Farelen picked up Eremil, who was trying to hide in his father's arms, and lifted him up high. The boy did try to escape, but of-course was powerless against the giant.

  Farelen smiled and proclaimed:

  “You will become a fine warrior little one. You are strong for your age. Is your father training you?”

  Eremil did not reply first, but seeing that there was no escape, he gave up, and finally replied:

  “I train with the sword everyday. I will become an adventurer.”

  “Oh, you certainly have the strength for it. Listen to your father, and you shall become as strong as the sword-saint himself. Do you know him?” Farelen asked.

  “Yes! I have heard alot of stories from my father. He is the strongest in the world!” the boy replied with cheerful smile.

  “You are intelligent for your age. I hope you grow up to be the sword-saint's greatest warrior.”

  Farelen then finally put him down. Eremil ran behind his father.

  “Now then, my lady, does uncle Farelen have the permission to lift you up as well?”

  The giant opened his arms towards Elanor, the little daughter of Thrandul. She was much more shy, and did not even answer.

  “Very well. We shall talk later. There is no need to be afraid of me, I am only big in size. Infact, I am powerless infront of you strong kids.” Farelen joked which made the children giggle.

  “I see that you still have a soft spot for children. The first time I saw you, I could never have imagined you to be so calm and gentle around anyone. I was proven wrong when you regularly played with those children who had been seprated from their parents. You are soft at heart, comrade.” Thrandul said.

  Viyetral and the others smiled at this sight.

  All of them entered to the guest-room. It was decorated and furnished modestly. There were no chairs, but giant cushions on the ground for them to sit — it was a way that was most common in this region.

  They all sat around a low-table. Eremil and Elanor occasionally glanced at Farelen who met their gaze with a gentle smile.

  Elanor then went near Alisa who was more than happy to play with her. Being of the same gender, Elanor felt much better around her. It did not take long for the two of them to become friend. Alisa whispered few things in the child’s ear which made her giggle. They soon went outside on the pretext of helping Leilth.

  Eremil, though was shy at-first, made his way to Harwin and others. Seeing that they had swords, he brought his own wooden sword, and pointed it towards Landel.

  Landel was much more awkward around strangers than even Alisa. He only knew how to wield weapons, or occaionaly talk to people his own age, but this was a total different matter.

  Harwin had younger siblings in his old world so he entertained the child in his friend's stead. The older folk discussed about different matters of importance.

  After a hour or two, Leith with Alisa and Elanor brought out the food. The dishes were not as luxurious or exquisite as the one they have had at the dwarven settlement, but they tasted like home. There were a few greens as well which Harwin liked more than the meat ones.

  “As always it is very delicious Leilth!”

  Thrandul complimented. She only got more flustered by the behaviour of her husband infront of the guests, but she wore a slight smile as well.

  All of the others complimented her cooking as well which further added to her cheerfulness. After dinner, Harwin and Alisa helped her with the dishes, even though she insisted for them to not get up.

  After everything was cleared off the table, Thrandul carried his children, who were fast asleep near the table, to their room. Once he left, Viyetral commented:

  “Who would have thought that the wild Thrandul would settled down, get married and have children. Fate works in mysterious ways.”

  “Was he not like this in his youth?” Harwin asked.

  “Not at all. The only thing on his mind was to compete with the other captains on the number of enemies they slayed. He was always a few numbers short on Farelen though. Both of them would quite often duel with eachother as well.”

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  “Then what made him stay in this town, and not go with the rest of you?” Alisa inquired.

  “The sword-saint had divided all of us captains, and dispersed us throughout the continent in different elfin settlements.”

  Soon Thrandul and his wife returned. Alisa had perhaps already befriended her as they both went together on the pretext of seeing the house.

  'She is certainly popular among married women' Harwin thought.

  “Old comrade, what became of the other captains? Especially commander Neilzen. I have not seen him anywhere around the council-building. Honestly, I was abit surprised when you welcomed us instead of him."

  In the elfin army, the hierarchy was as follows:

  Chief-commander, vice-chief, commander, captain, youngling officer and finally younglings. There was one commander in each of the elfin settlement, and several captains under his wing.

  Thrandul wore a gloomy yet guilty expression:

  “He was executed by the council-men under the allegations of conspiracy against our race.”

  It took a mintue for everyone to digest the statement, but then Farelen furiously grabbed Thrandul by the collar and shook him violently:

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN—”

  Viyetral, and the others grabbed him. They pushed him off of Thrandul who did not even move an inch — he did not even respond or tried to defend himself.

  “Farelen, there are children in the house. Keep your voice down.” Viyetral tried to calmn down the giant.

  Farelen sat down, but with crimson eyes filled with fury. He clutched his fists in anger.

  “What do you mean Thrandul? How can such a thing occur?” Viyetral questioned with a calm voice, but he wore a stern expression.

  “The council-men found witnesses, and evidence of him trying to over throw the local government. Uytral was the one who approved of it all. He said that he had the authority to make this decision on behalf of the sword-saint…”

  “That damn—” Farelen again got interrupted by Viyetral who lightly tapped on his shoulder.

  “What of Eizor, Jirael, Swven and the other captains? They were also no-where to be seen near the central building.”

  “Most of them are imprisoned. Some are to he executed, and few to be exiled from the town. From the original captains only myself and Lyrital remain.”

  “That bastard, Lyrital, was not even trustworthy, or resourceful during the war. Why did we not see him?” Farelen could not bear to stay shut any longer.

  “He is the loyal dog of the council. He has done the dirty work of those old men, so they try to keep him hidden. I am….I can not emphasize of how sorry I am. I could not have acted otherwise they would have gone after my family....”

  Thrandul was at a loss of word, but so was everyone else in the room. After a long silence, Viyetral was the one to speak-up:

  “How were they even able to capture so many captains? There are no experienced warriors that could have taken so many down.”

  “They took each of them down individually — when they were the most vulnerable. Some during sleep, whilst some were betrayed during missions outside of the town, some were intoxicated. That scoundrel, Lyrital, is known for being under-handed. He was able to overpower most of them by using artifacts, poison, and other cheap tricks. I could not save them....” Thrandul looked down in shame

  “I understand your sentiment to not act, but you did know what was happening, and did not inform any of us. A single letter could have changed everything.” Viyetral argued

  “I—” Thrandul was not allowed to complete the sentence.

  “No need to explain yourself. You prioritized the lives of your family over your whole race. Any family man would have justified your action, but men in our position could never have risked to settle down. We can no longer trust your words. I am sorry old friend, but this is not something that can be forgiven.” Viyetral said calmly yet fiercely.

  Thrandul bowed infront of them all, and then said:

  “I am ashamed of my actions. I ask you not to forgive me, but at-least use me to your advantage to get rid of that evil council.”

  “Your words have lost weight behind them.” Farelen added.

  Alisa and Leilth entered the room. They had not heard anything so everyone tried to act normal infront of them.

  “Thrandul, it will be better to let them rest now. Please let us know if you need anything, even in the middle of the night.” Lelith offered.

  “Dear, please leave us for now. I will come shortly.” Thrandul said to his wife.

  “No need old friend. We are tired, so we will talk in the morrow. Please do rest as you have already hosted us with such delicious food and hospitality.”

  Viyetral denied Thrandul of anymore chances to explain himself.

  Leilth and Thrandul left. He was obviously dejected after this whole situation. His wife tried to cheer him up without knowing what had occured.

  It was an hour or two later that Viyetral gathered everyone around, and instruced them to silently exit the house. Alisa did not dare to question as she had observed the tension in the room already.

  They all took their belongings, and went outside from the back-door of the house which led into a dark alley.

  From there, the party travelled with cloaks to hide their identities. Silently treading in the darkness, from one alley to the other, eventually reaching a inn that was close to the edge of the town.

  They took a single room in it for the night. Viyetral gave the next set of instructions:

  “We can not trust Thrandul anymore. He might have been innocent, but he will sell us out if it involves his family. For now we will have to blend in the town, as I need to find more information before making any further moves." Viyetral paused, and then commanded:

  "Kraft and myself will be the ones going out tonight. All of you must stay vigilant of your surroundings. We do not know what the enemy is planning. If the two of us are both not back by the morning, then you will need to make your way back to the dwarven settlment.”

  “Let me go instead of this youngling.” Farelen spoke out of concern for his student.

  “Then who will look after the rest of these young-blood? I only need Kraft to look after my back. I will make sure to protect him under any circumstances. Let us think of not only ourselves for the time-being, but for the entire race and our imprisoned brothers as well.”

  Viyetral reminded Farelen of their original goal.

  The night was a long one. They slept in shifts of two, but Farelen did not catch a wink of sleep. They were in the den of the lion, he could not afford to be careless considering his position.

  As time passed, their anxiety grew as well. Viyetral had yet to return. It was not until the first rays of dawn, that the four heard foot-steps approaching their room — not of two, but of several people.

  Farelen ordered the others to remain on guard, and then slowly, and carefully opened the door with his great-axe in hand......