The celebrations had gone remarkably well that night.
The elves had danced until the flames of the Great Cedar finally dimmed into glowing embers, and the night sky shimmered with drifting sparks that looked like souls ascending to the heavens.
They had feasted, laughed, and shared drinks until even the most disciplined of guards had given in to the rhythm of the music.
By the time the fire had died down completely, the entire village was asleep, exhausted but content. It had been a night to remember.
Now, however, the village had returned to its usual calm. The smell of ash still lingered faintly in the morning air, but the lively cheers and laughter from the night before were gone, replaced by the sounds of rustling leaves and chirping birds.
High above the forest floor, nestled among the thick branches of an enormous elder-tree, stood one of the most important structures in the entire elven settlement.
The administrative chamber of the Matriarch.
From outside, it looked like a grand treehouse: elegant arches grown naturally from living wood, vines wrapping around its sides, windows that overlooked the sprawling greenery of the forest below.
But inside, it was something entirely different.
Books lined the walls in perfect order, stacks of files and reports covered the desks. It was less a sanctuary of nature and more an office.
A beautiful paradox of the wild and the civilized.
At the far end of the room sat Leona, behind a wooden desk adorned with neat piles of documents. Her expression was calm, unreadable, as she flipped through a report.
Beside her, at a smaller desk covered with scattered scrolls and quills, sat Nyx.
But despite the cozy setting, the air between them was cold and uncomfortable.
They weren't sitting too far apart, but the silence made it feel like miles separated them.
Leona's focus was absolute, her eyes moving swiftly across every line of text, her quill scratching with precision.
Nyx, on the other hand, occasionally looked up from her own work, glancing at her sister with faint hesitation, as though waiting for the right moment to speak.
But Leona never looked up.
Finally, unable to bear the quiet any longer, Nyx sighed softly, put down her quill, leaned back in her chair, and smiled faintly.
"Have you heard the news?" She began, her tone light, playful.
Leona didn't respond.
Nyx continued anyway, her voice brightening.
"Apparently, Sierra's been losing a lot of vegetables from her garden lately. She was so angry she accused her neighbor—you know, the one with the tulip bed next door of stealing them. They almost came to blows over it!"
"But then, right in the middle of their shouting, a bunch of rats burst out of the ground, snatched up all the vegetables, and scurried off with them right in front of everyone!"
She giggled at the absurdity of it.
"Can you imagine? They just stood there watching the rats escape with the whole harvest. Poor Sierra nearly fainted!"
Leona didn't even look up. Her eyes stayed fixed on her papers.
"I see." She said flatly, flipping to the next page.
Nyx blinked, her smile faltering slightly. "...You see?" She repeated. "That's it? Not even a chuckle?"
Leona made no reply. But still, not ready to give up, Nyx quickly thought of another story.
"Alright, how about this one then? Do you remember Althia, the one who boasted she'd trained her bird to sing on command?"
"Well, turns out the bird actually learned to mimic her snoring instead. Now, every time she scolds someone, it snores in the background!"
Leona's response was another faint nod. "Hm."
Nyx blinked, her shoulders slumping. "Okay...tough crowd today."
Still, she wasn't one to give up easily.
"Then you'll definitely like this one, apparently, one of the guards tripped over his own bowstring yesterday and rolled all the way down the hill into the flower pond. The look on his face when he came up covered in petals was—"
"I see."
That was all Leona said again, her eyes never leaving her papers.
But just as Nyx was about to tell another story purely out of spite, Leona finally raised her head.
"I think we should stop this right now." Leona said firmly.
"What?"
Leona set down her quill neatly and folded her hands atop the desk before looking at her sister.
"We are not here to exchange idle gossip. We are the Matriarch and the Royal Advisor of this village. That means we are on duty. Just because we are the only ones in this office doesn't mean we can behave like the elders gossiping at the market."
She turned back to her paperwork.
"We have responsibilities, real responsibilities. So please focus on your work."
The words weren't harsh, but they were cold—so methodically spoken that they left no room for argument.
Nyx sat back slowly, her faint smile fading into something more fragile. She looked down at her papers for a moment, but her quill didn't move.
It was always like this.
No matter how many times she tried to lighten the mood, make her sister laugh, or just get her to talk, Leona always shut her down.
There had been a time—long ago—when her sister wasn't like this.
When Leona smiled easily and teased back, when they could talk for hours.
But ever since her marriage, that warmth had vanished behind duty and formality almost as if she had become a new person.
Nyx glanced at her sister again, a shadow of sadness crossing her face, before forcing a soft, amused smile.
"Well." She said, her tone shifting from playful to serious. "If you don't want to talk about gossip, then fine. Let's talk about business."
That got Leona's attention. She looked up again, faint curiosity in her eyes.
Nyx's smile returned, but this time it was sharper, more serious.
"Some of the scouts I sent to the human continent have returned." She said, her tone lowering. "And they've brought back...rather shocking news."
"Shocking?"
Nyx nodded, leaning forward slightly. "So shocking, in fact, that I think you should prepare yourself for what I'm about to say next."
Leona sighed softly, already anticipating Nyx's habit of building up her stories like a bard about to perform for an audience.
"You know I don't like theatrics, Nyx." She said flatly. "Just say what you have to say, cut and clear. No dramatics, no buildup."
Nyx pouted, leaning back in her chair.
"Ugh, you're no fun at all." She complained, dragging the words out. "How can I just blurt it out when it deserves to be told like a legendary tale? Honestly, sister, if storytelling were left to you, the world would be asleep before the first chapter."
Leona didn't even look up. "Then let them sleep. Now speak."
"Fine, fine!" Nyx said with an exaggerated sigh, raising her hands in surrender. "If you want it plain, I'll make it plain."
She took a breath, her blue eyes glinting.
"First of all—what our dear hero said is actually true."
Leona's quill froze mid-stroke, her eyes narrowing slightly as she finally looked at her,
"What do you mean by that?"
Nyx leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk.
"Exactly that. Just like he said—he's stopped the war."
The air in the room went still.
"The human invasion has completely ceased. No more raids. No more soldiers crossing the oceanic borders. No more ships looming in the distance."
"The war on our side has ended, Leona. Entirely."
Hearing this absurd statement, Leona's eyes trembled.
For a moment, the cold mask on her face faltered, just slightly, but enough that her surprise was unmistakable.
"…Are you absolutely sure?" She asked quietly.
"Completely." Nyx said without hesitation. "I had my best scouts confirm it personally. They went deep into human territory, and they brought back proof: posters, proclamations, and eyewitness accounts. Everything lines up."
"Whatever our hero did...it worked."
Leona leaned back in her chair slowly, her mind spinning.
The war that had worried their people for years, the war she had spent so much thinking over was suddenly over?
"But how?" She murmured. "How could one person end a war that's been burning for years?"
Nyx's lips curved into a thin smile.
"That is where things get...interesting."
She lifted one leg over the other, settling back with elegant poise and went on to say,
"Two weeks ago, something unimaginable happened. The entire royal family of the human empire—everyone except the king—was massacred."
"Their heads were found in the royal courtyard, sliced cleanly apart, as if by a blade sharper than reason itself."
Leona's eyes widened, her pulse quickening.
"What…?"
Nyx chuckled softly.
"Oh, it gets better. After that, the killings didn't stop."
"The same figure—some call him a hero, others a demon has been on an absolute rampage ever since."
"He's been hunting down criminals, corrupt nobles, deceitful ministers, war profiteers...anyone responsible for feeding the conflict between our races."
"Wherever he goes, death follows. He's erased entire strongholds overnight."
She paused dramatically, then said,
"In just one week, over ten thousand people were killed."
Leona's chair scraped slightly against the floor as she jerked, disbelief flashing through her features.
"Don't mock me, Nyx. Ten thousand? That's absurd. Not even an entire legion of elves who can still wield could manage that."
Nyx only smiled wider. "You think I'm lying for amusement? I wish I were. But it's the truth. They're building new burial grounds just to contain the corpses."
The room fell silent.
Leona's expression hardened, but her fingers twitched slightly atop the desk.
"Ten thousand…"
She whispered, the words barely escaping her lips.
"A single man did that? That's...that's the kind of number you hear in a war ledger."
"Yep." She said like she found it all unbelievable and crazy at the same time. "And that's why the humans are in a frenzy right now. No one knows what's happening. Panic is spreading through their cities. Half of them call him the Avenging Hero, and the other half call him The Dark Slayer and some other edgey titles."
Leona's voice lowered, cautious. "…And do we know who this person is? His appearance and all."
"Not officially." Nyx replied. "They say he's seen only in glimpses, appearing and disappearing like a shadow. But every witness describes the same thing."
"A man with dark, messy hair...and eyes darker than the night itself."
Nyx tilted her head, smirking faintly. "Sound familiar?"
Leona's breath caught, while Nyx leaned back, resting her chin on her hand.
For a long moment, Leona didn't speak. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
She had expected him to be powerful.
Yes, anyone chosen by a goddess would be.
But this?
Ten thousand dead, entire royal bloodlines erased, and a continent trembling in fear?
That was no hero.
That was a calamity in human form.
Nyx sighed softly. "You see, I knew he'd be strong. The goddess wouldn't have chosen him otherwise. But this…" She gave a small, helpless laugh. "This is on another level. I didn't think she'd send us an actual monster. A charming, polite monster—but still a monster."
Her voice dropped lower, quieter, almost amused in a grim way.
"Honestly, I had contingency plans, evacuation protocols just in case he ever turned on us. But after hearing this, I think we can safely say we're ants to him. If he decided to, he could flatten the entire village before we even drew a bow."
Leona's eyes narrowed sharply, her voice cold but laced with unease.
"Then why are you saying it so casually?"
Nyx blinked. "Casually?"
"Yes!" Leona's voice rose slightly, a rare flare of emotion. "You're describing a being who could slaughter armies and burn kingdoms, and you're sitting there acting as if it's a mild inconvenience!"
"He's a potential catastrophe, Nyx! A threat so great that even if we fled across the world, he'd find us, one by one, and tear us apart just for sport! How can you not see that?"
Nyx didn't flinch. Instead, she looked at her sister with a confident gaze,
"Because, sister." She said softly. "He was sent by the Goddess herself. You forget that."
Leona's eyes narrowed.
"The Goddess wouldn't send someone to destroy the very people she swore to protect." Nyx continued. "And Mother approved him as well. You know what that means."
"She can judge people better than either of us ever could. She's lived through centuries, seen every kind of heart. So, if she saw Luca and decided he was fit to protect us, then she must have seen something we didn't."
Her voice grew quieter, steadier, filled with conviction.
"We might be clever, Leona, but Mother is wise. She doesn't place her faith lightly. If she believes in him...then so will I."
Leona stared at her, torn between unease and reluctant trust.
But Nyx just gave a small, almost wistful smile.
"So before you start worrying about him hunting us down, maybe consider this—perhaps the Goddess didn't send us a monster."
She looked out the open window, toward the faint glow of the forest canopy below.
"Maybe, she sent us a savior who just had to do whatever was necessary to keep us safe...even if it meant that he to stain his hands with blood of countless souls."