The forest stirred while the elves of Vatur slumbered. Sleep did not come easily to all, however. Atop one of the higher branches of the Home Tree, Highborn Aurelia sat, drinking a cup of tea. Nightly staredowns with the Iron Fortress in the distance became an almost regular occurrence.

"Humans. How was it humans? They were the lowest of the low. Barely any more capable in wielding magic than ogres or dwarves. They revered lowborn elves, placing such a flawed race on a pedestal that they were unworthy of." Her mind stirred; questions that were pushed aside for thousands of years now welling up to the surface, demanding to be answered.

Aurelia was still a child, no more than 50 years of age, when her kind constructed the portal gates and went beyond in hopes of finding new worlds. Most returned, but several remained to rule over humans as deities. It took Aurelia centuries of devoted study to learn the truth, what the pioneers of her kind found beyond the portal gates.

It was humans. Primitive, magicless humans. A world where magic did not exist, where her kind was losing power each day they spent there. Those who remained on the other side of the gate did not do so because they enjoyed being worshipped and treated like gods by the savage human race; they stayed to study the new world, to discover if it truly was without magic. They also stayed to ensure that the civilisations they discovered would not attempt to study the gates and one day use them. Seeing now the behemoth of a weapon in the distance, it was evident that they had failed in that endeavour.

After returning from the unknown, the portal gates were recalibrated and repurposed to serve as portals to connect different locations across the world and make travel much more comfortable and easier. Records of what was found were hidden, sealed away for thousands of years, only accessible to the First and the oldest members of the Highborn Council.

When humans began appearing on her world, long after the Demon Lord was defeated, the portal gates were all shut down and checked extensively. The First feared that a breach may have occurred. However, such was not the case.

"The humans of this world were the creation of the Gods, like all things touched by mana. The two are alike but yet so different." She thought, taking a slow sip of tea.

Humans, the ones she watched grow from tribes to kingdoms, who spread through the world like a rash, settling in every single corner of the land, knew their place. For all their ambition towards one another, they never aimed too high beyond their capabilities. They never dared challenge elves, let alone the Highborn.

The Otherworlders lacked such common sense, operating under the delusion that they were above all. Old tomes and scrolls written by the First were filled with different prognoses, each theorising how long their race would survive, how far they would progress in their world, a world they had no dominion over. Their arrival through the gates was something not even the eldest of the First could've foreseen.

The existence of the otherworlders was a twisted joke at best. A race, a subspecies of humans, so lowly that they had no mana. They were entirely untouched by it. They could not feel it or be affected by it, and mana, in turn, could not flow through them. The fact that the lowborn elves struggled, even feared them, was sickening to Aurelia. Just thinking about it made the tea taste bitter.

Still, their world offered what the Highborn needed to escape their affliction. For millennia the Council avoided to approach the portal gates and the world beyond as a solution, trying to find alternative methods to escape the curse that crippled their race more and more with each generation.

Now that the portal gates opened again, Aurelia and others from the Highborn Council would not allow the opportunity to slip by just because of the reservations and protests of the First. Aurelia couldn't help but wonder, do elves exist on other worlds too, just like humans do? How many different worlds beyond the gates harboured humans?

Night suddenly turned to day; a light spilling forth across the entire Silver Forest. Aurelia lowered her cup and turned towards the source. A signal arrow, coming from the eastern edge of the forest, where General Eirlys had most likely built her camp.

With her train of thought interrupted, the Highborn mage felt something; the entire forest stirring to life. Aurelia closed her eyes, placing both of her hands on the branch she was sitting on, feeling, connecting with the spirit of the woods. "I see. They have made their move. Just as expected."

The High Elf was surprised that the Silver Forest didn't react to the intrusion sooner, sharing the same underestimating belief as General Eirlys did about the approach the otherworlders had to almost everything they did.

With the use of her farsight spell, Aurelia watched as Eirlys summoned the spirit of the forest and the wooden dome that the Silver Forest created to protect her and the other High Guard began to rise. Even against an unknown opponent, the general's sharp wit, fast reaction and decisive command shone. Within that dome, they might just be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive.

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Aurelia took a final sip from her cup and stood up. She enjoyed watching the fight unfold, but the outcome was not the one she desired.

"I apologise, General Eirlys. But the fire of hate has already begun to dim within the Princess and the Prince." She whispered as her lips stretched into a smile.

The kingdom of Vatur was not a militaristic one. They made the Silver Forest their home for the sole purpose of avoiding wars and conflicts, to be shielded by the forest itself from any turmoil going on around them. If the prisoners were exchanged successfully and subsequently executed, that would've been enough to satiate Claudia's already waning desire for revenge.

If that were to happen, Aurelia's plans would fail. She could not steer the Vatur lowborn to continue fighting and preparing for war against the otherworlders after retribution was met. The Highborn were seen as being above the measly conflicts of mortal races, unbothered by strife, illnesses and war. They were benevolent in the eyes of those who admired them, and that image they cultivated mustn't be tarnished.

"Hear me, Blessed Mother," Aurelia spoke, connecting deeper with the spirit of the forest. The mana of the forest and the mana of the High Elf entangled until they were as one. She could feel the forest searching for the invisible assailant, could hear the fear masked by determination in the voices of Eirlys and the High Guard.

"Sleep now. No enemies of your children remain." She commanded, her will being heard by every root, branch and leaf in the Silver Forest. The woods obeyed.

In the distance, the wooden dome, the last form of defence that Eirlys and her men had, began to unfurl itself, the forest falling back into slumber. Aurelia sat back down, taking in a deep and tired breath. Commanding an entire forest was no easy feat, but was still easier compared to controlling an entire flock of wyverns.

***

Everything happened so fast. One second she was taking orders from the General, the next second she found herself on the ground with the worst headache of her life. At least she was still alive.

As High Guard after High Guard fell, as the spirit of the forest abandoned them for an unknown reason, Amara was tasked with one last order from the General. Survive and deliver the message to Princess Claudia.

While Eirlys stayed back to hold off the monster that hunted them, Amara and several others fled through the fire, their path cleared by the enchanted arrow, keeping the flames from devouring them.

Their escape route became a one-way path to death, a tunnel through the fire that gave them away to their executioners.

"Why did we assume there was just one of them?" Amara asked herself as bullets began to take out the surviving elves. She tried to see where the shots were coming from, but in the heat and panic, that was impossible.

The air tunnel created by the enchanted arrow was shrinking as the spell was losing its effect, fire closing all around them faster and faster. It was hard to breathe, hard to see from all the smoke.

Another shot. The otherworlders didn't even give their prey the chance to cry out one last time. Each hit brought the end in an instant. Amara coughed, her knees surrendering under her weight as she collapsed onto the forest floor.

All that remained, clear as day, was the final order Eirlys gave her. "Survive and deliver the message."

The elven scout gritted her teeth, pushing past the burning in her eyes, in her lungs, and the throbbing in her head. She crawled on all fours, digging her fingers into the scorched soil, trying to stay under the smoke.

She moved slowly, no longer turning back to see if any of her comrades followed; the sound of only burning trees was answer enough. Amara was the only one left, and with each crawl forward, she awaited the shot that would bring her down as well.

Fire devoured the branches above, the trees groaning under the weight of burned limbs they could no longer support. A sharp, loud crack caught her attention. Amara looked up, just in time to see one of the smouldering branches break off from the tree and fall right on top of her.

The impact knocked what little air she had in her lungs, pinning her to the ground and knocking her out.

***

Morning came, and all that remained of the forest fire was thick, grey smoke that engulfed the entire area. The forest was dead quiet, safe for the sound of flapping wings above. Crows flew in circles, waiting for the smoke to clear enough so they could feast.

Amara's pain came back with a vengeance as she slowly regained consciousness. Pain shot from her back and legs with each struggle to crawl out from under the branch that fell on her.

"I can move. I can move." She assured herself, realising that even though the pain was great, none of her limbs were broken.

She slowly kicked the branch off of herself once she was free enough, but did not dare stand up, fearing that the otherworlders still might be lurking around in the vicinity. The elf sat up, leaning against a tree, taking deep breaths, as deep as the grey smoke would allow.

The clearing was no longer visible; the aftermath of the fire covered the entire area so densely she could barely see a few feet in front of her. A part of her wanted to crawl back towards the clearing in hopes of finding General Eirlys victorious.

"No. I must…" She winced in pain. "I must carry on."

Amara pushed herself off the tree trunk, ducking before she even stood up fully as one of the crows cawed above her head.

She was lucky the branch fell on her. The murder ape hunters must've assumed she was dead, and due to the fire raging all around, did not bother to confirm that assumption. Slowly, keeping low and using the trees as cover, Amara began walking in the direction of the palace.

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