The next day, the gentle morning breeze carried the fragrance of fresh leaves from the window. These fresh leaves become as bright as emeralds after being washed by a night of rain. The sun shines on it, shining with the unique golden light of the rising sun, making the entire holy mountain glow with vitality.

Several little birds jumped into the room without being invited, as if they were the owners here. The long sky-blue feathers on the bird's head swayed back and forth, and the two small black jewel-like eyes above the short red beak looked back and forth toward the room. From behind them, a pair of small white hands stretched out slowly. The owners of those two hands were holding their breath , being careful not to make any sound.

But alert birds are not so easy to catch. The two little birds flapped their wings quickly, jumped on their legs, and returned to the free blue sky in the blink of an eye.

Sokka pouted in disappointment, she had just missed it. But the white wings spread out behind her, shaking slightly to stretch her muscles. When it comes to flying ability, little angels are no less capable than the most agile birds.

"Soka, stop playing." Vincent's voice came from the other end of the room. The mage in black robe closed the book in his hand, picked up the powerful staff leaning on his knee and said to the little angel : "Today we are going to see the Elf Queen. It's almost time."

"Oh! Got it!" Sokka folded his wings, jumped to Shelley's side, and held her hand. "Sister Shelley, have you seen the Elf Queen?"

"Of course not." Shelley said, "You should ask Vincent this kind of question."

"He seems to know everything. If I ask him, I will know the answer." Soka ran around the female drow playfully: "The happiest thing is to keep surprises."

Vincent opened the door curtain, and there was already a familiar elf waiting outside. The colorful clothes on her body remained the same, the only difference was that she wore a soft cloak over the hunter's leather clothing. It was used to cover the morning dew, which was quite cold and felt like melting snow in early spring when it touched the skin.

"Vincent, I'm so glad you're still alive." Elf Carol said with a smile: "It's precisely because I have always believed this that I will not go to your funeral no matter what."

"Not only you, but Newton and Lambert too. But they were dragged there by force." Vincent said: "I remember that the dwarf always muttered at my funeral, 'He still owes me a lot of wine, and he said He must do what he wants. He will never die until the debt is paid!'"

"Anyway, you're welcome." Carol tilted her body slightly and saw the two ladies behind Vincent. When she saw Shelley, she frowned slightly. But Carol immediately said to Vincent: "Come with me quickly. Going to the palace in the early morning is definitely a pleasant thing."

The mage didn't notice the change in Carol's expression. He called Shelley and Sokka, and followed the elf towards the palace at the top of the mountain step by step.

As Carol said, compared to the quiet holy place at night, the morning in Heather is more exciting. Everything looks fresh and natural, as if radiating infinite vitality under the rising sun. After being watered by the rain, Vincent felt that even the houses made of wood seemed to have grown taller, maintaining the same ability to grow as the woods.

The red berries on the vines are hung with dewdrops, as clear as crystal. And the red pearl-like fruit is even more sweet and attractive. Foraging birds danced around the berries. They were not in a hurry to eat, but stared at the fruits while singing, as if even they could not bear to destroy this wonderful landscape.

The early squirrel stood on the branch, holding a strong pine cone in his little hand. They didn't worry about the source of food in this forest, so they all looked a little bloated. The soft fur is fluffy , and the fat tail covers the head like an umbrella.

Carol's steps in front looked relaxed and elegant. Elf boots made of soft leather were most suitable for walking in this environment. The path forward spirals up around the holy mountain, and Shelley and Soka can enjoy the beautiful scenery here from all angles.

Rope bridges connect various platforms, each with a different function. Heather's elves carefully decorate each building and even incorporate music and beautiful poems. The windows with various shapes are beating notes, the carvings winding on the white walls are flowing poems, the bright colors on the leaf-shaped tiles express the smoothness of art, and the pointed roofs represent music or music. The climax of the poem points to the blue sky.

The elves on the platform brought greetings to Vincent. Some of them had known the mage in front of them a long time ago, while others had only heard of the name. But no matter what, it does not prevent them from sending well-intentioned blessings. Elves have been dealing with nature and forests for generations, and they often express their emotions with words drawn from both. "May your tree of life be evergreen"; "May your road be filled with green and gold"; "May your road of life be accompanied by verdure and breeze" are their commonly used words. Several familiar elves will also say: "My heart began to sing after seeing you."

Shelley and Soka couldn't understand Elvish, but they could understand the unique rhythm of this language and guess most of its meanings. When the elf speaks, his voice becomes very mellow, with smooth transitions between syllables. Many people believe that elves sing continuously throughout their lives, which is inseparable from the characteristics of their language.

Due to the beautiful scenery all around, the climb up didn't make people feel tired. Even before Shelley and Soka were still thinking about it, the palace had already appeared in front of them.

If human palaces are always magnificently built and the halls of dwarves are always majestic, then the temples built by elves fully demonstrate the meaning of elegance. The huge wooden door looks very narrow and long, standing at the front of the palace like an upright sword. Most of the facade has been hollowed out, and the remaining part just outlines a thriving tree. The elves inlaid the hollowed-out areas with emeralds and agates as green leaves, and decorated them with rubies and citrines to represent flowers. Even obsidian was used to depict the lines of trees. The entire door can be said to be ingenious.

But compared with the entire palace, it is nothing. Due to the use of too many gems as decoration, the door always looks a bit too luxurious and out of touch with nature. But other parts of the building are integrated with the sacred tree "Heather". The huge branches are the pillars used for support, with pruned vines lying on them; the leaves of the big tree are the roof, and the golden light of the sun is cast from the gaps, bringing bright light to the entire interior of the hall; from the holy tree In the center of the palace, there is a clear spring constantly gushing out, and you can taste the cool holy water even at the top of the Heather Mountain; some protruding tree burls were ground into seats, scattered around the podium in the center of the palace. I don’t know whether it was this beautiful scenery that led to the elves’ skilled craftsmen building this palace; or it was the Holy Tree Heather who had the wisdom to offer her gift to this building that the elves are proud of.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Shelley was very excited, she had never seen such beautiful scenery. The natural architectural form opened her eyes. However, after all, she is a dark elf who is used to hiding her thoughts, and all she can see from her face is a calmness that is not alarmed at all times.

Little Sokka stared back and forth with his two big eyes, like an alert jerboa in the field. She just felt that her eyes were not enough to take in this beautiful scenery at once. And if Vincent's hand hadn't been holding her shoulder, the little angel would have flown up long ago and wanted to touch the landscape here with his own hands.

Vincent had been here a long time ago, so the beautiful scenery of the palace was not that shocking to him. His eyes were fixed on the few people standing behind the podium, especially the two elf kings standing in the middle.

One of them is the Elf Queen, who is still dressed as she was yesterday. Vincent has never seen any other image of Queen Herne Vanrei . She seems to have escaped the shackles of time, no longer being disturbed by time and becoming eternal. Whether it is a thousand years ago or a thousand years later, the Elf Queen will always look like this. The only thing that changed was her growing wisdom.

The other person beside her is Heather's actual manager, Arch Druid Nosta - the "Elf of Birth". This male elf has lived in Heather a long time ago and knows every plant and tree here. For thousands of years, he took good care of the environment here, cared for every compatriot who loved this place, and expelled countless enemies. The Elf Queen then called him "Servant of Heather" and asked him to use his eternal life to take care of this holy land.

The last time Vincent saw him, he had already experienced the strange personality of the Archdruid. This druid would never listen to anything that had nothing to do with Heather. He would stand quietly aside, stroking a cane made from a branch that was burned in the war, and all he could think about was his fellow elves; but once it was related to Heather, even if it was something somewhere, When a grass becomes withered and yellow, he will cheer up and go to check it out for himself. Heather was like everything to him, it was his life and honor, and it was the source of his power to live forever.

Behind him are some ancient elves. They are the wise men here and have experienced countless trials and hardships. Even an eternal race is inevitably eroded by time. The elves present, except Her Majesty the Queen, all had wrinkles invariably.

However, in the eyes of outsiders, these wrinkles do not look old at all. They are more like they are caused by long-term hard work, representing wisdom and full of memories.

"Hello, kings of elves." Vincent stood in the center of the hall and saluted the master here. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"For friends, no amount of hospitality is too much, because friendship itself is an immeasurable ocean." The Elf Queen said: "And, for us, your identity is more than just a friend."

Vincent smiled and nodded: "Yes, I am not only a friend of the elves, but also a servant of my friends. If Heather has any errands for the elves, I will do my best."

"The residents of Heather thank you for your generosity, Mr. Mage." Nosta's deep voice rang out. The injuries he suffered in the battle prevented the vocal cords in his neck from singing melodious music. Instead, when he spoke, it sounded like rolling thunder coming from the sky. "This is the second time I am honored to welcome you."

Vincent searched in his pocket for a while and took out what the brass dragon gave him. "Your Excellency Archdruid, this is an item entrusted to me by a creature I met on land. He asked me to give it to you." After saying that, the black stone slowly floated towards the Archdruid.

Seeing what was coming, Nosta quickly ran forward two steps, carefully took the stone from the air, and then wrapped it with the thick cloth around his waist, and then he breathed a sigh of relief. When the elves present saw the stone, they all gasped. Carol next to Vincent covered her mouth in surprise, fearing that her voice would disturb the mage's attention and cause the stone to fall to the ground and cause damage.

Only the Elf Queen kept smiling, as if she already knew everything.

Vincent couldn't figure out what happened , and he didn't think of anything in his memory that could make the elves be so cautious. He has used his insightful eyes to observe this stone countless times , and has also used magic to analyze it. There's nothing particularly noteworthy about it, except that it's very old.

"Thank you very much, young mage." The archdruid smiled. All elves know that Nosta is a serious leader. His smile is only shown when he is happiest, and it is rare to see him in decades.

"Vincent, you did us a big favor this time. In one sense, you saved Heather." The Queen said: "This stone is the only seed left by the sacred tree. It is only under the intact hard shell. And can be preserved. Some betrayers tried to get the secret of the Holy Tree of Heather and stole the seed. Thank you for returning this important item to the elves."

"It's nothing." Vincent replied. Now he understood why he had been unable to figure out the secret of the stone. It would be strange to get results by studying plant seeds in the same way as analyzing magic items. "Your Excellency Archdruid, it will take a while for the brass dragon to come back, and he asked me to wait here."

"That old dragon is still naughty and will not change even after a thousand years." Nosta said: "Since he has said that, please stay with us for a while. Now please forgive me, I Put this kind of seed back to its original place immediately.”

After saying that, the archdruid nodded goodbye to several people present and left the temple briskly but hurriedly.

"Vincent, we elves have many friends from other races, and you are a special one." The Queen said: "Nearly a year ago, you entrusted Carol to bring back Salantir's defense strategy map. At that time We didn't take it seriously, just seeing it as a gift from a friend. But not long ago, this document helped us fend off a powerful enemy and kept the skies of Heather untainted by evil."

Carol lowered her head and said with some regret: "I didn't expect this plan from my friend to be so helpful at first. If I had mentioned this earlier, so many compatriots would not have sacrificed their lives."

"No, child, this is not your fault." The Queen said: "At that time, we underestimated the enemy too much and forgot the virtue of humility. That is the price we should pay. If this sin has to be borne by one person, then as the Queen, I cannot absolve myself of the blame.”

"What enemy can cause such a big disturbance?" Vincent asked: "I think that with the strength of the elves, there is no obstacle that is insurmountable. Among the warriors I have seen, the elves are the most elite. Especially in a familiar environment, no other race of creatures can take advantage."

'Except the Dark Elves. 'Shelley thought silently. 'Although drow should be considered a type of elves, in terms of good training, dark elves should be the best. '

"Even the dark elves who sold their souls to the darkness and gained great power would have a hard time resisting such an attack. My friends." As if hearing the voice from Shelley's heart, Queen Herne Fanrui said : "We elves are now We must learn to be humble, face up to our own strengths, and always pay attention to the shortcomings we still have - this is the warning that our compatriots have paid for with their lives. What Master Vincent said, we should take it as a kind of appreciation, rather than simply taking it as a That's the truth."

Shelley frowned and stood behind Vincent. The mage is like a barrier between the female drow and the elf queen. Only in this way can Shelley feel at ease.

"Mr. Mage, are there any records about the undead army in the books of your association?" The Elf Queen said: "If this threat cannot be fundamentally eliminated, I am afraid that all creatures on the entire continent will live under the shadow of death. .”

Vincent lowered his head and pondered for a while, recalling all the documents he had read during his studies. The elves all stared at the mage, not wanting to disturb his contemplation.

The young mage raised his head, his eyes also full of doubts: "I'm sorry, Her Majesty the Queen, I can't recall the relevant records. If you can describe the scene in detail, there may be enough clues to emerge. water surface."

The Queen did not show disappointment or other expressions, she just sighed softly: "Every time I think of the sacrifices made by the elves, my heart is as painful as being pierced by a sharp blade. When their cold bodies appear in my mind, , thinking of the moment when my soul is left wandering, I can only close my eyes and let the tears slide down my cheeks. But in order to avoid greater pain and hurt, I will recount the scene again - even if my heart breaks again It’s still inevitable.”

The elf behind the Queen hummed a dirge softly. This was the only music the elf had without lyrics. Under the sad melody, no elf can bear the painful words. Their hearts are trembling. How can they control their throats to sing the lyrics?

Sokka also followed Shelley's example and hid behind Vincent. The celestial creature easily understood the sadness in this music, and she was now immersed in sorrow along with the music.

Only Vincent and Shelley stood unmoved in the middle of the palace. One person is not affected by the elf music, while the other person is concentrating his rational thinking and paying attention to the story the Queen is about to tell.