Time passed day by day, the dragons trained their asses off, day and night. The eight greed kings operated in their own territory for a while, their goal was to recover their levels as much as possible, and think of ways they could each individually fight against a dragon. Both sides had their goals, their struggles, and their misconceptions.
The war between them was already officially ongoing but there was an unspoken agreement not to fight just yet. This is how they were both able to find the time to properly continue their individual training.
Hougan, the fencer, had another plan in mind. He decided to take matters into his own hands for a particular jab at the woman who killed him. Heh, all I need is a few particular scrolls and then I'm golden. Even if I'm gone, she won't ever be able to live this down. The woman that he had chosen to take as his, was from among a rather small number of elves that remained independent of Night Silver.
"It won't be long now, my god. Your child will come soon." She mentioned, holding on to her god and her man. To think, I was chosen by a god!
"Good… Send a call to all the elves in our borders, we're going to establish a new city, just for the elves." Once this is done, there's no going back. Oh how I love the thought of such a wild thorn in her side.
A few days later, and the elves had found a new place in a forest near the Slane Theocracy. The idea behind this move had enumerable folds, and would have lasting effects for generations to come but Hougan couldn't possibly have known that. It started as a small settlement with the forest.
Walking out of his tent, with a stretch, and bare chested, Hougan looked around. He took in the surroundings. "This place is perfect. It's even got trees I recognize. Building homes out of familiar materials will be much easier." A city that I'll give to my first born son. A smile appeared on his face.
A few weeks passed while Hougan and the elves built new construction in a rather large claim of the forest. At first it didn't seem like it was harmful by any means. And then it started growing larger, causing the small settlements of elves inside the forest to worry. Seeing the writing on the wall, a few settlements picked up everything they could carry, and became wanderers. Others were far enough away to have a small window, and thus they sent messengers to the capital of the Slane Theocracy.
Then there were the unfortunate settlements that were quickly found and over taken, completely absorbed into Hougan's plan. He might have forced their physical allegiance to the new city he was constructing but, he didn't sway many minds to his side. And the ones who were swayed, they quickly found themselves suffering in hiding, not from others… But in an attempt to hide from their mother goddess.
A small group of elven women, all gathered from among recently overrun settlements. Though, there was an exception… A handful of the women were from Eryuentiu. One in particular was the supposed queen…
One woman spoke up while working on some mundane handicrafts/textiles. "This is terrible. Mother is not going to be happy about this."
A few others set their work aside, and broke down into tears. One managing to speak. "You're right, we should have followed the lead of the other settlements and gone to seek out Mother."
"She's the only one strong enough to deal with this pretender claiming to be the father of elves. We all know damn well that's a lie."
The one elf, currently carrying that pretender's child, in her womb almost lost her cool. "What do you mean? How is my husband not the father of elves? And who is this Mother you speak of?"
"You seriously don't know!?" All the elves, not from Eryuentiu, exclaimed in shock.
"How do you not know about her!? She's the most beautiful of us all. The kindest woman I know. She's the one who saved us from the oppressive rule from the dragons. How dare you call yourself an elf, while you sit there and dismiss her like that."
"Huh?"
It was around this time that the messengers had finally reached the person they needed to…
"God of Death, I… I have to report something to Mother immediately. It's for the sake of all her children."
"Hmm, that is quite the distance to travel on foot. I can see why you'd come here first." His boney hand reached his head, supporting it as he leaned to the side of his throne. "I'm not sure she'll even be able to do anything right now. There is a war going on right now. And she's been forced to the side lines. I haven't the foggiest idea why she bothers to keep this promise. Her ideas are beyond my understanding." He paused for a moment. "Perhaps it might be to keep you all safer… If she acts, it's possible that they will use you as hostages? That's my best guess."
The elves were shaking, crying at the thought that they were still being protected, even in this state. "Lord, if she can't do anything…"
"Relax, there's no need to rush into anything right now. No one has died, so for now, just keep her updated. I think you've got that lullaby thing that links you to her? It's been 100 years of this boney existence, so do forgive me if I've forgotten the limits of that ability."
The elves shook their heads. "No, it's fine, lord. We haven't used that lullaby in years. And us men don't dare to say it without being in a truly deadly situation."
"That's right, the last time was when our settlement's child was born. Perhaps we should change how we use it?"
"That's for the best… But, in the event it's not enough, you may use these. Think about who you want to contact, and it will connect you with them."
The messengers' hands were now filled with magic scrolls. It was an odd comfort, then they left, determined to keep these items hidden from the pretender, Hougan.