Say what you will about the elders here, Myron noted, but they didn't waste time. It had been mere moments after that one-armed thaumaturge had shouted out their location, and the pair had both already made their way out to the clearing. Not the first ones here, no, but early enough that only a handful of others had made it before them.

While most of the gathered onlookers were elves, Myron had spotted Galian and Caroletta among them. Additional survivors of Verdan would probably also show soon, as more and more Elefae came to see what had happened. He might be wrong, but Myron had the suspicion that the elders wouldn't be happy having this many outsiders privy to a matter like this.

Which was understandable, since the four of them were outsiders, and were partly to blame.

It was sadly funny, in a sense - of all of them, Nela was the least important as far as the kingdom would be concerned. Not a noble, not of royal blood, not a student of a hated enemy. Just another healer, doing what other healers would also do, caring for those that needed it. Now though, she was looking to be the first one of them to be seen as a threat.

Myron had thought they maybe had a month more, if they were lucky. With the Witch of Wrath's interference, they only a few days, if that. Their one advantage, he supposed, was that any knights or other men that came after them would not be prepared for the spells of Edeline or Hamond.

Planning for battles yet to come could wait until later, though.

Returning his attention back to the pair of elders, Myron noted they weren't yet speaking with any of them. They were standing next to the spell-created dirt wall, examining it while talking in low voices among themselves.

Astorel, Centurla and Udeola all stood silently off to the side, waiting. No real attempt to avoid whatever was about to come, although it wasn't like they could easily hide Udeola's ears. He could already see a few of the elves staring at the girl.

One of the newly arrived elves broke away from the clearing's edge, approaching Astorel. "So you finally gave in and did it, did you?"

Astorel just nodded silently.

"Hold on, he didn't..." Nela trailed off, her jaw dropping open. As strange as this exchange was, Myron didn't see any problem. If Astorel was trying to cover for them, it was a well-meaning but futile effort. There were no other healers around, and enough people had seen them there at this point to lead everything back to Nela.

"Of course." One of the elders was finally heading towards Astorel. "Of course you couldn't resist going back on your word. Tell me, is making your oldest child happy worth throwing us all into the fire?"

"He kept his word." Centurla said, before Astorel could answer. "He never touched her ears."

Wait. That only made sense if...

"I was trying to-" Astorel started to say, looking at his wife.

"So, you're going to pretend you called up some other healer who knows the rite? Claim they tunneled beneath the earth when they were done?" The old Elefae pointed at the raised ground, beard briefly wrapping around his body as he turned.

It confirmed it beyond any doubt. Astorel had been a healer the whole time.

"Wouldn't it be nice if I had spells like that," Nela muttered, then stepped forward. "You called?"

The elder faced her. "I advise you not to get involved."

"Little late to tell me that," Nela said indignantly, "I only planned to do the one, but since this whole thing's gone to shit, any other takers?" She looked around, challenging any of the other elves there to speak up.

Nela was taking this a lot more calmly that Myron would have thought. He was not truly angry, since none of them could have foreseen the Witch of Wrath. It was more...he had hoped to never meet another man who lied to his children the way Esmund Hallowscroft had.

And Udeola had realized it as well, backing away from her father and mother with a tearful face. Her mother and father were unaware, focused on the elder. Edeline had also noticed though, and started to slowly walk in Udeola's direction.

"You really expect me to believe you're a healer?"

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"Given that I'm honest, unlike the other healer here? Yes," Nela retorted, "If you'd asked the villagers of Verdan, some of them would have told you the same."

The elder looked over at his counterpart, who shook his head.

"Whether you are or not, there's no way I am letting you perform the rite again." The elder crossed his arms. "As for you, Astorel...you know what I must do."

"I understand." Shoulders slumped in defeat, the man turned away towards his daughter. "Udeola, we need to-"

"Now there's no call for that," a voice rang out. Tadrick walked out into the clearing.

"Tadrick," the elder greeted him.

"Dusysel," the old hunter answered.

"We may have know each other years, but this isn't your affair." Dusysel's expression did soften, just for a moment, before the scowl of disdain returned.

"Odd, considering I was here first and saw the whole thing." Tadrick smiled. "Came out here for a bit of quiet, a chance to rest my eyes. That old bed just didn't feel right, and it was too noisy anyway."

"And you think that makes you understand the situation better than us?" The elder's voice grew harsh.

Tadrick's cheer faded as he silently pointed.

Udeola was now sobbing into Edeline's tunic, wrapped in one of her arms. Myron wanted to hit himself for not paying them any heed. Edeline, meanwhile, was staring with cold fury at Astorel. A clear sign that if Udeola was the only thing preventing his sister from making her wrath known.

"I've seen many beasts fight and struggle to protect their young. I saw over a hex of good men and women give their lives to buy me time to save their children." A bitter venom dripped in every word Tadrick said. "So tell me. Is this how you'd protect her?"

"You really don't understand." The other elder came to stand beside Dusysel.

"So you keep saying," Tadrick said, "I know who I would stand with." He matched gazes with Nela, making the point clear. "Now, I'm going to find some place quieter than this. My old bones need their rest."

The old hunter wandered off, vanishing into the forest. The two elders watched him leave before turning their attention back to Astorel. "Fine. You and your family can stay. And as for you-"

"If you think I'm giving up on the First Ascension, you're wrong," Nela cut Dusysel off.

"Why are you so difficult?" the other elder asked.

"I know you are all armed and experienced," Dusysel added, "You survived Verdan, and are likely used to battle. None of us are."

"Deception is our only defense. Do not think we did this lightly, but any blade we would raise in our defense would only bring ruin here. Even you cannot stand up to all of Hyarch."

It was a fair point that they, unlike Lord Hallowscroft, were not nobility. With little money and limited resources, the Elefae certainly would not have the same options Myron's father would have had as an alternative to a years-spanning series of lie. He couldn't deny the differences between the two situations.

And yet.

"So your strategy is to lie to those who would harm you." Myron raised his voice, making certain everyone could hear him. "Let me ask one question then. When did you all decide that your children are your enemies?"

"You dare?" Dusysel's face reddened.

"He dares," Nela said immediately, "But do any of you?"

The silence that followed was heavy. Myron could see the thoughts racing in the eyes of the gathered elves, them struggling with themselves over what they should do. Myron had said all he could. The decision was theirs.

"I'm with you." An Elefae man moved out towards Nela. "My son is two years overdue for his First Ascension. If...if you could do it for him, I'd be grateful."

"My two children also deserve it." Another elven man stepped forward.

"My daughter as well!" A Elefae woman this time, raising her voice to be heard.

The looks of frustrated confusion on the faces of Dusysel and his fellow were striking. In a way, it reminded him of what Nela had spoken of last night. While the two likely had not been brought up with any expectation of leadership, it was clear they had grown too comfortable with their position here. That complacency left them unprepared for being openly defied.

"Do what you want," Dusysel finally managed to say, as more elves gathered around Nela. The two stalked off, with another pair of elves following behind them. It was impossible to convince everyone.

"Alright, slow down!" Nela told the growing crowd, waving them away from her. "I need to go get food in my belly, since I haven't eaten this morning. Besides, you all need to go get your children ready for this, tell them what's happening. We can meet back here in a little while, and then I'll do it."

The group began to disperse, many of them saying quick thanks before leaving. Some seemed more joyful, but others had a worried expression. Myron wasn't about to blame them. Talking them into it was easy compared to the fight to protect them that was coming. As Dusysel had said, none of the Elefae here were soldiers. The battle would be their responsibility.

Finally, Centurla came over to where Edeline held Udeola. Edeline let go of the girl, and Centurla took the hand of her daughter. a somber look on her face. There were no words as they joined Astorel and finally left, the last to do so.

"I guess we're in for it now," Nela said, "Sorry if this messes up our plans, but I have to."

Edeline sighed. "I suppose one more day would not hurt, since we were doing this to get into Kelshir. Furthermore, some payback for Verdan is due."

"You're going to fight?" Jelinia asked from behind Myron. Aether, he'd lost track of her yet again. At least she had stayed with them this time.

"Odds are that we have no choice," Hamond said, tone and face indicating reluctance.

"But you ran before," Jelinia protested, "Just run again!"

"Before we didn't have time to prepare," Nela said, "Now we do. Can't be any worse than facing down gigants."

"What is that?"

"Right...I still owe you that story, don't I?" Nela patted the girl on the shoulder. "Let's go get some food, and I'll tell you all about the gigants."

Jelinia, satisfied with this, started to follow along as Nela went. Myron wished he could be that carefree. Perhaps someday, but today it seemed that Nela was not the only one who got to recall their experiences facing down the Spellking's forces.

He had a battle to plan.