“I’m ready when you are Aleyth, I do wonder… why is Hito not with us?” Felix queried.

“Hito is on other business” Aleyth dismissed, “Let them engage us, Felix. Speak their words in your mind, I will be listening and we can co-ordinate ourselves from there.”

Ralph approached as an individual, his SAS unit trailing him by five paces.

“A strange style. I will approach alone, we cannot intimidate them. His heart is racing, beads of sweat are starting to form across his brow; although he is doing his best to calm himself” Aleyth informed the group.

Ralph stood, trying not to tremble, awaiting the next move. He could hear the murmur of the translation room in his ear piece as he got closer to their guests. Huge Elves, almost like they’d been described in stories of old. Their skin a rather brutal purple and battle worn faces being the key difference; the one with a strange golden glow was the only being of the group close to the stories described in fairytales.

“Tune your ears. The creature is receiving instruction from some strange mechanical device” Aleyth told his group as he walked towards Ralph. He paused five paces short and waited.

Ralph stood, in silence staring at the Elf in awe, whilst Aleyth tilted his head inquisitively; utilising every sense he had to absorb as much information as possible from scent, sound and sight.

After some time, Ralph plucked up the courage to approach “H-h-hello… Greetings”, he paused and bowed his head as a sign of respect, unsure quite why he did so. To his surprise, the Elf took a step forward, kneeled on one knee and placed his right arm across his chest. It felt like a sign of respect.

“Felix, approach us, stay one step back and kneel so the creature does not feel intimidated as you reply, I will stand beside you”

“They call themselves Humans, this is a male” Felix thought as he approached them. The four guards behind Ralph raised their assault rifles and began to shout, vicious tones ebbing through the calmness Aleyth was trying to create.

Turning back, Ralph raised his arms “everybody calm down, lower your weapons”.

“The instruments they hold are weapons Aleyth” Felix informed him, once again making use of their telepathy. “Very well. I will forgive them this indiscretion as they do not know our culture” Aleyth replied, this time out loud allowing the humans to hear their Elven tongue.

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Ralph turned a ghost white, the sight of sharp teeth, a curling snake-like tongue and a language that sounded harsh and aggressive was not what he had expected. He staggered back, afraid.

“Calm him” Aleyth said, standing tall next to the kneeling Felix.

“We mean no harm” Felix said, in English. His accent thick and heavy with a mix of sounds like it had been heavily influenced by Italian, Greek and Spanish cultures rolled into one. The octaves of the voice almost danced like song.

“How do you know our language?” Ralph asked, amazed; ignoring the repeated warnings in his ear piece not to seem ill informed.

“We do not” Felix replied, trying to soften his tone as he sensed the fear in Ralph’s posture, as well as hearing it within his heartbeat. “I am our town’s translator, a key skill I have is the art of language translation”

Felix continued “I will be translating on behalf of our Prince, Aleyth” he said, peering up towards his leader.

The taller elf had his cobalt blue eyes locked onto Ralph, as if piercing his soul “Why did you bring us here” his harsh voice being echoed in English by his counterpart beside him.

“We did not. Why did you come?” Ralph replied whilst trying to bow to demonstrate a sign of respect.

“We did not come. We were taken. Do you have enemies that could have wished this upon your lands” Aleyth responded.

“It is not just these lands. Our entire planet, today, has had events such as this across all lands and perhaps even sea. This is beyond our understanding.”

“I notice that you and your men have no essence. Is this your custom, to send those that mean no threat?” Enquired Aleyth

“These abilities… or essences as you suggest. They have been appearing in our people since your arrival, seemingly at random. Could you tell us more about how and why they are manifesting?”

Intrigued, Aleyth raised his eyebrows, but before he could respond, he looked up towards a block of flats. The next moment he was thrust backward. A loud bang echoed across the abandoned streets of London. In a flash, Felix generated a translucent purple shield around his group and Dreya moved forwards, with fists of fire.

Sensing the danger, Ralph shouted towards his units “STAND DOWN. I REPEAT. STAND DOWN!”. But it was too late. The lesser experienced reservists at the blockade were nervous. More gun fire rang out, the bullets falling lamely by the edge of the shield. Ralph’s SAS guard had grabbed him by the collar and were making their way back towards the blockade.

Aleyth got to his feet. He’d taken a direct hit from a L115A3, British Standard, Sniper Rifle. “Well, they may not have powers, but that sure felt like a punch to the face” Aleyth told his group, “the ammunition moves fast, but is detectable, I could possibly have avoided it, but I was worried of it’s strength. It would have hit Shahine if I’d made an attempt to dodge”

“It would have been an honour” Shahine shouted over the sound of gunfire

“And then who would be left to heal you Shahine, my friend”

“The shot was fired from the rooftop of that building, my prince. I believe the culprit has not fled, but sits arrogantly with us in his sights once more” Felix interjected

“I know Felix. I see him.” Aleyth said casually. He raised a hand and with a burst of energy an arcane ball shot from his palm at rapid speed; exploding into the man on the distant rooftop.

Then all hell broke loose.