Erisgrirlum stood on the balcony of the outermost tower of the castle that overlooked Big Dip and Elvenland on the far side.

He couldn’t help but have a bad feeling, he had been standing there since twilight, watching the sky darken by degrees, until it was close to midnight. Nothing had happened yet.

The brooch given by the Dragon was clutched in a vice grip in his hand and he wondered just when it would start. The Dragon had given him a rough timeline of when the dark forces would begin and also what his stance should be. But, the whole day had passed by and nothing had happened.

He wondered if had misunderstood or that the Dragon had been wrong. What if the dark forces had already succeeded? But would that be possible without getting rid of the Elves? Could Yggdrasil already have-

Just as he was thinking he suddenly heard the sound of rapid footfalls behind him and he turned slightly to see one of the guards rushing to him.

"Y-Your Majesty, it has begun!" The guard spoke in a rush.

Erisgrirlum’s expression hardened and he brought the brooch to his mouth and just as the Dragon had instructed poured some of his mana into it. The stone glowed softly and Erisgrirlum said.

"Lord Dragon-"

"Yes?!"

The voice that answered sounded strained and there were sounds of commotion on the other side as if there was a battle happening around.

Erisgrirlum’s eyebrows knotted hearing that but he said what he wanted, "It has begun."

He heard a low hum that was followed by a deafening crash and some shouts of curses.

"Send your troops in, try not to kill anyone." The calm voice instructed.

"When will you be here?" The Dwarf King asked.

The sound of commotion increased on the other side including the sound of something being ripped apart.

"It’ll take me some time, I’ll let Aelfric know of what to do."

Erisgrirlum’s frown deepened as he said, "How much time?! What if Yggdrasil is-"

Suddenly there was a sound of a loud screech and the voice spoke sounding a little exasperated, "I’m a little busy here, do you mind if we chat later?"

Before Erisgrirlum could say anything else the other line went silent and he was left staring at the brooch.

Erisgrirlum massaged his temples before he looked at the guard, "Prepare my horse."

The guard bowed and quickly rushed away to carry out the order.

At Elvenland, an hour before midnight, Fior and his men had already gathered at the place where Fior and Zevran had agreed to meet. He had told his men about Zevran and his army but had excluded the fact that they were from the dark forces.

The two groups were not meant to meet yet because Fior knew convincing everyone would be hard and if things got worse then his men would attack Zevran’s group first. So, he and Zevran had decided that his people would meet Zevran and then discuss of their strategy once again before they would split carrying out their own tasks of crippling the Pure Mana Elves’ kingdom.

"Those conniving bastards," he heard his men hissing as he waited.

"They think they’re stealthy and secretive...as if we don’t know who covered up our exits near the western grooves." Another one spat.

"They are itching for a fight after all, why even pretend to preach peace?"

Fior stood with his hand resting against the bark of the tree nearby listening to his men while his eyes stayed in the darkness.

It had been difficult to convince so many men to join his cause and go against the leader since it was as clear as mutiny. A lot of them were quite loyal men but the unrest among them was growing since Xeveris was consistently turning a blind eye to the atrocities of the Pure Mana Elves. A lot of people had taken turns urging Xeveris to issue at least a warning to the Aelfric but he had done nothing and asked them to remain calm and patient.

Like they would stay patient after being constantly provoked.

It was only a few days ago that they had came across a little boy from their clan who had ventured outside looking for his pet mole and ended up seeing the Pure Mana Elves- carrying the crest of their kingdom no less- lingering around their borders. He was terrified watching the large and muscular Elves carrying weapons so he had rushed right back and told everyone.

The word reached Xeveris who sent someone to look into it but they found no one. Frustrated, the boy rushed to Fior to tell him and unlike the others, he believed the boy.

After that, there were instances of their large entrances on the surface were suddenly blocked by trees falling on top of large boulders rolling over and wedging between the gap.

It seemed accidental to anyone who didn’t want to believe that it was deliberate. Fior knew that the Pure Mana Elves were trying in their own way to keep the Dark Elves from coming back to the surface.

Fortunately, there were no casualities or injured but Fior strongly believed that they had crossed the line again and again to let them be.

His pleas and words of incitement had finally borne fruit as he managed to get his men to follow him against Xeveris and hence they were out here now. Since they were going into a battle with Fior in the lead, the men had decided to address him as their Captain.

Fior was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard the sound of soft footsteps. His men also seemed to have sensed it as they fell silent and looked in the same direction.

After a few seconds, a tall figure dressed in all black appeared from the thick shadows and faced Fior.

Fior’s men watched him as he walked up this man in black and shook his hand.

"Late as always." Fior sighed and the man inclined his head.

"I apologise." Zevran said and then looked at the seventy or so men standing behind him.

"Are these all of your men?" Zevran asked.

Fior nodded, "Yes, able-bodied and ready to fight."

"Captain, why don’t you introduce us?" One of the men called out to Fior.

Fior turned and Zevran looked directly at the men.

"It’s a fine evening, gentlemen. I’m Zevran."

"Why haven’t we seen you around before?"

"How do we know that you’re not a spy sent by those bastards?"

The men had their own reservations and despite Fior answering them to the best of his abilities, it hadn’t made them trust this stranger.

Fior looked at Zevran who didn’t say anything until the men were done hurling their questions.

"I apologise but I cannot answer all of your questions but I can tell you that neither I nor my clan are connected to the Pure Mana Elves. We are the descendants of Dark Elves."

Zevran pushed back his hood and the Elves were taken aback to see his face. He was indeed a Dark Elf.

"But then why..."

"Our kind is a hybrid and Pure Mana Elves had hunted us to near extinction years ago, our predecessors went deeper underground...away from Yggdrasil so that we could survive that’s why you didn’t know about us."

The men were astonished, they had never heard of the Dark Elves who were able to survive even after being away from Yggdrasil’s roots that sustained for their dead mana.

They had a lot of questions but Fior stepped in.

"Don’t you all trust me? I told you that he’s an ally who saved my life and also killed those fuckers right before my eyes."

Some of the men shut their mouths hearing Fior’s angry voice while others simply stared at Zevran. His physical attributes were the same as then but there was something about him that they couldn’t quite place their finger on. Something was strange about this Elf.

"We don’t have time for this anyway!" Fior said and then turned to Zevran.

"Let’s go over the strategy once more. It’s almost midnight."

Zevran nodded and then started speaking with the seriousness of a seasoned military general.

"Some of the scouts from my clan had already surveyed the places, the Pure Mana Elves are already preparing their armies. He reported of seeing some of their strong warriors lingering near the entrances of your clan’s exits...Among them, he said he recognized the Captain of the Elf Knights- Rhylen."

The men stiffened up hearing the name. Rhylen was a highly decorated and the strongest knight who reported directly to the King or the Elders. If he was around then that meant the Pure Mana Elves were indeed planning on an ambush.

"If it’s Rhylen..."

"Those scumbags..."

The angry mutters rose from the men and Zevran continued.

"He is currently going around the western side so, we have to be careful. I and my men will march from West while you will march from East."

"Are you capable of facing Rhylen? That Elf is a monster. He will slice you in half within seconds." One of the men spoke and Zevran regarded him calmly.

"That’s my concern. I and my men will engage the Elven army while you head straight to the palace and take out the King. Once their King is gone they won’t know what to do and we will have an upper hand."

The strategy sounded simple but it wasn’t quite, Zevran and his men were going to head out and gain the attention of the army by facing Yggdrasil which would announce their presence to every strong presence in Elvenland. Once they were spotted the armies would rain down on them, if Zevran’s claims of his army’s strength were true then they would be able to distract them until Fior and his platoon would head straight for the palace killing anyone in their way.

The men had heard this plan several times from Fior before but having this stranger repeat it with such confidence in his abilities made them wonder if he really was worth his salt or would end up getting them all killed.

Whatever it was, Fior had given them an alternative plan in case Zevran’s side fell. They would split in two groups, one would engage the army of the Pure Mana Elves while the other would head straight for the palace. Their ultimate goal remained the same. Kill Aelfric and destroy the strength of the Pure Mana Elves.

A strange sound rose from somewhere in the darkness, it seemed like the cry of some animal and Zevran lifted his head.

"It’s time." He announced.

Zevran gave Fior a look and Fior gave him a firm smile before the two shook hands and Zevran turned and walked away while Fior watched him.

Once his figure disappeared, he turned to his own men.

"Let’s head east." He announced and the men unconsciously touched their weapons one last time as if making sure they had what they needed for this battle.

"Let’s end this once and for all." Fior muttered as he turned leading his men into the first ever civil war in the history of Edrisyl without knowing that it would also become one of the biggest mistake of his life.