Hidden Demons

The pond was sparkling clean, literally. While walking around the water, flashes of light kept bothering Kies. Annoyed and curious, he went to the edge and peered down, spotting thousands of tiny gemstones littering the bottom of it.

"Wow..." Kies couldn't help but open his mouth in amazement.

Nyana appeared behind him and explained the reasons for the gemstones. "You might think we're being extravagant, but the rocks here are actually to purify the water and keep it clean." She pointed ahead of them and Kies turned his head to follow her finger. Lining the pond were rows of small trees. They looked like any other tree in the forest except for one distinction. Each bore white-colored fruits, no larger than his hand. "Those trees can only survive on clean water. They are also our primary source of food" she informed him.

"These few trees sustain everyone in this forest?" Kies was surprised. He counted no more than ten of them. He didn't know how many elves lived in this forest, but it seemed like it was more than what these trees could support. There must be something special about them. As interesting as these trees were, Kies didn't care much about them, as he didn't need food.

As they walked around the lake, Kies felt more and more eyes on him, yet, he didn't spot a single person anywhere. He sent his winds out to survey the surroundings to find what his eyes cannot and felt the presence of tens, no, hundreds of people on the treetop, hiding behind the thick leaves and shade of the trees.

Sensing the usage of magic, Nyana turned to Kies and explained, "We elves are not fond of strangers in our territory-" Her eyes shot left and right, as if making sure no one was watching, when in fact they were being watched by everyone in the village currently and spoke in a low voice, "-since the last time we welcomed strangers, we were turned into slaves." The elf didn't need to specify who it was that they let in as it was obvious. It made sense that the elves would be on guard whenever a person of another race entered their home.

The two walked to the building in the middle and once they got close enough, Kies saw that it wasn't a building, but rather a giant tree stump The insides were hollowed out and allowed for the space to house people. It was there that they encountered the first face in a while.

An old elf greeted them. "It must have been a long journey." Wearing a long yet loose lime-colored robe that stretched all the way down to the floor and dragged a foot behind him. He strolled over to the two with no problems whatsoever.

Nyana bowed her head, greeting the elder respectfully. Kies followed her lead and did the same, bowing his head ever so slightly so as to not offend their culture. A good first impression was something he should have on the elves moving onward from here. After all, he was going to be here awhile.

Nyana didn't waste any time and went straight down to business. "We will be staying here for a day or two. Are there any problems you need me to take care of in the meanwhile?" It was less of a question and more of a demand. Nyana was asking for purposely asking for more work, something that no normal person would want to ask for, but when one lived the life of a soldier, it was an obligation.

The elder shook his head. "Nothing that needs the attention of a Sylv," he told her.

"I see. But if anything does arise while I am here, please do come to me."

"I will remember that. Now, please follow me. I will guide you to your residences." The elder took the two to one of the trees opposite the direction of the lake and showed them in. Inside the hollow tree, bioluminescent fungi lined the walls and ceiling, lighting up everything almost as brightly as the sun outside, but just in a hue of blue. There was a big table in the middle and chairs, carved and still attached to the tree itself. A spiraling stair led up to the next floor.

That wasn't all. A small stream of water flowed down the far wall under the first few steps of the stairs to the roots. If anyone grew thirsty, water was easy to access. If they were hungry, there was a bowl of white fruit on the table that Kies had previously seen on the trees by the pond. "One of these fruits can fill you for a week. You can grab a few if you want. We have plenty," the elder told Kies.

A week? One of these small fruits could feed someone for a week? That was definitely an eye-opener. So this was what Nyana meant when she said that these fruits were the elves' primary source of food. If Otane had these then they wouldn't have to worry about farming to keep their entire population well-fed. If any civilization had these trees, they would be thriving.

The elven elder gave them a brief tour of all the important areas, which were all on the first floor, before taking his departing suddenly for something. Kies went to the room they provided him. It had a desk, chair, bed, and a shelf with some books to kill time if he ever got bored. There was even a small window with blinds.

In general, it was a nice room, even better than the room that he was given in the palace. Compared to it, the elven room was smaller and didn't give off a feeling of emptiness with unused space. But as nice as the room was, he wasn't planning on using it.

Kies exited the tree and bumped into an elf that was taking a walk. "Careful, stranger," she said in a passive-aggressive tone. Saying nothing more, the elf went about her business. A little rude but Kies wasn't going to chase after her about it. Causing trouble over something so petty wasn't his style, though it did ruin his mood a little.

Kies left the elven village and went back to the pond. He lay down in the grass, feeling relaxed. The clawing feeling at this chest re-emerged. Lying here in the soft grass, just as he so behind the back of the mansion. The only difference now was that there was no longer anyone to come and get him.

The skies were clear blue with no clouds. There was no wind and the temperature was just right. The weather was as good as it could possibly be by. Everything was perfect. Too perfect... But despite everything being so picture-perfect, the village gave off a kind of dystopian feeling and Kies couldn't understand why. Wait... Something was wrong.

Kies shot up and got back onto his feet. He knew little of elven culture and the little he did know came from Nyana who briefed him about their customs, but he felt as if this was too perfect even by elven standards. The elves and the demons were currently engaged in a war and yet there were so many elves still here in the village.

Even if a war weren't going on, weren't there too many elves here? Nyana mentioned once that each village usually had a population of a number in the low hundreds, upwards to five hundred. Even the elven capital barely had over a thousand, but a remote village like this one?

It wasn't just him who felt that something was off. Nyana jumped down from the trees and appeared next to him. "Are you also feeling it too?" she asked.

"Yes. I don't think they welcome us here."

At his call, the black sword formed at his hand, spinning out into its double-sized form. He swung the weapon to his side, sending wind winds to intercept a trio of fireballs that came flying out of the top of the trees. They exploded midair, creating a violent draft of air. Embers singed the grass and leaves.

"It looks like they don't even want to bother hiding it anymore," Kies noted.

"Last time I checked, we elves can only use nature magic. I know of only a handful that can use other magics, and none of them use fire."

One by one, enemies landed around them, and they were no elves. "And last time I checked too, elves don't have horns..." Kies remarked, looking at the demons that surrounded them.

"So this village was compromised..." Nyana growled. She drew her bow and prepared for a fight.

Kies counted ten demons altogether. All the other bodies that he counted before were just illusions made by magic to trick them into believing that the village was still occupied by elves.

The demons closed the ring, forcing Kies and Nyana to move closer until their backs were pressed against each other. One of the demons, likely the one in charge of the squad, opened her mouth and said, "I don't know how you found us out, but you can forget about living."

"I will have to challenge those words," Kies shot back. Gripping his sword tightly, he lashed out at the closest demon.

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