After slogging aimlessly through the Valley for a long time, the chase came to an abrupt end when they arrived at those cursed ruins for the… umpteenth time.

They already lost two of their beasts of burdens, potions ran low – Foxy did still had a few for contingencies, and she suspected the others had a few hidden away too – food and booze almost completely gone. The last one was important with Prof’s addiction, if he didn’t drink a few times a week, he would go into withdrawal, and that included some deliberating deductions to a lot of Skills and Stats.

Not something one wanted to happen during a dangerous expedition.

Mini and Prof were visibly fed up with the aimless wandering in the Valley, and flat out told Shinead, they should wait for Guillermo and his band right there. Foxy herself didn’t care either way, she went where Prof went, he was her primary objective.

If not Prof, she would follow Mini – it was time for a vacation.

With technically three against one – no one cared to ask the Kobold – it was decided, they would settle down in a respectful distance of the ruins and wait.

As it transpired, the wait wasn’t overly long, as soon as they finished the discussion, the group they were trying to catch for a long time just walked in on them.

Even without introducing himself, it was obvious from the description, which one Guillermo was, the Green-Grey female was probably Csenge, a sniper from Felseberg, the other female, a Blue-Grey was almost certainly Francesca, a well-known duellist from the Gerulian Federation. The other two Foxy couldn’t name or place. One was a Shadowgrey-Grey, observing him Foxy learned he was some kind of thief or assassin. The last one was a true rarity: a Black-Grey.

She never heard that they procreated with Humans, or even with other Elves. In fact, they mostly kept to themselves in their sects and only interacted with the Domain when someone needed serious killing. In that regard, they were even more notorious than the Reds, the Domain was very careful to point them only in the direction of something no one would miss. Cities could be rebuild, right?

Those battle maniacs and berserkers.

And one of them made a Grey… Why would a hermaphrodite Black Elf want to procreate with a Human? Oh the times, the customs!

The Humans weren’t that interesting, a run-of-the-mill small band of mercenaries, looking at their gear, probably from Gerulia.

Of course, the little Red charged without giving any thought to survival. Probably she expected the others to follow in the same manner, but Prof was marginally intelligent, Mini and Foxy didn’t care that much – and no one asked the Kobold. Who most likely wasn’t prepared to die for a Red anyways.

Prof was intelligent enough to tackle Shinead and precluded an immediate battle. Not intelligent enough, though, to realise that after this, he will wake up with a dagger in his gut, blood debt be damned. You don’t stand between a Red and her revenge – or stand between an Red and anything else, for that matter.

Shinead cared little for pinned beneath the Human and kept throwing insults and threats at the Grey. He, in turn, wasn’t intimidated (Mini could do that without fail, Foxy thought), and did something Foxy never expected.

“I’m on official business, so stand down, little bitch.” he told the assembled crowd and flashed a badge. One that identified himself as a member of the All-Elven Central Department for Military Defence, Protection, Intelligence and Security Services. It actually looked legit – not that anyone could forge a false one, that stood up to inspection. Even if it proved to be a forgery, they could not attack him and his until it was established. That Foxy was told by her superiors to stand still, the badge and the claim were most likely legitimate.

“Shinead, stand down! That’s an order!” She needed to find out the truth before committing to violence.

“Sleep with a monkey, Little Sister! You can not order me around!” Well, that was rude. Telling an Elf to have intercourse with a Human was an insult on the same level as calling them a cur, questioning their purity. That called for blood. That she seriously thought, Foxy couldn’t order her around, gave just injury to a wound.

“You don’t have jurisdiction over Red Elves, and you know it! You have no jurisdiction outside of the Domain!“ was she that stupid? No, an Intelligence of 14 would be enough not to think such stupid things. Her [Law: Elven] was low, though, but still, an agent of the Bureau and the Office had jurisdiction over everything that had to do with threats to the Domain and Travellers. The Laws and Customs were clear.

Not to waste any more time, she hit Shinead with a sleep spell. Let the grown-ups settle the issue between themselves.

“Actually, no, Little Sister.” Guillermo grinned. He at least acknowledged her standing and right to question him “First, I myself did not harm anyone in that Clan, that was all done by the Humans. In fact, the Clan broke the law by harming one of my subordinates when he tried to deliver a missive and ask for an artefact. That was a refusal of an official order and an attack on another Elf.”

“Look, I have 311% in [Law: Elven], you can trust me.”

Actually, Foxy could trust him to justify anything he did to her. Everything would be within the Law and Customs – to ascertain the claim, she would have to cart him back to the Domain, hand him over to investigators proficient in [Magic: Mind] and [Laws: Elven]. Here, in the field, she would have to hear him out and decide after that.

Leaving to others back, the two of them withdraw a short distance. Foxy was sure, they were far enough so Prof and Mini couldn’t hear them, so she wouldn’t give out secrets to foreigners.

Guillermo handed a stack of papers to Foxy, who read through them attentively. Identifications, permits, licences, orders. Everything looked good, and Foxy even took a look at the badge. It was valid, too.

“They look genuine, and as such prove you are acting in an official capacity.” Foxy switched to Elven when they were alone “That leaves only two points, if we assume what you said about the Red clan is true. The attack on Shinead Sidhe of the Swift Arrow Clan and the question of the Humans and their attack on the Swift Arrow Clan. Care to explain?”

“You don’t have to concern yourself with the Humans for much longer. As for the Red bitch… Well, the person who attacked her will be available for trial after we accomplish our mission, that I promise.”

So, the Humans would be dead shortly, not much of a loss. How Guillermo would ensure the guilty person would be available later was a more important question. There was, however, a way to bind Guillermo to his promise. Foxy fished some Office-issued materials out of her bag.

“You know what this is. Swear that the filth responsible for the attack will stand trial and you and yours will do everything to make it happen.”

Guillermo blanched, but swore nonetheless. Good. If he went against his word, people will know and he would have to flee beyond Chimeria to lose the pursuers.

“Now, what is this whole expedition and attack about?”

“The old ones had the right idea! Make a death zone so no one can reach the Domain! Elvenkind would be safe in such an impenetrable fortress, no matter what the other species do! We should not concern us with them! If they want to kill each other off, they can be my guests! We would have time and resources to deploy old magic to kill off all the others! Who survives, will know their place as pets for their Elven Masters! As it should be!”

“How would you accomplish that? No one knows, how the Valley was formed. Who gave you this mission? Does the High King know about this?”

Foxy was not appealed by the prospect of mass genocide, it was only about other species after all, and if the hierarchy was OK with it… It was for the Greater Good of All Elvenkind.

“HA! You know nothing! The old ones did all this!” he spread his hands, probably indicating the Valley. Or the whole world “They found some artefacts from the Dragonkin Wars, and wanted to build the impenetrable fortress millennia ago! If not for an accident, they would have succeeded! That accident were the Reds and they STOLE one of the key parts that made the ritual working!”

“How do you know that? No one survived the forming of the Valley!”

“You are wrong, again! A lot of folks survived it, some are even now living here! We have even met a few! As for the mages responsible for the ritual? Most of them survived! The ritual going wrong, at least but they were hunted down by these filthy Reds afterwards! Only my master managed to survive!”

“Ah, that mysterious Shadowgrey Elf, who sponsored this expedition. This is why you attacked the Swift Arrow Clan too?”

“Yes! They were a splinter Clan from an older one, and they were entrusted with the stolen part. They refused to hand it over for the Greater Good of All Elvenkind!”

“I assume, you have the stolen part. What next?”

“Next? I will contact my Master, and he will complete the ritual he begun millennia ago! The Domain will be safe behind the wall so we will be able to concentrate on eradicating all those upstarts! Those that survive, the ritual will kill a lot of them on its own. For the Domain!”

That wasn’t the worst plan Foxy ever heard, and it had merit. The Domain was struggling against all those enemies coming from all directions. A few centuries or millennia peace would be enough to regain the lost strength – mainly if the outside menace was culled at the same time.

“All right, what do we do now with…”

Foxy couldn’t finish the sentence. Two powerful crossbow bolts sticking out of her lungs made sure of that. While she collapsed, she still could hear a scream in a well-known voice:

“KILL THE ELVES! FOR HUMANITY!!!”

That was cruel, so cruel, so, so cruel. Bloodthirsty and unscrupulous. Maybe Irresponsible.

And so Foxy Delahaye died for real.