The guards stepped aside, letting the group through.
They had been forewarned of the arrival of foreigners but had feigned ignorance in order to display their prowess. It was a subtle message from the upper floors that rules of hospitality or not, the guests had to be careful not to overstep their welcome.
Le'Ahy led them to the center of the tree trunk where there was the only passage to the next floor through what looked like an elevator shaft. On every floor they were stopped and questioned by more guards while arrays sealed the access to the lower levels, trapping them behind more and more security layers.
By the time they reached the Parliament's Hall, the subtle message had become so glaring that only someone blind, dumb, and deaf might have missed it.
'This isn't just a matter of pride or security anymore.' Aalejah said via the mind link. 'They are trying to intimidate us.'
The Hall reminded Lith of the classroom where he gave the Void Magic lesson. The room had a pitched floor and each level was filled with desks arranged in a semi-circular shape.
The main difference was that each one of those desks was a masterpiece of carpentry worthy of one of the Headmasters of the six great academies or a Regional Lord. Also, each member of the Parliament had plenty of personal space.
The place where the scouts had brought Lith's group was below the level of the lowest row of desks so that even the less important deputy could look down on them.
To make matters worse, the door they had come from had just disappeared and the space in front of the desks was guarded by soldiers in full plate of Adamant armor, leaving the "guests" surrounded and with no way out.
'Based on Le'Ahy's words I bet the Parliament has a vertical structure as well.' Lith thought after noticing that the higher a desk, the more enchantments it had and the more artifacts its occupant wore.
The elves on the bottom level were dressed barely better than a Kingdom's commoner whereas those on the top looked like members of the Royal family.
'Fuck me sideways!' Lith thought while shutting down the mind link the moment his eyes met the High Chancellor's.
He sat alone, in the middle of the highest level. Not only were his clothes made of the finest materials, with white crystals as buttons and embroidered in purified Adamant, but he also wore what looked like a wooden crown studded with six elemental crystals of different colors.
The Eyes of Menadion confirmed Lith's suspicions about the crown being made of Yggdrasill wood and revealed to him the vigorous violet mana flow that M'Rael was masterfully suppressing.
'The good news is that the crown has no life force, so the connection with the World Tree is cut off. Otherwise he would recognize me at first glance and our cover would be blown.
'The bad news is that not only is he Awakened but now we can't even communicate via a mind link without him noticing.' Lith thought.
"Greetings, dear guests." M'Rael stood up, addressing the newcomers while the rest of the Parliament stared at them with a mix of hope and suspicion. "I'm High Chancellor M'Rael Firestone. Please, don't mind my title. I'm merely first among equals."
The fact that he strutted like a king and that felt the need to say such things told a different story and so did his wooden crown.
"Now, please, tell us all about Jiera and this opportunity for us to reclaim our lands. We are all very interested."
"Were you listening to us?" Aalejah said. "This is very unpolite of you and it goes against every elven tradition I know."
"Agreed." Lith nodded, feigning expertise on such matters. "Yet I'm more interested in knowing how you have gotten your hands on Yggdrasill wood and the secret of Awakening."
M'Rael's eyes went wide and the faces of the members of the Parliament paled, but since no one turned toward their High Chancellor and kept staring at the alleged Dragon Lord it was clear that they already knew the answer to those questions.
"Dragon Eyes are truly the greatest among Mogar's gifts." Rage and annoyance twisted M'Rael's face as he let go of his violet aura, not caring to hide it anymore. "Nothing can escape their gaze."
Once again, Le'Ahy stood in front of Lith, taking the brunt of the killing intent. She clung to the polished stone like it was a charm, but her determination bought her just a few seconds before her body started to shut down.
M'Rael's raw aggression was enough to blur her vision and sap her strength to the point of collapse.
"Thank you." Lith moved her behind him, where his own aura shielded her and allowed Le'Ahy to breathe again. "Now, if you want to talk let's talk. If you want to fight let's fight."
War jumped in Lith's hand, its latches clicking and stirring but, in the end, they remained shut. He knew that once unsheathed, War needed to shed blood and that would make any discussion far from peaceful.
Faluel revealed her clothes to be a Royal Fortress armor and had her glaive, Strife, appear in her hands. She didn't consume the silver bolts of lightning of Life Maelstrom, but she let them crackle on the surface.
The Drake did nothing, never averting his gaze from the High Chancellor, and this in M'Rael's book made him the most dangerous of the three.
"I apologize for my rudeness." M'Rael bowed to his guests. "You took me by surprise and my temper got the best of me."
Facing Origin Flames, Life Maelstrom, and whatever the Drake was cooking was a bad choice. M'Rael was certain he could win but he didn't know if his community could afford the price.
"To answer your questions, a while ago, after a bunch of murderous humans invaded our borders, a Chronicler of the World Tree came to us." He said and Aalejah nodded for him to continue.
'It makes sense.' She thought. 'Fringes are sealed places and the old World Tree wanted to make a census of my people to see if it was possible to bring them all in one place with the help of the plant folk and their Gate Network.'
"In their infinite wisdom and generosity, the World Tree acknowledged our need for better tools in order to pursue our dream of freedom. Yet the Chronicler couldn't stay with us for long nor could he get involved in our war efforts.
"As you surely know, the World Tree always keeps a neutral position in conflicts. They are a witness and a historian of Mogar's major events, never a player." M'Rael took a pause until Aalejah nodded for him to continue.
"For this reason, before leaving the Chronicler shared with me, the champion of Setraliie, the secret of Awakening, and bestowed upon me the gift of the Sage Crown. It symbolizes our bond of friendship with the World Tree and hopefully will make up for the knowledge that my people lack after being exiled for so long."
M'Rael switched from Life to Soul Vision to get a glimpse of the Dragon Lord's thoughts.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m