Arcanum - Chapter 160

We all awoke to the sound of the school day beginning, with no Paul or Scarlet in sight…. “Did you guy see where everyone else went?..” I questioned noticing everyone was gone except me Jay and Helen.

“Scarlet and Paul said they had to meet the faculty for a debriefing… and well you know Grace and Daisy doing their routine early morning competitive exercise.” Helen answered with a smile handing me a glass of water.

“How long have you been up for?..” I questioned.

“Hmmm maybe two or three hours….” she smiled.

“You live on such little sleep?..” I questioned looking at Jay who looked like he could live with some more sleep.

“Us Elves only need half the amount for sleep human’s normally do….. We kind of sit in a state between being awake and asleep.” She smiled handing Jay a glass of water, truly looking more refreshed then me and Jay.

“So what other differences do Elves have to humans?..” I questioned.

“As I mentioned before we do live for a few hundred years…. on average..” She answered.

“Wait so … when I grow old… say 40ish…. you’re still goanna look young for at least a couple hundred years?..” I questioned in jealousy.

“Yeah…. generally we mature like humans….. And once we hit the age of 20ish… then we age similar to you guys but 10 years for you is more like 100 for us.” She smiled.

“Also…. I heard that Elves are resistant to some forms of magic.” Jay added.

“That is true…. because of our lineage….. we are immune to things that might force us to sleep…. as well as being charmed…. we can also see in the darkness and generally more perceptive and agile then humans.” She answered.

“What other races are there?…” I questioned.

“Ohhh loads….. There’s the standard humanoid surface races… Dwarfs, Gnomes, Orcs, Goblins, Halflings, Half Angels, Animal people.. The list is quite extensive…. that not including.. Avian Races…. Sea Races and Underground races.” She answered.

“Blimy….. That’s a lot…” I replied in shock.

“We’re in a predominantly Human continent though…. so seeing all of them would be hard to come by.” Jay replied.

“Are they all peaceful?..” I questioned.

“Well yesterday as you can see… Dark Elves are the opposite to peaceful… but it just depends on the politics and way of life…. Orcs and Elves naturally butt heads.. But Elves and Humans can live side by side despite generally being wary of other races and Elves passive distain to other races.” Helen answered.

“So what Paul did to the Dark Elves was it the best option?..” I questioned interested in her opinion being an Elf.

“His choice to leave survivors was an act of mercy they do not deserve.” She answered.

“Are they that different?..” I questioned.

“It’s a long story…. So Inarath the Goddess of Evil….. She was once lovers of the Gehrasilon the leader of the Good Elven Pantheon…. Inarath jealous that all the Elves worshiped Gehrasilon and wanting worshippers of her own……through scheming and manipulation she gathered other lesser Elven Gods and caused a war between Orcs and Elves and also helping Vorgarah The Orc God by Enchanting his blade with poison……As well as a giant civil war….. The Orcs lost the war…. their God was gravely injured and Inaraths betrayal was brought to light…. Gehrasilon still in love with Inarath couldn’t bear to strike her down…. so he banished her and her kin deep underground……” She explained.

“Okay…..” I nodded in understanding.

“Dark Elf society if very different…. It is ruled by one Council… there is a Grand Priestess she speaks to Inarath directly on how to rule over all the Dark Elves and Guidance…. then there are Ten High Priestesses…. that do the Grand Priestesses bidding without question… then there are Eight ‘Great’ Dark Elven houses that act like a ruling family……” She began to explain making me listen closely completely fascinated. “So each of these eight families rule over a populace under the council’s orders but secretly constantly warring with the other houses trying to get a upper hand over the other.” she explained.

“And the council is okay with that?” I questioned.

“Openly they aren’t… so if any house is caught doing something to another….. They would be heavily punished…. but otherwise anything is allowed as long as they aren’t caught.” Helen answered.

“What’s life like as a commoner?…” Jay asked.

“As a commoner….. You either die young or grow up to be subservient to a house…. you’re just a means to an end nothing more nothing less….. You could always work your way up the ranks of a house…. but in the end you’ll still be an outsider.” She answered.

“And the people they bring back… the slaves…. what happens to them?..” I questioned further.

“Exactly how you named them… they become slaves….. Men will be forced to fight in the Gladiatorial Arena with the false promise of a chance at freedom…. Females would be forced into brothels….. Being forced to do hideous and sadistic things the Dark Elves find pleasurable or exciting…… Everyone else…… would be forced into labour camps….. Where if they Creatures of the Dark don’t get you….. The starvation and fatigue will.” She described the grim society of Dark Elves.

“Damn….. That horrible…” I replied at how shockingly sickening they are.

“And that’s not even the worse… if you bought by a member of the Homunculus Cult…. then you’ve arrived at the worst fate of them all…. The cult specialises in making monstrosities… torturing….. Implanting… experimenting…. fusing… mutating their slaves into horrors beyond imagination…. they say staring into the eyes of one horror is enough to drive anyone insane….” She explained warning us of the dreadful cult.

I looked in shock utterly silent at what I just heard….. I didn’t even have words that could even describe my horrific shock in hearing something so dark and dreadful….. The inhuman nature of the Dark Elves……..

“Even their battle tactics are dark and cruel….. Infiltrating cities and towns slowly taking down the command structure till victory is ensured…..” She explained.

“So if Paul didn’t show up we would have been done for?..” I questioned.

“Atlantis and the City was completely unaware of the Dark Elves plan to attack so most likely the city would have been lost.” She answered.

“I think we need to tell Paul….” I suggested.

“Tell him what?..” Jay questioned.

“Well he said there were several High Priestesses… There must be something big going on if they sent members of the council.” I explained.

“I’m sure he already know…..” Helen answered.

“I guess you’re right….” I replied… “So what do you think would prompt the Dark Elves to launch such a large attack?..” I questioned.

“Could be many things…. Gaining strong hold on a surface world…… Testing the defences of a city… one thing is for certain…. If Inarath is involved they are scheming something…. I just hope what Paul did deterred them from doing anything further…” Helen answered.

“So what would happen if say a Dark Elf kidnapped a normal Elf?…” Jay inquired.

“…… We were taught from a young age… if you was ever to be taken by a Dark Elf…. you need to perform a ritual…..” She answered looking down and saddened by the thought, “….. It’s basically a glorified suicide….. Because what they would do to an Elf is beyond imagination that choosing death would be a better fate.” she answered.

“That bad huh?..” He replied in understanding.

“Yes they teach all Elven children… that this ritual would cleanse your soul of all sins and wrong goings and you’ll be granted passage to Heaven … but it’s just a glorified sacrifice to escape what would come next…” Helen explained.

“Let’s just skip that for now…. and head to Breakfast?..” I suggested having heard enough of Dark Elves for a life time…….