The dark mountain range was in the southwest on the continent of Sagas. Its northern side was near the forest of elves. Its western side was beside the endless sea. Its eastern side was adjacent to the abundant plain. Its southern side reached the desert of death…
The dark mountain range derived its name from the fact that there were so many shiny black stones in the mountain range that made the mountain peaks look pitch-black.
However, as the dark mountain range was steep and barren, it was no paradise for animals and plants. There were only some drought-resistant shrubs, patches of grass and a few kinds of wild animals.
But it was said that in ancient times, the dark mountain range was not barren. At that time, it was as abundant and beautiful as the forest of elves. It even had another beautiful name--the emerald mountain range.
But after the War of Gods, heaven collapsed and the earth cracked. Everything was destroyed.
Now, the environment of the dark mountain range was almost as bad as the desert of death.
Apart from trade caravans that had to cross the mountain range and those dwarfs and humans who were trying to look for mines in the dark mountain range, few people came here…
In a hidden valley in the northwestern part of the dark mountain range.
At the corner of the valley, simple and crude stone houses scattered all over like stars in the sky, forming a small village.
Although the stone houses were simple and crude, they were very tidy and clean. Beside every house there were flowers and bushes. Obviously, the owners loved nature… These flora were a very rare sight in the dark mountain range.
At the center of the village, there was a small open square. A simple platform made of stones and vines was on the square.
At this moment, more than two hundred inhabitants gathered below the platform. There were the elderly and the young. All of them wore linen clothes and hoods that could cover their appearances. They were thin and weak with numb expressions. From their appearance, one could tell that they lived a very hard life.
Their sharp ears and outstanding looks that could be vaguely seen exposed their identity--elves.
The elves sat in groups of two or three, looking towards the platform curiously.
Two elderly elves were standing on the platform.
One of the elderly elves wore a gray sacrificial robe. He had white hair and white beard, but was radiating health and vigor. He was the elderly priest, Samuel Gale, who went to gather elves as Eve ordered.
The other one was an elderly female elf.
Her name was Flosil Flame. She was the village head and Samuel's old friend.
The female elf glanced at Samuel beside her and sighed.
"Samuel, I have already summoned all the elves here as you said. Can you say the matter now?"
Samuel's expression was very complicated as he looked at more than two hundred elves under the platform.
"Are all the Flames here?"
Flosil's eyes lowered as she said sadly,
"Only these ones remain."
"Ah… I did not expect that the Flames with a population of nearly ten thousand would have declined to this degree."
Samuel sighed sadly.
However, the Flames were better than the Gales who had completely disappeared.
Flosil's expression became vague as she heard Samuel. She managed an awkward smile and said,
"Are there any solutions? Without the blessing of the true god, all of us are merely homeless children to be bullied… It's already lucky for us to find a place to hide in the emerald mountain range."
In the world of Sagas where gods existed, it was very hard for an ordinary intellectual race without a true god's blessing to survive the struggles between different races.
Elves were especially attractive to other races.
Because of their beautiful appearances, long life expectancy, and innate magic constitution, without power and protection, they were highly attractive to other races.
In addition, elves stood aloof from worldly strife, loved peace and were kind by nature. They were not used to being aggressive at all. Therefore, in a series of conspiracies and conflicts, the elf race became increasingly weaker.
The blessing of the true god?
Samuel's eyes lit up.
He took a deep breath, smiled brilliantly, and said passionately,
"In fact… I'm here for that matter."
"Huh?"
Flosil looked towards him in surprise.
The chief of the Flames hadn't discovered that the old friend before her seemed to be vaguely different from the image she had of him until now.
Although she had not seen him for many years, Samuel looked more vigorous. There was a faint light in his eyes as if he had hope for the future.
Many years ago, the gray old man never looked like this. The numbness and despair that were once in his turbid eyes thoroughly disappeared.
Flosil fixed her eyes on him.
The Gales were the most special among all the elf tribes. They had the duty of sacrificing to the Mother of Nature. They were also called the tribe of priests.
After the fall of the World Tree, the Gales were also the most persecuted.
As the elder of the tribe, Samuel Gale witnessed the decline and fall of the Gales… Every time she saw him, he always looked sad and desperate.
If she got it right, Samuel had always stayed near the forest of elves with the last saint of nature and kept sacrificing to nature in the hopes of awakening Mother God.
But now…
Flosil suddenly came up with an incredible guess when she saw that Samuel was in high spirits and his eyes were shining with hope…
Could it be…
Her heart that had been quiet for so many years suddenly pounded quickly.
"You…"
She gazed at Samuel, her voice trembling. She seemed to be wondering and anticipating something.
Samuel turned to smile gently at his old friend and opened his arms…
A brilliant holy light radiated from him, filled with appeasing power and a strong breath of nature.
In an instant, Samuel seemed to be the beloved of nature in the brilliant light. The strong breath of nature instantly enveloped the whole square…
Perceiving the great power of nature in the elder priest, Flosil widened her eyes and said in surprise,
"Silver… Silver priest!"
A Silver priest!
After the Mother of Nature fell, how many years had passed since she saw a priest at such a high level?
Silver was a boundary. Only a true god could afford a Silver priest!
At this moment, Flosil felt her old heart beating passionately as if she was young again. Her originally absurd guess that was filled with hope had vaguely pointed to a fact!
"This… This…"
She murmured. She was almost unable to speak.
The power of the holy light attracted all the elves below as well. They looked up at the elder elf on the platform in shock and puzzlement.
Seeing them watch him, Samuel smiled.
He faced the north, piously drew a symbol of the Mother of Nature on his chest, and said gently yet powerfully,
"My fellow elves, our true god Her Majesty… has come back. She has called us to return to the forest of elves and recover our glory!"
After these words, he took out a golden leaf, which was a sacred object with Eve's divine force--the World Tree's leaf.
Samuel held the World Tree's leaf up high and released its power piously and respectfully…
In an instant, intense natural divine force spread all over. The branches sprouted and the flowers bloomed wherever the divine force reached. Immediately, the square was surrounded by flowers and verdant vines…
All the elves were shocked as they looked at the scene before them that was like a miracle.
"Natural divine force! This is natural divine force!"
Some elder elves recognized it and said in excitement.
With the miracle, an ethereal and holy voice resounded through the air,
"Children, come home."
Children, come home…
The voice was dignified, soft, and pleasant… with sighs as if the speaker had experienced the vicissitudes of life. It had an amazing power to appease people's hearts.
This was the oracle Eve recorded in the World Tree's leaf.
In an instant, all the elves felt warm energy pouring into their bodies. Their bodies that had been weak because of their long-term vagrant life gradually regained strength!
Flosil got down on her knees with a flop. Two lines of turbid tears fell down as she gazed at the bright leaf of the World Tree and felt the vitality inside.
Her expression was filled with surprise and sadness when she raised her head.
"Mother God… This is the power of Mother God!"
"Mother God… is back!"