Surrounded by the council members, Fenris didn't back down, not even when his words appeared to fall on deaf ears.
"No race's innocent of wrongdoings. Just take our example with Alijah. I'm sure you all have similar stories. It just happens the latest thing has to do with a witch." He shrugged.
Most of them seemed unmovable, but what he had said was true. No race was innocent. No matter where one looked, there were evil characters. Elves sacrificed their lives for these valuable artifacts, which were used in war.
Just how many lives did they take in the quest for beauty?
We could say the same about the vampires who had a habit of drinking blood even when the individual didn't want to.
Just how many stories of vampires draining a village dry existed? There are too many to count.
Not to mention what other secrets they hid. Vampires always tried to keep their records hidden from everyone else, but a closet full of skeletons eventually would be found.
So, who knows what else they have in store for us?
Cora was enough for me not to dismiss them anymore. The humans also caused many wars for territory and resources, which was why they were the richest of all the races. We had never been perfect, even when we tried to keep each other in check.
It didn't matter if we tried to bury down all the skeletons we dragged behind us.
Sooner or later, they'll rise for everyone to see.
"I won't lecture you all in your histories. Sadly, I frankly don't know them all, but we can look at all the wars we started over the quest for power alone. With that, I can say enough is enough. If we don't change, then nothing will be better. Our kids and our grandkids will never find peace." Fenris huffed, crossing his arms before biting his lip.
Knowing he had pups on the way, this last sentence hit him harder.
"I want my kids to have a world where they can be themselves. No matter what happens next, our loved ones deserve a peaceful place to live." He added, placing his hands on the table.
Jaxon chuckled, tapping his fingertips on the papers before him.
"If we place one of them in the chair to represent them. It might sway some away from the rebel forces, and I don't see harm in it." The moon elf smirked.
These elves have always favored working together with witchcraft users.
"Maybes don't win wars." Nyla countered, narrowing her eyes at her fellow.
The moon shook his head, "If you don't see the potential in front of you, I don't know what to say."
Not all witches did horrible things. Some created potions and medications for the population. We also created charms and magical artifacts with the help of the elves and humans with mundane tasks.
Others tried to dispel curses placed on victims. Our evil actions overlooked these simple things that we contributed to the world.
"No, but chances do, and if we don't dwindle their forces, we may lose this war before it even begins." Fenris sighed.
The other council members revealed their stances.
"I also believe witches should have a chair. After all, we elves have one for each type of magic we possess. So why should the humans be any different?" Jaxon questioned his fellow elves, who weren't receptive to it.
Charles listened silently, waiting to see what the others said before he said anything else.
"Yes, the witches should represent themselves. I'm tired of dealing with their affairs if we don't do that. We should shrink the elves' chairs to one. I mean, you all have pointy ears and must have similar issues, no?" Roman complained, waving his hand.
Dealing with humans and witchcraft affairs alone was a colossal burden for him, mainly when he chose to ignore our needs over his.
"We'll just be handing power back to the cause of mayhem!" Kaiden slammed his hands on the table.
His red hair seemed set ablaze as the hot blood flowed through his veins.
Nyla sighed, glancing at the silent sun elf. "Well... Charles, what do you think? You're awfully quiet."
He chuckled, "Am I?"
The sun elf studied my wolf's words, poses, and actions the entire time.
"Well, Ryker trained you well, Fenris. Too well, I'd say. I accept Lilith as the representation of witchcraft. However, how do we pretend for them to follow her? She has no experience in this." Charles declared, glancing towards me.
The other three elves against it glared at him, but it appeared Ryker had done his part to convince Charles. Thanks to that, the vampires quickly joined four of the votes, who didn't care if we had a chair but found it helpful to disrupt the forces we stood against.
"Lilith's powerful enough for them to respect her. I'm sure she'll create a coven fully faithful to her if you give her the chance." Fenris assured them before shifting his gaze toward me and intertwining his hand with mine.
"Well, little witch. Prove to us you're worthy of the chair. What's your plan for stopping all of this?" Kaiden chided at me, not happy with the results.
Yet, adding a chair didn't need to be unison, but the majority. I sighed in response to his passive hostility. Thankfully, Fenris's hand gave me all the comfort I needed to deal with them.
"Well... we know that Alijah won't harm me. So, I plan to use myself as bait to lure him and confront him. We'll try to seal him again there, but we first need to get an artifact to work. Sadly, that isn't the only thing we need to figure out." I stopped, shaking my head.
There was a scarier monster than Alijah, Edna—someone we knew nothing about.
"We also have another issue concerning the witches," I answered the fired-up elf.
Nyla appeared to be put off by my response.
"What might that be?" she questioned.
I closed my eyes, remembering the time. I saw the eternal witch, Edna. The power I felt from her was something else. She had even seen me in that incorporeal form when her spell dragged me out. Something about her was off, and if she were as old as Alijah, an issue might arise if we overlooked her.
Stella might've been a pawn in all this without knowing it.
"There is a woman known as Edna. I think something's going on with her. It's like she has a connection with everything that's happening." I tried to fit my thoughts together.
Sadly, her name had no meaning to most of those in the council, after all…
"You'll have to be clearer. That's a common human name." Roman pointed out, raising his eyebrows.
I sighed, shaking my head.
Why is it so hard to explain everything?
Perhaps it was the nerves, but words refused to form on my tongue.
"She's an eternal witch alive since Alijah's time, but we think she might be older than that." Fenris intercepted, tightening his grip on my hand.
She was a monster that provoked fear in my heart, worse than Alijah. After all, her intentions were utterly unknown. She probably didn't want the world's destruction, but something else.
"Impossible," Asher mumbled, covering his mouth with his hands
Vampires were the reason they went extinct, or at least that was what the stories said.
"Ah, no, she exists. I never thought she was malevolent, though. She always came to us with good intentions." Jaxon announced, shifting his eyes to his hands.
What?
I could barely follow along.
"What? Explain yourself, Jaxon! You knew the existence of an eternal witch and never said anything?!" Jasper questioned.
From the wide-open eyes to his pupils dilating to the max as his lips quivered, he alerted everyone of his true feelings towards this revelation—a usual response to dealing with a deadly being. Eternal witches couldn't only control time but influence death in ways I yet couldn't comprehend.
Their magic was close to the one that flowed out of the soul cairn, leaving me to wonder how it was created.
You probably know all about it, don't you, Edna?
She was probably behind the necromancy attack from before, too.
Every tale about them placed them as the blight on the world.
However, this witch's story was more profound than that. Usually, the victors wrote history, which made every book highly inaccurate.
"Edna's older than Alijah's era and not someone to be trifled with. Her power is something else, divine almost." Jaxon cautioned, shaking his head. "She never appeared to be one for fights, but if she is behind all of this, then… Oh gods… we are in trouble."
Then... By the gods... You probably are the first and only survivor of the massacre of your species.
There was nothing more dangerous than a woman who had nothing to lose and everything to gain.