Orion watched his breath become foggy in the air, Mr. Smith and the woman started shivering immediately.
Nahern shook his head, as if shaking off the morning frost. The magic faded, melting in the morning light. Mr. Smith gasped in horror, while her Aunt watched with bugged eyes as the business man disappeared. Nahern crossed his ankle over his knee and frowned at the humans before him. He was a tall, imposing figure, with glistening blue skin and piercing gray eyes.
Their long, white hair was tied back in braids, and once again their heavy fur cloaks were over their shoulders. Swords at their sides, but now Selene held a wickedly sharp spear covered with feathers and tufts of fur. Nahern and Selene had returned to their proper forms.
"I am High Prince Nahern Everthorn, Heir of the Frozen Tundra. Your people call us Ice-Elves. Humans have been leaking into our world through the dungeon curse, stealing our kin, assisting our enemies. Over the years, a human now and again would fall through, which was understandable. But now more of your kind are coming into our homelands, destroying all they touch like a plague."
Mr. Smith snorted. "Nonsense!" he said. "We're not destroying anything. We're just trying to survive. Your world is nothing more than ice and snow. You aren't using the materials, so what if we take it. We need it more and we took it!"
"How the hell would YOU Know what their world is like?" Oz spoke up. Her aunt slapped him upside the head.
"You fool! YOu were supposed to keep your stupid mouth shut! Fine, it's true. We have known for years now about the dungeons leading to other worlds." Mrs Winscot's lips twisted into a cruel smile.
"How else do you think we have survived so long as the leading Guild on this coast? So a few people die, they bring back enough raw material to make up for it."
Oz listened in horror, so it was TRUE. They knew people were falling through the dungeons. "Is that why you never entered Smith? Because you knew people were slipping through?" Her voice nearly broke.
"We understand that you're afraid," Chairman Orion said to Nahern, desperate to keep the peace.
"But we want to assure you that we have no intention of harming you or your people. We just want to live in peace. Not all Guilds are like the Winscot's Branch. The Black Lotus focuses on exploring."
"Liar." Oz hissed under her breath, the pain in her joints spoke the truth. Enough where the chairman's eyes flashed to her, even the proud man's eyes seemed to shake in her presence.
Nahern shook his head. "You can't have peace," he said. "Not while your kind is still in our world. You're like a disease, spreading and destroying everything in your path. We will stop you before it's too late."
"We're not a disease," Chairman Orion said. "We're just people. And we want to live in peace just like you do. "
"Then you must leave our world," Nahern growled. "It's the only way for us to be safe. Humans coming into our world, stealing our resources is unacceptable."
"We can't do that," Chairman Orion said, a hurt expression dancing across his face before it disappeared.
"We need the supplies and materials your world and others can offer. This world has become reliant on the materials and treasures of the dungeons. Hydro-electric dams have been adapted for electrical crystals. Coal and fossil fuels have become impractical to use in the wake of elemental crystals and magic. Hunters have brought humankind to the next stage of life, and as a Guild master it is my duty to see that the routes of trade remain open. No matter what it takes."
Nahern snarled as he glared at the large man, "Then there can be no peace. You see us as nothing more than stepping stones in your wake. But answer me this, Chairman Orion. Just as humans infest other worlds brought together by the dungeons, what stops another race from coming to this world?."
The elf prince paused for a moment before a cruel smile grew on his face. "Harvesting this world for their own greedy needs? Hunters might have strength, but there are so few of you in comparison to the normal humans. Just as our kin have been sold into slavery, so will humans." Nahern said with a hateful snarl to his voice.
Orion and the other two humans went pale, as if they just realized the idea.
Oz's aunt scrambled to stand up, "Lies, just lies!" She sputtered. "We know our world is the hub! We are the center of everything!"
Just as she said those words, she slapped her hand over her mouth.
Oz was the one to stand, raw as an exposed nerve. She slammed her foot on the desk, the solid wood actually broke under the strain. Everyone stared in confusion, her aunt letting out a scream of shock. Mr. Smith cried out as well, scrambling to get away from the splinters of wood.
"You KNEW people were disappearing in the dungeons? How much do you know? Of all the crime going down in the dungeons, the abuse? The pain? How people are being dragged into the fog for fun? The bets that go on, to see how long someone will last before their skins melt and their faces burn off?" Her voice bit through the air, enough the other three humans paled hearing the words.
"I've pulled bodies out of that fog that were practically rotted slime after just minutes of exposure. Men and women with families relying on them. But that doesn't matter to you does it? The sacrifice of us lower rank hunters working nonstop shifts upwards of 16 hours? Non Stop because we 'can'? That some of us are collapsing on our feet due to the non-stop demands of people for more?" Oz glared down at Chairman Orion, the fake eye pulsing in her skull.
Even the large man shook under the weight of her hateful stare.
"There were rumors of people disappearing and never coming back, but we believed the guilds telling us that it was the Dungeon Fog turning people into mobs. But it wasn't, was it?" Oz tightened her fists, her bones popping in protest.
"Those were NOT miners or material carts in that ruined temple." She growled, muscles tight. She couldn't stand it! "Children were being stolen! Women! Taken from their families!"
Orion looked away again, his eyes downcast to his lap.
Oz continued to rage. "We might never find them! Who knows where they are! In some sex club? Under the desk of some rich bastard? Cut into parts in some pharma company's lab?! And you say, this is acceptable!?"