Chapter 175: Chapter 36 – The Laufgraan War 11
Faralynn entered the temple slowly and with reverence.
The inside of the temple was just a vast hall made with the same stones that composed the outside. Tree roots permeated the structure, lifting stones and covering the inside with moss and mushrooms, but still maintaining its structural integrity.
There was nothing in there but some bugs.
Even so, Faralynn strode forward and knelt in the middle.
"I’m Duchess Faralynn Laufgraan, ruler of the elves in these lands. I come in penance for the wrongs my kind did to the forest." She said in Elven.
All was silent for 15 minutes, then a cacophony of voices filled the hall. Some talking slowly and others screaming fast. Each with their own arguments and accusations.
Faralynn stayed silent for another 5 minutes until the hall suddenly went silent when a woman with green skin, yellow eyes and a huge foliage in place of her hair, materialized in front of the elf.
"Enough!" The woman commanded as the roots around the walls moved as snakes and made her a throne to sit on.
She had a stern look on her face and only a few vines and leaves on her body covering her sex.
"Tell me, daughter of Laif, what is your excuse? Two eggs were lost. The forest, destroyed by the dragon’s fury. Tell me, Dukeling, why should the Sif forgive you?"
"It was not by my order." Faralynn tried to defend herself.
"It was by your kin’s!" A tiny fairy with blue butterfly wings, blue eyes and blond hair materialized by Faralynn’s side,protesting.
Suddenly hundreds of fairies, nixies, nymphs and small animals of impossible colors materialized around the hall. None taller than a house cat. All screaming and shouting different things.
"Lady of the Sif!" Faralynn implored trying to project her voice over the sound that took over the temple.
"ENOUGH!" The green woman screamed. "I will tolerate no more noise!" She added and, after all went quiet she turned to Faralynn: "Proceed."
"There’s a war occurring in my house. The one responsible for this is the one I’m fighting against." Faralynn said, averting her eyes in shame.
"And do you expect this to quell the fury of the Sif?
"No. I expect the Sif to understand and give us time to deliver punishment to the agressor." Faralynn pleaded.
The woman in green raised her hand commanding silence even before any other spirit could say anything.
"Two eggs were lost." She gnarled in anger. "You really came to ask this of us?"
Faralynn didn’t answer, she only stayed silent.
"Why not?" A voice came from the entrance.
Faralynn turned to see and saw Ffyr peeking inside.
"You are not one of the Sif." The woman protested while Ffyr strolled inside nonchalantly with Matthew and the others coming after her trying to stop the fairy.
"No. I don’t understand what’s going on. But aren’t you mad with the wrong person?" Ffyr asked, strolling forward and speaking in Elven.
Matthew and the others were held back at the entrance by the spirits, only being allowed to watch. But, as none of them knew how to speak Elven, they had no idea what was going on.
"It was them that caused this travesty." The woman protested.
"No." Ffyr shook her head. "It was her uncle and his men."
"Elves nonetheless!"
"People. Would it be fair to punish all Sif for the actions of a single nymph?" Ffyr defended Faralynn.
"The Sif don’t cause harm to the elves." The woman said sternly.
Ffyr laughed loudly.
The green woman’s face contorted in anger.
"That’s not true, is it? Why else would the elves erect this temple for you?" Ffyr pointed around.
"What do the Fae know?!" The Lady of Sif shouted.
"Nothing." Ffyr smiled. "The Fae has no rules. No court. No temple. But I do know you can’t blame someone for someone else’s faults."
The green woman stayed silent for a time. And then turned to Faralynn.
"You have a week to deliver to us this uncle of yours." She said ceding to Ffyr’s argument. As descendants of the Fae, the Sif held them in high regard. "And be thankful that the Fae interceded on your behalf."
"I will make sure that my uncle comes to pay for his transgression." Faralynn bowed.
In a blink of an eye, every Sif disappeared leaving behind just a throne made up of roots that slowly unmade itself.
Matthew rushed forward to help Faralynn get up to her feet.
"What happened?" He asked her.
"They gave us a week to bring my uncle to them." Faralynn said. "And thank you Ffyr." She turned to the fairy.
"It’s ok. They are a bunch of stuck ups!" Ffyr said, showing her tongue to the air.
"And since when do you speak Elven?" Matthew asked Ffyr.
"I don’t know." Ffyr shrugged.
Matthew sighed. He was used to Ffyr’s childlike behavior and even found it endearing sometimes. But her chaotic mind was too much for him sometimes. This whole time she could’ve been translating things for him and she simply didn’t mention it.
"What now?" Erin asked.
"We return to camp. We must hurry and assault the fortress even with fewer men." Faralynn said, moving out of the temple.
"Can it even be done?" Mia protested following her outside.
"It must be." Faralynn said resolutely.
They rushed back to camp, pressing their march through the forest, but, even so, they had to stop and rest for the night.
Matthew woke up in the middle of the night with a bad feeling. His Sixth Sense skill warned him and his Sense Others skills showed him they were surrounded.
He shook Faralynn, who was sleeping at his side, to wake her up.
"Shhh" He shushed her with his finger over his mouth. "We’re under attack." He whispered. "Wake the others."
He was unarmored, since sleeping in armor was quite hard. He asked Ffyr to scout around the camp in her ethereal form to find the people surrounding them. Then he left the tent pretending nothing was wrong while Faralynn woke Mia and Helen up.
He sat beside Erin, who was standing guard.
"We’re under attack." He whispered to her while stoking the fire. "Don’t look around. Just prepare yourself."
Erin nodded and stayed vigilant on her surroundings.
"There are 23 people surrounding us." Ffyr warned Matthew. "Orson is one of them."
"They knew we were going to the temple." Matthew huffled.
"We should act before they do." Erin whispered to Matthew.
"Ffyr. Attack." Matthew said to his familiar telepathically.
Ffyr shot a fireball, unseen by the enemy, taking 3 of them by surprise.
Matthew then turned to shadow, using his Sense Others skill to hurry to the ones closest to him. Aided by the night, Matthew came out of the shadows with Belial’s blade in his hand killing one and taking the leg of another one with Aym’s dagger.
Hearing the sounds of battle, Helen pulled the cloth from the tent revealing the 3 women inside fully clothed for battle. Mia created a bright ball of white light illuminating the night and revealing the men hidden among the trees.
Caught by surprise, the assailants were too slow to defend themselves from a lightning bolt coming out of Erin’s staff, taking down 2 of them.
Faralynn shot her bow, taking out another one while Helen stayed put with her shield, just waiting for them to attack.
When a fireball flew in their direction, the shield maiden stepped up and covered them from the explosion.
"Orson!" Matthew screamed. "Show yourself!"
Faralynn shot another attacker with her bow while Mia conjured her light fireflies to seek out the enemies that were still in the dark.
Erin created a wall of solid mana to protect them from a volley of arrows from one side, while Helen used her high Vitality to shield them from the other side.
That’s when a dragon made of mana flew towards Matthew and tried to bite him. The same dragon that Orson used against the demons in Violentia, but this time it was not made of ice.
Matthew used his weapons to protect himself. And, enhanced by his Unholy Mana, he took out its head making the mana simulacrum disappear in a blue mist.
And then they all heard the sounds of horns.
"Goblins!" Ffyr warned Matthew. "A whole lot of them!"
Orson’s horde. He rebuilt them after two years.
Matthew traveled in the shadows in his shadow form, seeking enemies and jumping from the darkness to take them out by surprise, never going too far away from the girls who trenched themselves between mana walls in the camp.
That’s when he saw Orson riding his horse surrounded by his goblin familiars. Hobgoblins in front armed with large shields and spears, goblins with bows in between and some goblin shamans on the back weaving spells.
They once fought shoulder to shoulder with such an army. But now they were facing the opposite side of it.
Matthew ignited his swords with blue fire. Its blue hue illuminated the night while he stood alone against the horde coming his way.
"I’ll take care of Orson. Ffyr, help the girls against the elves." He asked telepathically.
Covered in miasma and running at incredible speed, Matthew charged the shield wall.
