Chapter 308: Dark Elves (I)
Chapter 308: Dark Elves (I)
Gynaika took a deep breath as they made their way past a group of really dense and clustered trees that obscured the way forwards. She had to squint a bit as it seemed as if they had just gone past or rather came out of a shelter after being in it for an extended period of time. The sun peaked down from the crown of multiple ancient trees that stretched upwards to serve as a natural domed canopy for this wood elf village. She found it annoying that she had to make her way here when she had agreed to have them meet her at the border between the three territories, and even worse was the fact that they were making her walk around in broad fucking daylight! Any wrong move and she would end up pretty much fired to a crisp and very much dead.
But be that as it may she couldn't help but appreciate what she was seeing, calling this place a village was a gross understatement as what she was seeing was without a doubt one of the most unique and beautiful sights in all of Elysium. The giant trees who's canopy she had notices, were a lot bigger than she imagined, being extremely broad at the base, narrow at the middle before spreading out to have a shape similar to an hour glass before stretching out into massive branches that were carved to look like walkways and staircases to other similar trees that bordered themselves in a circle.
There were small buildings attached to the trees from their roots up to their massive bodies. Homes built deep into it, and evenly spread apart from each other. Their roofs seemed to made from straw that was interwoven with vines that had a growth of extremely beautiful and exotic flowers. There was an extremely refreshing scent in the air, and a sense of calmness that lulled her into a false sense of security. Their streets were clean, and the people she saw were the very epitome and modicum of perfection.
But that was what could be gleaned from the surface, elves were always streamlined and sleek. Their bodies could never be described as bulky in any manner or form, and these elves were just as streamlined as every other elf in existence. their forest green eyes and dark green hair seemed to stretch to the middle of their back and had tiny buds of flowers growing from it. They had extremely bright smiles, one that was extremely welcoming, smiles that seemed all too eager.
Gynaika was no stranger to hidden smiles, she was the first of Rezar's queen, and even if there hasn't been an official coronation she knew what sort of politics position she held. She was right at the top of the ladder, so without a doubt she knew just what she was dealing with right now. These weren't just fake smiles used for political manipulation, these smiles were too fake and unbalanced for that. These smiles were forced, and from their forced smile she noticed everything else that was wrong with the wood elf city, because it was way too big to be a town or village.
The blood at the edge of the robes of one of the wood elves welcoming them, the exposure of a gaunt neck and exposed collarbone from the dree of another wood elf. Their clasped hands were held a little too tight, and the shadows around the city was a little too thick for daytime, not with the sun shining this brightly. Gynaika turned with a smile as if to look at her entourage of soldiers and noticed that the path they just used to get here had even thicker shadows behind them. she turned back with a mocking smirk on her face and noticed the glistening eyes on the face of one of the wood elves in front of her.
She was afraid, they all were. The city was practically empty, and one very obvious fact to be noticed was the fact that of the five wood elves in front of her, none of them were men. Gynaika smiled and then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as all of the light in the world seemed to absorbed into her form. For a second no one knew what she was doing, and the phenomenon only lasted for a fraction of a second, but that second was enough for Gynaika to cast a divination. She peeked into the recording of the universe, manipulating the stream of time to give her insight into what had happened in this wood elf city in the past weeks to seeing what was going on in this very moment. And it only took a second.
Her power was without equal, in time there would probably be no secret she couldn't find, no danger she couldn't foresee, and of course all of these powers of divination was packed tightly into the body of a vampire. Supreme speed, supreme strength, and supreme power of regeneration. A peak creature without equal, the apex predators of apex predators. She smiled and bowed with a flourish as she decided to keep the charade going, but given that she just made an unknown move, there was suspicion in the air. But even with that, the people following her seemed incredibly relaxed, as if they hadn't noticed anything at all. But most of them were vampires. To not notice anything wrong with the location they suddenly found themselves would be. Impossible.
"You have a beautiful city here, but why did you renege on our deal to meet in the forest and sundown, I'm pretty sure you know Morte Bianca is not the kind of entity you would play games with. So what brought up such a change?" Gynaika asked, the cheerful smile on her face fading away as she brought the full brunt of her glare upon them.
She noticed the way the wood elf in the lead shook, but that was expected. Lenore's ability with compulsion was such that she could make you afraid, relaxed, happy, or angry with just her words. And she didn't have to use the skill properly. She was being intimidating and they could all feel it, though some more than others as quite a few of them lost their composure. Gynaika did notice something though, they were afraid of her, and this was not just what she was compelling, but genuine fear, they feared what she was, because they knew just what the vampires of Morte Bianca were capable of.
"We apologize Queen in waiting Gynaika. It was never our intention to seem or sound disrespectful. But the idea of our leaders going into the forest at night to meet with a vampire and other sorts of undead did not sit well with our people. So we thought it best to invite you here in broad daylight where our safety could be assured, but even with that we decided to let you in to our city whose location is well hidden.
We've had a few trades with Morte Bianca, bringing about information of our existence to the world. So even if you know our general location, it would be impossible to find out where we were located, given how well hidden we all are. We let you here in good faith, but I understand how this might seem, so we really are sincere about our apology and will do everything in our power to make up for it." The designated spokesperson of this group of wood elves said to Gynaika as she raised her eyebrow.
Morte Bianca already knew the location of this city, it was impossible not to. Not when they had satellites that had canvassed and mapped the entirety of Morte Bianca's territories and quite a few of their neighbors too. Her kingdom had more information about their location than they even had about it themselves, but there was no harm in letting the tree huggers think they were completely safe and secure a little longer, there was a time for everything either way.
"I don't need you to make up for it, I just want to get this over with. However, some things just don't make sense. I was under your impression that your leader was a male by the name of Darin. So why isn't he the one welcoming me, he should be here so that we can begin our talks right away." Gynaika said as she brought the full brunt of her glare on the poor wood elf.
"We're sorry about that, but the chief is at the city square making preparations for your arrival. It's at a location that's directly under the center of the great trees canopy, so we need to make it sun proof for your visit. There's nothing to worry about as your talks will be smooth and undisturbed."
"Is that so? I take it that the dark elves will be joining us then?" it was as if a bomb had exploded in the mind of the wood elf as she took a step back and started stammering.
"D-dar- Dar-k E-elves?" but the only reply she got was a smile from Gynaika as the shadows within the trees and the city began to move, blood was about to be spilt.
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