“- Jin Sha, Has the time come?

The Jade King asks to a precious confident.

- Yes Your Majesty, it has.

- One may believe something, but one must also be careful with its predictions.

- It is as Your Majesty says.

- Then, I shall ask again. Has the time come?

- Your Majesty, this lowly one has no treasures or possessions which may interest Your Majesty, and this lowly one cannot be killed either, for this lowly one has been made immortal by the Heavens. But this lowly one has only one thing which it can give Your Majesty as insurance about its words.

- What would that be? Speak directly.

- My freedom, Your Majesty.

The Jade King frowned for a second, and then relaxed.

- Very well. Ring the bell! The time has come for us to claim what is to be ours and none other!

Soon a loud bang echoed by the World Trees’ branch were the Sages had settled.

Today, all would shutter at its mighty sounds, praying with their knees in the ground and heads buried in the earth!

But the world was still young, so all races and gods where anxious. That loud bang from the Bell of Fate signaled the ruthless Jade Kings’ permission for the scattering of the sinners of all races.

Daring to challenge even the Holy White Seraphim who live in Heaven, the one who seated High on the Clouds was not Buddha or the Gods, but the Jade King - and some say he still so does it.

The Dark Enlightened reached the four corners of the world, the Sinister Gods merged with the Shadows and the Low Evil Gods established they Unheavenly Domains.

Dragons soared unbound, and demons bellow the earth started to push forward with unprecedent might.

High Elves and Dwarves where nothing at the time, and poor wood elves like us had no place in the world, except to be predated by the combined might of the terrible beasts.”

- Iiinhnnn

The small child hugs its mother tightly, and the mother hugs the child back.

- What are you scared off? Oshi-sama will protect us, even if something bad happens.

- Momma, swear?

- Of course, dear.

The White Seed Angel at the door doesn’t say a thing.

The teller keeps telling its tale.

“But not only the Beasts and the Demons carved for the taste of our flesh. For centuries, all sort of corpses had fallen from the Tree.

Of those killed by time alone, there were none. But of those killed by the Throne in the Clouds, hundreds of millions pilled one above the other.

What terrible smell of Sulphur and burning bodies many endured at the time, charring the corpses to ash and spreading it around to nourish The Verdant.

And still, this too changed, for legion of undead resided bellow us, and no amount of fire could burn some carcasses, no amount of magic could dispel the death aura of some beings.

Those we threw away from us, incapable of giving them a proper funeral, back at us stared with fiery-blue eyes which made ones’ soul freeze and burn at the same time.”

The teller stopped for a few moments, as some in the crowd hugged themselves and their children tightly.

It was no shame to be afraid of undead at Sorrow Dawn village. It was too close of the West Dragon Burial Ground.

“For many generations, the Undead stayed at the ground staring at us, but never approaching our villages.

Still, the Bell was calamity for our race, for at the first ring of its metallic echoes, undead spawn began to crawl and chew its ways towards us.

Oh, how many of them died for trying to reach too high in the sky!

Slain by demi-gods or living dragons, death lords, undead dragons and liches could only accept ultimate death as not even their souls remained.

But some were far too weak to do so, and our race lost hundreds upon hundreds of lives to those who could be called cannon fodder.”

The teller cleans its throat. Something seems stuck in there, as he does it again and a third time.

His eyes are heavy, and his old, wrinkled face seems to carry many thousand millennia - even if such event was impossible, for Wood Elves live not for so long.

“In the end, all our race had was despair, as it broke the taboo by attempting to climb higher.

Constantly channeling magic outside of our bodies, bombarding the enemy bellow, we climbed to the Marble Gates of Eldoor, seeking asylum.

And still, from the dozens of thousands our species still had, five days later not even ten thousand remained, as the High Race denied us entry at the Marble City.”

The teller stopped, maybe thinking someone would ask something.

Still, none asked nothing.

The tale of how the High Elves betrayed their cousin race was known to all. Such a deep scar would not be healed in only a few generations.

“Maybe they were afraid of being punished together with us for breaking the taboo. Or maybe they thought we would be too much of a weight to carry, since we could not survive on those lands without constant help to discharge magic from our bodies.

I do not know why, but all of us were certain of one thing. None of our race would remain in this world if all remained as it was.

And this is why, at the Dawn of the sixth day, we sent them our woman in children to them, if nothing, hopping our race could survive for another day.”

Not only the young males around, even some of the females and older males held their hands closed in fists.

Anger boiled in their hearts as the shame of the past burned in their ears.

“It wasn’t until three weeks later, when many had been taken in already, that the first holy messengers came.

The undead repelled, our people finally could breathe.

Still, the High People of Marble City refused to release our people, and if not for the command of Holy Messenger Undine of the Throne-Angels Race, all would have remained confined.

But the High Race has many Dark Beings within, and the Jade King protects them all! In the end, only some returned to us, almost none untouched.”

At Sour Dawn village, there was a collection of small huts.

Those who inhabited them were forbidden by the Council of Elders to take part in the village activities, and were even denied protection.

Those of mixed breed had no place amongst the pure-blood.

“Soon our race was divided amongst the Holy Messengers for them to guard, and we were sent away.

‘- The world is much too vast. There are many lands without undead in the four corners of the world. Take them for yourselves. This Tree is not to be the only place Wood Elves inhabit.’

Those were the words of Holy Messenger Undine, as our people was spread to the four corners of Tiphoon.

And from that day onwards, no Wood Elf ever again climbed the World Tree.”

The teller finished his tale, and soon the young people began asking him questions.

They were the same everywhere.

Some wanted to know how life was at the old Tree. Some wanted to know what happened to their ancestral land.

Some wanted to know if there was a way to rescue their still enslaved brethren.

And, of course, some wanted to know what kind of monsters were the mythical Sages and the Jade King.

The story remained the same, no matter where the teller went. The questions, as well, he had answered them hundreds of thousands of times already.

Still, never he had revealed the truth. He never told of so many things, of so many struggles and chaos.

Had he done so, those in front of him wouldn’t be so found of their kingdoms’ protector-angel, or the things it had taught them. Instead, they would probably desire to defect to the side of the Jade King, as well as the Seraphim - not White Seraphim, just Seraphim.

Inside his heart he prayed for an answer, for some powerful god to release him from his torment.

And, still, were what he called “gods” to listen to him, they would probably be too weak to kill an angel.