In Vargus's office, a heavy silence lingered after Elder Valeria's unexpected proclamation. The air felt charged, thick with the weight of impending decisions. Vargus stood, his expression a mask of confusion and concern, as he processed Valeria's intent to lead an assault on an elf village.
"Valeria, you're also an elf, aren't you?" Vargus's voice was calm, laced with disbelief. The notion of attacking her own people seemed outlandish, contradictory to the unity he had always strived for within his faction.
Valeria's eyes gleamed with a mixture of mischief and pain as she smirked, a dark shadow crossing her usually impassive face. "Yes, I am an elf. But remember, Vargus, when I ascended to the rank of elder in this sect, my own kind ridiculed me. They scoffed at our ways, and ultimately, they banished me. Their scorn has not been forgotten." Her voice was a cold whisper, each word dripping with the venom of old wounds reopened.
