[He feeds on our powers to increase his own. I have no intention of becoming his fourth victim and neither should you.”]
Orpal took out his communication amulet and showed Thaymos the recordings of Lith fighting the Golden Griffon and the records of his accolades after destroying Kolga and the Black Star.
[“I’ve heard those names from the little ones like you who came to pay me tribute.”] The lost city replied. [“Kolga was no brother of ours, just an imitation. Yet I have to admit that it was a powerful one.
[“Is this Destroyer really good enough to threaten your life despite the old hag’s protection and your Light Mastery skills?”] Thaymos was ancient and communication amulets were “recent”.
‘Excellent! If this moron doesn’t even know what an amulet is, Thaymos has no way to contact another living legacy and verify my words. Even if he somehow discovers the truth, without a communication amulet he will never learn the spell to destroy Night.
‘No matter if Baba Yaga spreads it on Jiera as well, no Awakened will be so kind that they will gift Thaymos an amulet and exchange contact runes with him.’ Orpal thought.
[“He is. No member of the family survived the encounter and the humans keep his secrets, thinking him a hero. Sooner or later, Jiera will belong to him so we’d better find a safer place to live.”]
[“Nonsense!”] Thaymos roared. [“I am the Eternal Fortress! I’ve fought Guardians!”]
‘You didn’t fight, you survived the encounter. There’s a big difference, old fart.’ Orpal thought, yet had no intention to correct the lost city.
[“My power is eternal and ever-growing! I won’t let myself be chased out of my home. Not when I’m so close to build my own empire after millennia of imprisonment and humiliation.
[“No one can threaten my domain! Jiera belongs to me and soon even the Council will be forced to choose between bending the knee to me or die. Where can I find the Destroyer?”]
With considerable reluctancy and after several threats from the lost city, Orpal conjured from the amulet a map of Jiera with the position of the Wayfinder marked brightly.
He had discovered its position with ease since he had a starting point for his search and the members of the expedition were doing nothing to hide their presence.
[“Please, reconsider.”] The Dead King said, knowing that his words of caution only stoked the fires of Thaymos’ pride and outrage. [“He has Archmages from Garlen with him and Awakened mages.
[“He possesses a cursed object that can summon an army of souls whereas you are alone.”]
[“An army of souls?”] The lost city bellowed in joy and exhilaration, leaving Orpal flabbergasted. [“This must be fate, pup. Don’t worry about me. I’m not alone. I never am.”]
***
West coast of Jiera, near the Fringe in the Zarman region.
After talking with Aalejah on the amulet, Lith had her share his location and set up a safe location to discuss the current situation.
“This is a breach in our deal. The Kingdom offered to teach your people modern magic and a place where to live outside the Fringes in exchange for cooperation in dealing with the monster tides.
“Why aren’t you collaborating with the people of Zelex and the undead?” Lith crossed his arms, hoping more than expecting a decent answer.
“It’s not as you think.” Aalejah replied. “We are taking part in every raid and our help has been vital in keeping the joint strike force alive until this moment.”
“I must have missed the memo since I’ve never seen you guys around and our living allies of the colony keep dying!” Ilthin was the only one who could both move during the day and cross the boundaries of the mana geyser.
She had followed Lith to act as a representative of both the Eclipsed Lands and Zelex.
“Look, I’m sorry for your losses but I’ve explained this to you countless times. I didn’t mean to cut you off but you have to realize that amulets don’t work inside the Fringe and every time I meet you, I lose credibility.”
“Wow, that’s the rudest apology I’ve ever heard and I’m millennia old, kid.” Ilthin snorted. “Now I remember why I left my own Fringe. Elves are nothing but selfish idiots!”
“Selfish?” Aalejah replied in outrage. “We gave you our food and-”
“Please, stop arguing.” Lith stepped between the two women. “Does anyone mind tell me what I’m missing?”
“I suppose Ilthin already told you about how difficult it was dealing with the monster tide and how the Council of Jiera is not spoiling us with resources, right?” Aalejah said and Lith nodded for her to continue.
“What she must had failed to mention is that the people of Setraliie are not like me. They are afraid of the undead and the monsters except that for Svartalf and Dvergalf.” She used the ancient names for the races that after their fall were known as respectively orcs and goblins.
“Our initial cohabitation was a nightmare. The monsters asked us for food since we were the only ones who could go out hunting, while the undead looked at us like food since we are universal donors of life force and mana.
“There was no trust between us which made cooperating during battle problematic at best. Elves are used to imbue their spells inside their arrows and use melee as a last resort.
“The people of Zelex, instead, have devised strategies that revolve around their bloodline abilities and the teamwork they have developed by living together for so long. Bottom line, we ended up hurting each other almost as much as the enemy.”
“We elves left as soon as we found a place that had yet to be ravaged by the tide where to settle. We kept for ourselves only a little of the food for the Council and gave the rest to the people of Zelex since we could afford it.
“We still kept contact via the amulets and helped as much as we could whenever the monsters attacked but after a few skirmishes, we realized that fighting together on a single front would be counterproductive in the long run.
“If the attacks kept coming from the same direction, sooner or later the tide would have focused its attention on us and wiped us out. For this reason, the elves have kept themselves on the borders of the conflict and attacked from multiple sides.
“Splitting our forces reduced the damage we inflicted but the resulting chaos split the monsters as well and kept them from discovering the position of the colony.”
“This I don’t agree with but at least I can understand it.” Ilthin said. “I would have preferred that our respective races learned to overcome their differences and work together rather than each of us acting on their own.
“Yet the plan still worked and you collaborated with us. Ever since you’ve found that damned Fringe, however, you have walked out on us.”
“That’s not what happened.” Aalejah rolled her eyes. “Once we met our cousins, we have done our best to further ease the strain on your colony and increase our numbers.
“The Fringe potentially gives us a safe haven from which conduct our operations, food, and allies.”
