"It's the only reason they can have so easily gifted what they rarely gifted before."
Lith and the others knew enough about white cores to recognize the truth in M'Rael's words.
"Fine, I believe you." Lith took a deep breath and the Void slowly crawled back into the roiling black sea above his head. "Let me be clear, though. We came here in peace and yet you treated us poorly.
"I understand that now that we have to outbid the World Tree you think to be in a position of superiority, but you are dead wrong. What the Yggdrasil is offering you is just to replace your current prison with a more gilded one, but you would still be trapped.
"Trapped by duty, your new powers will be bound to a never-ending task that would force your people to spend their lives serving an absent master. What we've come to offer you, instead, is freedom.
"Freedom to roam Mogar again and do whatever you want like in the old days. If you accept our deal, your people will join the other races and pursue their individual goals instead of those of the World Tree.
"Sure, there is a price to pay, but nothing worth having comes easy. Also, I don't believe you to be na?ve enough to think we would put our lives at risk by coming here just to make you a gift."
Lith took a pause, letting his words sink and listening to the whispers of the elf lords that were weighing their options. They venerated the World Tree from the day the elves had learned how to record their history, but what they had longed for ever since the War of the Races was to roam Mogar again.
Joining the Yggdrasill's cause was a high calling, but it would keep them isolated as they had always been.
M'Rael opened his mouth but Lith cut him off, his eyes ablaze with red and black mana.
"One last warning before you decide what to do with us. The Council knows we are here. The Overlord knows we are here. Maybe they can't get inside the Fringe, but once its location is exposed, they can make damn sure that nothing comes out.
"Raise your hand against us and whatever your beloved World Tree has in mind they will have to find a way to do it without you." Lith was lying through his teeth, but his poker face was impeccable.
The Council had no idea where they were while Salaark was unlikely to care if Lith died because his plan failed but the High Chancellor had no way to know the terms of Lith's dealing with the various powers in play.
On top of that, something else was crawling out of his back. A red-scaled black-feathered Dragon appeared as a Soul Projection, leaving only the Abomination visible to the Chancellor's Soul Vision.
'What the fuck? How can mere projections tag in and out like in some sort of sick game?' M'Rael inner turmoil went from bad to worse when blue six-pointed magic circles of unknown origin started to fill the space around the Voidfeather Dragon starting from his flaming unfolded wings.
"He stands corrected, that was his final warning, elf. He doesn't speak for us." The Dragon's voice rumbled like the grating of stone against stone during a quake. "This is the final warning you'll receive, elf, so listen well because I'm not going to repeat myself.
"*We* don't trust you. *We* don't like you. And *we* seldom agree. Yet when we do agree on something, bad things happen. Make sure that bad things don't happen to you, elf. This is *our* final warning and this…"
Bolts of lightning erupted from the magic circles surrounding the Voidfeather Dragon and once again the protective arrays of the Parliament failed to perceive the threat at hand.
M'Rael activated them manually but the spells seemed to ignore the air sealing arrays, forcing him to dodge. Or at least he tried.
The bolts that had apparently missed their target now pinned his mantle to the ground in the form of stone spikes while a razor-sharp shard of ice cut M'Rael's cheek right below his left eye before piercing through the hardwood of the wall desk behind him with a thump.
"This is a memo." The Voidfeather Dragone folded his wings around himself like a cocoon, slowly sinking into the black sea from which he had emerged until the space above Lith's head was clear again.
'By the Great Mother!' M'Rael and the rest of the Parliament of Leaves could see with Soul Vision the Voidfeather Dragon reappearing in the Dragon Lord's true nature.
The Abomination nested itself on the Wyrm's forehead, turning the scales black and the fire blue again as their energies mixed.
'The Eldritch-thing can attack physically whereas that weird Fire Dragon can use fucking magic and neither makes sense! Soul Projections are supposed to be just that, projections. How can mere psychic manifestations have a will and skills of their own?'
"I have no idea who those guys are, but in your shoes, I'd listen to them." Lith exploited his plausible deniability to reap the benefits of his alter egos' threats without taking accountability for their action.
"Now, if we want to continue this conversation, you have to bring us to a table. I'm tired of being looked down upon. If that's too much to ask, then we'd like to leave."
"Wait!" One of the male representatives on the highest seats stood up. "In the name of clan Ra'Firo, I'm interested in hearing the Awakened Council's proposal. All in favor?"
"Clan Ce'Run agrees." A middle-aged elf with grey streaks amid his hair said.
"And so does Clan Ni'Nire." A female elf said and after her, three more whose clans' names sounded oddly familiar followed suit. "I like power, but I prefer freedom. We can always find a way to Awaken ourselves in the future whereas a contract with the World Tree would bind us forever."
At that point, many from the lesser seats joined them, leaving M'Rael outnumbered.
'I'm no Solus, but I didn't miss how the most powerful elven clans bear in their name part of the primordial elemental runes.' Lith thought 'Either is a matter of prestige, or maybe that's just how the elven runes for each element sound.'
The meeting moved to a room on the lower floor where there was a round table big enough to host the representatives of the Parliament on one half, leaving the other to an equal number of guests.
The chamber was long and broad, with several wooden pillars flanking the walls to support the weight of the upper part of the tree and ensure the flow of sap and nutrients between floors.
The first three pillars on either side of the entrance had been shaped with Body Sculpting to resemble the manifestations of the six elements. Then, followed the insignia of the other clans in descending order of importance.
The smell of fresh fruits and old-aged liquors filled the room. The elves didn't offer and the guests didn't ask for refreshments, neither wanting to extend the bond of hospitality farther than they trusted the other.
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