Mig’s question rings in Miriel’s mind as she thinks back to all the notes and documents she was looking over last night. Miriel’s lips twitch as she gets closer to Mig, once near enough she lets out a huff of her breath and turns to Mig, as he eats the food in front of him, she looks at him.
“You are right… There could be another side to all of this”
Mig looks slightly confused that Miriel actually agrees with what he said.
“I looked into the start of the war and found some anomalies”
As Mig finishes eating the food Miriel gets up close to him to untie him from the chair. Mig stands up to stretch his legs after days of being in that chair. Mig then turns to Miriel with a stern look on her face as if she is wondering if this is the right thing to do.
“Come with me. Stay close and do not try anything. Got it”
Mig nods his head as he follows Miriel out of the room, but before they can get far they are stopped by the two Elf Guards; Liora and Kieran.
“Commander, what’s going on?”
“Where are you taking the Human?”
“Concern yourselves not, I finally got him to give information. Now I must honor my side of the offer”
“Offer? Commander, what do you mean?”
“Do you two not trust me and my decisions? This is for the betterment of all”
“Of course Commander, we would never doubt you”
“Good now, although I and him have an agreement for information, I still need the two of you to stand guard outside my quarters”
“Your quarters? Commander, may I ask what you will do?”
“You two do not need to know, yet, if I succeed, I shall let you two know. If not then there is no need to be concerned”
“Very well, Commander, we will stand guard”
“As well as stand by you”
“As you should”
Miriel and Mig walk off to Miriel’s quarters as they enter, Mig turns around to comment on Miriel.
“Lead by fear, huh”
“I lead by respect. Those two respect me dearly and swear loyalty”
“If you say so”, said Mig as he looked around Miriel’s quarters, the mess that it was.
“Nice place you keep. You can really tell a person by how they keep their room”
“Silence, I understand my duties better this way. Besides, one can judge the worth of a person more by their actions than their appearance”, said Miriel as she walked over to her desk to rifle through the documents and her notes.
It doesn’t take long before Miriel finds what she is looking for. She takes the documents and notes and presents them to Mig.
“What’s all this?”
“What you said to me before I left kept pondering in my mind. So I searched to find an explanation or answer. You should read the yourself”
Mig begrudgingly takes the documents from Miriel as he reads them. As Mig reads the documents his eyes widen as he looks at the record dates of Elf and Human combat.
“That can’t be right. The same day my hometown was attacked, by Elves, a different town elsewhere on the Veradigris Vale was attacked by Humans”
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Mig realizes the anomaly that the documents claim about that day Mig remembers when: “That’s not possible the only and largest Human base on the Veradigris Vale is Shadowfalls Fort and the only time Human Forces troops moved was when they found me and the town and a few days after that when the war officially began”
“I believed that to be the case. Towns across Veradigris Vale were attacked so when the eventuality of confrontation”
“Both sides fought, thinking the other’s the aggressor. And most who would have seen it first hand would have been killed during the first battles of the war”
“No one would be around to know or question the start of this war and with no chance of communication between Humans and Elves, there is no way any truth could come to light”
“But how could this happen? Why did this happen? Have these years of war been for nothing?”
“No, this changes everything. It seems our facts and histories have been rewritten or, worse, covered up to fuel the fear and hatred of this war. Although, if we work together, we could expose the truth. We could end this war”
Mig looks at Miriel with slight skepticism about her intentions: “Us? Work together, why?”
“We share similar views. We both want to see a world after this war, one where there is peace, one where those do not have to suffer the pain that we have”
“Do you truly believe this could work?”
Miriel meets Mig in his eyes, with a stern determination in her eyes, so much so that Mig is taken aback by it. Mig however does not advert from her unflinching gaze, he meets her as an equal.
“It has to work. We have nothing left to lose by trying to end this war. If we can collect enough evidence and present them to the leadership of both sides, then they might listen”
Miriel walks over to Mig and in a show of solidarity and sincerity she places her hand on his shoulder: “And when all this war is over, mayhaps there could be peace between our people, not just the end of conflict, but an opportunity for true understanding between us. So will you help me?”
Mig ponders as he then turns his face to look directly at Miriel with the same expression she had moments ago.
“I don’t think I can forgive what your kind did to mine, but this war has to end to prevent any more loss of life. I’ll help you”
The expression on Miriel’s face softens from her anxious anticipation as a smile forms on Miriel’s face as she wholeheartedly thanks Mig. Miriel reaches around to her back and she pulls out an Elven Dagger, which she turns around to place on Mig’s hand. Mig grabs the hilt of the dagger as he sees the symbolic gesture of trust.
“We can make history together, Mig, and then true change will come”
“Alright, I agree with you that we must find a way to end this war, but how am I going to get out of here? Get back to my people, you can’t just walk me out”
Miriel places her hands on Mig’s shoulders: “Do not worry, you have everything you need. Come night you will find a way to flee”
Mig tucks the dagger into the back of his pants as Miriel waves for the doors to her quarters to open. The two guards Liora and Kieran enter to take Mig back to his room.
Once those two drop Mig off they head back to Miriel’s quarters as she stops them to inform them of an important task.
“You two, there is a high chance that the human might escape his room and come to my quarters in the night”
“What?”
“How is this Commander?”
“Do not fret, I had planned this. I need you two to keep watch, do not engage or stop him unless I order so. Understood”
“Yes Commander”
“We will keep watch”
“Good. Now to work I must prepare as well”
----------------------------------------
Back in the room, Mig paces around as he waits for nightfall, still unsure of how he will make his escape. Mig places his hands on his hip when he feels the dagger. He reaches for the dagger and pulls it out to look closely at it. A dark bronze color combined with a copper green hue with an engraved hilt of either former Elven holders or names of those killed by the dagger. Along the actual blade an engraving of some Ancient Elven Place.
While observing the dagger, Mig looks at the door to the room as he understands that the dagger isn’t entirely a symbolic gesture.
“Well I guess this thing was more than a sharp paperweight”
Mig in his room takes the dagger and goes closer to the door as he uses the dagger to pick the lock of the door. Once Mig is able to unlock the door he heads out of his room and down the halls of the Elven Facility: Verdentrech. He heads down the path he remembers from earlier that day, while unbeknownst to Mig he is being watched by Liora and Kieran from a moderate distance. Moving down the halls Mig comes face to face with the door to Miriel’s quarters, finding it unlocked Mig enters.
Miriel, in her night clothes, waiting by her desk as she sees Mig enter with the dagger in his hand. Miriel is slightly startled as she looks at Mig, she then turns her gaze to a more studious look at him, and with caution, she approaches Mig.
“So? Are you ready?”
“Yes, help me get out of here so that we can end this war”
Miriel’s expression and actions softened as she looked at Mig with his intentions. Miriel nods her head as she tells Mig to follow her. Miriel leads Mig around the facility until they arrive at the vehicle storage. The cold air is the first thing Mig feels as he looks around at the forest he will have to traverse.