Lazul was struggling in the dark sea of his consciousness. He was in the peculiar state where he knew he was sleeping and, no matter what he did, it seemed impossible to wake up. Despite this, he tried his hardest to awaken because he was worried about the fire in the forest and the evil intentions of his captor. While he was struggling, he felt a cold sensation on his face that woke him up with a start. He quickly looked around and saw the individual from the divine clan hovering in front of him, as well as an ethereal hand that was squeezing a canteen on top of his face.

“You’ve finally come to,” said Boro as he transformed back to his humanoid form.

“You… what about the others?”

“I had my servants retreat from the forest. I never imagined you would open fire on them like that… and on me too!”

“We didn’t know, your honor! Normally, a member of your distinguished race would fly directly to our village in your majestic form. That’s what the elder told us. He saw one of your ancestors when he was a child, an imposing golden dragon that came to visit the elder of that time. You should also be aware that we don’t tolerate the presence of outsiders in our woods, especially humans. Please don’t blame the incident this time on us!”

Boro’s eyes flashed the moment a golden dragon was mentioned and many questions popped in his head. Who was that golden dragon? Where did he come from? How long ago was that? How could he find him? If that dragon was his ancestor, would it know why he was left alone in an abandoned temple inside a dangerous forest? Although these questions bothered him, he soon shook them off. This time he was here to help out Liza, who he cared dearly for. Besides, the elves didn’t seem hostile towards him, so he could always come back at a later time and ask what he wanted to know.

“Oh… of course I knew,” said Boro very slowly to give himself time to think of a response. “But how I choose to travel, be it flying or walking around, is none of your business.”

“Certainly, how could I…” said the elf somewhat flustered.

“If you’re saying that the blame is not on you, then are you implying I’m the one responsible?” Boro pressed on with narrowed eyes.

“That is… of course not. This time it was due… due to bad luck and misunderstanding! Yep, bad luck! We’re sorry for killing one of your servants, but they were in the wrong for stepping inside the forest!”

Boro clenched his hands hard and turned his back to the tied-up elf. He was having a hard time keeping his anger from surfacing and he didn’t want the prisoner to see it. He only managed to speak again after a couple seconds went past.

“Even if they were my lowly servants?”

“Yes! Your ancestor said it was fine for us to keep living as we were and that we didn’t need to change our ways to accommodate him.”

[I see, respectful but not submissive, just like Ben said,] thought Boro. He turned back to face the elf, this time with a slight smile. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I ended up killing two of yours, so I guess we’re even.”

Lazul’s face contorted in grief and anger. He was struggling between the respect he’d for the divine clan and the pain of having lost two friends. After a while, he ended up sighing. The golden ancestor of the divine clan was a great benefactor of the Valenfele, not to mention they were the ones that failed to ambush the other party in the first place. Although unwilling, Lazul felt that he’d to let it go.

“Yes, we’re even,” said Lazul with mixed emotions. Though you could’ve just left your servants outside the forest and flown directly to us and none of this would’ve happened in the first place! “Then, might I ask why you came to visit us, your honor?”

“Yes, you see, I came to visit Alluin Vanarel. I befriended him years ago on my travels and thought it was about time I paid him a visit.”

“The elder’s son? That would be troublesome…”

“How so?”

“He is confined beneath the great tree and none are to see him.”

“What? Why is that?”

“He committed a great crime against our traditions and beliefs. Thus, he was locked up to ponder and understand the error of his ways.”

“That’s indeed troublesome… but can’t you let me sneak in and trade a word or two with him? It wouldn’t be a problem, surely?” said Boro in a casual and somewhat self-important way.

“That’s impossible. Even if I wanted to, the way is blocked by the heart of the forest. Only the elder and those of his blood can open the entrance.”

[Heart of the forest? What’s that? Wait, they told me I shouldn’t be too greedy. Just keep the conversation flowing naturally and at a constant pace,] thought Boro. “So, one of the keys is locked inside and the person holding the other one would probably refuse me?”

“He will definitely refuse if you ask,” Lazul nodded. “The elder was livid with Alluin. I guess he finds even harder to forgive transgressions from his own son. Specially one against our traditions and beliefs.”

“Ah~, nothing to do then. When will he be released?”

“Uhm, let’s see. It’s been a while since he was locked up, so anywhere between seventeen years to thirty-seven years.”

“That will take some time… All right, thank you for letting me know and I’m sorry my poor and lowly servant was rough on you,” said Boro as he began to rummage through his bag.

“Could you untie me and let me go now, your honor?”

“Not so fast. It was but a moment ago when I told my poor, lowly, and incapable servants to retreat. If I just let you go now, they won’t be able to outrun you in this forest. Don’t worry, I’ll just have you sleep for a couple hours to make sure they get out safely,” said Boro as he imbibed a piece of cloth with a liquid from a small flask.

“Wait! There’s–”

“Hush now, go to sleep. I promise you’ll be fine in a couple hours.”

Without letting the elf talk further, Boro brought the damp cloth against Lazul’s nose, rendering him unconscious. He left the piece of cloth bellow the elf’s nostrils and walked towards a big tree a few meters away. Liza, Ben, Eliot and Fang Chu were hiding behind it, waiting inside the redhead’s bubble of silence. It was time to tell them what he had discovered.

-

The elven elder, Uilan Vanarel, led his men around the forest as they approached the area where Drannor and his squad were fighting a while back. From that place, it was easier to see the smoke rising amidst the trees and locate the focus spots for the fires.

“Leave one person behind at each spot to keep watch on the fire. The rest will help me put them out, one by one. After this is done, we’ll hunt the intruders down and then have a proper burial ceremony for our fallen brothers.”

“What about the person from the divine clan, elder?” asked one elf.

“If he understands and accepts the situation, we’ll receive him with great hospitality and fanfare. If not, we’ll drive him away, with force if necessary.”

“Are we not being ungrateful?” asked Linares, a free-spirited female elf. “Won’t the divine clan resent and punish us if we use force against one of their own?”

“I remember like it was yesterday. That golden dragon was imposing and dignified, truly a magnificent being. He praised us for our care towards the natural cycle and the rules of nature, as well as our commitments to follow tradition,” commenced Uilan.

The remaining elves made painful expressions and looked accusatorily to Linares. The female elf just made a goofy face in response, like she was silently saying: my bad, forgive me.

“My grandfather, the elder back then, asked if there was anything we could do for him and the golden dragon vehemently refused. He told us he was from the divine clan and there was nothing he lacked, so we should just keep living as we were, without worrying about accommodating him in any way.”

“Ah! That’s when he warned us about the humans and gifted us the heart of the forest, right? I love this part!” said Linares with excitement. She was younger than most elves present and still had a childish streak on her.

Upon her remark, the other elves almost began to tremble. They knew the worst thing to do when the elder was reminiscing was to egg him on, so they felt like strangling Linares to keep her mouth shut.

“That’s right. The golden dragon warned us about a nearby group of humans that was expanding relentlessly and would soon encroach on our forest. He then brought out a seed the size of a palm and said it was a gift to help us protect ourselves. My grandfather tried to refuse, saying it was too much, but the golden dragon ignored him and drew a drop of blood from my grandfather’s forehead and merged it with the seed. The seed is now bound to your blood and I can no longer use it, so take it and live prosperously, he said. Do you understand now, Linares? Ungrateful would be if we changed our ways now, allowing humans to invade our forest and do as they please because of the whims of a young member from the divine clan.”

[Finally, he’s done talking! Luckily, it was kind of quick this time around,] thought the other elves.

“I’ll leave the rest of the story and the speech to the burial ceremony. It’s about time we deal with this pesky fire that our mist is unable to put out.”