“You really jumped with that attitude of yours, huh?” the male voice said. It was human, but the face of an elf. Fair-skinned with long tied red hair. He wore a green hair jacket while sitting on the wooden bed. Lirael yawned as he got up from his bed. “ To be thrown here along with a demotion. I wonder how you offend the local commander so much.” He said with a look of curiosity.


    “ I only told the truth. People don’t join the rangers to work in mines.” Opposite him was another elf, with green hair and brown irises. He had light green armour on his body that contrasted with black, long-laced boots, Amaril. His face distorted into disdain as he looked at the armour made of thin lark and shoes. “ This gear is for city guards, not rangers in the snow. Might as well go naked. ”


    “Now, now, you don’t want to end up with cleaning duty on the first day, do you?” Lirael began putting on his armour too. It was somewhat worn out, and one could see the lark inside having long cracks from the sides. Amaril just scoffed off at his words and walked towards the door. With a woosh, chilled winds rushed inside along with massive white snow. The sudden cold swept the room, chilling both elves inside. “ Stop! I am freezing here.” Amaril shivered when he said this.


    “So much for being a Knight. Stop whining and let''s go. I don’t want to be late.”


    “ Well, I feel your problem now, people should have flexibility in their life.” Lirael said with annoyance. Rubbing his hands for some warmth, he walked outside. “ Let me say this in full, do not open your mouth when meeting the team leader. Let me handle the talking.”


    “ And why should I worry about that?”


    “Ha…” With a lot more sighing the duo walked on the rocky lands with paths that were enough for only four people to cross side by side, leading up to a somewhat spacious ground. It was dark of night, and they had to walk with caution lest they fall off into the deep valleys that spanned either of their sides. The winds kept blowing their elvish flag of a green background and a world tree with white in the centre. The snow had already started to pile on the ground and few could be seen standing near the flag. This was the foremost elvish post up the high peaks of Verdant Divides. The Elvish Rangers, or so they were called, were part of the border patrol command of the Elvish army.


    “I say, he won’t be here for some time. What’s with the love of becoming a snowman?” Lirael said with a shaking body.


    “You can leave whenever you want.”


    “ Come on man, no one would notice in the dark of night anyway.” Despite saying so, Lirael stood beside him. Then a couple of more elves in similar armour walked up to them.


    “Yo, why so early? Did you eat something wrong today?” A short elf smirked as he approached Lirael. He glanced at Amaril and said. “And what’s with this straight pole beside you?”


    “  Beth, meet our new teammate,” Lirael said, his hands spread apart helplessly in the air. It doesn’t help that the magic torches, which are not only needed for light but also to provide warmth to others, were not adequate in number. Only one was available near the flag. But it was not difficult for the knights, as they could see at night much darker than today. Soon, among the chattering of people, a total of six elves in different stages of worn-out armour lined up on the ground. And soon, another elf, with somewhat rusted armour walked in front of them. When they saw him approach, they stopped talking and straightened their backs.


    “Sir Rorathiel.” They all said with a salute. Rorathiel, the elf with his margarita hair freckled face and a small hot bun on his hands, returned the salute with a sloppy hand. He walked up near the torch and hardly looked up towards them from his bun. “ Lirael, is everyone here?” he asked with a light tone.


    “Yes sir, all men are present and ready to go.”Lirael stepped forward and said in a little loud voice.


    Rorathiel nodded a little and said after taking another bite. “ By the way, a letter came from HQ. Apparently, the oil supply might get delayed this month. Remember to keep that in mind.”


    “ Understood, Sir.” The words invoked no surprise on anyone’s face, except for Amaril who had a frown up his eyes. The army has been getting more and more neglected over the years. He didn’t have much hope since his revelation of working in mines, but he nevertheless felt disappointment creeping in. Amaril knows it was a rot that ran too deep, he after all was demoted from Team leader when refused to work in the Moonstone mines up in the north.


    “Let’s get going then.”


    “ Sir, we got a new soldier reporting today.”


    “I know, I just don’t care. Let''s move, I don’t want to stay up in this cold night for longer than necessary.” With those blunt words, Rorathiel walked up front and others soon followed after. The path soon became narrower, so much so that only two people could walk side by side from four. The cold winds kept howling at them while they slowly made their way forward. Not long after they left the camp, the path got piled up with snow, a lot of it. It reached till their waists but posed little challenge for knights. The flame of the torch was barely enough to light in the dark of night and it was clear the leading person was walking based more on his memory rather than light.


    “Well, I didn’t know you could listen.” Lirael followed up beside Amaril and said so. He looked to his right and into the valley before moving a little closer to his left. Pushing the other elf closer to sharp rocks. In some places, one could see parts of stones turned dark red, with leftover pieces of clothes stuck to the sharp rocks and sometimes, being used as makeshift warning signs. After fifteen minutes, they came across a place where the light green mixed haphazardly stitched together along the khaki-coloured clothes in rough ways to make a rooftop of a light tent. Besides it, cut-off limbs could be seen peeking out from the thin cover of snow. “Want some armour? You can pick a better one here.” Lirael said to Amaril as they walked closer to a pile of snow.


    “Stop fucking with me, who would want a human armour?” Amaril said with a disgusted look on his face. Different from others who just walked in a leisurely way, he was moving his sharp eyes all around. Here he could see multiple cuts on the walls, some of which were deeper than the length of his arm.


    “I was offering elvish armour, you know.” Lirael shrugged his shoulders.


    “ Think we’ll run into them?” Amrail asked as he fixed his eyes on the rocks.


    “Who? The humans?” Lirael shook his head. “ Not usually. We patrol at different times to avoid skirmishes.” The boundaries of humans and elves were poorly defined. Both claimed the full Verdant Divides for themselves but were lacking in full control. Most forward posts lacked significant built up of forces from either side.This part of theirs was more remote because of a path that was among the narrowest and roughest. As Lirael explained the patro schedule, the narrow path ahead forced him to take the lead. He stopped in suddenly as the path below his feat disappeared. “ It’s a small gap here, remember to measure the distance well.” He said before jumping across to the other end. The ends resembled a cut running across the mountain. The cut on the mountain was neither sharp nor coarse but rather it was as if the mountain was melted by something before being frozen again. “Also, check for the winds. One time a guy got blown by them during his jump.”


    Amrail took a deep breath and leapt across, ignoring Lirael’s cautious warnings . With a thumb, his legs were steady, and as he walked, the frost over his body shook off. The scene made Lirael’s mouth twitch, just a little shy of throwing a whistle at it. He used his hands to remove the frost from himself before going forward. As the party moved, sometimes the paths went under the cover of rocks, while other times, they had to squeeze their bodies and walk sideways to pass through. It was after such a two-hour walk that they arrived at another checkpoint, a space caved inwards into rocks to make enough space for the team to stand on. A half-torn green elvish flag stood beside broken spears repurposed as guardrails.


    “It''s troubling.” Rorathiel said at the front as he knelt and looked at the flag and untouched snow “ Hey new guy, see if you can find any cigarette butts around here.”


    “Yes Sir,” Amrail walked up front and did as was told, but where could he find a cigarette? “ There’s nothing here, Sir.” All he achieved was clearing the snow and making extra room for the people to stand on.


    “Lirael, how many days will it be without them today?” Rorathiel asked with a deep frown. He looked at the winds, which were starting to pick up speed and fell into thought. It would soon be the time for the upcoming blizzard, and they had to make their way back before it caught up to them.


    “About three months and seventeen days, Sir.” Hearing his words, Amrail gave him a questioning look and so, Lirael whispered to him. “ Those were usually left behind by humans to indicate their patrolling route and also act as markers.”


    “ Do you think they gave up this route?” Amrail asked with a confused face but before Lirael could reply, Rorathiel spoke in between.


    “ Humans don’t give up,” He said, waving dismissively. “ More likely, they are brewing something up behind.”


    “Sir, I heard they have a civil war upcoming. Won’t it make them give up borders?” Amrail asked, as he couldn’t agree with the high evaluation of humans from the mouth of elves. For him, it was not the deeper conspiracy of humans but the lack of courage to patrol such harsh lands. But his words earned him the disdainful chuckle from the Rorathiel.


    “ Ah yes, the pitchings of ‘Make Elves Great Again’. Even at the end of the land, we can’t escape from it, can we?” Rorathiel said after dusting off his knees. As Amrail opened his mouth, Rorathiel raised a hand to silence him. “ Don’t open your mouth. I feel next you would be selling us a big speech to commit mass suicide by walking up to human posts for investigation. This is our last patrolling point, and we are turning back from here.”


    “ But Sir…”


    “ Why don’t you take a look at your armour, and tell me about your thoughts on taking a spell to the face? ” Without waiting for his words next, Rorathiel looked at Lirael and said, “ Leave the marks as usual. And write me another unread letter to be reported back to HQ. Kinda makes me wonder how such a wasteful usage of paper and ink survived the budget cuts.”


    “Understood, sir,” Lirael said as he hit Amrail with his elbow to get him moving outside. As they started to move back, he came closer to the grumpy-faced Amrail, who looked as if he swallowed a whole bug alive and whispered, “ Don’t worry too much about his words, he didn’t even curse at you yet. Besides, don’t you see the winds howling next to your ear?”


    “ We are knights.”


    “ Look at the sky, man, if you want to show humans their place, you gotta wait till the sky is lit, no?” In between their words, they kept moving on, while the snowfall increased so much that despite their enhanced eyes, no one could see more than ten meters ahead of them. But it was not far from their destination, about fifteen minutes or less of a walk. But it was just before they could enter the camp that the team suddenly stopped. Everyone looked at Rorathiel who stopped moving and stared at the fluttering flag of the camp.


    “Is there something wrong, sir?” Beth asked him in a puzzled tone.


    “The winds, it''s not right.” The captain’s words made everyone look at the flag to see what was wrong. The flag was fluttering with its free end in the opposite direction to them. At night, the cold winds from the mountains sweep into the lands of Thar, and so the flag should have been fluttering with the free end facing their direction. Instead, the opposite of that had happened. “ Let’s move inside the base and wake up the other teams. I am not getting a good feeling for tonight.”


    “Sir, should we really worry so much?” Beth asked, he didn’t know about it, but Rorathiel was stationed here for the longest among anyone present and even known to have taken part in the last Human-Elvish war.


    “You don’t understand. I have seen it change direction like that once. You don’t get the meaning of it. A war is coming.” Rorathiel''s eyes quivered as he licked his lips when he finished saying it. He still remembered that day when humans had just finished their Divine war and focused on this front to push them back. It was the first time he saw the yellow sands that pushed up the winds back into the elvish forest. Despite their HQ believing the Thar’s guardian was seriously injured, whoever entered the sands never came back.


    Seeing the confused, non-believing look from his men, he didn’t bother to explain more. “ Get moving, it''s an order.” It was said, fortune never comes in pairs, while misfortune never comes alone. He was just going with another set of orders when the winds howled in strength as if a beast had awakened. And speed was unseen as it pushed everyone back while the snow on the stones also slid across. All knights had to use their strengths, and unprepared ones got dropped to their backs while especially unlucky ones fell to their faces. “ Grab something, you idiots, do you want to hop on the wind for a ride?” Seeing his men in panicked disorder, Rorathiel shouted across his lungs. But he stopped looking as even in the dark of night, he could see the thing that terrified him in the past. The grains of sand crashed towards them as they ripped through the ice.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    “That…” Roratiel’s breath stagnated when his eyes caught up with the ever-so-increasing sand. Only when he noticed them getting stopped outside the camp, as if clashing with an invisible wall, did he release his breath. “ Get your shits together, no one goes outside! Stay within the protection of spirits. Anyone who disobeyed would be dealt with by mutiny laws." His body started to shine with pale yellow light, which steadied his heart. Those were not just the sands, but the extension of the law domain of Dusty Devil, which was always countered by the power of their world tree. It was, after all, the thing that kept the frontline stable till now. He turned back towards his men, who were barely on their feet and had faces that screamed confusion, and it only furthered his anger. “ I said stop gawing an–”


    At this moment, a loud sound entered his ears that made him swallow his words back. A sharp, high-pitched crack of a glass rupturing reverberated through the mountains. Followed right after by a loud howl of a beast that sent shockwaves through the camp and had everyone’s ears ringing. A sharp pain came next as if someone had hammered their head with a sledgehammer and sent their consciousness weaving while blood started to ooze from their orifices. Lirael was among the few most unlucky, as he was physically thrown back from the shockwave and crashed right into a wooden bunker. He shook his head, and by his ears, the only other sound besides the sharp ringing of the bell was the screeching sound of pain. He struggled to look up with now red eyes, which shook the moment they registered the view in front of him. The sands covered all elves and dug into their flesh by piercing them through their skin, only to come out from the other side dripping in blood and pieces of flesh. The scene shocked his mind, and he couldn’t respond until sharp pain from his skin ran through his spine to his brain. He hastily looked down, and everything from his chest to his toes was covered with sand. He tried to use his aura in panic, but to his horror, it didn’t move to his will. Instead, he felt a strong suction force that not only pulled his aura but also his blood and spread out from his back as the sands crushed his spine and destroyed the bunker. He opened his mouth to scream, but the sand choked his throat and suppressed his voice. It only took less than ten seconds for his body to stop moving, and all that was left was the dried, broken remains of his former self that no one could use to identify with. It was the case with all other life forms in the camp. Only the howls of a beast kept reverberating again as the sandstorm moved deeper into the borders of the elves.


    The same story repeated with all other forward camps of elves, the last and the biggest of them, at the base of the mountain, with about thirty thousand elves too fell in less than one minute. No one among the elves expected the sudden storm and died with an unwilling face. The storm slowed down for a moment as it crossed the mountains and came into contact with the forest. Different from Thar, it was filled with sounds of life, from the chirping of birds to the buzzing of insects. For a moment, as if it was appreciating the beauty of the surreal scenery, the storm started to move again and kept speeding up. The moment it crashed into the trees, the sand attached itself into the trees, which became visibly dry and black. The green leaves turned yellow as they fell into the dried and cracked soil from which the very moisture was sucked. The sounds of insects and birds were simply no more for they didn’t even get the time to scream. Only one or twice would one be able to hear the sounds of a big beast, before it too disappeared into the sands. But the storm kept marching on deeper into the elvish heartlands, and ever so closer to the elvish settlements.


    Up in the mountains, cutting across the winds, three big warships flew towards the elvish kingdom. Made of big bones with a big flag scorpion while the sides were engraved with a big ‘Y’ letter. They were not alone either, surrounded them were the countless wasps and giant black beetles. The latter were tied with ropes and nets to carry large rolled-up centipedes with them. Their buzzing sounds were so loud, that some weaker buildings shook from their force. At the top, the deck of the central ship was crowded too. A column of about a hundred people, with armour and robes stood straight. Each one had four stars on their chest while their hearts thumped with power as they looked at the last peak being crossed by their ship as they entered what once was the elvish lands. A loud cheer rang through all the ships as the land after mountains appeared in front of them. In front of them were standing a bunch of people with hands behind their backs and a calm tone different from all others, though some had more smiles on their faces with the rest having a solemn look.


    “ It seems like a done deal,” Bardar said with a somewhat deep tone. Still dressed in his wizard robes, he looked more solemn than the rest.


    “ It is just beginning.” Arcturus beside him said with a small smile. His eyes looked down from the ship and at the dried-up trees, and couldn''t help but nod a little. “ But it sure was almost half done. At the very least, elves can forget about reclaiming the Verdant Divides ever again.”


    “ I am surprised how smooth this step went.”


    “ Yes, it saved us from the most difficult of tasks. At least we won’t have to use blood ceremony to break through the law domain.”


    “How long till Yavannaithil?” Bardar asked back. It was the second-largest city of elves and their main target. Currently, the Three independent armies of Thar have invaded from three different places. Up in the north, from Nertherend towards Moonstone mines, the main export mines of elves. From Esparton towards Yavannaithil and lastly from Ember Reach to Teldrassil, the most important port of elves. Originally, the Thar’s main army was supposed to fight in the mountains to distract the elves while they went in the rear to secure the main objectives, but now it was not needed for they have completely outdone their opponents and taken the whole of Verdant Divides in less than one hour.


    “ About twenty minutes,” Arcturus said with some thinking. He looked at the small elvish settlement in the ground which was surrounded by the storm but it didn’t enter to kill. Just remained in an encirclement. “ Alvin, have the men go in and secure the towns. Remind them about capturing all non-combatants alive.”


    “ Commander, I have assigned the men, and they are about to drop down as we speak.” Alvin, the four-star mage said with a salute and continued. “ But I expect some casualties among elvish non-combatants due to lack of suitable training on our side.”


    “ Those are just lousy excuses.” A refuting sound came from his side. It was from the man in knight armour with a big sword, Kalvin.


    “ You should be familiar with the operational limitations of ours. We never planned to take over those settlements like this, and our men don’t know how to be precise.” Alvin shot back with long eyes beneath his hood.


    “ Just get hit once or twice, what’s the big deal?”


    “Not everyone has a thick skull like yours.”


    “Don’t get started in this place.” Arcturus stopped both of them with a stern voice. He then looked at Alvin and said in an absolute tone. “Though rash, I agree with Kalvin’s words. We have an absolute advantage over them. Let them get hurt if they need to, but I want all non-combatants elves alive. Have them know my words.”


    “ Understood, commander.”


    Seeing them getting back to relay the orders, the deck started to move as more and more people started to get off the deck and move to assume command of the men under them, Arcturus reached back to Bardar.


    “ You don’t need to be that harsh, I know when to put away my little thoughts,” Bardar said as the winds blew across him.


    “ I am only making them know that the time of endless bloodbath is coming to an end,” Arcturus said slowly. On his shoulder, the little scorpion seemed to be asleep when it was picked up by him and held in his hands. Seeing him moving his tail in annoyance, he couldn’t help but press his tiny head.


    “You think too highly of me.”


    “ Quite the opposite, I feel I should have looked up at you sooner than now.”


    “ Right…”


    “ I know you don’t believe it. But I know my mother’s vision better than you. And that’s why I feel like I have to cover up for my men right now.” Arcturus said while Bardar started to frown at him. Putting the little scorpion back on his shoulder, Arcturus said as he looked forwards, at the distance where a big tree was getting closer and closer. “ Don’t tell me, you don’t have a contingency plan up your sleeves to deal with everyone not working along with your ideas. Did you not?” There was silence after that, and in such peace, their destination appeared in front of them.


    ***


    Yavannaithil, was the city unlike any other in the whole of Aurelianaethil. The houses were made of stones with green moss growing over them. Sometimes, the flowery veins drop down from the three-floor tall buildings. They hid the sharp corners and rather lack of woods and hays which prevailed much of the elvish kingdom. The city lacked any river or lake, but the water spirit never made them feel the need for them. The pathway itself was made from broken chunks of stones and wood filled with hardened mud and magic light poles stood on either side of the roads. Sometimes it was wide for the commercial streets, other times it was much narrower on the residential streets. Along the twists and turns of the road, wherever possible beside the road drainage were the sweet plantations of flowers which filled the air with a sweet smell that even the winds can’t take away. And most noticeable of all, was the presence of young saplings of the elvish world tree at the centre of the city, Yavannaithil. It was the sole existence that attracted more than a million elves into the city, making Yavannaithil the second largest city of elves. Legend among elves mentioned the Yavannaithil’s sweet smell that could calm the very soul of living beings, but ought to be proven wrong.


    “Commander, it''s not good. We lost contact with all teams.” An elf in armour said with a panicked voice and face full of fear.


    Among many elves in armour that stood at the edge of the city where a visible wall of pale blue separated the sandstorm and them. The most noticeable of them was the elf called Caladwen, dressed in a red-sleeved undershirt with armour made of fine vines around his chest. His hair was of a dull golden hue while his eyes had a red tint to them. He had a deep frown across the eyes with black lines on the otherwise fair face. “ You meant all of them? Even the spirits?” His voice was deep, which hid his inner panic. He was the commander of the garrison troops stationed in Yavannaithil. But most of all, he too knew what the sandstorm represented.


    “ Sir, what should we do?” The words made Caladwen take deep breaths before his eyes focused again.


    “Declare an emergency. I want you to gather all the manpower in the city and start building a reinforced wall. Also, get women and children towards the centre of the city.”


    “But sir, the centre of the city is…” His deputy commander, Firiel said with uncertainty. The area around the centre city was an area reserved exclusively for the High Elves, the ones with much purer bloodlines than the rest. It was in fact a criminal offence for elves of lesser pure blood to even enter there, much less take a refuge.


    “ It''s alright. We have a situation here.” Caladwen said but before he could say more, a voice cut across the elvish garrison.


    “ Is it so? How come I didn’t know about it?” With the words was the sound of thumping boots. An elf dressed in bright but pale golden silk robes which were filled with intricate brown branches of the tree with a pink flower. With white hairs neatly combed. Thranduil, the governor of Yavannaithil. Seeing his appearance, all elves including Caladwen saluted him. Thranduil on the other hand, didn’t respond to them and instead looked at the sandstorm and said. “ Why are you guys making a fuss about such a prank?”


    “Governor, I feel you are not understanding the situation.” Caladwen has to stand forward and say with a frown. Thranduil had never fought with Thar’s forces, and neither had he, a high-blood elf, ever been deployed to the frontline. Elves like him rarely ever do. They were simply too important to be sent there. “ It''s not a prank, but the ability of the Dusty Devil.”


    “Puff…that dead thing.” Thranduil laughed at his words, unconcerned. “ Caladwen, it seems your eyes are getting bad. There’s no way that a dying insect could ever be here.”


    “ Then, what about the sandstorm outside? Is it only my eyes that seem to be able to see it, Governor?”


    “ The elemental spirits, we know how mischievous they can be at times. It''s nothing more than their way of creating trouble, give them some time and all will return to normal.”


    “Sir, all spirits have run away towards Yavannaith, they too feel fear from whatever beast is outside,” Caladwen said with visible annoyance across his face. He tried to hold it back, but his voice couldn’t help but raise a little. “ If it''s a prank why would they run? They are not even responding to our call anymore.”


    “Which prankster would not run after his prank?” Thranduil, for the first time, narrowed his voice. “ Besides, the Queen has accused me, and like our past, there’s never a time that those insects could ever breach the Verdant Divides. Unless you believe yourself to be above us, the High elves, to deny our words. Are you doubting the words of our Queen?” He placed his index on Caladwen’s armour and questioned him. In elvish society, the purity of blood has always been the determinant factor of one’s standing. But most importantly, the elemental spirits would listen more to the one with a higher bloodline and would simply abandon with lesser pure blood. A devastating outcome for beings whose magic borrows heavily from spirits.


    It was for that reason that Caladwen found it difficult to argue against the illogical reasoning. But more so, he knew the futility of arguing against him. It had never worked since the day he had been in this position. He released a long breath, and said with visibly less energy. “ Then, what would be the optimal course of action, Lord Thranduil?”


    “Go back to the barracks. Don’t disturb the city. We would be able to ask spirits to stop playing after some time. I don’t care, just don’t create any fuzz tonight.” Thranduil waved his hand and started to walk away. Leaving behind a group of confused-looking elves.


    “Commander, what should we do?”  Firiel asked helplessly but more so, his heart was full of fear.


    “...don’t disturb the city,” Caladwen said in a low voice. “ Also, start moving people closer to you towards the city centre. Remember not to make too much noise.” Hearing his words, the elves looked around each other before nodding to him. They could only pray to spirits that nothing goes wrong.


    On the other hand, Thranduil arrived back to the stone luxury quarters near the roots of Yavannaith, the lights were streaming from the windows as well as the movements of elves dressed in high silk dresses. Inside the city lord''s mansion, made entirely of blue and green jade marbles, long red carpets, the smell of fruit wines and alcohol and the lavish dinner plates could be at a glance. At the centre stage of the hall, a band of beautiful elves with long braided hair and long earrings of different sizes was playing soft retro jazz. Perhaps it was because they didn''t want to disturb the guests, as from the onlookers, no one was listening to the music. They were talking and laughing, while some wondered where their spirits had suddenly run away to. But no one had any serious face, much less worried.


    Thranduil arrived and greeted some elves before moving towards the table close to the stage. There, a group of elves, mostly young, were sitting. One person particularly stood up among others, she had long silver hair with almost white skin. A slightly tall stature for her age, wearing an elegant dark green off-shoulder netted frock dress with long white gloves that go halfway through her hands. Her eyes like light blue with small tints of green, as if the colour of the ocean. Lyra, the daughter of Seraphine Aurelia Silverleaf, and the only princess of Aurelianaethil. At this time, she seemed not in the mood to talk, as she kept declining the dance invitations from others.


    “ Princess Lyra, you don’t seem to enjoy the night. Was it not up to your mark?” Thranduil said as he arrived. Lyra noticed him too and told others to excuse her who promptly retreated. As much as they would like to talk, they don’t want to offend Thranduil, who was next in line to be the Great Elder in the Elvish council.


    “It’s not like that, Lord Thranduil.” Lyra shook her head. Her voice was a little soft but still firm. “ I am feeling some nausea and strange unease, especially when I call spirits but they are not responding to my call. Even the communication with Yavannaith seems to be shaky. Did something happen outside?”


    “That’s worrying. I think we should have you checked. Besides, you are still young, so you might face trouble with calling to spirits… or Yavannaith.” Thranduil said with concern. But denied anything happening outside. “ It''s just some spirits playing a prank.”


    “ A prank?”


    “ Nothing much to talk about. After all, we live under the protection of the Aurelianaeth. There’s nothing in this world that can go wrong here.” Thranduil then started to introduce her to some people in his closer circles, and Lyra could only suppress her unease.