User blog:Pollux83/Beyond Light and Darkness, Chapter 20

Chapter Overview

20 Unwelcome visit (2/2)



 I opened my eyes. The sun was shining and that was not my room. I looked around. I lay under one of the trees in the middle of the palace garden, and there were four guards around me. I was visibly confused.



 "Sir, I must ask you to come with us." "Can you please tell me what is going on here?" "Sorry sir. I have strict orders to take you to the commander immediately." "For real? Well, I'll come with you." I was not even really awake.



 The guards led me through the castle to the commander. He asked me one question after another, but I could remember nothing but darkness.



 ... "So you continue to assert to remember nothing what happened last night." "I said it already. I wanted to go to bed and that succubus stood at the window. She must have enchanted me, because the next thing I remember is how I wake up in the garden. Surrounded by guards." "Well. It seems that you really do not remember what happened last night." Meanwhile, totally unnerved: "Nice that you finally believe me, but I would now really like to know what happened last night and why I'm being interrogated because of that!" It could be that I was a little bit loud.



 He told me what the guards had told him. I could only look at him incredulously, so unreal was his story.

He let me go, but I should not leave the castle grounds until further notice. Kai was waiting for me at the door. He told me the same story, but I still could not believe it. What happened last night?

We went to the dining room, I was hungry. During the breakfast I had time to think.



 The visit of the Succubus was alarming. It was unlikely that the unicorn had anything to do with it. Rather, the Mamono had to find out about my research via another way. Was I the target at all or all just coincidence? Too unlikely for coincidence. Have we been observed? Possible, here everything was a war zone. That would explain her strength. It was not a normal spell. An elite succubus? This could mean even more problems in the future. And if they knew about me? My research was not absolutely secret, but more than rumors it could not be. No matter. In the future, I just have to be twice as careful.

 "Mareus, your food will be cold." "How? What? Is there some Kai?" "Ehhh, what should I do with you?"

Our journey home was delayed. We were given the order to wait until further notice. They had traced an elf village and had been negotiating with the inhabitants for some time. The elves were suspicious and stubborn, but the diplomats thought that they would be convinced in the coming months.



 Negotiating with elves was not easy. Already in the past, relations between the elves and humans were rather cool and tense, but since the days of corruption, they were freezing. The elves claimed that humans had a bad influence on them, and they were even partly right. But ultimately it was her arrogance, which drove them slowly into the downfall. Most of the elves, who were not yet corrupted, lived in very secluded places, hardly reachable by humans.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> I offered Kai to go back to Niskara, but he wanted to stay with me and get to know the country more closely. So we stayed a while longer.

But there was not much to do in the castle. At least it was warm. Otherwise, we trained with the other soldiers. The soldiers here were battle-hardened and could teach Kai some trick or two.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Almost 3 weeks passed, then we should start. The diplomats had made progress and were about to reach an agreement with the elves. Unfortunately, it had begun to rain and it did not stop.

The journey took 3 weeks. 3 weeks full of rain, mud and cold. We were glad when we finally arrived at the meeting point. One of the soldiers had caught a cold and did not look good at all. I and Kai luckily was fine.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> 9 days passed until the next marching order arrived. The soldier felt better now. But he was still lying in bed.

It was a long march through difficult terrain until we reached the village and that in the middle of winter. There is a reason why you do not travel in the winter. It is cold, there is snow everywhere and the horses hardly find anything to eat.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Before the village we were already expected by a few people of the Order. They had set up a provisional camp and did not want to stay here for the rest of the winter. In total 6 of us were allowed to enter the village unarmed. So we took off our weapons and went off.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> On foot we went through the forest. The temperature was just below the freezing point and there was a thin snow layer on the autumn leaves. "Hey Mareus." "What is Kai?" "Say, do you see something moving behind the trees?" "Yes. I suppose they are scouts of the elves. " "Then I am reassured. How long have they been watching us? " "I noticed them for the first time 1 or 2 hours ago." I rubbed my hands to warm them up. "How long will we need to get to the village?" "Hopefully not for long. I'm cold." "Still getting cold fast." Kai grinned at me. "Shut up."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> We kept going. Some time later a whole warrior group suddenly stood before us and aimed at us with bows. We were surrounded. The camouflage of the warriors had been almost perfect. If they had wanted, they could have eliminated us and none of us would have noticed anything. One of the warriors stepped forward. A short "follow me", then the conversation was already over again.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> We followed the warriors who kept an eye on us. I'm pretty sure they went a detour to the village on purpose.

At some point we reached the village. I had lost both orientation and time.

So this was a village of the elves. Hard to find and well hidden. Half of the buildings were not on the ground, but had been erected in the trees. Like the tree house we had built as children, only better.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Of the inhabitants, however, hardly anyone could be seen. They were obviously hiding in the houses.

We were led into one of the larger houses. There, the village elder was waiting for us. I was a bit nervous. I could not allow myself a wrong word.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> "So you are that scientist?" "Yes. My name is Mareus and I am here …" She stopped me. "Silence!" The leader came closer and looked at me closely. "How can you dare to bring an impure to this village?" The elves immediately raised their weapons.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> That was not good. "I'm sure this is a misunderstanding. I ..." "Silence! I can feel the blemish of the impure in you." "Blemish of the impure?" One of the elf men answered me. "You humans call them demons."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Demons? I thought quickly. "I think I can explain that. If you would allow me?" The elder looked at me angrily. "Then speak." "About a month ago, I was attacked by a succubus. Therefore probably the blemish. She enchanted me with a spell, but the encounter ended different from what she'd expected." The elders still looked at me with this suspicious look and came closer. "You seem to tell the truth. But her impurity blemish you." "Does that mean I can stay?" She stared at me for a second. "It should be allowed. But keep away from the others. This applies to you all. Humans are not welcome here."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> "After that is clarified I would gladly begin with my work." "Then start. The sooner you're gone, the better." She gave a sign to one of her confidants and left.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> "Hello. My name is Elbatar. You will talk to me as long as you are here." "Agreed." "So you want to take a sample of our magic?" "Exactly." "May I know for what exactly?" "I'm trying to fight the demons' corruption. The blemish. Maybe I can even reverse the effect." "You are naive, but that was to be expected from a human." "Maybe, but it is worth an attempt. I will not hide and wait until corruption comes to me." "You humans. You are all the same. But if you want to run into your downfall, we will not stop you. So what do you need to go back?" "I need 9 volunteers. They should have as much mana as possible." "I'll ask the others. You're waiting here for so long." We waited. At least it was warm.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Then Elbatar came back with 9 volunteers. 5 men and 4 women. Under the watchful eyes of the warriors, I took the samples. After the 9 crystals were filled, we thanked the men and women of the village.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Elbatar came to me. "Have you finished your work?" "Yes. We're done." "Very good. The sun goes down soon. So we leave you the choice. Either you stay here, where we can keep an eye on you, or you go immediately." "We'll stay." This decision was easy. "As you wish. We'll bring you something to lie down."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> We got some straw and made it as comfortable as we could. "And Kai? Do you already regret it not to be returned to Niskara?" "A little. How do you endure it to be separated for so long from your family?" "In the beginning it was not easy. Being a month away is quite a burden. But you get used to it. In the meantime we cope with the situation." "I know I'll embrace my family for a long time as soon as I get back home." "But this will still take time. Winter has begun. So we'll be on the road for 3 or 4 months." "It's worth it. In any case, I do not want to overwinter here." "Neither do I. This will be fun." "Then you can at least look at the cities more closely." "And let me steal my wallet." "Hey. Stop rubbing it under my nose again and again."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> "Tell me, Mareus, do you know why the elves do not like humans?" "I do not know exactly. Humans, elves and dwarfs were always both allies and enemies. So you could call it tradition. But the corruption has changed a lot. The kingdoms of the dwarfs no longer exist. Virtually all the people were corrupted. The elves are similar. There are only a few kingdoms of them left and they have completely isolated themselves. There are only small hidden villages. They're hiding." "They do. But is that really bad?" "It only delay the inevitable. You can not win a war by hiding. The elves will perish. Whether it is before or after humans does not matter." "You think we're losing this war?" "Yes, sooner or later. Whether it takes another 500 or 5000 years is completely irrelevant. If you have nothing to push back an opponent, you lose a war. That's why I'm doing the whole thing here." "And I'll help you. If anyone can accomplish this miracle then you." "Thank you. But we have not yet achieved our goal."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> "Hey Kai. You want to know more about the elves. So what do you think if we ask Elbatar. After all we can not talk to the other elves." "Do you believe he answers our questions?" "It is worth a try. We have what we want and will be sent away tomorrow anyway." "Correct. It's worth a try."

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> Kai and I went to Elbatar, even if we did not expect too many answers. A guard escorted us.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%">"You wanted to talk to me?" "Yes. My friend would like to know more about this village and its inhabitants." "Why?" "Because I'm curious. Why do you not like humans?" "He will not rest until you have answered him."

<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> "I'll be glad if you're gone tomorrow. If you really want to know, I'll tell you. It has been many winter since we lived in another village. One day a human man came to the village. He was hurt. We took care of his wounds and he recovered. This was a fatal mistake. He already carried the blemish in him and spread it in the village. But that was not the end. A short time later we were attacked by demons. This human had brought them to us. They must have followed his scent. We had to flee, but many did not make it." "I'm sorry." "Save your compassion. You should not be here at all, but the other humans just did not want to disappear. As soon as you are gone, this place will be free from the impurity again, and as long as we remain vigilant, nothing will change that." The conversation was over.

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<p align="left" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%"> We went back and got ready to sleep. The next morning we set off after the sunrise. A few elf warriors led us to the edge of the forest. From there, we found our way back to the camp alone.

The mission was successful. I had what I wanted. We could go on the long way home to Niskara.