Ashter looked up, following Laterna’s walls with his eyes. The last time he had visited this place was a long time ago, and the town had changed a lot.

The guards at the gate were suspicious of them and refused to let them pass, but Ashter showed them a medallion he was carrying, the symbol of the old Queen’s trust, that had been given to him long ago. It depicted three hands holding three blood-red swords, crossed in the middle of the round medallion and coming from three different directions, separating the medallion into three equal parts in a way that implied not hatred, but reconciliation.

It was one of the symbols of the elven kingdom, referring to its tragic past. As they walked through the town to the palace he could feel every elf that happened to see them admire the strange sight they were offering, humans in the elven capital.

He turned around and noticed that all the humans, besides himself, were returning the curious looks to the elves. Of course, he thought, elves are not a common sight to the humans either.

After he woke up, they had told him about their adventures with the Joke. It was never his plan to go through the Joke’s forest, he intended to go around it. It should be acknowledged that the Joke had shown mercy by not killing, or at least wounding him. Entering the forest, even asleep, was a grave offense on his part.

On the bright side, now that Vreil had began to awaken the dormant magic powers sleeping inside him, it would become easier for Ashter to teach him.

After exiting the forest, they had a quiet trip to the elven capital. An odd sensation distracted him from his thoughts and made him look far away, at the top of the palace, where a figure was proudly observing the city. Maybe if he was younger he could have at least noticed if it was male or female, but at this age all he could do was note its presence. He didn’t pay much attention. After all, many elves enjoyed places like that, high and secluded.

Some steps behind Ashter, Vreil was trying to understand the fundamental differences between this town and a human one. First, this one was full of elves that all looked a little like Pier even if they had some small differences. The similarities between two elves outnumbered those between two humans. Fortunately, he could still tell different elves apart, albeit with difficulty.

Second, this town was huge. They were heading uphill, from the gates of the town to the palace, and even though they had been in the city for at least an hour it would take at least another half hour to reach the palace. The town was built on a mountain, with the palace being at the top. According to Ashter, the town stretched even more behind it.

Even the architecture was different. The houses weren’t the walls-door-windows model he was used to. Most houses had one or more walls made of glass, like big windows, and the stairs were always at the outside of the house, wrapped around it like snakes. The actual windows were decorated with a glass that seemed a little odd, in the sense that it didn’t reflect any light. The houses themselves were built in a strange way, like the whole house was just one piece of a single material, instead of the pile of rocks or wood he saw back in his kingdom. Also, the walls were mostly painted in bright colours and, as a result, blue, yellow, and red seemed to flood the town. It was beautiful beyond any doubt, but he thought it was a little too heavy, too glamorous, too intense. How did the elves managed to live in a place like this?

Further behind, the thoughts of the rest were almost identical to Vreil’s. It wouldn’t be easy for humans to live in a place like this. Sting noticed two girls in a window laughing joyfully while looking at them. He blushed. Having girls smile as they looked at him was a relatively new experience for him. In the past, the most he could get from them was a suspicious look.

Sting hadn’t told anyone about his past, besides being a Black Beard pirate, and nobody had asked him, perhaps respecting his privacy. But maybe it was time he talked to someone. There were some things he had to get out of his chest.

“Ashter”, Vreil whispered and approached him, “do we look as prying as they do?”

“Just as much, if not more.” Hearing that, Vreil turned around and quietly signaled them to calm down. They were diplomats in a foreign capital, and they had to give the best of impressions. Luckily, the others understood the meaning behind his gesture and piped down as much as they could. Why didn’t Ashter tell us sooner? Vreil wondered in embarrassment.

They arrived at the palace without any disturbances, despite Ashter’s fears. The elves weren’t the kind to cause trouble, but from time to time they could be a little… unpredictable. Naturally, word of their arrival had reached the palace before them and four elves, dressed in military uniforms whose only purpose was to make a good impression, were waiting in front of the palace gates.

They were accompanied by one more elf who seemed a little older but, given that’s it’s a different race, they couldn’t be sure. This last elf was wearing a white shirt, with a blue ribbon stretching from his right shoulder to the left part of the waist. Over that, he donned a luxurious costume with long sleeves and golden cufflinks, accompanied by a red belt with a golden buckle. His suit was open in front to reveal his shirt. The elf stood there with his head a bit lowered, his back straight and his hands hanging calmly at the sides of his body. He didn’t move an inch until they got close. Then he bowed a little, just enough respect not to insult anyone, and greeted them. Vreil noticed that his eyes were pure green, but had an extra iris around the first one, like Pier.

“Welcome back to Laterna, sir Ashter. Would you mind introducing your company? My name is Zein,” he said and extended his hand to Vreil, who was the closest to him. He had a slight accent, almost imperceptible. Vreil didn’t remember noticing a similar accent from Pier so, combined with what he was wearing, he assumed that the elven society was arranged in castes, just like the human one.

“This is Vreil,” said Ashter as Vreil shook Zein’s hand. “The others are Sir Arnold, Jeffrey, Linda, Heartilia, and Sting”. Just like how Zein hadn’t even mentioned the four guards, Ashter did the same with their own two guards. They didn’t seem to care either way. “We have come to meet the Queen and discuss diplomatic matters of great importance,” continued Ashter.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” answered Zein. “It is an honor to meet one of the few human knights.” Sir Arnold smiled from inside his mustache, but he didn’t let the compliment get to him. Besides, it could also be interpreted as a hidden insult. “And of course, it is my honor to meet the rumored wizard, Ashter. This makes it the second time.”

“Can you show us inside please, Zein?” asked Ashter.

“But of course. Where are my manners? Please, come this way.”

The outside of the palace was very impressive, with its many columns and tall towers, as well as the abundance of statues decorating the first level of its roofs. There were many levels, with the ones closer to the ground being the first level. The palace was also made up of many different buildings, centered around a main building, the biggest of all and, in Vreil’s opinion, as impressive as it gets.

It stood about thirty to forty meters tall, but its location at the very top of the mountain made it look even taller. It had three balconies that surrounded the building, at different heights each, getting wider as they got closer to the ground.

It couldn’t be seen easily from their position below the palace but, at its roof, there was a spherical structure, the purpose of which was unknown. Also on the roof, there was a tall column and, on its top, the flag of the elven kingdom could be seen waving. It was the seven colours of the rainbow in horizontal stripes.

They left their horses and wagons outside and followed Zein, accompanied by his four guards. Behind the gate was a long hallway, without windows, and after that another gate where Zein whispered a password in a small opening at the right of the door. The door opened and the humans saw three more guards, wearing the exact same uniform the first four guards were wearing. After passing through some spacious, luxurious rooms that were almost empty of elves, they climbed the stairs and arrived at another big door, at least three times their height. This one had a handle decorated with gems of different, bright colors.

“This is the throne room,” said Zein and opened the door, which was lighter than it looked.

The first thing they noticed was the floor of the throne room. It was a mosaic made up of many small, colored stones. It depicted the same symbol that was on Ashter’s medallion, three crossed, red swords. One of the swords pointed at the throne across the room from the entrance, while the others pointed at the sides. It was designed to lead the eyes of whoever entered to the throne.

The whole picture was covered with a layer of strong glass and Zein told them they could fearlessly step on it. Countless chandeliers hung on the ceiling, illuminating the spacious, round, throne room. At the same time, five guards were placed at each side, left and right, with two more standing in front of the throne.

On the two sides of the throne were two smaller thrones, with two men sitting on them. On the right was a handsome young man, big in size, with honest eyes that seemed to observe them carefully. They were pure blue and made a contrast with his skin, darker than most other elves.

On the left was a male elf that, at first glance, looked pretty normal, with his eyes being the only thing that stood out. They were green and brown; a combination which, coupled with his angular facial structure, made him look evil. He was staring at everyone with a cold, calculative look.

“Your Highness, Queen Malira,” said Ashter as he bowed in front of the queen. “Your radiant form is always a sight to behold.”

The queen was an old, scrawny woman that seemed close to death. Her eyes were almost completely shut, and it was unknown whether she had heard Ashter or whether she was asleep.

“Ashter,” she said in a shaking voice, so silently that they had to focus to hear her. “You haven’t aged a day.”

“These are Vreil, Sting, Sir Arnold, Jeffrey, Linda, and Heartilia”, said Ashter, introducing them. The two guards had remained outside with the palace guards.

“And these are my first son, Prince Alexander,” the man to her right bowed slightly, “and our Prime Minister, Snaker.”

Vreil groaned inwardly. Who names their child Snaker? Did his parents hate him? Still, the name seemed to perfectly fit the man, as it often happens with names. “Why are you here, Ashter? I thought you wouldn’t return.”

“I am here because my kingdom needs me,” Ashter replied calmly.

“Just tell me, Ashter,” she sighed lightly, the sigh ending with a cough. “I am too old for these games.”

“Can we speak in private?” he requested. The queen immediately ordered all the guards to move outside and close the door. “Mother…” tried to say Prince Alexander, but the prime minister gestured him to stop.

“Now,” said the queen after the guards left, “this is as private as it gets. What do you want?”

“I want you to leave the human kingdom alone,” the old wizard admitted right away. “We can handle our own matters.”

“Our kingdom is not interacting with your kingdom, except for mercantile relations,” interfered the prime minister. The queen did not reply.

“I requested privacy so we could speak openly,” Ashter’s deep voice filled the room, not aggressive, but dominating. One would expect the one sitting on the throne to control the flow. They would be wrong. “I am willing to open my cards. Are you?”

“We repeat, we are in no way interfering with the internal affairs of your kingdom, as you seem to be implying,” the Prime Minister snapped. “If that’s all you have to say, please leave. The queen won’t tolerate any more of this mockery.”

“Very well,” replied Ashter and, turning around, walked towards the door, leaving his entourage frozen. “Queen Malira, you have my goodbyes. I hope that we will meet again.” The rest of the humans, confused, followed him.

“Ashter,” said Vreil, “what are you doing? We came all the way here, you should have said a thing or two more.”

Ashter’s response was to laugh. “Don’t worry,” he comforted him, the corridor empty of guards. “Everything is going according to plan.”

“How can you say-“

“Excuse me,” Zein interrupted them, popping up out of nowhere. Vreil jumped in fright, but Ashter did not seem surprised. “I have a message from her Highness, the Queen. She says she apologizes for losing her temper and invites you to stay at the palace’s guest rooms until you can talk again.”

“Tell her we accept,” answered Ashter.

“Then follow me to your rooms, please.”

Zein escorted them to a side building of the palace, where he showed them a hallway with eight rooms. “These are your residences,” he pointed at the hallway. “We will have guards outside for your own protection. Not everyone likes the humans.”

“Also,” added the butler, “our prime minister wonders if you would like to observe the stars with him at the observatory.”

“Of course we would”, replied Ashter.

“Excellent! He will not be available for the rest of the day, but tomorrow please notify us if you are still interested.”

“We will be, do not worry.”

“What is the observatory?” asked Vreil, after Zein left.

“It is a dome-like building on top of the palace. Inside it, among others, is a big thing called a ‘telescope’. Using it, you can see the stars much better than you do with the naked eye.”

Vreil eyes shone. The stars?!

He couldn’t wait; he wanted to see if what the Joke had shown him back then was true. Is the world really like that? He wondered even though, inside him, he already knew the answer. Too bad he would have to wait for a day.

“How did you know they would call us back?” asked Vreil after Zein had left, and they had put their things in their rooms. The two guards shared a room. Ashter laughed.

“This is negotiations, Vreil. If he appears to be impulsive, we get the message that we should not provoke him. By apologizing and making us accept an offer, he is put in an advantageous position. Well, there is no need for you to know all that. The negotiations will be handled by me, Sir Arnold, Linda, and Jeffrey.”

“What? I thought we would participate as well. What did we come here for, then?”

“Until the end of this trip, you will earn much more than negotiation skills. Try exploring the town. You never know.”

Vreil was upset, but he wasn’t going to show it. “Fine,” he said, turning around. “Sting, Heartilia, do you want to go to town?”

“Just don’t go Underground,” shouted Ashter as they closed the door.

Now that they were on foot, they could see more of the town. Like before, everyone was looking at them but nobody talked to them. They didn’t talk to the elves either. For now, sightseeing was enough.

They walked a different road than the one they used to get to the palace, but there wasn’t anything worth mentioning. One strange thing they noticed after a while was that there were very few shops. Almost all of the buildings were used as houses. “Excuse me,” Heartlia stopped a passing elf. They had agreed that it would be better if she, who looked less threatening, asked first. “Why are there so few shops in this town?”

The elf looked at them as if he was surprised they could talk, and so did everyone else on the street. “We, umm, well, we have shops, but they are underground,” he finally replied.

“Why?” asked Heartilia.

“Because the city wasn’t big enough, so we built another one underground,” the elf continued, his face filled with confusion, as if he was explaining something completely elementary. “But then we thought that it wouldn’t be nice for someone to live in such a cold, dark place, so we moved all the shops down there and the houses up here.”

“Really?” she sounded honestly surprised. “And how do we get there?”

“There are many circular openings on the road, just use one of them. But-” he seemed like he meant to say something more, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t be said. “Nevermind”, he said and left in a hurry.

The elves that were looking at them also looked the other way with strange expressions on their faces.

“Let’s just go”, shrugged Sting, and the rest agreed. It sounded too good to pass up.

They were ready to search for those openings for a long time if they had to, since they didn’t want to ask again after the previous awkwardness. However, they found one just as they turned the corner.

A circular opening on the road, wide enough to fit two people. A clean, iron ladder was in place to help with the descent to Laterna’s underground part. Vreil was the first to go. As his hands grabbed the ladder, he felt the desire to turn back, as if someone was whispering that that was a dangerous place. But what would the other two say if he turned back now, after saying he would go first? Slowly but steadily, Vreil descended into the darkness.

“All clear”, came Vreil’s voice from the bottom of the hole. Sting looked down but, like before, the bottom couldn’t be seen.

Do the elves really go down there for groceries… he couldn’t help but wonder.

Followed by Heartilia, he used the iron ladder to venture into the unknown. He understood he had reached the bottom when his foot touched the ground. The only source of light was the sun, shining from above as if they were inside a well. “Vreil,” shouted Sting, unable to see, “where are you?”

A sharp pain at the back of his head knocked him to the ground. Laying there, he heard Heartilia’s scream before he saw a torch light up. The scarred face of an elf lowered in front of him to see if he was still conscious.

“This one is strong too,” grinned the face, and Sting heard it as if he was whispering from the top of the hole. “Don’t kill them. They can give us a good show.” Another hit on the back of his head made everything go black.

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

At the outskirts of the town, the Shepherd was looking quietly at his sheep eating. He could sense his prey in Laterna, blissfully unaware of the danger that lurked right next to it.

When his sheep ate the last of the elven soldiers they had found in the woods, he began his march towards the town. He could smell not only Ashter, but that mysterious companion of his as well. It was just a faint scent, but the smell of the memory wolves was definitely coming from a human. What did they have to do with him?

Not that it mattered to the Shepherd, he just wanted something to calm his mind before the hunt began. Besides, whether they had betrayed the Masters at the end or not, it didn’t matter much. Even if the memory wolves themselves appeared and joined forces with Ashter, they couldn’t kill the Shepherd, given the wizard’s present condition.

Suddenly, he noticed a deep hole on the ground. He jumped in and the smell of Ashter’s companion got stronger. Sharp teeth, too numerous and too sharp to belong to a human, grinned. The hunt is on.

Letting his primitive instincts take over, the Shepherd let himself return to being the animal he really was. Silently, like a crocodile closing in on its peaceful prey, the Shepherd entered the Underground of the elven city. His sheep, which no longer looked like sheep, were right behind him.