“What is going on,” I asked.

“We are expressing our joy at having met you, Great Elf,” said one of the groveling fairies. Their heavy armor clanked against their awkwardly low bodies, making it nearly impossible to hear them over the din.

“No, I’m not asking you,” I said as I turned to face Bain Rusta. “Nobody in the capital said anything about fairies revering elves. It wasn’t in any of the documents I’d been pouring over for days. There were mentions in folktales and legends, but nothing that would make them drop to the floor like this. And yet, you knew they were going to do this. How?”

“I will answer your questions, Great Elf,” said Bain Rusta, mimicking the reverence of the fairies, “but perhaps we can get these fellows on their feet first? The capital shouldn’t be far from here, but guides like these will be helpful.”

I nodded and sighed. I figured there wasn’t enough time to start correcting their attitude and telling them to stop thinking of me too highly, so instead, I ordered them to stop groveling and start marching.

The capital was in danger and an elf from the legends had showed up on their doorsteps to save the day!

---

“The scrolls in the capital are old, as is most of the intelligence that was being shared with the court,” said Bain Rusta.

I frowned. “Intelligence that was being shared with the court? You make it sound like the spies weren’t answering to the royal court.”

“They weren’t,” said Bain Rusta, “or at least, the spies within the Lux Republic were not loyal to the court. They were loyal to us.”

I was walking beside Bain Rusta and a small contingent of humans and fairies. Kelser and the humans were casting magic on the fairies to make them run faster, while the other humans, led by Elder Kezler, brought up the rest of the army behind us. I was using magic on myself and Bain Rusta, who had to abandon his equi because it got spooked by my magic. We were zipping through the forest trail, with the fairies occasionally stopping to search for the marks along the path.

“Why would the spies in the Lux Republic, which lies so far north, be loyal to the Rusta in Tephon?” I asked.

“Although the Rusta family ended up in Tephon, our lineage does not originate from there. Our ancestors came from the borderlands; lands now controlled and settled by the Lux Republic,” said Bain Rusta. “However, in those times, demons, fairies, and spirits were not as divided as we are now. In fact, the demons, fairies, and spirits formed one great nation, whose name has long since been lost to the deep expanse of time. We were united against the hordes of the beastmen, who used to be more ferocious and powerful than the beastmen of today. And from those ancient times, our family has maintained some relationships within the great families of the fairies and spirits, who hold great sway over the Senate and are privy to the most crucial information from within the Republic.”

“That doesn’t explain why your family was able to control all of the spies,” I said.

“Well, we controlled the source of the information, the spies themselves, the intermediaries who brought that information to the palace, and many of the spymasters and intelligence chiefs in the palace,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow. “That does sound impressive. I guess that means the palace had to be careful around your family.”

“Indeed. The queen would not have been able to deal with my family if they hadn’t all bet so completely on Prince Alek’s ascension to the throne. They’d burned a lot of bridges with their pointless ingratiation towards the young prince. But it was your arrival and the routing of the prince’s forces that truly spelled their doom,” he said.

“Oh, I’m sure you had nothing to do with that,” I said.

“What do you mean, Great Elf?” he said.

“The way all of your opponents were swept away, as if by the queen’s anger and my support, leaving you conveniently in complete control of Tephon, I’m sure that was all just a coincidence,” I said.

Bain Rusta let his gray and white hair be swept away by the wind, revealing his old, spotted face, and thin smile. “Yes, Great Elf. Fortune has been on my side, lately.”

---

New Cas City had no defenses. Well, that wasn’t completely true. There was motion detection magic all around the surroundings, and the humans did not need to prepare to fight, since their magic was always at the ready. But there were no walls around the city, no moats, no grand entrances or gates. There were no natural barriers meant to funnel enemies into a narrow opening, although the river did provide some protection on one side.

The capital of the Izlandi Kingdom had similarly lacking defenses. There were sentries and frequent scouting parties, and of course the major roads were all closely monitored and well guarded, but the capital itself was not surrounded by walls until I built up the ramparts and other defenses for the battle against the prince’s forces.

The capital of the Lux Republic was not like that. Bain Rusta had already described the city for me a little bit, and I had gathered some information about it from the scrolls and accounts of travelers and merchants. Yet, as we approached the capital, our fairy escort growing more agitated and nervous, I couldn’t help but admire the transformation in our surroundings.

The forest trail had given way to a paved stone path that stretched far into either direction. The stones were smooth and flat, and joined together by some sort of mortar. The edges of the road were lined with what appeared to be rudimentary storm drains, which were also lined by stone. Markers stood at regular intervals on the road, with words carved onto them. The fairies said they did not know what the words meant, since they could not read. As they were explaining this, one of them let out a cry, and the others turned their attention to the front. Smiles broke out on their faces, something that I could only because of the way their eyes contorted, since most of them were still wearing their helmets, for some reason. I followed their gaze and had to admit, this sight was worth smiling at.

Pillars made of polished stone reached into the clouds. On either side, an intimidating wall, terrifying and sublime, lined the horizon to the limits of my vision. And in between the pillars, there was a monumental gate made of brushed brass that glinted like gold. The road stretched across flat plains, the forests on all sides having been cleared out long before, leaving a view that looked like it had been plucked straight from a fairy tale, which was an appropriate description for the nature of the place.

We rushed along the road with our magic, the army left far behind us. The walls were even more impressive from up close, appearing like uncanny cliffs, so clearly unnatural yet so imposing it was hard to imagine they hadn’t existed in that space forever. The pillars were best appreciated from up close, when their true immensity became apparent. And the gates, shut tight, had an empyrean character, shining brightly and standing tall on the flat plain.

“Open the gates!” shouted the fairy scouts as we approached.

Tall, armored fairy guards shuffled nervously in front of the gates. Despite their size, they looked almost comical standing against the gargantuan structures behind them. They leveled their weapons at our party, at which point Bain Rusta, still unable to speak because he was catching his breath from our magic enabled sprint, pointed to my face, especially the ears.

Ah, here we go again.