In the deeper parts of the Dark Elves’ colony, the Elders and most of the Dark Elves were all gathered in front of Xeveris. All of them had the similar expressions that ranged from petrified, anguished, apprehensive to distraught.

And they all had only one person to blame, the root cause of the doom that they would face soon.

"Leader! That brat! We told you to get rid of him the day he injured the King, now look what he has done!"

"He’s taken our kids out to fight, Leader. Do something!"

"If he had to die why couldn’t he just do it himself?! Why drag us all in this?!"

"Are you all still thinking that? He’s there fighting for our sake, don’t you realise that?!" One of the men among them asked.

"Then why are you here? You should have just gone along to die!"

"There’s no point in discussing all of this! The war that we all were avoiding has already been waged thanks to that troublemaker, now we’re all doomed!"

"The Pure Mana Elves will come for us even if we say we don’t have anything to do with Fior!"

"Don’t say that bastard’s name! I knew he would some day bring us all down!"

Xeveris and the other Elders could only listen to the agitated dissenters of Fior and even Xeveris couldn’t deny the fact that this time Fior had not only disobeyed him once again but also had brought great danger to all of the Dark Elves.

Xeveris looked at Yttriva who stood leaning against the wall, the jug of alcohol hanging at her waist. Her head was low enough that he couldn’t see her expression, Ermid stood by the pillar close to her and even he seemed apprehensive about the whole ordeal.

Xeveris massaged his temples, he couldn’t calm his people anymore, Fior had done the irreparable damage this time and even if the Elven King had been lenient enough to not retaliate when he was attacked but, with what Fior was doing now- massacring his people outright- even he wouldn’t let it go.

Aelfric wasn’t someone who could endanger his people’s lives and even if he did try to suggest some time to ponder over it, the Pure Mana Elders wouldn’t sit quietly. They would force him to retaliate and with their mighty numbers, it was only a matter of time that they would wipe out the majority of Dark Elves.

Xeveris didn’t want this but the decision had to made now, the decision that he had been desperately avoiding to make was now the only option. He had thought that if he was careful enough, he could avoid it and the things would eventually cool down but even through that, a small voice in the back of him mind kept insisting that the war was inevitable and he would have to make this decision sooner or later.

Xeveris inhaled and exhaled deeply before glancing at Yttriva again, who this time was looking at him.

"I’m going." She said.

"Going where?" He asked.

"It was because I failed to bring him up, so, I’m going to correct that mistake." She spoke untying the alcohol from her waistband and smashed it on the ground.

Xeveris pursed his lips watching Yttriva walk towards the crowd of the people who now turned to blame her. Fior was her grandson but after his parents passed away years ago because illness, she took to alcohol and avoided Fior for he reminded her of his deceased son. She couldn’t come to her senses back then because she was scared to face reality and thought the only way she could help herself was by numbing our her pain. She didn’t think of what the little boy would go through without her and what the present had brought her was her own fault.

Xeveris watched her leave before he spoke up, "Yttriva, wait."

Yttriva’s feet came to a stop but she didn’t turn, everyone else turned to look at him.

"It’s not only your responsibility anymore. I am also the one who is at fault here." Xeveris said.

Xeveris had made up his mind as he announced, "We shall all march together and sort this out."

The people watched him, tempted to throwing questions of how they would do it but Xeveris continued.

"Fior and every single Elf that followed him are a part of our colony so, we should be the ones to go up there and beat some sense into them... And this time, I won’t let Fior get away with anything. He will face the consequences harshly."

"We don’t want words this time, Leader."

"Yes! Execute him this time!"

Some of the people shouted and Xeveris didn’t say anything for that. He only glanced at Yttriva’s back as she stood in her spot. He could barely try to make sense of what she must be feeling while listening to all this.

"I’ll take responsibility as well," she spoke and Xeveris’s eyebrows twitched.

"I’ll take the same punishment as him." She announced.

The people didn’t say anything to that as if they all silently agreed to it and even found it justifying.

Xeveris wanted to disagree with it but he couldn’t say another word and in turn, looked at Ermid.

"Ermid, lead the troops we’re going to stop the young ones from causing even more damage." He ordered and Ermid stepped ahead.

"All right," he answered.

Within an hour, the troops of the rest of the able-bodied Dark Elves left the colonies leaving behind the children and elderly who couldn’t fight to seek out Fior.

They all waited until Ermid returned with his findings, they didn’t know what Fior was thinking or where he’d led the others.

Ermid returned within a few minutes with an anxious expression.

"What’s wrong?" Xeveris asked, "Did you see them?"

Ermid shook his head, "I couldn’t but I happened to see the destruction they have caused... It’s..."

Ermid sighed and the people glanced at each other while Ermid glanced at Yttriva who stood under a large tree.

"So, in which direction are we heading?" One of the men asked.

"West," Ermid said, "That’s the place which shows the signs of battle."

Xeveris nodded and then faced his people.

"We shall all march west and once we find them, we’ll drag them back even if we have to fight them."

"But what if we run into the Pure Mana knights?"

"Yes, they won’t be showing any mercy this time."

Xeveris pursed his lips and then announced, "I’ll take the lead, if we see any knights, I’ll explain the situation."

The Dark Elves were unsure about how it would turn out but they couldn’t back away now. If they turned then they would be sitting ducks as Fior’s little stunt would not only get the whole group he had taken killed but the rest of them would also be held accountable and would most likely be killed as well.

They had no choice but to follow Xeveris’s lead in the west direction.

Yttriva gripped at the bow that she had touched after years, after the war with the demons had concluded she had thought that should would have to wield it again but now she had to carry it around for the battle that her own grandson started.

Yttriva could feel the sharp glares from all around her but she couldn’t care less.

Just as they kept marching ahead Xeveris came to a stop a few steps behind Ermid. The scent of blood and smoke choked the air and Xeveris could bring himself to move his feet.

The people behind Xeveris also came to a halt as they noticed what had made Xeveris stop. The sight made their stomachs turn.

The first village they had come across was ablaze and the dead bodies of the Pure Mana Elves were strewn everywhere, the blood splashed everywhere and the fire feasted over the remains.

They couldn’t deny the essence of dead mana here which seemed to be the reason for the grass and the trees around that had grown skeletal and dark.

"This is..." One of the dark Elves gasped.

"They have gone way overboard!"

Xeveris steeled himself and they kept moving ahead, faster this time and each time they could come across a place which once was a part of the civilization they would also see the signs of how brutally it was destroyed. There weren’t any survivors, not even kids or women were spared.

The Dark Elves could feel the sense of foreboding as the made their way further in, they carnage and destruction they passed just soldified their thoughts that the Pure Mana Elves would not just tolerate the destruction of this level.

Xeveris and his party marched ahead dreading the fight more than ever. Xeveris wondered if Aelfric would even give him a chance to explain their situation this time. But then again, he also realised that unlike Aelfric, Xeveris had failed to be a good leader to his people.

They all seemed to respect him on the surface but underneath, they all were filled with dissent and a strong willed person like Fior was not an unprecedented thing. Eventually, Xeveris could only blame his leniency and himself for letting it escalate so far that so many innocent lives were lost.

Suddenly as they were marching, they started to hear the sounds of flames crackling and the familiar scent of burning wood from up ahead which horrifyingly were paired with the sounds of a few screams.

The dark elves looked at each other, tensed and hopeful, they probably had finally caught up to the rogue band.

Xeveris shook his head, blaming himself could come later, right now he should do his part and stop all of this.