Adil connected to the essence of the High-elf and felt his mind being warped. He appeared in a blank open space filled with large floating crystal shards, fragments that showed the glints of distant lands within them.

Adil looked further into the images and saw how they were all past experiences of the high-elf. It appeared to him as if he was in a nexus of her memories. The experiences ingrained into her essence now adorning crystalline fragments around him. 

Suddenly out the corner of his eye, he saw the high-elf appear from behind one of the floating fragments and charge at him. The elf tackled him before he had a moment to respond and they both flew into the open space, spinning in the air.

They crashed into one of the fragments but with little impact as the shard was nudged out of the way. Adil pounded into her ribs and then seeing an opening flew a fist into her head. An excruciating pain ran through Adil's head and he separated from the elf. 

He saw the same had happened to the high elf, who was now ready to reengage the fight. Adil tried to channel mana for another attack but to no avail as his magic appeared non-existent. Noticing the hesitation in Adil she clocked him on the side of his head. Another excruciating pain filled Adil's skull. 

"Fuck," Adil cried.

The elf was clearly also feeling the pain, she had recoiled and was holding her head as if to stop what must have been a similarly throbbing headache. Adil held his fists up ready for another attack, waiting from atop one of the fragments, or below in the three-dimensional space they inhabited.

"Even if you stop me now, an army is ready to charge what little forces you have in your cave," the elf cried out. 

"You won't know till you try," Adil replied, trying something different and punching a fist down into the fragment. The fragment appeared to crack and then shatter as Adil fell into the image. The image appearing to not only absorb him but change the very background of the nexus.

.....

Adil was pushed into a memory where all he could dow as a watch before him was a young high-elf girl walking down a corridor in a grand cathedral-like structure.

The high-elf was young, she held long blond hair and blue eyes, facial features like a child-like version of the one Adil had just been fighting. She walked until the sound of footsteps echoed from the distance. A boy about the same height was running towards her. The boy had dark green skin and facial features close to that of a goblin, yet unlike a goblin his features were symmetrically and ornately proportioned, his appearance groomed to a military standard. The boy appeared to be a young orc. 

"Hey!" The boy called

"Hey, pointy," the high elf replied.

The orc tried to catch his breath but still managed a slight grin up at the girl.

"How was training?"

"it was great, my teacher is pretty funny and is great with a sword-. What about you're thing, under master Theus?"

"He uh, he's really strict and tells me a lot of stuff, it's a bit weird."

"Is it hard?"

"No.."

"Then what's the problem?"

"It's just... He doesn't let me do anything I want. It's just like 'learn this, learn that'. 'Dont do that'. 'it's only done this way'. Sometimes even if it's worse I just want to do it my way."

"But if their way is better, what's the point?"

"I don't know. It's just... Like what if I did something better. They can't be right all the time right?"

The orc smiled.

"Look at this place Elly, look at the walls, the floor. How grand everything here in the citadel is. How could they be wrong if they built this? How can you not trust them if they are this amazing?"  

He brought his arms out and spun around staring at the ceiling as if to emphasise his point. As that happened the surrounding appeared to grow more opaque.

.......

What Adil was watching, even though it appeared like an all-encompassing memory just a moment ago seemed to grow further opaque and transform until it was just a screen on a floating crystal shard.

Staring at the image in front of Adil was the high-elf, in her dark robe trimmed in gold. Adil put his fists up again as if to get ready for the fight again, but was only treated with a dismissive look from the elven woman.

"I don't know why I'm seeing this, but it's comforting. These lost memories of a time long since passed," she said.

"You used to be friends with the goblin's ancestors and now you try to wipe them out. Why?" Adil asked.

The elf sighed.

"Some things, you won't have all the information for, and so must have faith in the powers that be. Some things, you just trust and obey. For the greater good-"

Adil went to attack but she pushed her had into the glass fragment and it cracked. The air around both Adil and the high-elf appeared to change slightly and they were soon, once again, warped into another memory as it encompassed all that was around them.

.......

"You now hide in your memories?"

"You should feel honoured to experience this. Maybe you will learn some etiquette."

In the scene, the high-elf girl was being held by the hand of another as she saw her friend *pointy*. He turned if just for a moment before walking off with the soldiers beside him.  An army of orc that marched off into the distance. A roman formation where the soldiers wore a black armour that held a red glint against the setting sunlight.

Instead of Adil being removed from the memory, the obscure images changed from one to another. The image having morphed into that of a high-elf girl in a dark room, she was being educated by a man in large dark robes. The teacher seemed to be explaining to her something about the nature of 'yellow and black bile'. She listened obediently and progressed through the strange subject.

Eventually free she, the girl, ran off to what appeared to be a place of physical training. A high-elf was there, seemingly in charge of the place the orcs had once trained. 

"When are the orcs coming back?" She asked.

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"When is po- my friend Ponitery, coming back?" She added, wide eyes almost pleadingly insisting on the question.

The elf looked down at the girl with a slight grimace. 

"He isn't your friend anymore," the man stated before walking off. Leaving the elf on her own, she looked down at her hands knowing she could do nothing, that she was just meant to listen and obey, never challenge one of the elders.

"It's strange how I cannot remember this," The high-elf said. her voice an echo in the space as they both watched the scene from immaterial positions.

As the sun grew dark the high elf girl got up from her bed and moved out with the cover of darkness. There she appeared to dodge any notion of another elf and snuck into what appeared to be a sort of archive. There she feverishly took down parchment after parchment. The surrounding image appeared to grow fuzzy, the scene to Adil growing a static interference.

Adil could feel some sort of mental block protecting what was beyond. He tried to focus on his mana, putting pressure on the surrounding until the image grew more clear. The fuzziness of the scene started to lessen, the picture remaining stable.

Suddenly the high elf girl looked down the corridor at the sound of footsteps and dropped a parchment, not looking down as it tumbled to the floor.

The scene appeared to break and the surroundings tear as an audible rupture of mana erupted from within the nexus. Adil was brought back into the blank landscape, a screaming high elf was clutching her head as a dark blu liquid appeared to seep from her eyes, ears and nose. 

"Ah, my head, what did you do?!" She roared.

Adil felt as if this was not an honourable win but thought his chance was now and started going for the elf.

Before he could reach her, she stopped and looked at him, without breaking eye contact she said the few words.

"I see now."

Then suddenly the nexus broke down and Adil was broken out o her essence.

They were both transported back into the midst of the battlefield.

.......

The roaring soldiers were still charging towards not only Adil and the other downed combatants but to the prisoners, and it didn't seem like they were going to discriminate between the groups.

"STOP!" The high elf announced. She shot a blast of mana to her left and right, between the two armies as if to emphasise her point.

The armies seemed to halt on both sides, and even Aku who had appeared in the midst of the prisoners stood on in silence.

The high-elf got up from where she was, glanced to Steve and then faced the incoming crowd. 

"By the authority of the church, and the authority of the citadel I, Elis'ava Page, herald of the architect. Claim these people under the protection of the citadel."

The wind could be heard in the silence after such an announcement.

"The crusade is finished. Everyone here is a citizen of the kingdom of eve and should be treated as such."

A stir happened in the surrounding area, then soldier after soldier began throwing down their weapons. Strange, Adil thought. *Are they going to pick them up after or just leave them on the ground, could he keep the weapons?*

A rustle happened under some cave rocks and a soldier appeared in the mess. It was a delirious Seras. She appeared to have survived due to her pink crystal mana-shield. Now flustered and filled with adrenaline she looked around to see the soldiers all staring at her. She dove towards the high-elf whilst everyone was shocked but was cleanly tackled out the way. Steve had appeared and driven Seras to the ground, into another rock where she cleanly hit her head and passed out again. 

Then Steve looked back at the high elf with a slight smirk.

The high elf appeared illuminated by a large glowing pink crystal under her feet, her eyes dilated and her face flush.  She charged towards Steve and embraced him, wrapping him in her arms and then catching his stunned face with a kiss.

Adil looked on at all that was happening with a level of confusion he had not been at for a long time.

A chocked call came in through his communication drone.

"Wha-  -appened," Urakle asked. Slightly more clearly now a large portion of the surrounding crystals were destroyed, along with many of the walls.

"The crystals a- blocki- -- vision."

"We won," Adil replied. 

"Steve and the high-elf are making out."

"What? Are y--- sarcastic?"

"I am one-hundred percent not being sarcastic."

"Way to rub it in asshole, you know we're at war?"

Adil couldn't help but laugh.

"Urkle, we won."

"What the... mother fucker... I... I. yeah the fog cleared, I can see them making out."

A notification appeared for Adil and somehow everything seemed to click into place.

Notification

Stage 3/3 complete.

Goblin's home secured from danger.

Quest complete

exp gained: 1000

well done- Hugo