Luke quickly noticed that more than thirty forest elves had entered his land and were spreading around to surround them. Their numbers suggested that this was the whole force of the tribe as they were close to the number of dark elves he had seen in the valley. He also noticed that the guy he had released earlier was next to the elf that seemed the more skilled in woodcraft. It wasn’t a certainty actually, it was just that his movement were smoother and more controlled than the ones of the rest of the group. Five elves including these two were coming directly toward them while the other set up the ‘ambush’. It seemed that they thought that his skill with plants was simply Plant Manipulation as they didn’t take any measures to prevent being attacked by plants as they were outside the range of the ability (yes, he has the Plant Manipulation skill, but inside his forest he didn’t need it. He WAS the forest, extending a branch to catch or trip an enemy was the same as flexing his arm).

“It looks like papa is here, princess. I really hope that negotiations go well as he brought everyone able to wield a bow. Anything you want to add before the talks began?” Luke never stopped smirking. If this meeting took place outside the border, he would be defenseless. Here, he was in control. Just to be on the safe side, when the five members party showed itself, he send a silent order to the trees around to capture every archer. He was confident, but there was always the possibility that they had a way to deal with him without taking damage. Fortunately, it didn’t appear like they had such a thing as every elf was easily trapped by tree branches. A branch to suspend them in the air, another to stuff their mouth so they can’t give a warning and two more to deal with arms and legs. The strike was so unexpected that they didn’t have time to mutter anything before being taken.

Natlat opened her mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately when she saw her father. There was nothing she could say at this point that could help. She tried to signal his father to not take this sentient lightly, but she was ignored. It was clear her father didn’t want to reveal he cared for her. It would weaken their stand. She was really worried about the current circumstances. Even though his father didn’t tend to be as arrogant and prideful as most elves, preferring to keep an open mind about other races capabilities as experience had proven only races with some advantage survived, the situation since they came to this world hadn’t gone well. Constant danger and worry made him much rasher when pondering a plan of action. That was why she was here: they couldn’t remain in the area where they spawned and this forest seemed the perfect place to establish their new settlement. Everything was going well until they noticed tracks of what appeared to be a single man patrol. They scouted the area and found that a single creature inhabited the forest. After reporting, they decided to try to ambush him. It would be better to take him alive so that they could get more information about the area. They used the goblins to lure him out, but he either didn’t found the tracks or didn’t take the bait. The next course of action was to a fast raid. Several groups got ready as backup, but only hers went into the forest. They didn’t know his abilities, so they had to be careful. Suddenly, they discovered one of those hateful nature freaks and adopted the logical decision to kill her. Then, they lost consciousness and awoke to being a hostage. It was humiliating for her, a proud daughter of the Boron. And now, her tribe might pay the price for her carelessness.

The entourage was moving with a dignified and imposing attitude. There was no doubt that everything had to go as they wanted when they wanted it to or there would be blood. Luke wasn’t impressed. He noticed Dahani was somewhat tense while looking at them. He even saw her flinch when they appeared. She probably thought they were surrounded and had no chance to escape if things went south. Luke got closer to her and whispered in her ear “Don’t worry, I already took care of the rest of them. They won’t be able to beat me here. By the way, what other spells can you use? You never told me and that yellow cloud thingy was quite flashy” Dahani smiled, visibly relaxing with the bad humour.

“I mostly use poison related skills. I’m not proficient enough to use the more deadly ones, but paralyzing,blinding, bleeding and sleeping come easy to me. I usually imprint them in my weapons, however I lost all of them when I was transported to this world. I can still utilize them as clouds or with contact. Nonetheless, they aren’t as effective.” She explained quickly. She was able to do so because the forest elves took their sweet time in walking the thirty meters or so separating the two groups.

“Could you teach me after we deal with this little issue?” He asked.

“Only if you tell me how you moved the branches so comfortably. I had seen the Plant Manipulation skill in action before, but it wasn’t as strong or as easy as it was for you” Dahani

“Deal!” Luke

Apart from the king and the ex hostage, there were two more elves and one elfess. Staring at her closely, he guessed she was Natlat’s mother probably. Their faces had several similarities, and even though it was hard to know their age due to the fact that everybody looked young and in their prime, there were no resemblance between her and the king which suggested she wasn’t of the same family. With this information, she could only belong to the mother side of the captive family. And if she was in such an important meeting, she probably had some authority in the tribe, hence the mother and not a sister or an aunt, guessed Luke. The males were heavily armed with two short swords and dozen of throwing knives. Their appearance screamed elite warrior. He was certain that they were the ‘royal guard’.

When there were less than five meters of distance between the groups, Luke spoke.

“That’s close enough I believe. You ready to negotiate?” He went straight to the point. There was no need for pleasantries, at least for now. They stopped with the ruler in the center, then the two bodyguards and in the end the woman and the released hostage. The king narrowed his eyes at Luke’s casual attitude. If it wasn’t for her daughter trussed over there, he might have attacked already.

“There is no need for negotiations, you will release the prisoner or confront our full might” The king said. He seemed to want to spit when he said ‘negotiations’. At the same time, he was trying to kill Luke with his gaze. It wasn’t being too effective.

“I see, you and what army are going to make me oblige?” Luke couldn’t resist the cliché phrase. Besides, it was a good way to taunt the opposite party and accelerate what was going to happen during the talks (It was clear that at some point the king would try to threaten Luke and Dahani with his troops. This answer only made it occur faster).

“This army!” Natlat’s father said while the guard on the right did a signal that resembled the bird's’ song. After some time passed and nothing happened, they repeated the signal. Luke was having a hard time holding the laughter when he saw their opponent faces twisting. Even Dahani couldn’t help but smirk.

“Oh, you mean this intruders?” He said asking the trees to bring the recently captured elves. The group face visibly paled seeing all their forces in the enemy’s hands. The queen (?) even gasped loudly.

“Have you ever been told that you suck at negotiations? It might be time to retire if that is the best diplomacy you can bring to the table” Luke said.

Now the real negotiations could begin.