicated their arrival at the house's front, which was equally bad.
Since even he could make an opening in the door, it certainly wouldn't withstand the assault of the muscle packet Lõtv.
"Hurry up! Everyone after me!"
Hurried scrambling ensued. As full of murderous intent as they were, when it came down to it, they were just ordinary villagers. Expecting discipline and willingness to sacrifice oneself was too much.
Five of the Elves in better condition remained and positioned themselves according to Ray's instructions. Although he didn't have much hope for them, leaving the house empty or letting the Lõtv take it without resistance would arouse unnecessary suspicion.
Outside, Ray and his team of fighters ready for retirement hid in the bushes, slowly advancing.
Soon enough sounds of fighting came out of the house. None of these Elves were particularly good warriors; else they wouldn't live here. With the disadvantage of being old and feeble, the time they could buy was even more limited.
Most of the Lõtv were attracted by Ray's 'assassination', leaving the clearing deserted for wide parts.
At a lot a places small mounds of dirt barely concealed the bodies of fallen Elves, who died sapped of all vitality.
One particular one caught Ray's attention. The body was entirely covered, except a hand reaching out of the earth, inside its palm a small ball of cloth.
"Why are you dawdling! Come, we must hurry!" Kymil shouted
'Tsk. Still too early...Let's wait a bit more...'
Tearing his eyes of the body, Ray caught up to the group, hoping there wouldn't be any more mishaps.