Chapter 4
It was a living forest. She had been here for some times, and the feeling was the same everytime. As if some kind of ever-present spirit stalked the strangers from the treetops, form the ground grass, from the polen spreading through the air with the evening breeze. From everywhere.
The angel ambassador felt a chill. She was being observed, she knew. But this land was friendly, or at the very least, neutral. Not bad, in times of war.
Two elves wearing hardened-wood armors and spikes suddenly intercepted her path, coming from nowhere, looking at her as if they had been looking for her.
"Ambassador Aline", said one of them, "we apologize for letting you walk alone through the forest for so long."
Aline felt somehow relieved for having company. Still she wasn't about to show weakness or fear.
"There was nothing to fear. This is friendly land."
"Indeed", said the elf, smiling. "Come. We will bring you to our Queen."
What she said wasn't exactly true, but it didn't seem to matter then, Aline thought. She resumed her walk through the forest once again, now escorted by the two elves. Night was falling, and with her, a deep, spectral silence. No creature was heard, no leaf was shaking with the wind. Darkness spread all around. Temperature dropped. Mist started to form at the ground level, envolving the trees, the green soil. The only light she could see came from the torches the elves carried to illuminate the path.
They reached the trees' threshold. A wide, clear space opened in front of them. A throne made of wood and vines was in the center, two great fires burning behind it. Elvish sentries were positioned all around. In the throne, sat an elf - Amadrienia, Queen of Nindel.
The elves escorting Aline led her to their queen, bowing for her in respect and worship. Then they left.
"Queen Amadrienia", started Aline.
"Ambassador Aline", Amadrienia replied. "It is a pleasure to see you once again, though I am inclined to believe you didn't come here to bring me pleasant news."
Aline smiled. Amadrienia was indeed pragmatic and intelligent. Her irony was sadly right. Never had the angels send an ambassador to Nindel for good reasons.
"My apologies, my Queen, but this time will be no different."
"Do tell."
"The Underworld", the angel said, the smile vanishing from her face as she became suddenly serious. "An army crossed the Eastern Gate days ago. They laid waste in some southern Aznaghal's towns."
"That is not new, Ambassador", replied the queen. "Since the opening of the Eastern Gate fifty years ago, the Underworld's raids against Aznaghal and Brania were more or less regular. I thought already knew how to deal with their demons."
The elf queen's despair for the problems of the other side of the world shocked Aline, specially because she knew Amadrienia had fought the last great war against the Underworld - a legendary war almost three millenia ago, known everywhere as the Eastern Wars. So, the angel council - the eternal peacekeepers - expected Nindel to join the other nations for an incoming war. Aline had been sent to the living forest to seal the alliance - a purpose that seemed suddenly hard to accomplish for the young angel.
Still, she wouldn't give up so easilly. "They've never been. And even if they were - things changed."
This statement seemed to draw Amadrienia's attention. "What do you mean, Ambassador?"
Aline went on. "The army, led by a warlord powerful as no other we had seen before, crossed the Eastern Gateway and laid siege on Miordaal, a city located in the southern Aznaghal Mountains. The city resisted a few hours. Then they advanced, despoiling the fields, burning all the villages they found in their way, until they reached Theronia, an important trade city."
"Are you going to tell me the battle's whole story?", Amandrienia interrupted, bored.
Aline sustain her anger, trying to ignore the queen's insolence. "Theronia called for help. The Aznaghal king, Valek, answered the call, and sent an army. Mil'Garion answered the call as well, sending a small army to help. Both have been slaughtered. The city has been wiped out. Then the demons returned to the Underworld."
Amadrienia's expression changed with the ambassador's latest words. She was worried, knowing that even the angels had lost a battle - which was out of anyone's mind.
"The Underworld has grown more powerful", continued Aline, having everyone's attention. "They are using some kind of dark magic to strenghten their warriors, to enhance their weapons. Their leadership structure might have changed as well, but that we cannot know, for no one of our spies returned."
She had worried Amadrienia, and she felt a dark satisfaction for that. Still, the most difficult part were yet to come.
"I have been sent here for a reason", Aline said. "After the battle, Valek decided to wage war against the Underworld. Knowing that he can't fight the demons alone, he sent ambassadors to every nation in the world - even to us. I know you must be asking yourself by now why am I here, and not his ambassador. It's simple, in fact. We knew the relationship between Nindel and Amakhor are not the best - so, we thought a neutral party might show more trust for each side."
The damage a love affair could do, Aline thought. Nindel and Amakhor have been allied not long ago - while Valek and Amadrienia were lovers. They broke up recently - and so did their nations. Only hatred remained between king and queen, and that's why the alliance between them - even to fight a common enemy - seemed so complicated to achieve.
"We must wait", said Amadrienia, for the ambassador's surprise. "As you said, we still don't know what's the source of the demon's unusual strenght. We must find out first what we are up against. Then, Nindel might consider to join Valek's coalition."
"You must understand, my Queen, that -"
"That was my last word, Ambassador", she replied, not letting the angel to finish her speech. "I must reunite with the Council of Leaves. The situation will be avaliated. Word will be sent to Mil'Garion when the time comes."
Continue to argue with the elf queen was pointless then. Turning to the elf scouts, who were already waiting for her to guide her through the spectral forest, Aline sighed, frustrated. For a moment she wished the Underworld to invade Nindel; but remembering what she had seen in Theronia - in Theronia's smouldering ruins -, she decided that even Amadrienia's pride didn't deserve such fate.
The angel ambassador felt a chill. She was being observed, she knew. But this land was friendly, or at the very least, neutral. Not bad, in times of war.
Two elves wearing hardened-wood armors and spikes suddenly intercepted her path, coming from nowhere, looking at her as if they had been looking for her.
"Ambassador Aline", said one of them, "we apologize for letting you walk alone through the forest for so long."
Aline felt somehow relieved for having company. Still she wasn't about to show weakness or fear.
"There was nothing to fear. This is friendly land."
"Indeed", said the elf, smiling. "Come. We will bring you to our Queen."
What she said wasn't exactly true, but it didn't seem to matter then, Aline thought. She resumed her walk through the forest once again, now escorted by the two elves. Night was falling, and with her, a deep, spectral silence. No creature was heard, no leaf was shaking with the wind. Darkness spread all around. Temperature dropped. Mist started to form at the ground level, envolving the trees, the green soil. The only light she could see came from the torches the elves carried to illuminate the path.
They reached the trees' threshold. A wide, clear space opened in front of them. A throne made of wood and vines was in the center, two great fires burning behind it. Elvish sentries were positioned all around. In the throne, sat an elf - Amadrienia, Queen of Nindel.
The elves escorting Aline led her to their queen, bowing for her in respect and worship. Then they left.
"Queen Amadrienia", started Aline.
"Ambassador Aline", Amadrienia replied. "It is a pleasure to see you once again, though I am inclined to believe you didn't come here to bring me pleasant news."
Aline smiled. Amadrienia was indeed pragmatic and intelligent. Her irony was sadly right. Never had the angels send an ambassador to Nindel for good reasons.
"My apologies, my Queen, but this time will be no different."
"Do tell."
"The Underworld", the angel said, the smile vanishing from her face as she became suddenly serious. "An army crossed the Eastern Gate days ago. They laid waste in some southern Aznaghal's towns."
"That is not new, Ambassador", replied the queen. "Since the opening of the Eastern Gate fifty years ago, the Underworld's raids against Aznaghal and Brania were more or less regular. I thought already knew how to deal with their demons."
The elf queen's despair for the problems of the other side of the world shocked Aline, specially because she knew Amadrienia had fought the last great war against the Underworld - a legendary war almost three millenia ago, known everywhere as the Eastern Wars. So, the angel council - the eternal peacekeepers - expected Nindel to join the other nations for an incoming war. Aline had been sent to the living forest to seal the alliance - a purpose that seemed suddenly hard to accomplish for the young angel.
Still, she wouldn't give up so easilly. "They've never been. And even if they were - things changed."
This statement seemed to draw Amadrienia's attention. "What do you mean, Ambassador?"
Aline went on. "The army, led by a warlord powerful as no other we had seen before, crossed the Eastern Gateway and laid siege on Miordaal, a city located in the southern Aznaghal Mountains. The city resisted a few hours. Then they advanced, despoiling the fields, burning all the villages they found in their way, until they reached Theronia, an important trade city."
"Are you going to tell me the battle's whole story?", Amandrienia interrupted, bored.
Aline sustain her anger, trying to ignore the queen's insolence. "Theronia called for help. The Aznaghal king, Valek, answered the call, and sent an army. Mil'Garion answered the call as well, sending a small army to help. Both have been slaughtered. The city has been wiped out. Then the demons returned to the Underworld."
Amadrienia's expression changed with the ambassador's latest words. She was worried, knowing that even the angels had lost a battle - which was out of anyone's mind.
"The Underworld has grown more powerful", continued Aline, having everyone's attention. "They are using some kind of dark magic to strenghten their warriors, to enhance their weapons. Their leadership structure might have changed as well, but that we cannot know, for no one of our spies returned."
She had worried Amadrienia, and she felt a dark satisfaction for that. Still, the most difficult part were yet to come.
"I have been sent here for a reason", Aline said. "After the battle, Valek decided to wage war against the Underworld. Knowing that he can't fight the demons alone, he sent ambassadors to every nation in the world - even to us. I know you must be asking yourself by now why am I here, and not his ambassador. It's simple, in fact. We knew the relationship between Nindel and Amakhor are not the best - so, we thought a neutral party might show more trust for each side."
The damage a love affair could do, Aline thought. Nindel and Amakhor have been allied not long ago - while Valek and Amadrienia were lovers. They broke up recently - and so did their nations. Only hatred remained between king and queen, and that's why the alliance between them - even to fight a common enemy - seemed so complicated to achieve.
"We must wait", said Amadrienia, for the ambassador's surprise. "As you said, we still don't know what's the source of the demon's unusual strenght. We must find out first what we are up against. Then, Nindel might consider to join Valek's coalition."
"You must understand, my Queen, that -"
"That was my last word, Ambassador", she replied, not letting the angel to finish her speech. "I must reunite with the Council of Leaves. The situation will be avaliated. Word will be sent to Mil'Garion when the time comes."
Continue to argue with the elf queen was pointless then. Turning to the elf scouts, who were already waiting for her to guide her through the spectral forest, Aline sighed, frustrated. For a moment she wished the Underworld to invade Nindel; but remembering what she had seen in Theronia - in Theronia's smouldering ruins -, she decided that even Amadrienia's pride didn't deserve such fate.
posted by João Campos at 1:31 PM
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