Chapter 118 - Elf Revolts

Cecelia, Helvi, and Lele sat around the table, While Melvi was resting, Lele collected her courage to recall the horrible past she went through.

– Lele - PoV –

I was around 200 hundred years old. I had a husband, 14 sons, and 17 daughters. Our whole family lived inside the Giant Pecknernest trees, a giant tree several yards tall.

My husband and son always went hunting and my daughters and daughters-in-law often came to have a chat with me. Everything was great, the stories of struggles of Dark elves seemed nothing but folklore to us at that time but one night.

200 hundred years ago, our village was raided by humans, they destroyed everything that didn't please them and took what they thought would be of use to them.

Those who resisted were killed, to protect children and dear ones we all surrendered, the moment we lowered our heads, the shackles were restrained on us.

I watched my daughters crying and begging to let their children go but they weren't that merciful. The parents of the young were taken separately to an old dungeon.

We were kept inside a cage as lives stocks, the food is given to us was bread and water only, each day they tortured and abused us to break our spirits.

One by one, the cage got spacious, because either some died or got sold, from a discarded elf, who had plunged out organs and amputated, he was thrown into the cage after getting experimented on told us, they sought our traits to create new war slaves.

It was the scheme of the whole Kingdom of Seloud, we were just lab rats for them, a year went by we lost every speck of hope, slowly my sons and daughters were taken away too, there was only my youngest son, and daughter in law left beside me.

In that cage, there were only a handful of elves left, my tears were dried up, I didn't even have the wish to live on.

But one day, we heard a loud noise echoing in the dungeon. I thought it must be one of the failures of the experiment, but I was wrong, the humans were running around.

They were fighting someone desperately, I could hear them cry and beg them in pain, it soothed me, at that moment if I were to die, I wouldn't have regretted that.

Suddenly some masked persons came running to us, they broke the cage and sealing shackles, and freed us out, they started healing the vulnerable and helped them stand up again.

"You all, go in that direction, there is a tunnel there at that end, there is a person who will take you to a safe place!" A healer who was healing me spoke, she removed her mask, and I gasped for a moment. She was a young dark elf just like one of my daughters.

I knew it wasn't her, but when I saw her I couldn't resist but to cry, many elves were rescued along with my son and his wife, only a few of the elves were left there.

"Monnet! Come here! We are short on healers here!"  Somebody shouted and she turned around, 

"I am sorry, but I have to go now-" she stood up and I grabbed her wrist,

"We can fight too! I am a healer!" 

"But-"

"Please let me help you! I have lost everything! My children! I have lost them if I don't-

If I…." I broke into tears and she grabbed my shoulder, 

"Well then! What is your name?"

"Lele!"

"Alright! Lele, will you help us?" 

"I…I will!"

The elves left decided to fight back too, we went to the battleground, the whole city close to the dungeon was burning, corpses and organs painted the streets red.

We heard noises of the ongoing clash behind a huge mansion right in front of us, then we felt a quake, a strong blast of mana.

It was so strong and vicious I almost passed out. We realized whoever was fighting behind the mansion wasn't an ordinary dark elf, but a monster.

"Let's go!" Monnet tapped my back and we ran in the same direction of the mansion, and then I saw him, 

Helkaiser, a dark elf whose silver hair shone in the moonlight, only used a spear and skewered tens of soldiers in a single thrust.

No one was able to stand on equal footing with him, he single-handedly played with a whole army, wherever he stepped, human corpses flew from the ground, he looked like the living embodiment of destruction.

Then I saw some humans creating a barrier behind the mansion, I reported that to Monnet and she told me not to worry about them, they were comrades.

I was stunned to speak, the humans were coughing blood, they were struggling to keep the barrier and let the army go inside the city.

"Monnet! Garte is down!" A human cried out from the top of the mansion.

"Coming!" She shouted, "Will you come with me?" She looked at me, 

I nodded and followed her, the moment I reached there I saw them, several humans down riddled with arrows beside the feet of the living ones.

"Hurry up Lele!" She shouted and we started healing them, 

But in reality, my hatred for humans didn't ease up a bit! I wanted to see each of them die! Due right in front of me, I tended to an old-looking guy, who was barely alive at that moment. I knew he wouldn't be able to make it, so I pretended to be to heal him with an eager mind who was looking forward to seeing him die.

"Who are you-" he opened his eyes and looked at me, 

"I-"

"She is one of the survivors! She said she wanted to help us, so I brought her here-" Monnet said,

"How could you!" The old man shouted and I jerked, he was fuming in anger, he finally showed his true nature!

He grabbed my wrist and I almost pulled it back in disgust, but then I felt his veins dropping and he spoke, 

"You… get out from here, it's alright! You all already suffered enough because of us, we can't give you back what you have lost but please save what you have left, your own life, there is no need to waste it here, please go away, go find a good life once again, far away from us…

Just go and live-" and that man's head dangled on his neck, 

Why did he want us to live? I could've healed him but he wanted me to run away!

"What is wrong with you! Oye open your eyes! Answer my question oye!" I screamed, 

"It's okay! don't worry!" A man my right yelled, 

"When we came here, we decided to at least save a hundred before we lose one, so don't worry!" He smiled at me.

His soul I could see, it had the same essence as that old man, he was his son…

The chaos went on and on, the whole city was burned down, the Helkaiser wasn't alone who fought there, many humans backed him up.

*

*

*

The dawn broke, and all the elves were successfully rescued and we fled the city and went in a slightly different direction than the rescued elf track, to make sure whoever followed the elves followed our trail first.

Only 31 of us survived, 8 dark elves of the same tribe, 3 dark elves including Helkaiser, and 20 humans, many of us were still injured, me, Monnet, and another human healer continuously treated them for 3 days.

Unfortunately, 12 of them didn't make it and died. We camped in the forest with the remaining ones, the 7 dark elves from my tribe, who didn't have any sympathy or were grateful to humans and didn't get close to them.

Helkaiser was also there, wasn't injured much, and got better in just two days. He was the one who slew hundreds of humans alone. The elves from my tribe asked him to join us, but he refused. He was a bit cold to them so I was scared to talk to him.

One day I was talking to a priest boy who was the healer and the son of the old man. I asked why they saved us.

"Because Helkaiser asked for our help!" He answered with a smile,

"So you helped us because he asked for your help?"

"Yup! He was one of the teams of our guild, Helkaiser, Monnet, and Vivi, they were part of a team in our guild, my father who was the guild master, heard that there were many dark elves constrained in the dungeon, so he took it about them."

That idiot Helkaiser was going to fight alone, but how could we let our comrade fight alone a whole army, so we joined him!"

"But you lost father-"

"Didn't your people also lose your dear ones? So don't worry about that!" He smiled and got up.

After a while, Monnet came and sat beside me, 

"What are you doing?" 

"Nothing, just thinking how great your guild was…"

"Hehe… you know my husband really loves them!"

"Your husband?!"

"Hmm! Helkaiser! He is my husband!"

***

"What?! Isn't your sister a half-blood? So how did that happen when both of you were dark elves."

Cecelia smacked the table, "So that means…"

"Hmm, Melvi and I ain't blood-related, my mother killed long before she was born…" Helvi looked down as she clenched her cup.

"Killed… by who?" Lele gasped in terror and tears filled in her eyes.

"Isn't that obvious…humans!"