What the hell is he doing? Announcing about destroying the enemy as if it's too easy, still for harming our men, lady Allannia should be quite furious.
"Lady Allannia, we can't trust this man, we should-"
I turned to the esteemed high-elf but as I looked the pressure from her was gone, as she bent and picked up one of the flags.
"These are… real flags, for someone to be able to do this you must be highly skilled, but still… harming my children, that alone, I can't tolerate"
"Don't worry… "
Then he did something strange to his staff, moving parts of it, as it made a sound of metals going against each other, as an elf we weren't really a fan of metalworks which the dark-elves uses for their weapons, could it be that this man is a dark elf himself?
He then pointed his strange staff at the skies with two hands… strange, why would you hold a staff like that, plus his staff, doesn't look like it came from nature, usually staffs would be made from a special tree that houses a great spirit or divine power, that kind of staff isn't from a tree, it looks like from a normal tree and has been molded together with metal.
And suddenly we heard a loud bang, I can't really see it but from his gun came out a projectile together with smoke on his staff, is it really a staff in the first place? I heard the same sound when he saved me.
Shortly after the explosion I witnessed the same scene again, a magic circle appeared in thin air, and from it, circled a strong wind enough to disperse the mist, and everyone now could finally breathe.
"That magic circle… wind? There wasn't any incantation for that! Lyra how many elements did he use when he saved you?"
"I believe it was two… "
"Were they all effective?!"
"Yes, they were on an effective level"
"Then does that mean that he has a strong affinity to all those elements, and now the wind? And what's interesting is he can use them together, he's using it differently with us, he knows certain laws that we don't know to make the magic work together without interference"
The camp that was covered in smoke was now cleared of it, by the strange application of the wind magic. The man faced us and threw the amulets from his hand at the ground and at the same time handed out a map, in the map lies a detailed picture of the elven land with some red X marks on it, there are details in the map but I can't pick it up yet, what if it has traps in it?
"Where are you going? Why not have some tea inside?"
Surprisingly the leader offered him tea, a precious resource that the elven kingdoms had abundantly, now it is only made by hand by the princess herself, what does she intend to do to the man? Maybe poison him? But wow she's taking it easily.
The mysterious man turned around us as his mantle fluttered walking away from us, perhaps he's also cautious of the leader? The men who were on the floor especially those who were armed tried to go after him as they readied their weapons.
"No don't!"
I shouted, what if he uses his skills to us? If the sturdy dark elves divisions cant handle him how much more this hastily made camp? We can't afford to make an enemy of him right now!
But before they could fully stand up and chase him, with a sudden human-sized puff of smoke, the man disappeared together with the screech of birds, strange, is he a ghost or something? Appearing and disappearing just like that?
As everyone rose up on their feet, they saw the division flags scattered on the floor. Seeing those with burnt parts and tattered parts they stared at it beneath their feet. It reminded them of the divisions that killed someone close to them, they held it strongly near them and crumpled it, as tears welled in their eyes, it was an expression of anger and a bit of pleasure.
The scene was emotional, we haven't acquired victory yet but in their eyes, they were celebrating, most of the fighters and the people who have escaped from the fear of the dark elves have been invaded with dark elves who carried flags as they raided their people and took their loved ones.
While I was looking at the scene that unfolded in my eyes, the leader picked up the amulets and the map.
"Leader… I should have picked that up for you"
"No… it's fine, Lyra, can you help collect the banners that our mysterious friend has scattered? It causing quite a commotion right now. Also, please come tonight in the same quarters, a meeting will occur"
Her expression improved as she also saw the people at the camp who were rejoicing the fall of the forces that instilled fear in them, by attacking them or taking away their families and friends.
"I guess this is what years of oppression can do, just seeing the flags of their oppressors makes them feel better"
I'm happy to see their faces, at the same time it felt odd, after all we weren't the ones who defeated those divisions.
....
"Today, at noon, a mysterious man came in contact with us and entered the village by using unknown magic and then scattered the flags of dark-elves division in our camp from the skies.
It seems to me that he wants us to ally with him in destoying the dark-elves, he gave us these bundle of amulets as well, that he have taken from the enemy, and this map that has the markings on which divisions he has attacked.
It also contains a message in our language.
"Establish contact with us. We will help you destroy the elves, the enemy of my enemy my friend"
Now the council is to decide on what we will do from hereon"
The council of elves held a meeting with the map of the "man of the mist" (as they call him), is shown in front of the council of 10, they are the leaders of each branch of the resistance.
In charge of food and foraging, Ms. Alre, she emits a cozy atmosphere, her hair is at shoulder length, like most elf women she has an athletic body, her cooking is the best in the headquarters and maybe in the entire resistance. She's one of the original members who joined the resistance and can also wield considerable magic.
In charge of carpentry and housing, Mr. Orrian, also an original during the uninvaded years he was an ordinary craftsman and blacksmith, but during the invasion, he led a considerable small force that protected his town, even when the high ranking elves in his kingdom have surrendered.
In charge of intercamp communication, Mr. Wistari, who brags about his communication magic, an original magic, in which he teaches to his men which he posts to the forward camps, it does have some limitations but the more elves learn his original magic the farther he can communicate.
Presider of spirit communication, elf-priest Sylvar, the one who connects the spirit world with the members of the resistance, although most of our lands were taken, where the higher-ranked spirits reside, he still able to connect aspiring spirit-users to spirits with considerable power that reside in these mountains.
Master of magic casters guild, elf-priest Ellarian, in the mighty days of the kingdom he served kingdom, he was a captain of magic knights.
Three fronts resistance generals, Alwin, Bulas, Conall, three tough-looking elves with muscles bulging at their arms, most elven men have a lean body, but these men look like warriors through and through.
Vice-leader of the resistance, high-elf Revalor Larneiros, his eyes sparkled with intelligence, he wears a blue robe and a cracked round glasses.
Leader of the resistance, former princess of one of the fallen elven kingdoms, esteemed high-elf Allannia Leotoris.
The first one to speak was one of the resistance generals Alwin, who was known for his sword skills that go along with his spirit that lets him create a battle scream that temporarily stuns even a commander-level elf. It is known that he is the best fighter when it comes to close combat, his strategies are known to be bold and risky.
"Did you see those flags? I think it's safe to at least talk with this man, he didn't only destroy small divisions but also cleared up some medium-sized divisions, I just discovered when I saw the flags, one of those, is the division that was chasing us, if it weren't from him there would have been enemies on both sides and would have been routed"
I think I just witnessed a miracle before my eyes, this musclehead who's known to be the training demon of the resistance actually praised someone, just how much did the mist guy help you? Well, I'm not one to complain, as he also saved me but the moment he entered I went hostile towards him.
The next one to speak was Mr. Orrian.
"Can you even tell from which race he is? According to Lyra, he might be not of our kind, that means he might be from the other invading races, can we even trust someone like that? What will you do if he's just from another race plotting to use us?"
"From my perspective, that's not the case, after all if you have the power to take down 31 dark elf divisions why would he need us who can't even make one camp fall?
If he's dangerous, why didn't he completely finished us when we were on the floor crawling because of that smoke? He can even enter the esteemed lady's barrier like its nothing.
Also, it's 31 divisions, 31!
From our perspective that is a number that deals a hurtful blow to the enemy, that's why we must meet him again and talk with him, even if it's risky. It's worth the risk!"
The one who spoke was general Bulas who happened to be at the scene because the camp was meant to be temporary, there weren't any hard fortifications built, so instead of guarding the gate, most of his men were scattered around the mountain, which was a natural barrier, way stronger than any type of fortification.
"Let's not quarrel about this, let's lay out the usual votation, leader if you may"
As usual, the vice-leader is calm and collected, according to rumors he was a former noble, among the elves here he is the oldest male elf, everyone respects him as if it wasn't for him, the resistance wouldn't have lasted long.
"So we have come up with two possible paths we may take.
First, is to make contact with him, in order to assert his usefulness to our cause, seeing his power he might be the key to us landing a critical blow to the elves, and possibly occupy some cities, however, it comes at a high risk where if he would be a traitor, we would definitely fail, in other words, it has a high risk but with a high reward.
Next, is to stay neutral and not get associated with him, although it doesn't have any benefits, we don't have any risk and we will be just fighting like usual"
It is indeed a hard question, the flags he scattered around have made them look at him as a symbol of hope, even the generals are siding with him, but I think it should be time to move forward, the dark-elves are definitely getting stronger by the day, if we fight just like we used to, we will just be waiting for our end.
"Do we even have a method to get in contact with him?" The one who asked was Ms. Alre.
"Actually, yes, along with the map he marked a part where we can meet up"
Oh, so that guy didn't give up on the alliance but have marked something on the map. The mark on the map is at the other end of a waterfall, however, it is unlivable due to the bugs that reside in it, even how much elves commune with nature, we generally hate bugs.
"What if someone ambushes us when we are out there?"
"But it's better than doing nothing right? Can you not even recognize his strength, waltzing casually to our camp, destroying enemy camps, there is no choice other than to make contact with him!"
"How?"
"We have someone here who was saved by that person, if she sets up the negotiation table for us, the risk would be kept to a minimum"
"I see, that's a great idea, then we should head out tonight, while the dark-elves are inactive"
"Yes!"
Wait! What? Do I have any say to this? Even if they are the high echelon, shouldn't this be something that I have a say on? As a free elf citizen? A shiver ran up to my spine as I saw them in their theirs turn their heads towards me as they smiled, these oldies!!!
...
And just like that, I was used as a bait-, no, an envoy of the elves to conduct negotiations with the man of the mist, and as if living up to his name, as we crossed the wooden bridge to the other side of the waterfalls, there was the forest that was filled with fog... and bugs.
"Hey, mister! We have arrived! Can you show yourself?"
I shouted towards the foggy forest if he doesn't appear I would definitely look like an idiot, please appear!
As if hearing my thoughts, a man slowly appeared among the trees and bushes, he still wore the same clothing, with the dead stare in his eyes he made a signal to follow him with his hands.
With a gulp, I led the team to the other side of the waterfall with my spirit, I have already met him three times, and I'm not that afraid of his power, even if he has the power to kill divisions, I can't sense a strong magic power from him, so if I made a physical attack I would surely defeat him, but should I be thinking about doing that to the person who saved me?