Two weeks after William and the Elven Delegation met with Empress Sidonie, all of the high-ranking officers of the Elven Forces gathered in an Underground Base that Drauum had built right outside the Capital City of the Zelan Dynasty.
“Open the Gate!” Drauum ordered.
“”Open the Gate!””
The Elven forces shouted in unison as the Teleportation Gate came to life. They had waited for this day for a long time. They felt ashamed that they had holed themselves up in the city out of fear of being attacked by the Human rebels who had killed thousands
Drauum had personally aided in its building alongside the Elven Scholars, whose duty was to calibrate it to match the Connecting Gate that they had built back in the Silvermoon Continent, before going on an expedition in the Human Lands.
Since a Pseudo-Demigod aided them in its construction, the Teleportation Gate was finished two weeks earlier than they had estimated.
This development made Elandorr and Alessio sigh in relief because they felt pressured about the current affairs of the Elven Expedition. They thought that they would be able to sweep the land unhindered, but they had greatly underestimated the ability of the people in the Southern Continent.
Soon, an Elven Warrior dressed in light-weight armor passed through the gate. The moment the Elven Prodigies saw him, all of them immediately started cheering.
The Elven Warrior was caught by surprise, but due to his training, he retained the calm expression on his face and gave Elandorr a curt nod before walking forward.
Not long after, several other Elven Warriors passed through the gate.
Hundreds…
Thousands…
Tens of Thousands…
The men had various emblems etched on their armor, which represented the clans that they belonged to.
An hour later, the Patriarch’s of the Rhys, Saleh, Nasira, Rhys, and Eroan Clans walked out of the Teleportation Gates.
The moment these Elders appeared in the underground base, all the Elves knelt like Knights paying tribute to their Sovereigns.
The only ones that didn’t kneel were Princess Eowyn, Drauum, and Eneru.
The Patriarch’s of the different clans bowed their heads respectfully to the Elven Princess and the Two Guardians standing by her side.
A middle-aged Elf stepped forward as he knelt at the Elven Princess’ feet to show his allegiance to the Royal Family.
“It has been a while, Your Highness,” the middle-aged elf said with a smile. “I pray that my stupid grandson had treated you well in this expedition.”
Princess Eowyn returned the Elder’s smile and nodded her head. “Commander Elandorr has ensured that I lived a comfortable life here in the Southern Continent. Please, rise, Lord Shafel.”
Shafel nodded his head and rose up to his feet. He was the Great Elder of the Gilwen Clan, and Elandorr’s Grandfather.
In the Silvermoon Continent, he was one of the respected members of the Elven Council and part of the Anti-Human Faction. They were the headache of the Conservative Faction who wished to happily coexist with their neighbors.
This recent expedition to the Southern Continent was done without any authorization from the Elven Council. Even so, everyone decided to turn a blind eye into it, even the Royal Family.
To ensure that cruelty against Humanity would not be a wide-spread practice, the King of the Elves had tasked his daughter, Princess Eowyn, to become a supervisor in the expedition. Unfortunately, the Elves in the expedition were smart enough to agree with her on the surface, while torturing humans behind closed doors.
“Elandorr, step forward,” Shafel ordered.
“Yes!” Elandorr replied as he stood in front of his Grandfather.
It was at that moment when a resounding slap echoed inside the underground base. A red mark appeared on the Elven Commander’s handsome face, but he remained calm, and endured the stinging pain on his face.
“Your mission was to conquer the Human lands, and yet, you’ve only managed to acquire one Human Kingdom?” Shafel said in a cold tone as if he was talking to a servant instead of a family member. “I didn’t raise you to be an incompetent commander. What do you have to say to yourself?”
Elandorr knelt on the ground and bowed his head in submission. “I have no excuse for my incompetence. I will accept any punishment that the Great Elder will bestow upon me.”
“Since you admit to your incompetence, I hereby sentence you to…”
“Wait.”
Princess Eowyn stepped forward and stood between Elandorr and Shafel. The Elven Princess stared at the Great Elder of the Gilwen Clan with a fearless expression.
“Great Elder, I have witnessed how hard Commander Elandorr had strived to make this mission a success,” Princess Eowyn said. “It is quite unfortunate that we have underestimated the Humans that live in these lands. Even though we are far superior to them, their tenacity is praiseworthy. It is not the Commander’s fault that the expedition failed. Our fault lies in the fact that we underestimated our opponents.”
Shafel smiled and nodded his head. “Since Her Highness is telling me to let this matter slide then I will let it slide. Elandorr, thank Her Highness. If not for her, I would have already excommunicated you from our Clan due to your incompetence.”
Elandorr raised his head and looked at Princess Eowyn with a guilt-ridden expression on his face.
“Your Highness, I thank you for speaking on my behalf. From this day onwards, I offer my life to always serve by your side and protect you from any harm,” Elandorr vowed. “I swear this upon the blessing of the World Tree.”
Princess Eowyn nodded her head, as she offered her hand to the kneeling elf. “Rise, Commander Elandorr. You still have a role to play in this war. You can atone for your mistakes by leading us to victory.”
Elandorr took the Princess hand and lightly kissed. “It will be as you wish, Your Highness.”
—–
“That was a fine performance, Elandorr,” Shafel nodded in appreciation. “With this, you will be able to stay by Princess Eowyn’s side as her personal guard after this war is over. You’d better not miss this chance.”
“I will do my best, Grandfather,” Elandorr replied with a smile.
The mark on his face had long disappeared after it was healed by one of the Elven Clerics.
The two of them were currently inside the Commander’s Quarters where Elandorr relayed the current statues of the three factions in the Southern Continent.
“Having a Non-Aggression Pact with the Kraetor Empire is good,” Shafel nodded. “If we captured all the lands in the continent, the various powers in the Central Continent would not sit idle. They may even find an excuse to launch a crusade to liberate the Southern Continents from the Elven Invaders.
“Although our race is superior, the Humans outnumbered us a million to one. We should not provoke them too much until we have found a means to threaten all of them.”
Elandorr nodded his head. He agreed with his Grandfather which was why he had pushed for the talks between the Elves and Empress Sidonie during their High-Level Meeting a few weeks ago.
“The Saintess’ Son…,” Shafel muttered. “If we can capture him then he would be a good hostage to prevent the Saintess, and the Aenarion Clan, from exerting pressure over this expedition in the Human lands. We need to capture him at all costs.”
“Grandfather, can’t we just kill him?” Elandorr asked. “I’m afraid that he will be a dangerous person when he grows up.”
“Kill?” Shafel looked at Elandorr as if he was looking at an ignorant fool. “You dare kill the son of the Saintess and the Hero of the Elves? If you do that, even though I am an Elder in the Council, Our Clan would not be spared from Aenarion’s Wrath. Also, the Elven King owes that bastard Maxwell for saving our heritage. If word gets out that you intend to kill the Saintess’ son…”
“Forgive me, Grandfather. I wasn’t looking at the bigger picture.” Elandorr bowed his head in apology.
Shafel was a man who specialized in schemes and deceit. This was why he had managed to become Alessio’s backer as the latter built his connections in the Silvermoon Continent. He could tell at a glance that Elandorr truly wished for William’s demise, so he decided to offer him an olive branch.
“We can’t kill him now, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t kill him later,” Shafel said in a volume that was only enough for Elandorr to hear. “We can administer a slow acting poison that will kill him within the year. This will prevent the Saintess and the others from tracing it back to us. It will be a slow and painful death, and I will give you the honor of personally administering the poison into his body.”
“Thank you, Grandfather.” Elandorr bowed his head for the umpteenth time. “Although I prefer to torture him myself, this is also good. At least, no one will be able to suspect our Clan and we can still have a good relationship with the Aenarion Family.”
“As long as you understand then all is good. Now, let us put this matter aside and discuss the war preparations.”
“As you wish, Grandfather.”
