5. Anger
In the bubble deep down where the Great Tree's roots were at stake, the elders watched their people easily decimating the worms. As it turned out, the breach this time happened because of an oversight.
Embarrassing and not least an argument best held against their decision velocity and resourcefulness, all five were happy only some of their people were in the know about the details of the operation in question.
All others might find things strange, but their prestige in the end would save them from rigorous questioning. None of the elders was bad at mixing things up, both truthful and less so.
They certainly wouldn't lose to any random verbal exchange. Yet knowing such didn't render that oversight less painful. "Of all things...we failed to take necessary breaks into consideration. Guards simply tired and fresh elves never showed up."
One of them was especially bitter, taking the problem and incessantly rubbing it in until the other's ears couldn't take it anymore. Not without reason of course.
"Cut us some slack, Ozma. Duwende already stares searing daggers at you. Want to make things worse?" "That is no excuse, Lefaye. And in the likely event it was sarcasm which I'm prone to believe, think of other ways to light the fuse."
"You're no fun." "While you aren't adolescent anymore. Time passes and people learn." Ozma herself sure wasn't a stranger to sarcasm either, consciously destabilising the elder's state of mind. "Guys, calm down." Until somebody saved the day.
"...typical Avelyn. The angel of peace. Should get a peace medal for the efforts." Despite the ongoing slaughter all around them, the elders were no longer as tense as in the beginning while rushing all the way down here.
The Bug Mother's discovery and subsequent alertness spooking their minds never happened, for which they were grateful. Their people were strong and all, but a whole army of mindless bugs commanded by their rational mother would demand many more sacrifices than they were ready to concede.
Even if one guard was a match for a dozen, each death hurt them disproportionally. The Bug Mother would only need another month to fill up the lines while they required centuries of guided education and careful training.
A confrontation wasn't worth having. While wearing off tension with biting remarks or sarcastic taunts, the bubble around them suddenly shook and another elf jumped at them, breathing intermittent and face white as paper.
A minacious feeling washed over them, making some elders partially wish the elf would start laughing and excuse himself for the bad joke. "Quenn, what wind swept you here. Aren't you supposed to keep to the library?"
"Elder Eldacar, my most humble apologies. You are not wrong...," The elf gave away his physical ineptness as he had trouble controlling his wheezing breathing.
As much as he was a librarian, he was no fighter material. Buried under books it was not surprising to hear nothing of him for years, so much so that most young elves did not know he even existed.
"...it's from the special documentation section I come from. But most harrowing matters up there convinced me of the necessity of this trip."
The elf took a deep breath before shouting in their faces. "The Maple Leaf squad is gone, their names erased from the Service Tree." His raspy voice reached many, in part destabilising the combatant's formation and creating chaos.
The elders fell into silence, each occupied by their own thoughts, all of them increasing the foreboding of terrible events. Dark clouds were on the horizon, as they were in their heads.
"I hope I misheard...," Avelyn addressed the librarian, her eyes sharp and icy. As she was the first to regain her bearings, it was also her task digging for information. Between one heavy breath and another, Quenn shook his head repeatedly.
"...but take it as a no, then. Sent to end a single daemon. Heard nothing from the squad thereafter. No call for reinforcements, no warning, no aftershocks of deadly confrontation, no nothing. Eaten alive or what?" Nobody answered her accusations.
Something definitively was not right. Avelyn had a hunch about who the culprit might be. "Duwende, any explanation for the wipeout of the prided squad? Last time I checked, more than half the soldiers were enlisted as part of your family."
"Bloody incompetents. The family grooms their soldiers. Besides, it was a joint effort between me and Eldacar. Better ask the traitorous scout before jumping to any fantastic conclusions.
Eradication of elites at the hands of a mere daemon is a tale I refuse to believe in!" Avelyn nodded, trusting the arrogant elf for once. Duwende was a proud noble, a war maniac, a dedicated hater even, but he held his family dear.
On that front, she remembered having read the name of his grandson on a relevant document, an elf known for his talent in leadership. Now that he was apparently gone forever, she didn't want to know half of the pain Elder Duwende was going through.
"Mobilise the standing army, I want the bastard's life! Don't forget to bring me that scout!" But given his state of mind, Avelyn felt it was best she stopped him. The others too were of the same opinion, as she came to know a bit later.
It took them many words and some compromises to calm down the agitated elder, at least for the time being. In the face of such inexplicable events, they returned to the conference room, ready to iron out an acceptable response to the menace at large.
A compromise of sorts that everybody might agree upon and hopefully stomach also. But there was already someone waiting for them in the room, a dignified elf with refreshing beauty and crystal clear eyes.
The olive-green jewels had a sort of motherly authority, goodwill and concern in them which almost made every elder stare at the ground, ashamed. Past the door, they behaved like little kids before an evoked spanking.
But not Duwende. His mind clouded in anger could not stomach the sight of that elf. The commotion and subsequent death of a squad of elites had called for her presence, which he knew but did little to calm the raging tides within him.
Elfriede had ended her seclusion with great success, apparently stronger than ever before. Another turn of events working against his future schemes.
Yet coupled with the sudden loss of his grandson, Duwende felt surprised he cared so little about the political implications of her resurgence. Until the moment anger clouded his mind again.
Before the others even planted their backsides on the fluffy seats, he already started explaining the current situations. There was little truth yet much denigration to his words. The other elders however failed to show any care for the matter.
The elf had to let off some steam somehow, was the shared consensus. Plus, in their eyes, the daemon was already a walking corpse. Nobody would be interested in the words of the dead, least of all the Great Prophet.
Everyone knew that the loss of life she must've felt much stronger in this close proximity made her cranky. Only in times like these would she lose some of her lethargy, showing zest for action.
If only to punish the wrongdoer. But an agitated Elfriede also implied the council's widespread failure and painful loss of authority and goodwill of fellow elves. Positions had to be rethought, plans amended, which the politicians didn't fail to sniff out.
Duwende entertaining Elfriede bought them precious time and cut away from his, improving their chances. They would be stupid to work against rare freebies. The world of politics was a cold one after all.
"You have proof that this is the doing of a single daemon? Might be the work of other races." "The scout reported as much and we have no reason to question her loyalty."
Duwende lied through gritted teeth, knowing fully well that more than any enemy, Elfriede loathed infighting. As much as he wanted to question the lone scout, now was not the right time.
If anything unforeseen happened and Elfriede decided to talk to the beast rather than fight it, he'd have shot himself in the foot. His show so far had been quite convincing, so he upped the ante with his play and squeezed out an empathic, dry tear.
"This...this is a first." Just as expected, Elfriede got really angry at the insolent daemon claiming the life of her people for sports and the vegetation around her and all over the room and beyond reacted to her surging emotions.
She was just about to let the other in on her decision when some remote noises made her stop and listen. Sometime later, the others too noted the strangeness. To her enhanced senses, the ground shook rhythmically, accompanied by the sound of distant stomps.
Something was closing in on them. With bad intentions too, of that Elfriede was sure. She closed her eyes, the angry scowl on her beautiful face frozen solid. Better this way. Need not look myself and the problem's easily solved too.
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Thoth closed in on the settlement, his fusion magic yet to dissipate completely. Elfriede knew what he was made of and though mighty, he was never one to consider himself undefeatable.
Now with a baby in his arms he didn't know where to leave, things just got trickier. Thoth rummaged through distant memories. The Great Prophet held command over most vegetation itself, except cursed or similar. He recalled so much.
Leaving the baby anywhere in this forest wouldn't be wise at all and taking it back to Aethernum might have been an option, if the sudden surge of mana the key was bound to set free couldn't be discovered so easily by her.
The Elfriede in his memory wasn't much of a fighter. But she was the damn best scout and ranger one could ask for in a natural environment. Or has to worry about. Just became enemies after all.
Thanks to her impressive sensitivity, she was also a good friend of many ancient elementals attuned to the element of life. So keeping him from entering Aethernum wasn't that hard if she really meant it.
There's also no chance I'll leave the young to the puppets. Their sort of education sucks and I don't even know if I'll see her again. The Races have such a short lifespan it is pitiful.
A fight at their level wouldn't be over easily if he refrained from totally cutting loose. Which was connected to various other problems Thoth definitively didn't want to juggle with right now.
Years might pass. The thought alone felt so cruel and bleak he didn't want to ponder over it for longer. It'd break his heart, of which Thoth was sure.
With each step he came closer to the settlement in front, each inch forward gave Thoth an easier time making things out. The whole place was a disaster zone from an intruder's perspective.
But if one had the power to break each and every enchantment before they could take effect, the whole charade was but a lavish misinvestment.
Then again, creatures with my sort of power aren't exactly common. Though if Elfriede pisses off both the abyss and hell, no protection in the world will save her people. ...I'll have to think about that.
Thoth was close enough to move to the central plaza, past any obstruction of magical, physical or fleshy nature there might've waited for him in ambush.
Past the treehouses well hidden behind the dense foliage of oaks they were nestled in between, past curious onlookers and diehard patriots. Where there were shadows, there was a door he could use. Thoth would be stupid to not take advantage of that.
As far as he was concerned, everywhere he fought was the same. Plaza, streets, surroundings, underground or up in the air, it didn't really matter. What did was collateral damage, but Thoth sported no moral shackles that made him care about that.
It wasn't his problem, period. Upon his appearance, five important-looking elves came swaggering his way, their protection detail a sight to behold.
"Murderous daemon, your misdeeds end today!" One of them addressed Thoth, his voice laced with burning hatred. A stray glance revealed common features with an elf he'd fought earlier this day.
Can also be only imagination. They all look the bloody same anyway. But biological similarities... Thoth didn't react to the elf, his mana-charged gaze focused on the beautiful elf trailing behind.
What's she up to? Presenting me cannon fodder or has she given up already? Then I'd have misjudged her. She was just like he remembered her to be, but Thoth couldn't look into somebody else's mind as he pleased.
At least not stealthily and without introducing an opening Elfriede shouldn't miss exploiting. Therefore, he couldn't be so sure. From the beginning, her clear eyes had focused on him.
Ablaze with anger at first, then insecurity and lastly with the shine of one going through memories older than a lifetime. Urgh...the script's wrong.
Will I finally be able to walk away without a bloody fight, then? It took quite some time before clarity returned to Elfriede's olive-green eyes and with it a shipload worth of fear, then anger.
But this time, it wasn't him who she projected her malice at. Instead, it was the jumping jack that didn't seem to mind him not listening to all the threats, ill-wishes and insults he continued to spew.
Could be related to the abyss. By blood too. Guys there swear the same at all times. Something tells me he won't like the idea. But why do I care again...? Genealogy isn't kind to all. Some immortals chose death after realisation.
Thoth was somewhat relieved that Elfriede didn't seem to have gone bonkers as he'd feared. His friends were few and far in between and those still alive a rarity throughout the realms.
She even retained her sensitivity to such a degree to understand the truth of the matter by merely looking into his eyes. No further words were necessary.
"Do you now feel the extent of your foolishness?" Duwende laughed sinisterly. "It is all too late, I tell you. Good elves, hear me: We have the Great Prophet backing us up.
There is no room for disgusting eels like daemons to disrupt our peaceful lives...," A gaggle of high elves surrounded Thoth from a safe distance away.
While he knew their judgement on the topic of safe distance was definitively unsound, Thoth didn't care to educate them on that for he was considerate.
Still, if they could only stop pointing their fingers at him and the baby in his arms with an expression he'd have killed them for anywhere else, he'd have been totally fine with the situation.
"...no quarter given to any offenders. Your very crooked existence brings ruin to our lands! You better give up daemon. It saves you the suffering."
"His fancy mouth talks one line, his mind thinks another. And here I believed high elves would almost remain the same, given your insane lifespan.
Well, I thought wrong. Time has not only reduced the proud high elves to howling hounds, but has also highly influenced braincells. Vitamins and abundant water might help, or so I've heard."
"You. Dare. INSULT?" "Now, let's do away with this circus and leave the jumping jack. I wager we've got a lot of talking to do. Long overdue talks of great importance. To you, that is. And possibly me too..." Thoth trailed off at the end, which she took no notice of.
Elfriede nodded meekly, her shoulders inclined forward and expression embarrassed. The chatter in the distance ceased. There was no elf present who remembered having seen her behave this way even once.
The untouchable Great Prophet suddenly didn't seem so distant anymore. After the initial shock came around, there was a desire for answers.
Elfriede reacting subservient and meek in front of a daemon exceeded their common understanding, stirring thoughts that were ridiculous at best.
"Great Prophet...," The council members didn't know how to react either. They'd imagined the scene playing out much differently. Towards the exact opposite, actually.
The finding that their decision might've caused this embarrassing result for all plain to see on top of losing an entire squad of elites each more powerful than the next left them with a bitter aftertaste in their mouths.
"...this doesn't seem proper? Who might this...gentleman be?" "So it does not, Avelyn? Why keep secrets? Whose fault do you think it is that my face is down in the gutter?" Elfriede's voice was flat, her lips slightly smiling. Her eyes were anything but.
The elders felt cold, their Great Prophet's fury evident. All except Duwende, who was literally powered off by the extent of his own choice of words, now each a slap his thin face couldn't handle.
Even the others left him alone to cope with that, for he'd singlehandedly dug a trench so deep they feared the fall too. "If I may. Your race might want to gather sufficient intel before deliberating on decisions. And have the right people at the top."
Looking Elfriede straight in the eye, Thoth added seriously, "mistakes at their level demand bloody tributes you're not ready to pay." Not everyone is named Thoth! If she could, Elfriede's face would've reddened even more.
Tension returned to the elves until he addressed them again. "Whatever is on your mind right now, get this: Her and I go back to the stone age. You can't compare." Some understood the implications of his words and their faces lost colour.
Others continued to look at him foolishly. A selected few even seemed like they were on the verge of exploding, including two elders. Politics got their brains for good. Next point on the agenda...
"Now, who're the Blands?" "No, Thoth. Please no." Elfriede grabbed him by the arm and took him with her, down the stairs into the Sanctuary and out of sight. For a change, he allowed her to lead.
"And why do you think I'd let it slide?" They continued walking in silence, Elfriede in front and Thoth right behind her. Passing many chambers and even more guards and attendants, they eventually arrived at a beautiful saloon.
One of many. Elfriede motioned for him to sit wherever he pleased. "Because it is me who asks?" She eventually pleaded. "I consider this no acceptable answer." Her shoulders dropped.
She was ready to bring hard benefits to the table when Thoth continued. "But she shouldn't see blood again this soon. I managed to prevent that last time, I'll do so now too. Count yourself lucky."
Elfriede peeked curiously at the baby in his arms, a thousand questions on her mind she didn't dare ask. "It's not mine, if that's what you fear." She nodded, albeit not in understanding. Thoth wasn't content.
"Look, we share a link. Fate made us relatives and I have all intentions of protecting her. You understand?" "Family...?" Thoth remained silent for a moment, playing with that particular word on his tongue. He was struggling.
"Family." He eventually consented. Elfriede smiled in relief, calling an attendant over. "Good. Before we continue, you should leave the baby in capable hands. She's about to wake up." Thoth wasn't happy about the proposal and she felt it.
"Well, you have nothing to fear. I give you my word that only lots of good stuff shall happen to your precious family." "...fine." Thoth relented, not least because of her oath.
He then instructed the stiffly smiling attendant who would've liked to be anywhere except here at the moment on the baby's needs. A good half an hour went past before he barely finished the introduction, allowing the tired elf to take the baby and be on her way.
Watching her back as she awkwardly exited the saloon with a bottle in one hand, a ball made of various cloth he'd found in the saloon in the other and the baby nestled between her two arms.
Thoth had come up with this pose and the baby never made him consider it to be strange. She laughed and giggled when she saw his face and this way she could do so whenever she liked to. The scales on his inner forearm came the closest to tender skin.
The only drawback was that the baby lacked protection in that position. Thoth really believed in Elfriede's sincerity, so he was sure nothing would happen.
But still...if not for her rousing from sleep, he'd have continued feeding the attendant with nuggets of wisdom about parenting for much, much longer.
Elfriede chuckled. "What?" He wasn't quite done with her yet, so why did she laugh already? With the absence of the baby, Thoth felt quite irritated. Something was missing dearly.
"Nothing." "Didn't get that impression." "Well...if you want the answer this much, here you go. It looks good on you. The change, I mean."
"Pleased to hear. It just doesn't alter my impression of you harlots however. Plus, I came here to make demands to begin with. Dismiss them and I'm sure you'll have bigger problems on your hand than merely a few dead guys and the cracks."
"So you know." "Of course." "But Thoth?" "Yes?" "It's not very polite to start negotiations with a threat." The saloon fell into silence for a while, both people staring into each other's eyes. "It's really hard to, considering what happened earlier."
If nothing too excessive, I'll accept his demands. Can't have him all angry with me. Won't survive that anyway. Nothing really does. Elfriede's mind wasn't as relaxed as she made Thoth believe to be.
This will be a long discussion... The politician within her shuddered for once. If given the choice, she'd have liked changing places with the attendant. No. This...is my burden to bear.