21 Epilogue End of Vol. 1

In the distant reaches of the Elven Kind, there was a place. At first sight, you might think it was a town, composed of countless buildings, stretching across the border of a vast forest. There was even a wall erected, to keep the residents of the forest where they belonged. However, at a closer look, you'd soon notice that there wasn't a single civilian in sight. There were only soldiers. In truth, this was one of the most important military outposts in the empire, holding a large amount of soldiers.

In one of the watchtowers, overlooking the woods, two soldiers lazed in their seats, as their smoky eyes looked towards the forest. One of the soldiers looked like he was half asleep.

"Ah, this sucks," the more awake soldier said, as he straightened up his seat, stretching out his arms. His sudden comment jolted the other soldier, who looked confused for a second, while he regained his bearings.

"Huh?" He asked, his voice correctly portraying his laziness. The other soldier sighed, as he poured himself a cup of water.

"How long have we been here, now? Fifteen years? Dammit, I've spentmy career out here, but nothing ever happens! How will I ever advance like this! There's no hope for any meaningful promotions, and I haven't leveled up in who knows how long. Man, I wish we were still sending extermination squads into the forest," the soldier complained.

"What, so you could lose your life inside there, like the countless others? That dungeon isn't something the likes of us can mess with. As long as it remains as quiet as it is, I'm happy," the lazy soldier remarked.

"Yeah, well, most of us aren't like you. We didn't join the army to laze around in a tower all day. Most people join the army for the adventure, the fighting, and the training," the other soldier said, his eyes gaining a new look in them, as he fantasized about what could have been.

"Maybe, but I didn't even want to join the army in the first place. For some reason, my damn family developed a tradition of sending their sons into the army. Ha, I bet they weren't counting on me being sent down here. We can't leave before achieving something, but down here, I'll never achieve anything, so I can just laze around for the rest of my career, and get paid for it. It suits me perfectly," the soldier said.

"If you say so. Wait, shy is the water rippling?" The other soldier said as he looked into the water in his cup.

"Maybe an earthquake is coming?" The lazy soldier said as he peeked over the table, looking into the cup. Indeed, the water was rippling. However, soon, the rippling grew even more significant, and accompanying it, were loud, thumping sounds, originating from the forest.

"What's going on?" The more alert of the soldiers said, as his head jerked towards the outside. At firsts glance, he didn't see anything, but soon, he started noticing a lot of out of place shapes underneath all the foliage.

"Oh, shit," the soldier said.

"What is it?" The other soldier said, as he, too, turned to look outside. A moment passed.

"Oh, shit," he said.

"We have to alert the others! Let's go!" The diligent soldier said as he rushed down the tower. The two soldiers made it outside but were interrupted by the loud sounds from outside the walls. They had already made it to the walls. The two guards turned towards the wall, panicking. But their panic was cut short, as they saw their last sight. A rain of arrows peered over the walls.