The room had gone silent after the adrupt question from a rather young council member.

  Noticing the tension, the council leader, Torvin, stood up and tried to berate Riytr — the questioner:

  “Do not try to amend to their decision! They are much experienced to take advice from young, mindless individuals such as yourself.”

  “No need Torvin, you can sit down. I permitted him to ask the question and I shall entertain it as well. Riytr, I do not want blood-shed, even if those scoundrels are worthless and have certainly tarnished the name of the elfin race, but we shall not behave as savagly as them. I will carry out their punishment in a just and logical manner. I must emphasis this: they have hundreds of younglings in their service who are not aware of the truth, we can not waste able bodies to get rid of a few rotten apples — atleast till we are not forced to do so. Does that answer your question?”

  “Yes, I am grateful.”

  Riytr sat down peacefully. The others, though were first annoyed at him standing up, but now felt a relief flushing over them as if a troublesome burden had been lifted from their shoulders.

  “Moving on, we will need to meet with the wealthy individuals of the first town — those who are not directly associated with the council, but rather support the old cause. Also, we will need to find few influential young men who would want to devote themselves to the sword-saint — this would get us the support from the young-blood.”

  “I know a few wealthy merchants who were one of the first few to settle down in the town after it was conquered. I can give you their names and addresses. If you inform them regarding me, then I am sure that they will be more than happy to oblige.” Torvin suggested.

  “Very well, I shall discuss that with you later. If no-one has anything else to add, then I say we rest up for tomorrow.” Viyetral dimissed the council.

  Although Viyetral had already given the command to speak to him only through their representative, few of them wanted a personal audience with him. It was to discuss selfish interest, petty issues. Viyetral not wanting to turn them against the cause, obliged.

  Once everyone had left except Harwin and Farelen, Viyetral said:

  “We can not trust these men either. They were part of the same hypocrisy before they were over-powered by their competition, so let us move with caution.”

  “You are right to do so, they seem selfish especially that old man, Torvin. He had the same smug look like the council-men of the town which infuriates me. He wants something, and he is willing to use us as a ladder to acquire it.” Farelen replied.

  “He wants to be the new leader of the council-men — what else could there be. It is as if replacing one venomous creature with the other, but for now let us play their little games. Let them move their pieces, and in the end we shall overturn the entire board. What say you, Gor?” Viyetral asked.

  “I can not comment here, as you are much wiser in these matters. However, I will say one thing: few selfish men installed at the right place can help you control the town as you will know their weaknesses.” Harwin replied.

  “Hmm....I shall keep that in mind, but let us not discuss anything else for tonight. You especially have had a long day, so I suggest you join up the others — eat, sleep and rest till tomorrow. I will have important tasks for you soon as well.” Viyetral ordered, rather than suggesting.

  Harwin left the small-hall. Once he had made his way out, Viyetral turned to Farelen and stated:

  “The sword-saint sure has picked up quite a capable person. This man would have been highly sought after in the great Royal court. It is good that we have him as an ally.”

  “He is a wise lad, but I do not trust him as blindly as the others. It is not his action rather his being that has always made me doubt his intentions and loyalty.” Farelen replied.

  “Oh, I never expected that. I always thought the great boisterous Farelen stated what he was on his mind, but you put on a facade when around him?”

  “I am not scared of him — I can crush him with my eyes closed, but he has made himself indispensable. I am careless only in matters that the sword-saint deals directly, but this strange feeling of animosity and distrust towards this human is something I just can not shake off. It might just be due to going through that horrible war.”

  “Perhaps it is envy…” Viyetral claimed whilst wearing a mischeavious smile.

  Farelen did not mind the mocking, instead he gave a cold smile.

  In the early hours of morrow Harwin, Landel, Viyetral and Farelen began to travel towards the town. They were accompanied by twenty younglings from the force organized and trained under Celeborn — the student of their former comrade. These soldiers were elite, as they had underwent a similar training programme that any youngling from the village went through. They were also fiercely loyal to the cause and highly disciplined.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Kraft was left incharge of the hideout as a replacement of the Viyetral — the recently freed up captains were not really in the shape for the designation for now. However, Kraft was ordered to take advice when necessary from the captains. Swven had insisted of accompanying them on their way to the town, but he was rejected. To pull up with the elfin beast right after he had escaped would severally weaken their earlier claim.

  It took a few hours to reach the town. They did not openly flaunt their weapons or parade through the town arrogantly, but approached the town-hall with caution. Although they were strong, yet they could not afford to be careless.

  Thrandul was the one who welcomed them at the door. After a small discussion — mostly whispering — they were shown inside the hall. Most of the younglings were told to wait outside. Farelen decided to remain outside as well to guard the rear incase of an ambush. Harwin, Landel and Viyetral along two other younglings entered the hall; the council-men were already seated — impatient and with a frown upon their faces.

  “Captain Viyetral, we have been waiting for you to bless us with your presence.” Quitel, the leader of the council, mocked.

  “Save the sarcasm old man, and let us get straight to the agenda.” Viyetral did not have any of it.

  “Very well. I was expecting this reply, then please state what is the agenda again?” He played the fool.

  “Playing games are we? I do not have time to indulge in these petty moves. You witnessed the strength of the successor yesterday with your own eyes, and as agreed before, you shall recognize his succession and his authority over this entire dominion as the representative of the sword-saint, Graftel, himself.” Viyetral did not beat around the bush.

  “Oh but we only stated that we will be testing the self-proclaimed successor. We never agreed that we will recognize his succession; we only merely wanted to test the strength of the man who made such absurd claims.” Quintel replied with a sly smile.

  “Old man, do not test my patience” Viyetral grinned.

  “No need to be so impatient captain. My fellow men here do not trust that the sword-saint himself has given the order.” Quintel argued.

  “You had been provided a letter that clearly had the official engravements of the sword-saint. You all agreed to it as well, now did you not? Or have you gone senile?” Viyetral taunted.

  “No, no, or atleast not yet. We can not trust that the letter was indeed written by the sword-saint himself. We have heard and read of men going rogue against their leaders before in the pages of history. Now how can we know to a certainity that you have not gone against the leader of the elfin race to install a false successor? It might be that you wish to use this ancient town for treacherous plots so we have sent a letter to the sword-saint himself. We shall wait for his reply before moving forward with anything else.” Quintel still wore the same poisonous smile.

  “That message will never arrive, and before that, one by one, you hope to eliminate us from your path. Now will you not?” Viyetral read him perfectly.

  “Oh we can never hope to do so. Most of us are old men who neither have the strength nor the intelligence to go up against you. We simply want to move in accordance with the ordained law, and we shall not act against anyone who holds up to it as well. However, we will stand against those who have helped anyone escape justice, do you understand me captain?”

  “Yes, I understand everything. What if I were to, lets say, put you all in the dungeons. Aftet that, I might just pass down the same judgement you had passed against commander Neilzen? Should we proceed with it right now?” Viyetral threatened.

  “Neilzen was a traitor to the elfin race — the entire council agreed upon it. We do not operate under a single individual, so all of the decisions are voted by the people who were elected by the folks of the town!” One of the council-men shouted.

  “I suppose we should hold a referendum then, that way we can find out where the heart of the populace lies as well" Viyetral argued.

  The council went quiet at this suggestion — they knew the results of such an action.

  "Nevermind, why not answer my previous question?” Viyetral demanded.

  “Well captain, if you do proceed with such drastic actions, we will have no choice but to inform the other Great-forests and the great nations such atrocious acts against a governing body. Everything is already prepared, and the letters will be sent regardless of if anyone is left to order or not. So now do you understand the consequences?” Quintel played his trump card.

  Viyetral did not reply. He had taken these men too lightly. The man had not anticipated such a move which could possibly ignite a civil war amongst the elves who were already quite disgruntled and rebellious at the moment.

  “What are your terms then?” Landel, though furious, questioned without hesitation.

  “They are simple: wait till we receive an official reply from the sword-saint, and only then can we proceed with the recognition. It might take a month or longer, though. Also, although it is not expected of you, but we want you to help us look for the perpetrators of the recent attack on the dungeons. This last bit might not concern you, but we have already issued bounties on the heads of escapees.” Quintel laid down the terms.

  After no response for a while, he questioned once again:

  “Are we clear captain?”

  Unexpectedly, Harwin was the one to speak this time:

  "Do forgive me for speaking out of place, but you do realize that the consequences for you are quite dire as well?"

  The entire council turned their attention towards this human who had not uttered a word till now. Harwin continued:

  "It is clear that you value your power more than anything, so even if your messengers are able to reach their destinations, how will that benifit you? I will speak bluntly: all of your heads will be on spikes before the other elfin settlements even become aware of the circumstances. You might have thought of a clever scheme, but you do not have a safeguard for yourself in it. Do you understand your position a little better now?"

  Harwin threatened without even intending. As expected the council-men were left wide-eyed, but so were his companions. The lad had perfectly laid out the field for Viyetral to counter the terms of the councilmen, but now all depended on the latter to harness this opportunity.