Author notes: Hey everyone!

So, who predicted that when I said the chapter might be  a little earlier than usual it would take twice as long?

Probably a lot of people, anyway it's here now, and it's the longest chapter I've done in a while, just shy of 10k words. This chapter is quite important to me as it's the  start of an little arc that has been in my mind since before the first chapter, and it introduces one of my personal favourite characters.

So I hope you enjoy it!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Day 106~

I was awoken by loud, rough shouting outside of my old house. "Weez kno' yur in dere!" The voice yelled at us. Well, I'm guessing it's at us, I don't know who else it could be directed towards.

Verros who had also been woken up by the yelling turned to me, a confused expression plastered on his face. "I didn't imagine Dark Elves to sound like that." He said to me.

I shook my head. "Me neither, so what could it belong to?" I replied. The first person that popped in to my head, of course was Rugtug, but the way he spoke happened to be a different kind of odd.

Verros stood up and began gathering his armour and weapons. "I've heard the accent before, if I'm right then I think I can guess why the Dark Elves are doing what they're doing." He whispered, looking me in the eye. I nodded my head, and prepared my armour too. Alvir stood primed and ready, a look on his face that said he desired battle.

"Calm down Alvir, we're not here just to fight." I patted his head, to which he whined in reply.

After we fully equipped ourselves we made our way outside, waiting for us was a force of around 20 Dark Elves and in front of them one large green monster. "Just as I thought, Orcs." Verros whispered next to me.

An Orc? I've never seen one before... So they just look like... Bigger Goblins I guess? The Orc in front of us must have been about 7 ft, just a little shorter than me. I stepped forward causing the Dark Elves to raise their various weapons. "Is it you? Are you the one turning Dark Elves into coastal raiders?" I asked him.

He puffed his chest out placing his arms at his sides. "If Gralk is?" He asked tilting his head.

I scratched my head, so his name is Gralk, then? I glanced at Verros, he probably knows more about Orcs than I do. "Could it really be his doing?" I asked pointing at the Orc.

Verros shook his head. "No. Whilst he's not a grunt he's definitely not powerful enough for that either. He's probably part of a warband or something." He shrugged his shoulders.

I turned back to the orc. "There you have it. Can I talk to your boss?" I asked Grulk in a sleepy voice. They woke us up way too early.

The Orc walked up to me, smirking, he stood directly in front of me and without blinking opened his mouth. "F*ck off." He said, giving a clear reply. 

I glanced back at Verros who shook his head. "He's an Orc, don't expect much in the way of verbal negotiation." He sighed.

I turned back, 'verbal negotiation' is it? That was probably a hint. "Fair enough." I replied exacerbated. Without saying anything else, I grabbed the Orcs shoulders and crushed my skull against his, from the impact he slipped out of my grasp and fel to the ground, crushing the dirt and rock beneath. He now lay still on the ground, his head caved in.

"Oh." I let out a surprised gasp. I turned to Verros. "I thought you said he wasn't just a grunt?" I complained.

Verros rubbed his brow. "I also told you that he wasn't that powerful either, why can't you hold back a bit?" He sighed.

We walked over to the corpse to make sure that the Orc wasn't alive. His brain was visible through what was left of his skull, it reminded me of a cracked egg. I looked at Verros. "I did hold back." I replied. Alvir sat behind me wagging his tail, happy that I killed something.

"YOU B*STARDS!" Looking up towards the crowd of Dark Elves, one slender, yet well toned beautiful black haired woman came rushing out of the crowd gripping two short swords. She was charging at us, anger twisting her beautiful face. 

Verros and I stood up reaching for our weapons, but before she could even fully leave the crowd a hand reached out to stop her. "Wait Tiva, are you really going to attack our saviours?" The man who stopped her said. Looking at him I would say they're siblings, other than his hair being silver they looked very similar. In fact if it weren't for his masculine body I would have said they we're sisters.

I lowered my weapon and nodded at Verros to do the same. The female Elf called Tiva growled at us through a hateful expression. "Saviours? They killed Gralk! You know what that means Torvinn." She scowled at us.

Torvinn turned her around and patted her shoulders. "I know sister, I know. But you saw the beasts strength, perhaps they really can help us." He looked her in the eyes.

She looked away and groaned before lowering her head. "Fine, if you say so brother." She mumbled.

He smiled. "Good." He said nodding his head. He moved past his sister and began walking towards us, it was easier to see him now. He wore a stern, warriors expression, of course not on Hawkwoods level as this Dark Elf actually showed emotion. From that and the way he holds himself I can guess he holds some level of authority.

I was expecting him to walk up to me, but he walked straight passed to Verros. He then held his hand out to shake Verros'. "You're from the mountain clans, correct? I had heard they have even darker skin than us." He gave Verros a business-like smile.

Verros seemed confused, but shook the Elfs hand anyway. "Uh, yeah. My name's Verros Ku Ron, last of the Ron clan." 

The Elf named Torvinn then looked over at Alvir and I. "And their names?" He asked Verros.

"Eh? Uh that's Ellena and her pet Wolf Alvir." He replied, still confused.

Ah, of course. I forgot, we're in a completely new place now. Monsters aren't treated like any other race here like they are in Ashes. They probably think I'm Verros' pet or something. Even though I was just speaking the Common Tongue fluently in front of them. It kind of annoys me.

Torvinn frowned. "...Her pet?" He asked, scowling in my direction. He then began to laugh. "You gave your pet it's own pet?" 

God's do I want to punch him. Alvir began growling at the Elf to which he replied by unsheathing the longsword attached to his belt. "Tell your beasts beast to stand down." Torvinn stated coldly. The rest of the Elves raised their own weapons, until the tip of a spear found it's way besides Torvinns head.

"Try and hurt my master, and I'll remove your head from your shoulders." I heard Verros claim behind the tall Elf.

Torvinn twitched. "Your master?" He growled, an almost disgusted look on his face.

I really do want to punch his stupid pretty boy face... No, I shouldn't, we didn't just come here to kill Dark Elves because they're a*seholes, besides, being one doesn't make you evil or anything.

I let out a sigh. "Listen, whilst I find it disgusting I do understand why you look down on Monsters, but where we're from a Monster with the intelligence of a human is treated like one, not just like a mindless beast." I signalled Verros to lower his weapon, he obliged with little complaint. "Thank you Verros, now, whilst I don't particularly like you, I will hear you out. Talk." I looked the Elf in the eye.

He grimaced before sheathing his sword. "Put your weapons away, it's unlikely we could win this battle anyway." He signalled at the other Elves, clearly he's in charge. "My name is Torvinn Balaval, I am the current head of the Balaval family." He extended his hand for me to shake.

I shook my head. "I don't want to shake your hand anymore than you want to shake mine." He nodded grimacing.

"Before we talk we should head somewhere more convenient, follow me." He motioned to where they came from, towards my old village. Could that be it?

He walked through the crowd the rest of them following behind, his sister giving us a quick look of hatred before catching up with him.

"I don't like this." Verros frowned. Even Alvir seemed genuinely irritated for once.

I smiled patting his shoulder. "We can't just kill them because we don't like them. Besides, I don't think they're doing this by choice." I reassured him.

With caution we followed behind.

...

Just as I thought, we arrived at my old village. Except now it had a crudely made wooden wall around it. As Torvinn signalled the gatekeeper to open the large door attached to the wall, I saw inside too. Many house I recognised, or at least the positions of them. Obviously over several hundred years many of them had changed quite significantly, some had become larger, others had been completely rebuilt. 

The village was also twice as small as in my old life as a huge river flowed in place of the other half. So it was damaged by the Kraken, but some still stands? A long stone bridge made it's way across the river. To the right of the village were several cages, the cages held people that must have been slaves. There also appeared to be many of the same people walking around and serving the Elves inside. 

Although, this doesn't seem to be Kol's camp all over again. The slaves clothes were clean, fresh and well kept. A few of the slaves in one of the cages were playing cards and laughing happily, there were even some outside the cages sitting and chatting with the Elves. What's going on?

While that is quite odd, what surprises me even more was a statue in the middle of the village that most definitely was not there when I was alive. It was of a young woman.

"Isn't that... You?" Verros asked an odd expression on his face.

I massaged the bridge of my nose. "Please, don't say anything." I didn't want to admit it, but there is indeed a statue of me as a human in the middle of my village, I'm not sure I even want to think about it.

As the gates closed behind us the other Elves inside seemed to finally notice our group. The slaves relaxing began to panic and rush back to working.

Torvinn raised his hand. "Gralk is dead, you don't need to worry anymore." The other Elves and slaves became stunned.

One particularly large Elf with two large axes came running over. "What do you mean he's dead?" 

Torvinn walked over to a sort of makeshift outside bar and poured himself some sort of Elvish wine. "It was those three. The Dryad killed him." He pointed towards us.

The large Elf turned to us, anger growing on his face he walked us to me and grabbed me by the collar. "YOU!" He spat.

"Calm down Leoth, I have a plan." Torvinn took a sip of his drink.

I really don't like this guy. Although this one called Leoth is easy on the eyes at least. Wait, no, not again, focus! "Let go." I said grabbing the large Elfs arm. 

He looked shocked by my reply, then looked to his leader for help. "Just let her go, you wouldn't stand a chance anyway." Leoth's face sunk and his ears drooped, he let go and moved out of the way.

I walked up to the bar and sat on a stool next to Torvinn. I heard murmuring from the crowd and angry shouts from Tiva. "Now, are you going to talk" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me, but didn't verbalise his disapproval. It seems after his initial shock he calmed down quickly, that's probably why he's the family leader. "When you mentioned that where you're from you're treated on the same level as a human, I can guess you're from the Kingdom of Ashes. So I can also guess why you're here." He lent forward. "So first things first, we're not doing this by choice." He gritted his teeth.

"That's obvious. Something to do with the Orc earlier?" I asked.

He nodded his head, a grim look on his face. "Warboss Ekri Rotblood the Elfsbane. That's who brought their warband to these Isles four years ago and conquered every family of Dark Elves here." He spat out the Orcs name.

My mind stuck to one part of that name. "Elfsbane? Is that an earned title?"

"Yes." He replied. "I don't know why, but that damn Orc hates Elves. When she heard about how weak we-" He stopped himself, hesitating.

"I know about your weakness, there's no point trying to hide it from me." I told him.

He looked me in the eye, his grip on his drink tightening. "Anyway, she went to every family in the Dead Isles and killed the family head. She then placed one or more of her Orcs with the family to make sure they don't step out of line. We only got Gralk as we're a small family." Talking about this seemed to be upsetting him.

"Since you're the leader now was the previous leader...?" I asked leaving the answer to him.

He nodded. "My father, yes." He took another sip of his wine. "That's besides the point. Ekri hates Elves more than anything else in the world. She looks for any excuse to kill us just to satisfy her bloodlust. So when a family loses their orc, they're slaughtered. Whether the family killed the Orc or someone else." His expression turned to a mix of anger and sadness.

I see, so that's what he wants... Wait, there's something else. "If she hates you so much, why doesn't she just kill you outright?" I asked.

He sniffed. "You saw Gralk? Arrogant, big, strong and stupid. That's what most Orcs are like. But, Ekri's smart and cunning instead. She's bigger, she's stronger and she's more arrogant. But she's smart too. She knows that the Dark Elves value our freedom and honour above all else. So she humiliates us, makes us petty raiders, forces us to take slaves..." He motioned towards the cages.

I lent back on my stool. "I see, I get it. You want us to fight Ekri's warband, since if we don't they'll kill you? Is that about it?" I asked.

"IS THAT IT?" Tiva came running over unable to hold herself back anymore, she threw a punch at me that was stopped by her brother.

Torvinn smiled at his sister. "Stay calm sister." She gritted her teeth, but gave up and sat down at a nearby table ordering beer for herself all the while glaring at me.

I chuckled. "I'm really hated, huh?" 

Torvinn sat back down. "Before the Orcs came along we were pretty neutral towards monsters, but now." He shrugged.

I guess I can understand that, still... "If so then why are you suddenly treating me better?"

Torvinn scoffed. "I'm not exactly fond of you either, but I have to keep the demeanor of the family head, treat my guests well." He replied. "So... What's your answer? You have an obligation to help us as you're the one that caused the situation, so what will you do?" He asked sitting forward.

I scanned my old village, my eyes resting on the slaves. "So you don't want slaves?" I asked.

He shook his head. "The idea disgusts me." He said bitterly.

I scratched the back of my head before sighing. "I'm not particularly fond of those who hate me on sight, but it looks like you treat your slaves well. So I can at least see you aren't bad people. And as you said this is my fault, whether I knew it or not." I crossed my arms. "I'll help you, on one condition." 

Torvinns eye twitched. "What?" He said through narrow eyes.

I nodded towards the slaves. "Let them go free." I said.

Torvinn looked surprised. "Is that all? I was planning to do so anyway." He smiled and extended his hand. "So we have a deal?" 

I nodded. "I guess I actually need to shake your hand this time." As I began extending my arm it was grabbed by a small hand.

"Stop! Please don't send us away." I looked to the owner of the voice. It was a small Cat Beastkin slave girl who couldn't have been older than ten.

I scrunched up my brow. "You want to stay here?" I asked her.

She nodded her head. "I like it here, they're really nice." She replied.

I glanced at Torvinn who seemed as surprised as me. I stood up and walked over to the cages. "Who else wants to stay here?" I asked. A lot of the slaves looked at each other and began discussing. After a minute or two they fell silent, and about a third of them raised their hands. "I see..." I turned back around to the Elven leader. "Torvinn... I've changed my mind." 

He looked a little angry. "You can't possibly expect me to keep slaves, surely?" He slammed his drink on to the table.

I shook my head. "No. Employ them. Have them working the same as before, but pay them, build them house. Have them build them if they're being paid for it. Have we got a deal?" I walked over to him and extended my hand.

He sat still his finger to his chin as he thought. He let out a sigh. "I can't deny that having them here has made life easier." He extended his hand and shook mine. "Fine, we have a deal Dryad."

I smiled. "Good. What do we do first?" I asked.

He sat back down. "I'll explain that tomorrow. First we eat to celebrate their freedom." He replied signalling some of his men to open the slaves cages.

I frowned. "I thought you said Ekri would come to kill you? Should you not be a bit more frantic about this situation?" I asked him tilting my head.

He shook his. "No, the Warbands next envoy isn't due for another week. They come once a month to check up on us." He kept drinking his wine.

Oh... So it's not as desperate situation as I thought. Verros who had watched the situation came over with Alvir. "So we're going to fight with these people?" He asked clearly disappointed.

"I'm sorry for deciding without you, Verros. But what he said was true. This is my fault." I shrugged.

Verros sat down on a nearby seat resting his spear against it. "No, you're right. It just doesn't feel right." He pouted.

I chuckled. What an cute reaction. I then noticed a blur as Tiva ran past me towards a small group of slave children. She gave them all a hug and held a wide smile on her face. Huh, so she can smile too? She looks a lot more beautiful like that. She looked over to me and her smile turned back to a frown. Although maybe not pure hatred this time? With a huff she turned her head away.

"Wow. How childish." Verros commented.

"Mmn." I nodded smiling. Even the way they treated me can't spoil this sight though. The smiles and joy on both the side of the now ex-slaves and the Dark Elves too was infectious. 

"Torvinn." I turned to see the large Elf Leoth had run over to Torvinn. "What about the Dwarf?" He asked worried.

Torvinns smile sank. "We were only enemies thanks to the Orcs. Even so, he killed a lot of our family." Torvinn commented.

Dwarf? I didn't see a Dwarf. "Torvinn. The deal was every slave." I stated.

He grimaced. "I understand. Follow me." Torvinn stood up and began walking towards a small gate north of the village. 

I think I know where he's heading... There was only one other house outside of the village that was associated with it....

Dwarf... It couldn't be?

Verros tapped me on my shoulder. "Should I come with you?" He asked.

I shook my head. "You and Alvir stay here, make sure they don't do anything.

He nodded. With that I followed Torvinn up an old nostalgic path to a large stone house. A house that clearly belonged to a blacksmith. He went round to the back and led me to a large wooden wall. 

I audibly gasped. Hanging to the wall by chains was a small Dwarf. All four of his limbs were attached to chains. He was old, his long beard and thinning hair were a faded grey. Even then through his torn clothes it was easy to see his still rippling muscles and scarred body. 

What's more, his face... I recognised it.

Why didn't I think of it before? Of course no human would have survived this long, but humans weren't the only race in my village. There was a family of Dwarfs as well! Dwarves can live almost a thousand years, how could I forget such an obvious thing.

"Who're you." the Dwarf said raising his head at us. A scowl on his face.

I smiled, an elated feeling in my chest. "Odwiff." I said without thinking. I quickly covered my mouth.

Odwiff's eyes narrowed. "How d'ya know ma name lass?" He asked, his thick Dwarven accent shining through. 

Torvinn also glanced at me confused. "I, uh. The name plaque. On the front of the house." I replied a little flustered. Of course he wouldn't recognise me would he? I'm glad he still had the plaque.

Odwiffs eyes lost their suspicion, but not their anger. "Then call ma Copperbeard, not Odwiff. I don't want ta be referred ta in such a familiar way by a complete stranger. 'specially one that could be my enemy judging by the company she keeps." He nodded towards Torvinn. What exactly happened here? Why have they hung Odwiff up like this? 

I looked over at Torvinn. "Why is Od-... Mr. Copperbeard being treated so much worse than the rest of the slaves?" I asked him.

Torvinn stared at Odwiff. "He killed a lot of my family. And he's strong enough to destroy the cages, this was the only solution I could think of that didn't involve killing him."

Odwiff scoffed. "Ha! I killed invaders. Your men marched in to my village, my home and demanded it be theirs." Odwiff spat.

The family head squeezed his hand into a fist. "I've already told you, we were forced to. Besides, your village was practically deserted!" He countered raising his voice.

Odwiff frowned. I interjected, confused. "Wait, the village was deserted? But all the buildings looked well maintained, even the farmhouse outside." I cut into the argument.

Odwiff's eyes widened. He turned away his face turning slightly red. "Everyone left afta we heard bout the Orc Warband, so t'was only recently deserted... But the farmhouse was maintained by me." He replied bashfully.

Maintained by him... Did he also have something to do with the statue... What happened after I died? I'm curious, but if I pry any further he might get suspicious...

...Wait, do I not want him to know who I am? I wonder why... I think the statue probably has something to do with it...

Odwiff shook his head. "Why am I even tellin ya about somethin' like that? What did you come here for lass?" He asked me flustered.

"She killed Gralk and has now promised to protect us and help us kill Ekri. In exchange we are to free the slaves... All of them." He said walking towards Odwiff with a key in his hand.

The Dward still looked at Torvinn with anger. I walked up to and patted his arm to get attention. "You managed to kill a bunch of them right? I understand you're not fond of the Dark Elves, but how about focusing your anger on those truly responsible?" I asked him smiling.

Odwiff stared at me unblinking. "I'm not one to just do what ever a pretty lass says." He commented as all his shackles were unlocked. He fell to the ground and rubbed his wrists letting out a sigh. "But you make a good point, even if they did keep me hung up for almost four years." 

"Four years!?" I shouted out surprised. "...Why haven't you lost your muscles?" I added.

Odwiff began laughing. "Lass, Dwarfs don't lose muscle once they've gained it. It's one of the perks of being one." He winked, his old wrinkled eyes once again showing a hint of his old joyful self.

There's a lot I want to ask him... But I don't want to tell him who I was yet, I need... Time.

We made our way back to the now in full swing party. A few of the now ex slaves ran up to Odwiff hugging him and weeping. His smile grew wide and jolly as it used to be. Are they possibly some of the villagers?

...Descendants of people I used to know, maybe?

I won't think about it, let's enjoy the drink and food for now. I made my way over to Verros' table who was sitting with a few Humans round a table, next to them the young Beastkin girl from earlier sunk her face in to Alvirs fur. Not that I can blame her.

I told Verros about Odwiff and who he was. Verros agreed to keep my reincarnation a secret until I was ready, but I'm pretty sure he wanted me to tell Odwiff. 

There was a clear air of tension surrounding the Elves and the Dwarf in question, they had a glaring contest the whole night, but even that wasn't enough to spoil the joy of the day.

No Dark Elves would approach our table or Odwiffs, but at least they didn't start anything even in their drunken state. The part lasted well in to the night, and by the end Verros had drunk himself asleep. Torvinn told us to sleep in the village just in case so I obliged him and took a spare house. I made sure to choose a new one as the idea of sleeping in an old one felt off.

Odwiff, who was part of a race of renowned drinkers retired to his home still completely sober whilst Torvinn carried his drunk sister to their home. They had taken residence in the old village leaders house which was now sitting almost on top of the river.

It was a good night, I have to admit, but I know that starting tomorrow, I'm probably going to be doing a lot of fighting.

~Day 107~

It wasn't long after I'd woken up that Leoth came running in, he had been sent by Torvinn that wanted to get started with his 'plan' today. The tall Elf led us to the meeting spot, which was across the stone bridge. He didn't say much, but it was clear he wasn't too fond of us, even though he happened to be very chatty and open whilst drinking last night. For instance I found out he was Torvinns older cousin. He is also one of the few Dark Elves here that wants to go back to their traditional warrior ways. 

After crossing the bridge and passing through a few trees we found ourselves at an small concealed dock. Standing next to a small raggedy ship at the dock was Torvinn, his sister and a dozen other Elves. Odwiff also sat on a nearby box polishing a warhammer taller than he is. Many of the Elves glanced at him, contempt in their eyes.

Torvinn looked irritated. "Finally, you're here, we can't waste any more time." He signalled the other Elves on to the ship. Great, so we're going on a ship again? Torvinn waved us towards the ship. "Come on, I'll explain where we're going on the ship."

Leoth pointed at the whistling Odwiff. "Torvinn, what's he doing here?" He asked, worry in his voice.

Torvinn sighed. "He insisted that he come along. 'I need to get revenge on those that wronged both of us' he said." Torvinn did a pretty good Dwarf voice. "Anyway, thanks for bringing them Leoth, you can go now." 

Leoth nodded his head with a sour look. "Do I really have to stay?" He mumbled.

The family leader patted the large Elfs shoulder. "Someone has to be here to defend the town, and you're the strongest warrior in the family. Just stay for me, please Leoth." Torvinn smiled softly.

Leoth nodded his head reluctantly. "I understand, cousin." The large Elf slowly wandered back towards the village.

So Leoth is the strongest in the village? I guess that means they don't choose a family leader based purely on strength, huh? Well, there is more to leading a group than just hitting things. Torvinn led us on to the ship. As we passed Odwiff he jumped off the crate he sat on and slung his Warhammer on to his shoulder, a small crack appearing at his feet just from the weight. It may not look that heavy as it's about the size of a human's Warhammer, but I know it's far heavier than it looks. I know, as he had that Warhammer in my previous life, it's hard to believe he's had it this long, then again he told me it was somewhat important to him. Forged to celebrate his coming of age, a Dwarven tradition. However it must be forged using ore that the coming of age Dwarf found. 

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Simply put, Odwiff found a very strong, and heavy ore, Gravisnite. After many years spent adventuring with his siblings he and his Warhammer became quite well known. He eventually named it 'Grimbal' after his ancestor. His ancestor who was known for crushing dragon skulls with his bare hands.

Still, to think he still had it. "You've been staring at my Warhammer for a while lass." Odwiff commented a large grin on his face. We had already set off from the dock, and without realising I had been staring at it and reminiscing. However, the way he worded it felt a little off.

I smiled. "I apologise Mister Copperbeard." I pulled Skullcrusher from behind my back. "As you can see, I'm also a fan of blunt weapons." 

Odwiff whistled. "Oh, she's a beauty! A little rough looking, but that didnae hurt none." He stopped and thought for a moment. "Say, you wouldn't wanna hear about this ol' girl would'ya?" He asked motioning towards Grimbal on his back. 

I was about to nod my head until a third voice interjected. "No she 'would'nae' like to hear about your ridiculous weapon. I have yet to actually discuss the plan with the Dryad, so be on your way Dwarf!" Torvinn shooed Odwiff away.

"Tch! Fine, we'll have to talk later lass. Oh, and call me Odwiff. Least I could do for the one that finally got me off that damn board!" Odwiff winked as he was pushed away.

I chuckled. "I'm looking forward to it, Odwiff." I replied with a beaming smile. Even if he's become greyer, and a bit mroe grumpy, he's still the same Dwarf I used to know.

Torvinn let out a disgusted sigh. "Honestly Dwarves and their weapons, I've never understood why a simple design won't do." He motioned towards the railing to have somewhere to sit.

I giggled. "But you don't hate him, do you?" I asked him, tilting my head.

The Elfs turned to me, his eyes widening for a moment. "No, no I don't. How could you tell?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Most of your family look at him with pure hatred, he would probably be dead if it were up to them, but you kept him alive. Some would probably consider that a crueller fate, but I didn't get that impression."

Torvinn sighed again. "I don't know, I should hate him, he killed members of my family. I don't really get it myself. I guess it's because I can see it from his perspective? I don't know." Torvinn massaged his scalp. "That's off topic anyway, we're here to talk about the plan." 

I nodded. "Right, yeah. Which is?" I asked. 

He raised his hand. "Wait for the human first, Tiva should be bringing him now." 

Just as he said that, Verros came walking over, a displeased Tiva behind him.  Of course, already in the water was Alvir, a lot of the Elves seemed irritated by that. Are they ever not irritated, or is that just a default mood for them?

Torvinn cleared his throat. "Okay, to be honest the plan is rather simple. To fight Ekri and her Warband we need an army, we need the other families. What we're doing now is travelling to the location of the nearest family, to liberate them from the Orcs." Torvinn explained.

I nodded my head. "I see, so we kill the Orc in charge of the other familes and gain that family as allies? How can we be sure they'll help us?" 

Torvinn shook his head. "We can't be absolutely sure, but don't mistake the weakness of the Elves here for cowardliness. We're still Dark Elves." 

"How many families are there exactly?" Verros asked. He asked a good question, how many men will we have exactly?

The Elf leader scratched his head. "As far as I know there are only eleven families left in the Dead Isles in total. There's around six hundred of us in total." He told us.

Verros nodded his head. "How many Orcs are in the Warband?" He asked concerned.

Torvinn sighed. "Just under one thousand I believe. I understand we're outnumbered, but in truth even in our weakened state we Dark Elves are still stronger than basic Orcs. If all the families worked together when Ekri first attacked we could have probably mostly fought them off. The only trouble is Ekri herself and her top ranking generals. Especially Wrok her bodyguard. Just them on their own could take on 90% of our forces."

So, what he's saying is that they can only do this now because Verros and I are here. He knows I'm pretty strong so does he assume Verros is too since he's with me? I mean it's true that both Alvir and Verros are pretty strong. "So where are we going first?" I asked. 

"Ah, well the village we were in is quite close to the ruins of Velenhale, the old capital of the Dead Isles. There are two families that currently live in it. The Wuulal family of the south and the Lamalvis family of the north."

Ah, Velenhale is in ruins, huh? However, if this is the way to Velenhale then that means this entire stretch of open water used to be land. Velenhale was once on the same Island as the village. 

It wasn't too long until we arrived at the crumbled wall of the southern gate, crude wooden walls similar to the villages in their place. We were going to the Wuulal family first, they had two Orcs with them as their family was slightly larger than Torvinns. The Elves all wore determined expressions, well Tiva looked ready to rip something in half, but I guess that's determination too?

At the entrance to their actual encampment a few guards stood at the gate. Torvinn stepped forward. "I wish to speak with your family leader." He said.

The guards looked at each other, then called someone over. The Elf that they called over stood in the middle of the ramparts. She wore a long robe and had beautiful curled white hair. She must have been a mage. "Torvinn... May I ask what you are doing here?" She asked, she obviously knew what we were doing here just from scanning over us.

Torvinn grimaced. "It's time Lenia, Gralk was killed by that Dryad, and we're fighting back." Torvinn pointed at me.

The Elf named Lenia shook her head. "I'm not getting my family involved in something like this, leave now before the Orcs get suspicious. If they find out I spoke to a traitor Ekri would destroy my family on principle."

Torvinn shook his head. "We're not leaving Lenia, if all of the families work together we stand a chance against Ekri." He didn't back down.

Lenia narrowed her eyes. "Fight if you want Torvinn, but I'm not sacrif-"

"Oh by all of the pointy eared. Let's just get on with it already!" Odwiff yelled, interrupting Lenia. He ran up to the gate and with a single swing of Grimbal the gate exploded sending shards of wood everywhere.

Inside a group of startled Elves and slaves flinched at the sight. Two Orcs sat up from their oversized stalls pulling their weapons out.

"My turn." I grinned, I pulled out Skullcrusher and sprinted at the Orcs.

"W-WAIT!" Lenia yelled at me as I ran past. I ignored her. Before the closest Orc could even pull his axe out fully I had swung Skullcrusher in to the side of his head. His head caved in as bits of grey matter and gore flew out of it. His already limp body flew in to the side of the other Orc who barely stumbled, but did not recover before Skullcrusher smashed in to his chest flinging him across the fort. His body flew in to the wooden walls, splintering them is half as his body finally fell limp against a few trees on the other side. 

I rested Skull crusher on my shoulder as it still dripped with blood. Including yesterday's kill my level had actually increased to [Level 91]. Humanoid monsters seem to level me up quicker for some reason.

Lenia ran up next to me. "W-what just happened?" She asked mouth open in shock. Many of the residents of this fort had similar reactions.

"Buhahahaha!" Odwiff ran up next to me reaching up to pat my back. "Damn lass! Those muscles ain't just for show are they." He rested against his hammer laughing quite hysterically. "God's it's good to be out again!"

Verros and Torvinn also came over. Verros sighed. "You could at least let me have some action Ellena." As he said that I also heard Alvir whining somewhere. 

I chuckled and scratched my head. "Sorry. I'm just so close to evolving again, and getting stronger is one of my main goals." I shrugged.

Verros sighed again. "Fine, but at least let me have one or two, I need to get stronger too." He glanced at Alvir who sat on the floor sulking. "And maybe one for him too."

"How can you talk about this so casually? Do you realise what you've just done?!" Lenia began ranting at us. 

Torvinn tapped her arm. "Calm down Lenia, you saw how strong the Dryad is. Even if she's a monster, with her help we can probably win against Ekri." He then gave her a sympathetic smile. "Besides, you don't really have much choice now, do you?" 

Lenia looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she just drooped her ears. "Fine, we'll fight along side you. It'll probably give us a better chance of living anyway." She sighed. 

That was easier than I thought it would be... At this rate we'll be ready pretty soon right? Also, at the rate we're going I'll be evolving soon too, but really, I've heard so many mysteries around the Virga Ferrea. I wonder if it'll be a whole evolutionary chain or something? Should I follow it if it is? And if I do, what will I eventually become... I looked at my arms and hands. There's definitely something strange about me.

Torvinn told us that we would also go to the Lamalvis family since we made good time. However it was already starting to get a bit dark. When I asked him about heading back to the village he told me we're going to get as many families as possible before the Orcs come to inspect the village in six days time. So we won't be heading back for a while.

As we made our way through the cities broken streets I had Tiva behind me shooting me look of hate and telling me to listen to her brother as my stupidity will just get us killed.

I don't understand why she hates me so much... Is it just pure respect for her brother that makes her hate me as I don't show him respect. I would think that, but she doesn't seem to hate Alvir or Verros, who also do not show him respect.

We made it to the second group of Elves. Another fort. Only this time, a tall, but thin Elf man stood on the ramparts. When he heard what Torvinn had to say he grinned. "Open the gates. It's time." The Elf laughed.

Well... He didn't need much persuasion. As the gates opened three Orcs were revealed. One was significantly larger than the other two.

Torvinn grimaced. "Curse it, of course Eltor would need an Orc Rager to guard him."

I don't need to hear anymore, big stronger Orc for the quite clearly rebellious family head Eltor. "Verros you can have that one." I nodded towards one of the two smaller ones. 

He nodded. "It's something at least." He replied.

We charged forwards, I wasted no time to crush the body of the other normal sized Orc. I heard the sounds of slight struggle coming from where Verros was. I ran towards the Orc Rager who was even larger than I. He grinned widely. "Dis is gun' be fun!" He yelled. 

He brought two giant cleavers down on me, I shifted my body so that the two blade came down besides me. He took little time to turn the cleavers around to try and take out my legs. I activated Mushroom shield to repel the blades at my feat. I then swung Skullcrusher in to his body whilst he recoiled from Mushroom Shield. He flew back slightly spitting up blood with a clear cave in on his chest.

He grinned with teeth stained red, then yelled as he ran at me. He was weak now, I once again deflected his weapons, then span around launching skullcrusher upwards to his chin. As he jaw dislodged and ripped from his body, he had already died. His large body fell to the floor with an audible thump.

I looked over to Verros to see him wiping blood off his spear, he had barely broken a sweat. I had also already gained another level, thanks to the big guy.

 Eltor, with a few glances of irritation from Torvinn and Tiva welcomed us inside. Since it was already night he offered us a place to sleep before we carry on tomorrow. 

We gladly accepted. Of course they released their slaves, just as Torvinn did and as we asked Lenia to do too. Eltor wanted to celebrate with drink, but since most of us had already celebrated last night we just retired. Well, except Odwiff, he and Eltor got on... Very well. 

So, that's two down, it's unfortunate, but I get the feeling we're going to have to be rather forceful for some families. I think most will be like Lenia and only accept if they have to. 

I've been thinking, but this will be the largest battle I've ever been in. Six hundred versus a thousand... I wonder if I should be this excited?

~Day 108~

Dawn, once again we were woken at dawn. Tiva found this to be a good opportunity to annoy us, running in and yelling at us to wake up. Poor Alvir got so startled he jumped up and headbutted the wall... Well, the wall lost the battle though, there's a big crack in this stone house now.

We made our way back through the city to where we kept the ship, Odwiff was gleaming after two nights of drinking in a row. He also beat Eltor in a drinking competition. Never challenge a Dwarf to a drinking competition.

On the way to our next destination Torvinn explained to us where we were going next and how he's trying to make the best of what little time we have.

Basically, today we would be travelling most of the day and would only manage one family. However, tomorrow we'll be able to reach three other families since they're close to this one.

So that way we can be as efficient as possible. Torvinn stayed up half the night planning with his sister, who in all honestly wasn't much help at all. He didn't mention that, but it's pretty clear from both their expressions.

Since it was a long journey Odwiff sat Verros and I down to talk about his Warhammer and various adventures he'd been on. It was very nostalgic. I'd heard all of these stories before, but Odwiff has always been a good story teller, so I wasn't against hearing them again. 

Verros seemed enthralled, even if he's on his own adventure all fourteen year old boys love a good adventure story. 

Anyway, it really did take all day to arrive at our next destination. After this family refused to open the gates, Torvinn reluctantly stood aside for Odwiff and I's rather... Forceful strategy.

This family had two Orcs. I let Alvir have once since he had be moaning about a lack of action, neither Orc was enough to level either of us up though. The only reason we're levelling up at all is because all of these Orcs are quite high ranked. According to Torvinn it would take about thirty of the grunt Orcs to level us up as much as one of these guys. 

Back on topic, the leader of this family actually quite happily agreed to the plan after we killed the Orcs. He only refused initially because he didn't believe we really had the capability. 

Well, we had another family to back us up. At the rate we're going we might reach all before Ekri's envoy arrives.

We stayed in their settlement for the night, they also decided to celebrate with Elvish wine and beer. Seriously, is that the only way to celebrate as an Elf? Of course Odwiff seems overjoyed at the idea, even our Elven companions joined in today. I'm all for a bit of wine every so often, but this is ridiculous.

So, Verros and I retired earlier than the others. He seemed excited for tomorrow, since we're most likely going to three different families he has a good chance of being able to fight an Orc or two. He's doesn't love fighting as much as I do, but he's a warrior at heart, a fight a day is good for him.

~Day 109~

We set off even earlier this morning. There had to be enough time for all three families after all. As we left we already saw the family we stayed with preparing weapons and armour. Everyone was serious about this battle, or I suppose it's more appropriate to call it a war at this point?

Speaking of which, if the Orcs army numbers almost a thousand, where exactly are they staying? The Dead Isles are mostly just small remains of islands right? 

"Ekri resides on the Island of Signum. The 'Miracle Island' as it's more commonly known." Torvinn told me after I asked him. He once again answered in a disinterested voice, almost monotone. We're working together quite well, but it's still clear to me, he's not exactly fond of monsters. At least I don't catch his looks of disgust my way anymore. I just wish his sister also stopped.

"Why 'The Miracle Island'?" I asked him.

Torvinn looked back at the maps he was using. "Because it's the only island to not be affected in the slightest by the Krakens attack all those years ago, I have no idea what it used to be called." 

I didn't realise any Island could be left intact after what the Kraken did, I wonder which island it is then, sounds like it hasn't kept it's original name at least.

Unsurprisingly we arrived at the first island late morning, this island is quite large and hold two of the families on it. Since both Alvir and Verros still want some action I suggested we split up, Odwiff and I could take care of the second family ourselves. Although Torvinn was a bit sceptical he did eventually agree as he knew he could at least trust us to some degree, especially since they still had my companion and pet with them, who both seemed rather excited at the idea of taking on the Orcs without me. I don't hog the battles that much do I?

Odwiff and I arrived at the village the second family were calling home. Strangely enough they didn't believe what we said, I suppose I didn't really think about that when I said just Odwiff and I should come, huh? 

Well, as if Torvinn had read my thoughts a Dark elf came running up behind us, his sister to be exact. He could have sent one that hated us a bit less...

Tiva reluctantly explained the situation through gritted teeth to the family head in front of us. After a few minutes of hushed whispers between the family head a few other members of her family, she turned back to us and nodded silently. The door in front of us opened. Two Orcs stood in front of us, neither as large as the Orc Rager, but they were still larger than the others. Odwiff yelled some Dwarven battle cry which involved a lot of cursing and a rude hand gesture before sprinting at a surprising pace at one of the two Orcs. I charged at the other one, he raised his shield to block my attack, but Skullcrusher smashed straight through the Orcs shield imprinting large splinters in to his face. Not that he could suffer the pain for long though, as Skullcrusher wasn't far behind ending his life almost instantly. 

Oh, I'm already [Level 93], huh? These Orcs are good for a bit of levelling, I should have found some quicker. I looked over to Odwiff to see his opponent in a crumpled mess on the floor, limbs not quite bent the right way.

The Dwarf grinned from ear to eat and let out a sigh of satisfaction. If I didn't know him I would probably be a little freaked out a blood covered Dwarf grinning happily.

We told these Elves the rest of our plan then left to meet up with the others again. Tiva seemed to like us even less now, was she a little scared? She still looked at us with hatred though, a pretty stubborn girl all around really.

Actually, I wonder how old she and her brother are? It's hard to tell with Elves, Samora was over six hundred but didn't look a day over 20...

When we arrived back at the ship Verros and Alvir looked a little tired, there were also signs of struggle on their bodies, a cut or a bruise. We were told there were four Orcs in the fort they were in charge of. Not just that, two were Ragers. They got an even better deal than us, looks like we chose the wrong one. I don't really understand why this one needed four though, it might be because they seem to be a family gifted with a lot of mages.

Even a weak mage can be a dangerous existence. 

Anyway, we made our way to the last family for today, there wasn't really anything interesting about this one. One Orc, weaker than any other Orc we've dealt with. It was a very small family, according to Torvinn the smallest in the Dead Isles. They opened the day regardless though and we took down the Orc with ease. It was a little anti climactic really. They, of course still celebrated like the other families.

So even though it was anti climactic at least Odwiff enjoyed himself.

~Day 110~

Five more families to go, surprisingly we're managing this quicker than I thought. Torvinn seems genuinely pleased at our speed. We're taking care of two families today, then one tomorrow. Why one tomorrow? 

Torvinn told us that there's one family with just one Orc, but that Orc is stronger than any of the other Orcs in charge of a family. He's actually one of Ekri top generals. 

The reason he guards that family is because they have the strongest Elven warrior with them. Gialvana Morrana. A mouthful of a name so most just call him Gial. He left to become a mercenary just like most other Dark Elves outside of the Isles would. He had bad timing in his return though, as he came back just as Ekri had started her take over. He stayed to defend his old family, but was beaten by the very general who in now in charge of his family. Simply put, if he tries to escape or fight back his family is doomed.

So, I am actually a little worried about that family, on one hand it would give us a powerful Allie. On the other, if I can't beat that powerful general, how will I stand against Ekri herself?

The actual Orcs today weren't to much of a big deal. Two small Islands quite close to each other than used to be part of a larger Island. The four Orcs in charge of these were all brothers themselves. The eldest in charge of one family, the other three in charge of the other. Since I want to level quickly I said I would take care of the three other brothers. Verros volunteered for the the eldest brother.

Tiva once again accompanied Odwiff and I to the second family. We took a small rowing boat to reach it since they're quite close anyway. It's weird to think that we're going to attack a family though. It's not exactly like I take others lives without thinking about it, I just don't feel guilt and no longer think too much on the subject, but in situations like this you remember that even monsters have family. 

They're still our enemy though, since I allied myself with the Dark Elves. So that's what I treated them as, even if the Elves here refused to open their gates, Odwiff was happy to open it for them. 

It feels as though we're being a bit thuggish here. The three Orcs went down easily enough, a bit tougher than some of the other Orcs I've fought, but nothing too challenging. They did level me up to [Level 94] though, so I should be thankful. 

I get the feeling that this boss Orc we're fighting tomorrow will level me up quite a bit just by himself. 

The Elves here very, very reluctantly agreed to help us, since they have no other choice now. I get the feeling that they might have enjoyed having slaves here, as they didn't seem too fond of giving them their freedom.

Well, they did regardless, so I suppose it's not that important, as long as they stay on our side. 

When we met up with the other again they had already taken care of the the Eldest brother, although Verros was bleeding from a few spots, he seemed happy enough to have had a proper fight.

Since the big strong Orc was quite far away, we actually kept sailing for a while today. Stopping on an Island only when it became dark. It was quite a relaxed little camp all things considered, the Elves stayed on one side the rest of us on the other.

It's not surprising that we all felt a little tense about tomorrow though, we would be facing one of the strongest warriors the Orcs have to offer. If we can't win that battle, then we'll stand no chance in the one to come.

Although, it will be doing the actual fighting...

I'd best get some rest, huh?

[Name: Ellena]

[Age: 109 Days]

[Species: Virga Ferrea, Dryad]

[Height: 7'-3"]

[Sex: Female]

[Title/s: Kin of Ellephwen, Wolfmother, Slayer.]

{Level: 94] +4

[Health: 10989/10989] + 520

[Mana: 2213/2213] + 79

[Stamina: 9301/9340]  + 405

[Hunger: 9340/9340] + 405

[Attack: 8569] + 387 

[Defence: 12351] + 578

[Magic Attack: 2276] + 75

[Magic Defence: 5364] + 255

[Skills: [Pain Resistance lvl 10 (Max)] [Poison Resistance lvl 8] [Mind Resistance lvl 2] [Venom Resistance lvl 7] [Night vision lvl 10 (max)] [Amplified Vision lvl 9] [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 66}] Up! [tough stomach lvl 7] [Unarmed Combat Expert lvl 7] [Polearm Journeyman lvl 9] [Demifoot lvl 6] Up! [Warriors Heart lvl 42] [Warriors Will lvl 29] [Warriors Strength lvl 33] Up! [Greater Regeneration lvl 6] [Guardian lvl 9] [Dryads Charm lvl 10] Up! [Skinning lvl 5] [Tanning lvl 4] [Leatherworking lvl 4] [Carving lvl 2] [Earth Magic lvl 7] [{Wolfmother lvl 9}]]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author notes reloaded: Hey again? Did you guess who the character I love so much is? 

If you guessed Odwiff you'd be right! Why? Mainly because Dwarfs are my favourite fantasy race followed closely by Orcs, so I've been waiting to do this arc for a while. XD I hope people like the whole character from the past thing, I know for some reason a lot of people don't like visiting the character previous life in  a reincarnation story for some reason, but this was planned from the start. Also the Elves personalities were tweaked slightly due to some audience feedback I've gotten from previous chapters.

Anyway, on to other stuff, whilst I plan to keep drawing my own characters, I just haven't felt like drawing recently, which is why I haven't done Ellephwen yet. However I've started looking in to getting an artist, to at least draw me a new book cover, and maybe character sketches, we'll see. 

If anyone knows any good artists, or artists themselves, I can pay, not masses, but I have some disposable income so pm or just tell me in the comments. 

Okay, thanks for reading