Rebecca and her acolytes had been running the rest of the night. Above them, the sun was starting to rise and new sun rays were starting to pierce through the canopy.
The five figures were tired and their speed already made up for it, but despite this, they did not want to stop. They had vital information to report to the Elders and it was their duty to do so. The level of danger they faced was rarely as high, far greater than any of the armies sent by the principality or kingdom.
To tell the truth, they had lied to the elf, telling him why they were neutral. Rather, they couldn't really give him such information without the consent of the Ancients.
Their village had been established in this region for generations, but it was not without tough negotiations that they had succeeded in obtaining their independence. Among the many people who populated this world, their village was slightly different.
Nicknamed the "Shadow Walkers", the villagers, whether farmers or soldiers, all had a gift for stealth and shadow magic. Although few could use the second, the first was an innate ability of their village and every villager was endowed with it.
In night or darkness, their abilities to be able to hide and disappear from sight was almost supernatural and unrealistic that many mages had attempted to study this skill without ever being able to detect an ounce of magic.
Because of this, the village was often the victim of capture or kidnapping by bandits and slave traders. Their abilities giving them a great advantage, those captured were often forced to become assassins or spies.
This is what the Ancients had played on to obtain a treaty of independence from the two border kingdoms. In exchange for two children per generation, the two kingdoms would guarantee the independence of the small village. After this was done, the village was then able to concentrate on its own safety and defense and a garrison of soldiers was trained.
With their strange abilities, they were then able to trap the bandits entering their forest. After their hard training, the village garrison then pushed back countless troops sent by the merchants and after a while, the latter finally stopped.
Although some expeditions were organized from time to time to try their luck, none managed to pass. The garrison until then only served as decoration and protection solution in case something happened, especially to protect against wild beasts and possible monsters.
Rebecca and the others were part of this garrison and in particular a particularly fast reconnaissance detachment. They had never been given a mission and were often looked down on by other soldiers, but today was their day of glory.
A few minutes passed when a wooden fence entered their field of vision. The group took a tight right and approached a dirt road in the middle of the trees before heading to an open doorway in front of which two soldiers in leather armor armed with spears were stationed.
Seeing the figures approaching, the two guards frowned and gripped their spears, increasing their vigilance until they could recognize the five figures. Immediately they took a few steps forward to welcome the ghosts.
- "Welcome back among no -..." began to say one of the guards when the five figures passed by him without taking care of them and immediately entered the village by the door without a word or a single noise besides. that of their steps.
The guard turned around in awe before turning to his colleague. Both then frowned. Something was wrong. Immediately, they returned to the village and closed the doors before placing a large trunk to lock the imposing and heavy door. They turned their gazes to the group of figures going directly towards a large house in the center of the village on top of a hill.
- "Something is definitely wrong. Jacques, go warn the captain" he said to his colleague who nodded and left running before disappearing in an alley.
The village was quite large and surrounded by a wooden fence about three meters high, made up of tree trunks placed next to each other and sunk into the ground with only one entrance and exit. Inside, one could count about thirty houses very spaced apart from each other on two floors and quite wide.
The houses were distributed relatively unfairly with a fairly compact area and another very free in which there was a farm with a field, a stable in which three horses rested and a fenced clearing in which there were about ten sheep.
Life was relatively peaceful, with the villagers going about their daily business and the children having fun or helping their parents. In the center of the village was a hill overlooking the rest of the houses with two houses above it. One quite simple but wide on one floor, the other very narrow but high as a tower above which four guards watched the surroundings.
Quickly, they noticed the five figures appear at the gates of the village and run towards them and alerted the Elders and the other soldiers. In front of the house, three elderly people were waiting for the scouts, surprised at their speed.
Two of them were men dressed in simple clothes and obviously quite old with in the center, a woman in a brown dress with fabrics embroidered and patched up to visibly fill in the holes. Beside them, two soldiers were also watching them, equally surprised.
Once in front of the house, the five scouts stopped and Louis immediately spoke up, breathing hard and looking tired.
- "Elders ... the barrier has been broken" he said before swallowing painfully and catching his breath. Around him, the four of which Rebecca fell to the ground, her hands on the ground and breathing heavily.
- "Drop the report !!" the elderly woman said as she approached them and placed a hand on Louis' back. "You barely stand up! Rest before --..."
- "No !! Old ... important" cut Louis immediately.
The former was suddenly surprised and then saw the worried and urgent expression of Louis before realizing that the situation was not to be taken lightly. She nodded and let Louis continue with his report.
- "A ... elf", it was Rebecca who continued while Louis tried to breathe again. "We ran into an elf."
With that, everyone present then widened their eyes slightly and one of the guards stepped forward, an expression worried and slightly annoyed.
- "Are you sure it was an elf ?! I'm sure you just got scared of a bunch of bandits and ran away like good-for-nothing" the soldier threw aggressively.
- "Artiel! This is not the moment" said one of the elders, putting his hand on the soldier's arm as he moved forward before returning his gaze to Louis. "Is it true ?"
Louis then nodded positively.
- "Conn * rie! You're not going to believe them anyway"
- "Artiel, last warning" threatened the old man, looking the soldier in the eyes. Artiel groaned slightly in annoyance before stepping back. He returned his attention to the scouts again. "How do you know it was an elf? It is not possible that an elf is this far from their territory."
- "Golden hair, pointed ears and above all, incredible magical power. No mistake, he was an elf ..." replied Louis.
The elders then began to think seriously before Rebecca resumed.
- "He wants to meet you" he said simply between two breaths.
- "Talk to us? Why so?" asked the old woman.
- "He said he wanted to know more. He surely has questions" replied Rebecca.
- "Why would he have questions? We are the ones who have questions! What is he doing in our territory ?!" Artiel declared again fervently. The black haired soldier, obviously in his twenties, was quite tall and imposing at the height of two meters and fifteen.
Ignoring the soldier, the old one continued.
- "Do you know who is he? Where does he come from? Any information ..."
- "Not sure, only theories" replied Louis. "If the barrier was prized by a golden ray from within and suddenly an elf appeared, there is only one possible explanation."
These words then echoed in the ears of the elders and the soldiers and the explanation became clear and limpid. Louis was right, there was only one possible explanation.
"So the shrine is a place created by the elves to inhabit one of their fellow-members? But then why was it only coming out now? Was it asleep or sealed?" thought the elders in deep thought.
After a while, the elders looked at each other then then turned to the scouts having caught their breath a little but still on the ground, Louis still standing.
- "Go and rest. You've done a good job. Artiel, help them get to their houses and ask the garrison captain to come join us" declared the elder before heading for the house with the two other elders.
Immediately, Artiel nodded and motioned for two more guards to come over. Together, they helped the scouts walk and led them to different houses before heading to the fence before one person caught their attention.
The tall, muscular man in leather armor was also walking towards the house of the elders. Immediately, Artiel approached him.
- "Captain, the Elders you ..." he said before being cut.
- "So it's true. Alright, Artiel, go help guard the door in case we have intruders" pronounced the captain in a deep voice.
- "At your service !" declared the soldier before immediately leaving the place for the door.
In the middle of a room in the House of the Ancients, a rectangular table had been set up with the elders seated around it. The atmosphere was grave and silent, they were all thinking when the door swung open and the captain's heavy footsteps echoed through the room.
- "Kiril, please sit down ..." the elder declared to the captain.
The latter complied and then came to sit at the end of the table, cracking the wood of the chair, almost breaking but seeming to hold out. Once seated, the captain looked up at the elders.
- "Not good news I guess."
They nodded negatively, confirming the captain's doubts. He sighed lightly and waited for the elders meeting.
- "The barrier has been broken," Kiril frowned slightly, dreading this news to be true but mostly surprised at it, "and an elf seems to be responsible for it."
This news shocked Kiril even more, who was now beginning to doubt the elders and the scouts. However, it wasn't going to change much right now, so he didn't question anything yet and continued to listen.
- "According to the scouts, he wants to see an elder to ask him questions ..."
- "And you expect to believe them?" Kiril asked, now dissatisfied with the naivety of the ancients. They had somehow tried to boost the morale of the reconnaissance team with the soldiers. But this new report they had just submitted was even more shameful and unreasonable. If it turned out to be false, they would be the laughing stock of the garrison and the soldiers would no longer have any respect for them.
- "Frankly ... I don't see why they would lie to us. But above all, they must have really seen something scary to want to come back so quickly on the verge of killing themselves while running."
The captain had to admit it, the team had come back much faster than expected. The trip from the village to the shrine took three good days of walking, with their speed the scouts would take a full half day or even two, resting regularly.
Nevertheless, they had completed the entire mission in barely one night which even left some doubt as to whether they had really made it to the shrine or whether they had turned back in the middle of the road. The second option was not entirely possible, however. Coming towards the house, Kiril had seen the terrified faces of the scouts and how exhausted they were.
This kind of fear could only be caused by something really terrifying.
- "Let me send a small detachment of three mounted soldiers to the shrine to confirm this. If they say the same thing, then I will go with you in person."
The elders seemed satisfied with the compromise given by the captain and were about to accept it when the old one resumed in a firm voice.
- "No, it's way too dangerous." Kiril arched an eyebrow slightly, waiting for an explanation. "If the report is true and it is an elf, sending three soldiers just to see him might be seen as an insult. I have never seen one, no one has ever met one. , but we've all read stories about elves ... "
- "Old! You are not going to base your judgment on stories after all!"
- "And you are going to tell me that you know an elf maybe?! Shit, even me, I never met one. We know who they are from the stories and the tales of the bards! If we trust them, and I trust them, so what do you want to do? ignore history? recreate conflict with elves like the Founders? "
The captain listened to him silently and deeply. She wasn't entirely wrong, but Kiril didn't agree with the way he took the scouts at his word, either. He didn't trust them, not because they were looked down upon or laughed at by their comrades, but because it was their first assignment.
- "What do you plan to do?" he asked simply.
- "I'm going to go" answered the former, attracting the surprised and worried glances of the elders and the captain. They already knew how the old one was stubborn and that when she had decided something, not even the King could turn her back.