"what do you mean the half of the army retreated?!" low his came from the figure that sat upon the black throne of Desolan, the lands of chaos.
"It is as you said, your majesty, the second half of the fleet meant to flank the other side of Lunaria was sent retreating back by a dark elf" a Serigal reported, his armored body kneeling before the lady of chaos and ruler of Desolan his voice a raspy mess barely audible
"a dark elf?!" the shadowy ruler screeched causing the earth to quake and her eyes to start ablaze with hellfire "A mere dark elf caused half an army to retreat?!"
"yes, my lady," the Serigal answered his voice never wavering not a hint of fear entering its voice
After all, they're kind were created never to fear death
"The orcs claim that he unleashed a howl so vile and filled with bloodlust the monsters were reduced to their natural instincts of running" the armored figure continued
"the blood howl?" the shadowy figure raised an eyebrow her voice taking a tone of curiosity
"no my lady," the Serigal denied causing her to frown
"How so?"
"they say it was unlike anything the other dark elves possess. it was a howl so feral it sent some of the lesser monsters into a crazed frenzy and some of the weaker willed monsters killed themselves out of fear of being sent after him again"
"and where is this dark elf right now?!" she snapped suddenly
"he travels with a group of elves, my lady" the Serigal responds "it will be good to assume he will be headed to the village of elves"
The figure on the throne smirked
"the elf village has long ago been compromised" she stated cruel mirth in her voice "let this dark elf walk to his own death"
"Are we to kill him upon entry to the forest?" the Serigal suggested looking at its lady's face who put a finger to her chin in contemplation
"no…" she said I looking thoughtful "he could be a useful asset to us"
"as you wish my lady," the Serigal bowed deeply before standing wordlessly and making his way out of the baron throne room
"now Asher…" she called to the dark corner of the throne room
"yes my lady?" a disembodied voice before a raptor-like foot seemed to appear from the darkness.
darkened scales blending in with the darkness making its way towards the torso of a human male leading to a face that looked too perfect to be a human
He stepped out of the darkness letting the pale light of the moon streak his pale face as he stretched two draconic like wings that spanned 14 feet before he folded them to his back and addressed his master with a smile
"are the preparations for the summoning ready?" she asked the butler-like demon
"It requires a few more days to charge the mana for it but otherwise we only need a catalyst with enough focused emotions" he responded
"good…" she laughed maliciously "soon we will plunge the world into chaos"
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Willem watched as the four elves moved about the camp. He had been the first to wake and was already ready and geared up… well as much 'gear' that he had at the moment
It wasn't that much.
Lucius had been too tired to even be mad at him yesterday and immediately collapsed on the earth when Willem called it a night
While the other three were fully rested Lucius looked like a walking bruise.
The others had asked and when Willem responded with training Siris immediately shut up and patted Lucius's back comfortingly which the elf accepted strangely instead of shrugging it off and yelling t him
It seemed the two made a bond over having him as a teacher.
Willem sighed as he watched the four elves bustle about the camp gathering their gear noting the way they moved to be different from how humans in both this world and his old one's move
They had about them a fluid grace of sort.
an unnatural grace to them liken to that of a cat.
Willem chalked it up to their heritage. Afterall he was pretty sure they thought his combat prowess came from him being a dark elf and such.
The way he saw it the elves made themselves to be the earth's protector.
And what did that make him?
What did being the complete opposite of an elf mean?
He had no special connection to nature, no tending sympathy for its demise, no honor-bound duty to save the earth.
what he did have was gratitude.
The earth had sheltered him
fed him.
had kept him company.
He was cut from his reverie by the sound of bells ringing as the forest took on an enchanting vibe as everything beyond their campsite looked only to be a blur and the only thing left was the tree's around them and the elves inside it
Oddly Willem didn't feel on guard at the sudden change,
Normally his senses for danger would be flaring at such a spectacle and out of fear for the unknown
but it wasn't.
Instead, he felt as though he was in a safe embrace.
As if the forest itself sheltered him
"the wood spirits…" he heard Alice mutter in awe as tiny motes of light coalesced into one form before turning into bright light that caused Willem to shield his eyes
"I have come to warn you, children…" a voice called from the source of the light. It was as if each syllable was accompanied by the sound of a hundred bells ringing
When Willem opened his eyes he saw the visage of an old beautiful woman with hair as white as Willem's and skin as brown as the wood on the trees making it look like Willem was light-skinned
Her ethereal blue eyes were soft and withered with age and had the warmth of a caring mother when looking at the group
Old she may be but her beauty would not be denied.
Soft and gentle features adorned her face and it was if every breath she took was the gentle wind in the forest. And her ire meant the wrath of nature itself.
"great wood spirit" Alice addressed as all the elves dropped to their knees leaving Willem and the spirit the only ones standing
Even Lucius had been brought to his knees in respect for the woman in front of the group, bowing his head low like the other two children as Alice spoke to the spirit
"at ease my child, I have come here to warn you," she said gravely her tone making the wind stop for a moment before continuing in a slight breeze
"What kind of dange- Willem?!" Alice was cut off as Willem started approaching the spirit
Willem didn't know what came over him.
Maybe it was the old and wise eyes she had from many hardships.
Maybe it was all the lessons from his father.
Or maybe it was just a habit from his old world That made him walk up to her calmly and kneeled on one knee with his hand extended out to her.
The spirit's eyes widened in surprise
Willem cursed himself.
He probably just made himself look like an idiot
There was no way she would know of-
His eyes widened.
The spirit offered her hand in his.
Slowly he lifted her hand to his forehead until it touched his temple when he heard the spirit mutter under her breath 'may the forest bless you' before pulling her hand back as Willem stood once more
The two stared at each other in silence for a second. Willem felt exhilarated as his slight weariness disappeared and as if the forest really had blessed him like she had said
his mind had started to race.
What he had done was a long time tradition of his people back on earth to show respects to elders and people generally older than they were
The elders would often say 'god bless you' as a means of wishing for someones protection
but what the spirit had done was something else.
She really did bless him.
That raised more than a few questions
Why did she know his country's tradition?
What did she do?
Did she know he was not of this world?
Their little staring contest was broken when the spirit decided to speak once more in a friendly familiar tone with mirth and a nostalgic glint in her eyes
"it is good to be able to greet one of your kin in a time like this, child of old"
Child of old?