Chapter 37: Chapter. 37: Interlude: Elves

Vallos’ heart rushed, the whispers of death ushered his ears. His chest felt tight, tighter than ever. How long had it been since he was so close to death? No, that wasn’t it. It was fright. He felt as if he had seen a ghost, a vengeful one. Nightmares still haunted him, but he had no choice but to do it, he was just a soldier after all. Who would’ve thought an elf from the Deep Dark would come back? The screams still haunted him. It all came back rushing to him when he saw her standing over the hill, those golden eyes and dark skin, who could forget it?

Everything had been a nightmare since then, he couldn’t sleep properly, he couldn’t relax anymore, let alone exist normally. Every single time he had a moment of pause he would remember those he killed, the pleas or the whys. And now that retribution had come, his memories flooded harder than ever. However, he couldn’t stop and face it, no⁠— he had to run. The child he had saved was the matriarch of the Woodland elves, the appointed one by The System. The Queen and King had died by the time she was found, and in the end they had to travel together with his small squad.

His heart ached, his emotions were flooding in as he couldn’t stop himself from tearing up. What would become of the Woodland elves? Of them? He was a mutant sure, he unlike others was deprived of his hair color, and by extension the magic roots of the elves, but, so what? They never ostracized him, they allowed him to become somebody, that was why he blindly followed the massacre and the war against the Dark elves. Those natural-born warriors, those that rejected the peacefulness of nature and instead twisted nature to be hostile to living beings⁠—or so they were told.

Vallos understood now, the nature of the Deep Dark forest, or the Dark elves themselves. They had no choice in it, just like many other elves they simply had adapted to their environment, and yet they were punished for it? It made no sense to him, but it was the declaration of the King and Queen, even if sudden. And now, the only thing left of them was the child he carried. Even if he felt terrible about it, even if he cried at night and woke with nightmares, even if he wanted to prostrate before the Dark elf and beg for forgiveness, he had a duty to carry.

The fact that a Dark elf remained, eased his mind even if a bit, he knew he had to die for his sins. A lot of soldiers did in fact. It was a common sentiment in the army, the more time the war raged, the more regret and resentment there was. While it wasn’t a universal opinion, it was more than common. A rebellion was in the works, but the Dark elves too, pushed back. And the rest? Well it was history.

He closed his eyes and tried to ease the sobbing child. She had a great burden to bear. She had traveled with his squad together for so long, and eventually they found other squads and made a small camp. But now? They had run away from them, split so that the he and the princess could survive. Why him? He didn’t know, but now, he was alone with her. He regretted trying to tell her to get down instead of shoving her away, at the same time he never thought that the Dark elf would aim for him first. His hand still hurt from parrying the shot.

He was stronger now, much stronger than ever, and yet he almost broke his arm parrying that arrow. He had even managed to acquire a Prophecy with relaxed terms, one that fit his swordsmanship style.

Flashing Blade

It was a weird Prophecy, but he was thankful, for it saved his and the princess’ life. A technique that allowed him to instantly cut things, near teleportation, at the price of his stamina. Though even though the Prophecy allowed him to do things like parry that arrow, it did not provide any sort of defensive bonuses or strength.

Vallos looked at the starry sky, the weird pillars and the missing World Tree unsettled him to no end. Without a World Tree there would be no prosperity in the land, nor for the elves. He then turned to the princess, Elei. She was level 6 now, after a grueling effort to get her to attack things. Perhaps⁠—

Should he try to get her a Prophecy?

No, it was too risky. Most of them wanted some sort of ownership. It was a fair trade for most people, but unfortunately she was in no position to risk something like that. The entire fate of the Woodland rested on her shoulders. Even if danger lurked everywhere he had to march forward. Even if the demons showed, even if the speaking animals attacked⁠— he had to continue.

Though he felt hopeless.

The demons. They were. Strong. The fact that they had to split up to keep the princess safe was a show of it. They were creatures of reason too, but no matter what he said their terms remained the same. Submit or die. It was more detailed than that, but it was still just as black and white. They had met them a few times by now ⁠— different groups ⁠— but the other times they were less hostile and simply tried to intimidate them. Now though? As soon as it was denied they started to fight, a fight to the death.

Just how many of them were there? It was a terrifying thought. Vallos could feel the great expanse of land with the moniker Skirmish space. It was massive, a near never-ending forest. Far beyond where any eye could see. And just how many demons were there? They had found more demons than elves. Even if the forest was wide and survivors were hard to find, there were still a surprising amount of demons. The more time passed the more commonplace the encounters were.

He advanced unceasingly, far away from the wake of his fallen comrades. Eventually, Elei stopped crying, and finally calmed down. The first thing she said was ask in a quiet almost imperceptible voice.

“Val, was that elf… the kind I think it was?”

He came to a stop with rough breathing, setting the princess down under a tree.

“Yeah…” he took a few more breaths to gather his wits and stay on guard. “It is, princess.”

She frowned, rubbing her bleeding cheek, a few seconds passed before she finally sighed. “I don’t blame her… Mother and Father had… changed.”

Vallos frowned hearing her.

“What does that mean?”

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She looked at the stars. “I don’t know. But… I hate this situation, I just…” she trailed off into a whisper. “I just want us to survive, but I don’t have the power to do anything.”

Seeing her, Vallos felt his heart strings pulled, a mix of guilt and regret flooding him. “Princess…”

“Just call me Elei…” She closed her eyes. “I never thought that for my fifteenth birthday a God would descend and the World Tree would vanish,” she chuckled before turning to him. “Vallos.”

He took a deep breath, not wanting to meet her gaze. “Yes?”

Her eyes stared deeply into his soul. “Can you teach me? The ways of strength?”

“I don’t understand… Prin⁠— Elei…” He corrected with a breath.

Elei stood up, her green hair shone under the moonlight. With small steps she approached Vallos, it didn’t take long before she stood before him, her head not reaching his chest. However, instead of staring at him, she simply⁠— pushed herself at him.

“Vallos…” She hugged him. “I don’t know what I am doing anymore. I can’t keep it together. I don’t want to die at the hands of anyone. I don’t want to let my race die simply because The System pushed that responsibility onto me…”

Vallos hesitated but ultimately placed his left arm over her, embracing her like a child.

“I am… I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Vallos…” She whispered in an almost whimper-like voice. “I want to cry and shout. But ever since reaching level 1, it’s almost as if I’ve changed. I find it harder to be upset, and harder to be happy… I feel scared.”

He simply soothed her with his contact, though he understood what she was saying. Elei had been behaving oddly, not quite like a child, but not quite like an adult either. It was a possibility that it was due to the trauma of watching their parents die, but there was another possibility, one that neither of them wanted to admit.

The System.

He closed his eyes and hugged, feeling sorry for her situation⁠— for both of their situations.

“I will make you strong… Elei. I will train you so that our kind does not vanish…”

She nodded, her eyes filled with resolve, an unfit expression for a child.

“For the Woodland.”

Vallos shook his head. “For you.”

Elei had a moment of pause, her resolute expression instantly softening before burying her face into his stomach and hugging him tighter with small sobs. Vallos stared at the sky once more, at the light pillars that called themselves Prophecies.

He whispered to himself, completely inaudibly, only hearing himself in his mind.

“Looks like I will need to do Prophecy hunting…”

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