"Greetings Your Majesties" Garth said as he got on his knees
As Garth greeted the major response received were a bunch of grunts and Garth despite only arriving could guess why this was so. At the moment, he wasn't just the captain of the Queen's Guards and Euroan General; he was now a diplomat sent to check the alignment of a new nation and the very fact that he had returned the very next day didn't speak well of their mission.
If he was in their shoes then he too would grunt at the diplomat's greetings however, he didn't care much about them because he wasn't a High Orc or a Dwarf or a Gnome, he was an Elf and his queen was Queen Euroa the Fae. None of their responses truly mattered to him.
"Welcome back, general… i would assume the mission didn't go well" Euroa who was still seated calmly on her throne said
"No, your majesty"
"I see"
"Though we also can't rule out its success either, your majesty… we do not exactly know where the territory stands" Garth answered truthfully since that was how he felt… he had no idea where the new territory actually stood.
The King's words were menacing but kind and seemed to have some sort of harmless intent behind them but the same king sent out an army of thousands of Oni and other disastrous beings. He didn't believe that anyone even a newly born lord would send their army into the Dead lands without knowing that the Undead were unkillable by conventional means so he guessed that the army would be heading towards their territory next.
"What does that mean?" The High Orc asked
"A hostile nation would never receive a set of Diplomats from another nation, you and I both know that and above all, they would never let them return but here i am. However, the King's decision to not join the alliance raises certain questions which makes me doubt his intentions, hence the preparation for battle" Garth explained
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtEven he was still confused if the king was against them or not but it was better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.. not that it mattered. The territory had the Oni and various other races that would require an entire battalion to be considered a challenge to even a single one of them. Garth saw no hope of surviving if the territory was attacked but he would die fighting to protect his queen and his people.
"Well then there is no use mopping around, if they ever turn to be against us… what can you tell us, you all surely learnt something during your short stay there" The Dwarf asked
"That would be more under Y'Jun's territory however, i can provide some unconfirmed information in the form of the existence of another Fae in that territory and several unidentified creatures that hold power equal to her Majesty"
"A Fae?" Euroa asked suddenly showing even more interest than before
"Yes, your majesty, Y'jun and i had not been about to identify if she truly was a Fae however as with you, all of us felt the presence of unbound nature in her"
"The aura of a Fae is incredibly difficult to mimic and it should command a primal desire to obey in all Elven beings… if you felt those then whoever it was in that territory, most definitely is a Fae… I wonder what her element must be"
"So, our Enemy is a Fae?" The High Orc asked
"No, Lord Black Rock… she served under a king and so did all the other beings on par with her. The King of the territory is a being who can only be described as power incarnate… He is the ruler of the territory and our enemy"
As Garth spoke, he remembered the glorious being he saw sitting on the throne. The King may have been small but the power he held was way beyond anything. As a Fae could be identified by their aura of nature, the king was filled to the brim with power and that was all, there was to it… he was absolute.
Meanwhile the proud expressions of the other Alliance members began to change to a frown as they realized what Garth meant. All of them understood what that meant and at the same time, they also didn't understand what it meant. For a Fae to be under someone then said person had to be incredibly powerful but who could be more powerful than nature personified.
"That's impossible... right? Queen Euroa?" They all asked
"You said there were other beings with power equal to a Fae… how many of them did you see?"
"At least five of them, Your Majesty" Garth answered
"I see, then it seems its finally Euroa's time… I can't believe that such a thing finally came... Master Brock!" Euroa suddenly called out
"My Queen!" an elderly voice replied as the only other Elf in the room answered
The man, Master Brock was an Elf who unlike many in the territory actually had wrinkles on his face, his steps weak and all but Garth knew this man and knew the power he commanded hence he remained standing as he waited for the next order from his Queen.
"Take your men and gather all the books and learning materials you can find… even if the nation will fall, future generations must know who we are… Garth, gather your men and evacuate the cities, move them out of the forest if possible… i have yet to see a king who goes after a tribe they had pursued from their place" Euroa ordered based on what she had witnessed or experienced
"Yes, your majesty" both Garth and the older man answered as he began walking towards the exit
"Why are you still here?" Euroa asked noticing that Garth was still standing
"Your Majesty, the king of the Territory did give us something that may decide our fate in the future… he gave us this and says it's a communication device that will allow him meet you… if he plans to attack us then he will surely make his plans fully known through it… at least i believe he is that kind of person" Garth said as he produced the device, the King had given him.
It was just a small black box that could fit in the palm of his hand and though he had multiple thoughts that suggested he keep the existence of the box a secret since he didn't truly know what it was and couldn't take the words of an unknown king to heart. Since even the Queen herself saw no hope in fighting back, it was worth it.
"You should have started with that!!" The alliance members screamed in anger
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Why did you keep it hidden?" Euroa asked, still remaining calm
"As a Queen's Guard, it is my duty to protect you, the Queen… this is a device from an Unknown king who may or may not be against us and the chances of them being against us are higher so this could be some sort of weapon to be used against you" Garth explained
"I see, but activate it… I too would like to meet this king that will be the doom of my territory"
"As you wish your majesty" Garth replied as he began to inject his mana into the black box.
As soon as the mana touched it, the box immediately began to glow as several blue makings appeared on it and it suddenly began to float. The Box floated away from Garth's hands and into the air directly above him as several rays of light burst out of it and from the rays, a man was born.
As soon as the man appeared, Garth immediately moved several steps back. The man in question, remained still for some time before his eyes opened and he began looking around the room. The man scanned the entire room before stopping on Euroa who was still seated on her throne and looking at him.
"800 acres" The man suddenly said
"What?" The Dwarf asked
"Thats how far this territory is from mine… or at least used to be from mine... now it's only 300 acres away and that gap will be non-existent by tomorrow… I expected this meeting by then... turns out I am so famous that you can't wait one night" the man said as he began to patrol around the room
"I was told, you wanted to speak to me personally"
"That means you are the Queen then… you really are a Fae... Solaris and Luna will love to meet you someday"
"What is it you want?"
"Nothing actually, I just wanted to share a little detail about myself to you… it will probably help you in your last stand against my men since i can already smell the defeat in the air" The man said as he stopped pacing around and stood directly opposite to the Queen's throne.
"Anyway... you see I was born with an unusual ability that forces me to conquer as much territories as possible, it also means that with each territory conquered, a weird bubble of influence that exists around me increases exponentially and with this increase, i get to affect those areas as much as i want and now, this bubble of influence is only 300 acres away from your territory"