Blake's smithy

"OH, NO! LUUUU!" Rena suddenly shot up from Blake's head in a burst of Fairy Dust that made her look like a fired cannonball.

"HUH!? WHAT!?" Blake and Bread were working on that armor order when she did that. "BRING IT ON!" now the both of them were swinging their hammers around wildly at nothing.

"SHUT UP!" Saffire growled at them with her Draconic head sticking out of her cave. "GGRRAAHH!" Before blowing a stream of fire at the ceiling and covered the entire workshop in smoke.

"*Coughs* Sorry that was me! *Coughs*" Rena fluttered her wings hard, trying to blow smoke out of her way as she came back down on Blake's head.

"What was that about!?" Blake yelled up at the Fairy before reaching up to grab her.

"Hey! Let me go! You can't have me! I'm only for Lu! You have like 5 already!" Rena screamed like a woman about to be defiled of her purity.

"..." Which left Blake to stare at her blankly. "...Okay? I don't know where you got that idea from when you're the one who screamed like a Dragon was about to ea-..." He cut himself short, turning to Saffire with smoke coming out of her nose. "...bad example, got it. Now tell us, what got you all jumpy?" He asked, turning back to Rena and let her go.

"Oh, I just remembered that if the Elf King's here, that means Lu's oldest brother might be here too..." Rena answered, looking off to the side a bit worried.

"Lu's big brother, huh?" Blake muttered, trying to guess what was so bad about their Elf's older sibling coming to see him. "Is he some hardass in service to the king or something like?"

"Yea? Something like that..." Rena answered, sounding unsure of herself as she took some glances at Blake's curious face, looking for answers, but it seemed like he wasn't going to ask her about it. "...well? Since you're friends and all...I guess it's okay if I tell you about him..." Rena nodded as she flew over to Blake's ear and looked side to side as if making sure she wasn't being watched or heard. "...about Lu's brother he's a..."

Front of Eye of Bloodleaf's Guild House

"Voltar, if you would." King Dewran ordered while picking Lu off the ground. "..." And calmly stared at the oncoming attack of monstrous plants

"Yes, my king!" Voltar stomped an armored foot down and out of the ground next to Dewran and Lu, came an ivory white tree that stopped the mutant trees. "Horns! Draw your weapons!" He commanded to the rushing Elven knights.

"Yes, sir!" Some of them clasped their hands together, chanting something before pulling their hands apart with crystal weapons being made between them. "Form up on Captain Voltar!" While others surrounded Dewran and Lu with spells ready to be thrown. "Show yourself!" A group of them called out to the crowd as they shifted into beasts of prey; lions, bears, hawks, wolves, all larger than the real things, with elk horns and silver armor.

"Hey! Hey! Take it easy, will ya!?" A rugged partly sloshed voice yelled as the mutated trees pulled back as an Elven man walked out of the crowd but unlike the other Elves around him who had fair skin and bright heads of greens, blues, reds and more. This Elf's skin was a dark shade of blue, while his hair was a veil of pure colorless white reaching down to his lower back. He was dressed in black boots, a pair of mud brown pants with a waist cape made of animal skins. His upper half was bare of anything but white tattoos of runes, animals, and plants with the most notable one being a dying tree with skulls in its branches on his chest.

"Just a bit of wood play to keep you bastards on your toes is all." The Elf shot a fanged grin at King Dewran, gazing at the king with blood-red eyes while most of the monstrous trees returned to a pair of open wounds on the Elf's back that then wrapped around his shoulders and neck. "By the way, long time no see, brother!" He stepped forward, happily staring at Lu who glared back at him. "Oh? Don't be like that? You'll make me feel all warm on the ~inside~ Kuku!"

"Stay back!" Voltar ordered, and his ivory tree shot out at this mysterious Elf. "What!?" But coming to the Elf's aid where spikes of black rock.

"~Oooh~ is that any way to treat your fellow Elf?" The blue-skinned Elf asked as ten other Elves sharing his skin, hair, and eye color appeared out of the crowd, ground, and even some shadows. All of them were dressed to match him in some way. "Oh? Right? We Dark Elves are rabid dogs to your kind." The Dark Elf spat at Voltar's tree which soon started to sizzle and melt. "Kukuku! Horns Of Naworth my ass!"

Forest Dweller, Dark Elf: A race of Elves who are identified by their dark skin tones, pale white hair and blood-red eyes. Like regular Elves, they are masters of nature admittedly with a dark twist, many of them evoke old and unethical rituals that require a sacrifice of the body. All in a quest to better become one with the forests they call home by in turn making themselves homes to the woods they love, while others take up the art of controlling the life force of themselves and others.

But these dark rituals were cast as the cost of such a power was viewed as too high and too evil for anyone to take. As such Dark Elves are seen in a darker light becoming the so-called 'Demons' to Elves' 'Angels' and forever drawing a line between the two races.

Items made from the Ore of a Dark Elf are swords, daggers, and bows all imbued with twisted nature magic.

"Dogs that should be put down!" Voltar held a tight fist up, and his white tree grew into a massive fist, hanging above the Dark Elf ready to flatten him. "My king?!" He turned to Dewran, stepping forward to the Dark Elf with nothing but a bright smile.

"Now then Voltar, it was simply a joke from an even simpler being, yes?" Dewran kept his soft smile on as he stared the Dark Elf down. "Oh? Let me fix that for you."

"Hmm?" The tree branches around the Dark Elf's shoulders and neck got a healthier look even blooming flowers. "Careful with that? You touch my woods, and I'll be sure to do more than this." He forced his plants back to their mutated appearances, making thorns in place of flowers. "So? What will it be, Horny-king?"

"Dreroot, that's enough." Coming in between the two of them was Lu, facing his brother while having the Elf King to his back.

"That's him? No way? But Lord Dreroot called him brother, didn't he?" Such questions were whispered between the group of Dark Elves standing behind Dreroot. "..." Then they all fell silent as Dreroot held a hand up, making Voltar and his men tense up along with all the other Elves wondering what was going on.

"Alright! Fine! I'll play nice since you asked! Twiggy!" Dreroot slapped his hand down on Lu's shoulder and brought him in for a brotherly hug. "Now come on! Let's get down to business!" After that, with Lu in tow, they made their way into the Bloodleaf's guild house.

"Hmph!" Followed by the group of Dark Elves all raising their heads high as they went passed some Elves looking confused.

"You too! Horny King! Can't do this without you...sadly." Dreroot waved at Dewran while rubbing cheeks with Lu.

"Wha!? King Dewran? Forgive my rudeness, but why is a group Dark Elves led by Dreroot, The Death Wood of all people here alongside you?" Ivynns asked, looking at the Horns Of Naworth all gritting their teeth after not doing a thing as a Dark Elf was so close to harming their king. "And how is the young Lutwig related to you or him? I know you sent him and his Fairy Partner here to work with us, but this is too much..."

"It is as you say; too much...too much for someone of your current status to understand," Dewran answered, giving Ivynns a cold stare, making the older Elf back away bowing. "But, if you must know in recent times the standings of Dark Elves have changed over the last few years..." He looked at Lu and Dreroot waiting for him. "...worry not, I shall keep it from getting any more out of hand..." He assured, raising a hand to the onlooking Elves, making it seem like everything was fine as he and the Horns Of Naworth met with Lu, Dreroot and the Dark Elves. "...Even if it means breaking a few ancient laws and useful ties."

Blake's smithy

"Lu has a Dark Elf for an older brother!?" Blake gasped along with Bread and Saffire after Rena told them about Dreroot.

"Yea...?" Rena answered, feeling a bit regretful about telling them now since the looks Blake and Saffire were giving her weren't the most reassuring while Bread looked confused by it. "Don't hate him...or me...okay?"

"What? I'm not gonna hate Lu or you because of Lu's family! Just look at Risabeel!" Blake reassured her with his hands held up as if asking 'really?' I'm just surprised that one of Lu's parents is a Dark Elf..." He thought back to when he first met Lu and remembered the Elf saying something about being the fifth and second son of his father and mother respectively.

"Huh? Both of them are." Rena corrected the smith as she came down to him, looking confused while he did that same to her. "Was that too much information?"

"Both of them are?" Blake asked to be sure, and his eyes widened when the Fairy nodded slowly. "Wait?! How does that work for Lu then!? One of them being a Dark Elf would have been one thing but both!?"

"Ugh? What's so weird about that?" Bread asked, holding his arm up like he was in a classroom. He knew that Dark Elves were evil Elves from the stories Sarah told him, but other than that he knew nothing else.

"You know how those dark long ears are made, right?" Saffire asked the young boy and watched him shake his head. "They do these weird ritual things like planting seeds in their body, eating other Elves, or worst of all, let bugs lay eggs inside them an-ugh!" She shivered at mentioning the latter method and was darting her eyes around for any random creepy crawlies hiding in Blake's smithy. "...long story short they taint themselves, and it stays with them and their families."

"I don't get it?" Bread shrugged, everything Saffire said sounds like the stories Sarah told him. "..." So, he turned to Blake for answers.

"She means that if Dark Elves have children they end up as Dark Elves or at least half if it's only one of the parents are," Blake explained and found the same confused look he was making earlier on Bread's face now.

"But Lu's...? You know? Not one?" Bread asked after finally getting what was so shocking about Lu's parents being Dark Elves. "..." And he was now looking at Rena along with Blake and Saffire.

"Well, actually he is one but not anymore because...?" Rena started out but soon went quiet when everyone's eyes went wide. "What?! If something's tainted, then you can untaint it, right? Even if it was born that way, right?" Her gaze switched between Blake, Bread, and Saffire, hoping one of them would agree with her and make this less awkward.

"I guess...?" Thankfully Blake pulled the conversation on to himself. "...But, doing some like turning a pure Dark Elf into a normal one would take the power of a Fairy Queen or the one next in lin-!" He stared at Rena with the most shocked look he could make as a hammer hitting an anvil appeared over his head. "No..." And he slowly shook his head.

"Yeaaa..." While Rena slowly nodded in contrast.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Blake screamed, with his hands shooting to his head. "You mean to tell me all those times you went on about around being Nature's Princess while acting all high and mighty wasn't just you being annoying!?" His hands were thrown at Rena next. If she wasn't so small, he'd be shaking her shoulders right now.

"Yep! I am the super important and not in any way annoying! Renaissance, Nature's Princess! Now bow to me, fools!" Rena flew up high with her hands on her hips, and her chest pushed out, doing it with so much confidence in herself that if she were lying then only someone who could read minds would be able to know if she was letting the truth.

"How about you pay me for giving you somewhere to live and carrying your ass to Gorz instead?" However, by doing that Rena helped Blake calm down.

"As if! Why aren't you shaking in your boots! You treat me so bad all those times!" Rena shot into Blake's face. "Come on! Let me hear you say sooooooorryyyyy!" She screamed, getting sent back by Blake blowing on her. "GRRR! Like that! You always do that! Stop it! I'm special!"

"Well, I'm a Smith-Knight..." Blake pointed out, and then a thumb went to Saffire. "...and a Dragon is living with me..." Next, he pointed upwards. "Along with a Demon, Ala, Greater wolf, Merfolk, a mage who can use more than one type of magic, a Goblin, my little sister has a Slime, and now the Elf's actually a Dark Elf who got purified by a Fairy Princess..." He listed off the weird/amazing companions he's gotten so far. "...Oh? There's Bread and that thief." Blake roughed up Bread's hat after remembering the boy standing next to him.

"Ugh? You know it's almost scary the type of people you attract..." Rena slowly came down from her high horse after listening to Blake. "...but Lu's even better than all of them! Well? Not more me, of course! But he's pretty dang close!" She boasted proudly, crossing her arms over her chest. "..." Then waited for the others to ask why. "...You guys are terrible at the shocked and awed thing..."

"What do you expect weird stuff happens to us on a daily basis," Blake shrugged his shoulders, the other day he and Saffire got stripped down and forced to wear some weird couples robes. "But I do want to know how you...? You know? Took the dark out of Lu?"

"Oh, that's easy! I made him my Spriggan!" Rena answered, waving a hand at Blake. "Eh?" Then got confused looks from the others. "Oh? Right, you guys don't know what that means do you?" She asked with a finger under her chin and earned a set of three nodding heads from Blake, Saffire, and Bread. "Hehe! Then listen up! Cause this is how I met my Knight and Lover, Lutwig!"

Eye of Bloodleaf Guild House

After a tour of the guild house handled by Ivynns and Rux, Lu Dreroot, King Dewran, and Voltar found themselves in a meeting room while Dreroot's Dark Elves and the Horns of Naworth were outside on either side of the entrance to the meeting room.

"Kukuku! Oh, come on! I said; I was sorry!" Dreroot held his hands up at Voltar who was staring daggers at him. "Calm down! And have a bite, eh?" He offered a half-eaten piece of meat that was getting chewed on by a maw growing on one of his tree branches. "Better get it quick!" While the others were gorging on a table of food laid out for the group.

"How dare you! You know very well that Horns of Naworth pledged to never fed on other beasts!" Voltar slapped the offered meat way as it was ripped apart by Dreroot's branches like a pack of rats. "This disgusting!" He spat out as the shallowed food was all sent into Dreroot's back.

"Hey! At least I don't eat grass or dirt!" Dreroot shot back with his branches growing snake tongues that hissed at Voltar. "At least Twiggy eats just normal stuff." Some of them pointed at Lu having a fruit bowl.

"Dre, stop it. This is not what we are here for." Lu spoke up, waving the branches away. "..." Then turned to King Dewran sitting on the far side of the tables simply looking at the two brothers with a soft smile.

"Exactly, we are here to discuss how you and the Sacred Princess Renaissance are doing..." Dewran agreed with Lu while also giving out the reason both he and Dreroot were here. "...however, I have noticed that she is not with you, why is that?"

"..." Lu went quiet, having Dewran, Dreroot, and Voltar all staring at him. "...The princess wished to be left out of this and as such I came alone..." He answered, holding his head high, washing away any of his usual nervousness, making Dewran raise a brow while his brother smirked. "...if you are worried about her? I left in the hands of someone I can trust."

"Oh? And who might that be?" Dewran asked, folding his hands under his chin, seemingly studying Lu's words and actions.

"His name is Blake...a Smith-Knight from a town called Fairmaw. The princess and I are currently members of his guild..." Lu answered, looking for any kind of reaction on the Elf king's face.

"Hmm? A Smith-Knight? I have not heard of such a thing, but if the Spriggan deems this person worthy of protecting the Sacred Princess, who am I to disagree?" Dewran waved a hand at the matter, respecting Lu's decision for the most part. "However? I am interested in knowing why you did not stay with Eye Of Bloodleaf as I suggested...?"

"At the time I thought that being a part of the lesser-known guild would better hide her from unwanted eyes," Lu explained, turning to his brother who was balancing on the back legs of his chair with his feet on the table while his branches were keeping him from falling. "Also, you do not need to worry about the princess' identity getting revealed, not even Guild Master Ivynns knows about any of this."

"Good going! Twiggy!" Dreroot slammed his chair back down with his branches wrapping around Lu and dragged him a bit closer. "But a better question is, did you tell anyone about what you are? Cause I think that's a bigger deal, right?"

"I would hope not," Dewran answered for Lu and made the branches around Lu push him back in place. "Knowledge that the next ruler of nature has chosen one of your kind to be her greatest ally would be rather hard for the masses to handle."

"Ya think so, huh?" Dreroot wondered out loud, looking somewhat surprised with a hand made of wood on the side of his face. "What about you, Spriggan Lutwig?" He turned to Lu looking for his viewpoint.

"I would have to agree with King Dewran..." Lu sided with Dewran on the matter, bringing a bored look to Dreroot's face.

"That so, huh? Well, nothing I can do about that. Just gotta wait until the world gets to know about you, right?" Dreroot smirked at Dewran with the Elf King smiling back at him. "Then again they wouldn't be able to tell since you're like this." He wiggled a finger at Lu mainly at his skin and hair. "By the by, I don't think I ever learned how that happened...I mean I know how it happened, but after that, you got taken off to their side, and I couldn't speak face to face with my little brother for the next 17 years..." His blood-red eyes went to Dewran after that.

"Ah, yes, forgive me for that? It was merely an order from the Fairy Queen something we could not disobey unlike your kind would have done so easily..." Dewran's evergreen eyes went to the monstrous branches coming out of Dreroot's back, making sure they weren't about to try anything. "...however, due to our people's current relationship thanks to the princess' choice of her knight...I will retell as much I am allowed to."

"B-but my king he's...?" Voltar tried to protest only for a hand to be raised to stop him. "..."

"Yes, yes, this one sits at the head of the Dark Elves in Naworth but, seeing as his own brother will stand above all other Elves...in the far off future of course as the current Fairy Queen and her Spriggan are alive and well..." Dewran informed, and for a moment he gave the pair of brothers a sinister gaze but soon returned to his soft smile. "...although, the birth of the newest pair is a very unusual one, that began as Death Wood said; some 17 years ago..."

Chapter End