Chapter 123: Omake#8

"So," His deep voice bellows across the room, "What is this I hear about a change of plans?"

Seated across from Aren and I, in far more comfortable chairs are the five leaders of the North; Rariza, our single ally, Daria, our dreadful enemy, Yelenia the one who rivals for the most power, Utis, the silent one and Gerin, the de facto leader of the group.

"My master wishes to disturb the Mayor's activities, he's been searching for me, as I'm sure your colleague has relayed to you." Aren speaks firmly and audibly, gone was the tremble that shook his voice weeks ago, replaced by an ever-present smug smile that implies a higher power and authority over whoever he's speaking to.

The mans talents lie in the subtleties of diplomacy and quiet threats it seems. Over the near three weeks we've been working on the Elven North, he's put down many attempts to go off the reins with that gentle smile of his.

But I'm not sure it'll last much longer. Diplomacy with bloodthirsty individuals can only go so far, at some point, blood will be spilt.

"And what does that have to do with us?" It's Yelenia who speaks now, the one who more than often vies for the power and prestige Gerin has, she hates the man, but respect him enough to not outright kill him it seems.

Aren's smile falters a bit, another strategy of his, "If the Mayor finds me before the Master arrives, we'll all be in big trouble." He breaths sharply, as f remembering something, "You see, I've been quite liberal the past week with my walks around the North, and the children love me. They show me all their little hiding places as well as quite a great many interesting things hidden in the ground…"

I resist the urge to applaud his wit. Again, he's got the five on their toes. Not too long ago I discovered a funny looking underground tunnel leading far out of the city and into the wild grasses.

It was an easy thing to spot after spending so much time underground myself.

"If I get caught, not only will I spill my secrets, I'll spill yours." He continues, seeing as the five were far too shocked to come up with a response.

The Elven North aren't just a group of numbskulled elves it seems; the tunnel is old, the wood at the far ends have recently been replaced too for fear of rot. And much of their supplies have already been transported midway.

They've got an escape route all tidied up already, just in the rather likely event that the Mayor goes batshit and decides to carry out a genocide.

I'm pretty sure the tunnel is the reason why they can put up a brave front when faced with the threat of the Mayor, they can always escape after all.

But that very escape route is what Aren is threatening unless…

"What do you want us to do?" It's the quiet one who speaks, I've only heard that deep, brooding voice of his a handful of times. Now it's laced with anger and his eyes are ablaze with rage. He no doubt wants to kill Aren right now.

"Utis, wait." Yelenia says, her voice oddly calm. She tilts her head to the side, watching Aren and I carefully, "What's to stop us from killing you two here? I doubt you have any other allies to leak the information if you don't make it out in one piece."

"That's right, what's to stop me from cutting you caps?" Daria chips in, short knives already out in her hand.

The Mayor's goons weren't the only ones following us, the elves were too. Yelenia knows enough to make that a valid threat. 

I hadn't bothered Aren telling them off on it, even though he asked to because it made him feel uncomfortable. I just didn't think it would come to this, but it has.

"Hahahah!" Aren barks out laughing so suddenly I flinch, "Hahahaha!" He keeps on laughing and laughing, slapping his knees and holding his sides until it become embarrassing.

I'm not sure if he's doing it to throw Yelenia and the others off or just to calm his undoubtably tense nerves but…either seems to be fine. Yelenia is sufficiently flustered, although, Gerin is still fuming.

"What's so funny, cowl?" Gerin asks, his fingers laced as he stares rather intently at the both of us.

"What's so funny?" Aren repeats, "Well, let's say by some miracle, perhaps the working of your Goddess Vuius, you manage to kill us…do you think you'll live much longer afterwards?"

"By some miracle?" Gerin grunts.

Aren ignores him and continues, "You see, not only will my Master enslave you and every single elf in the North, he'll also bring you to watch as he single-handedly accomplishes what he's set out to do here in Aste."

"You're threatening us now?" It's Rariza who has the look of betrayal on, "I shouldn't have stood in Daria's way."

I don't get a chance to speak as Aren wags his finger at Rariza, "Not threatening, I'm simply stating facts. But please, understand that any form of hostility directed at me or her will result in your deaths." His voice lowers an octave and his smile vanishes, "There will be no miracles today or any day."

A quiet fall as Aren single-handedly eyeballs all five of them, or rather just Yelenia and Gerin.

A part of me wishes this devolves into a brawl, I'll be forced to kill the five of them to protect myself and Aren but…I really don't want to go through the trouble of burning down the lodge with more than a few people still in it just to send a message.

"Very well." Gerin speaks at last, breaking the suffocating silence, "What do you want us to do?"

For this part, I do the talking. It's my plan after all.

"We need the elves of the North to start a rally."

"A rally? Whom would we be rallying?" Utis, the silent one speaks again.

"More elves. There are several elves within the city who still need help, who we can help but only if they come to the North."

Gerin and Yelenia nod, understanding.

"But while it's productive for us to recruit extensive numbers, this is going to have to be a citywide thing, it's a distraction after all."

"Citywide?" Gerin exclaims.

"Distraction?" Yelenia queries.

I nod, "Yes, a few other handfuls of elves and I will head to the lodge then, and when the time is right, we burn the thing down and send a clear message to the Mayor and the people of Aste about our readiness."

"A few other handfuls." Gerin snorts, "You think we have the numbers to carry out a citywide fucking rally and give out more to burn down that offensive place?"

"Not only that," Yelenia starts, "Don't you think this will bring even more heat down on our necks? Aren't you just passing the heat on you over to us?"

Here Aren jumps in, "Even if we were passing heat, this operation of ours is nothing without us. But we have a plan for that too."

I nod, grateful. "Like he's said, we have a plan for the heat. All we have to do is make it clear that the Mayors kids are not out of our reach and we purposefully burnt down the lodge instead of harming them."

"Sounds like you're asking for more men to me." Gerin grunts.

I almost give a sheepish smile at this, instead I nod, "The North will be temporarily short staffed but if we get this done and soon, we can spare ourselves some days to prepare before Ash- Master arrives."

Gerin grunts, glancing at Yelenia just as she looks to him. "I don't like it one bit. You?"

Yelenia shrugs, "I don't think we're being given much of a choice." She mutters, her eyes fixed at me.

"The payoff is a city, a city where discrimination against elves is a crime." Aren says, reminding them of the goal.

"Isn't anyone going to ask what I think?" It's Daria bemoaning her lack of a voice in the conversation.

Aren smiles cheerfully at her, "And what do you think, Daria?"

She grins right back at him, licking her knives, "I still think we should cut that cap of yours."

"Of course, you do."

Gerin rolls his eyes at his companion but returns his focus, "And how exactly do you plan on showing that the boys are within our reach? I mean, I don't even know where they're keeping them."

"Probably in the basement of that castle of theirs in the centre." Yelenia groans.

I shake my head at this, "I have my ways, leave it to me just get the elves ready for this mission."

"Tomorrow, right?" Rariza asks, still looking hurt by our strongarm.

"Latest tomorrow." I nod.

"Great!" Aren claps, "I think we've had a very productive conversation and come to a beautiful conclusion."

Utis snorts, "Beautiful for you, sure."

Aren ignores the man and proceeds to see himself out. I tag along behind him, still not completely resolved in this plan to light people on fire and threaten the lives of the boys as a message.

This wasn't what I thought I'd be using magic to do.