Leaning back in his chair, Nitis Sindris stared at the ceiling, contemplating where to begin. “Lee, before I begin, I want you to know that what I’m about to tell you is a black mark burned into the pages of Dark Elven history. I will understand if you view us differently after you hear about it.” Nitus moves his focus from the room's ceiling to gaze into Lee’s faintly glowing blue eyes. At that moment, Lee saw the actual age of Nitis. In his vibrant green eyes, Lee saw the haunted look of the past.

Lee decided to stay quiet and nodded, indicating that Nitis was free to speak. Nitis looked down at his ink-stained desk and took a deep breath in preparation for his tale. “It was nine-hundred and forty-six years ago, and the world remembers the event of the Harrowing to this day. The reason why you’re the only Human in Neldam is not that we won’t allow other races to come here. It is because Dark Elves were banished here on the outskirts of the known wilderness and because we have been ostracised. The other races view us as the Dark Elves we used to be.” Nitis moved his haunted gaze from the desk to Lee once more. “We…” Nitis closed his eyes sharply and took a shaky breath in, trying to get his tremulous emotions back under control.

Lee, at this point, understood that the Harrowing was a significant part of the Dark Elves’ past, so he decided to try and reassure Nitis that it was indeed the past, not the present. “Take your time Nitis. Nine hundred years was long ago. I will listen when you are ready.”

Still warring with his emotions, Nitis nodded and took a few seconds to collect himself before continuing. “We might as well have been monsters.” Nitis’ haunted green eyes flickered with unbridled fury for the briefest of moments, but it was long enough for Lee to catch. “The humans from the Kingdom of Bardum decided to expand their influence into what was then Dark Elven territory. At the time, we as a people were different than what you see here today. We were dwellers, living underneath the land in vast cave systems, and we only used the land above us to cultivate crops and raise animals.”

Nitis moved his gaze off of Lee and stared at his in-stained desk, laying his palms down on the desk as he swallowed to clear his throat. “You must understand that at the time, we continuously fought the monsters of the deep and were raised around that constant conflict. Once we learned that the Humans were taking the land above us, it was decided that we would act.”

Lee slowly closed his eyes and seemed to know where the story was headed. Fuck.

Nitis, seeing Lee’s reaction, nodded slowly. “We had a leader, Sortolm Harvis. He made the decisions for our people. He led us in the fight against the deep and earned his title of Rilthis through his actions and leadership. Not long after we learned of the Humans traversing our lands above us, he had decided the direction our people would take. He decided that we could not have enemies below and enemies above. He rallied our people to fight for what was ours, and we believed in him. So… we slaughtered them…”

Nitis took another shaky breath. “We were led to believe that the Humans were here to take what was ours and that they would do so by any means necessary. So, Sortolm had gathered what fighters he could from every single city we had and went above to rid us of this new enemy.” Nitis waved his hand and cast a spell, bringing two delicately crafted glass chalices, along with a pitcher from near the bookshelf-ridden wall, floating towards his desk.

Pouring himself a drink and one for Lee, he took a swig. “There was a stark difference in levels. We were constantly in conflict with the monsters of the deep and gathered far more levels than the humans. They stood no chance against us, and we as a people killed every single Human we ran into, all the way to the border of the Kingdom of Bartum.”

Nitis emptied his glass chalice with another drink, then filled it again. “A month of slaughter later, and Sortolm declared us victorious.” Nitis paused and glanced at the wall of bookshelves, messily aligned with many leather-bound books and precious scrolls; he became lost in his history lesson. “What he did not know was that his action of pursuing bloodshed created a resentment deep within another, Lucian Thexis.”

Lee frowned upon hearing the name. He didn’t have time to ruminate on it long before Nitis continued. “Sometime during the month of slaughter, we killed Lucian’s family, friends, loved ones, you name it… We do not know where he went, but we know when he returned. Two years after Sortolm declared us victorious, Lucian Thexis returned, and with him, he brought war.”

Lee raised an eyebrow and looked back toward Nitis to see his haunted look return again. “I do not know what level Lucian was, but he was far beyond any of us Dark Elves. Resistance was futile. The bloodshed turned back upon us, but this time we were the ones slaughtered, just like animals.”

Nitis moved the glass chalice to his lips while trembling slightly. “He is the reason we know of the master tier Cataclysm element. Our underground cities stood no chance. Earthquakes buried our cities in but moments, lava plumes from the depths roasting our friends and families alive, floods drowning our children….”

Lee was too stunned to even reply. He sat there with his head down, elbows on his knees, and hands clasped together. Nitis continued. “Another few days passed, and it was around this time that Sortholm tried to have us rally to fight once more. I was of coming of age for battle at this point, and my aptitude for magic led me to the forefront of the now-flourishing war. The Humans rallied behind Lucian, and we rallied behind Sortholm.”

Taking a moment to gather his emotions, Nitis continued. “In the beginning, we were led to believe that they were seeking to destroy us, but now, Sortholm told us that the Humans were a plague upon the world. We were to eradicate them not from just our land but from the continent altogether; many of our people believed in Sortolm, for his prior leadership had been fruitful and brought us relative safety.” A fierce and unwavering look appeared in Nitis’ vibrant green eyes. “I was not one of these people. I was a scholar. A scholar of magic, yes, but a scholar nonetheless. His words fell on my ears, along with some others, and we needed proof.”

Casting another spell, Nitis moved the ornate glass chalice cups and the pitcher back to their original spot by the bookshelves. “When I was sent above ground to join the ongoing war, I created a group to travel with. This group eventually became the Council of Elders we have today. My goal was to ascertain the voracity of Sortolm’s claims and to determine if the Humans truly needed to be eradicated. We as a people took no prisoners, so I had to take some of my own.”

Nitis’ eyes flickered between sadness and fury. “I did many things I am not proud of, and this was just the first. After discovering a Human scouting party, my group and I immobilized them and began our interrogation.”

Even though Nitis’ face was a mask, the fury in his eyes betrayed him. “I quickly found that the Humans were indeed here to eradicate us. The anger and resentment from the human captives were palpable, but they claimed they were not aiming to do so in the first place. Originally, they only sought to expand their reach, never intending to combat Dark Elves. The actions of the Dark Elves slaughtering them made them pursue war. If this was true… While I believe they were wrong for expanding into our territory without our permission, what Sortolm ordered was nowhere near fair and just. He had lied to us.”

Seemingly to be on autopilot, Nitis’ continued his tale seamlessly. “At first, the current council and I did not believe those who we had captured. We killed them and moved to find more Humans to get information from. Again and again, the same things were told. This was a war of retaliation. We had stopped executing our prisoners after the first group and let them go to live another day. Thankfully, this did us an untold favor in the future.”

After hearing about how Nitis killed Humans, Lee did not fear him. He felt anger, not towards Nitis but towards Sortolm. Soaking in all the information, Lee stayed silent and let Nitis continue.

“Weeks passed, and we quickly discovered that we would not win this war. Lucian Thexis was an army himself, and while we had the levels, they had the numbers. The current council and I traveled to our capital city of Singrad, seeking to speak with Sortolm and ask him to attempt to stop this foolish war he had brought to our people.” Nitis’ closed his hand into a fist, letting his anger known.

Eyes cold and radiating anger, Nitis continued. “Almost all of our cities fell by the time we arrived at Singrad. At first, I honestly thought that maybe we could speak sense into Sortolm and convince him that his ways were not in the best interest of our people. Arriving at Singrad, those thoughts vanished. Roaming the streets, I saw our citizens starving, destitute, and dying. Children lay next to their dead parents, as they had starved to death, providing what they could to them. Injured members of the war were thrown aside and left to rot, not receiving healing or anything to aid them. The streets were in disarray, packed tight with refugees and those seeking to escape the war.”

A single tear strolled down Nitis’ cheek as he envisioned his people suffering. Lee had no words to share. He was out of his depth.

Still stone-faced, Nitis wiped away the tear and cleared his throat. “At that point, we knew what we had to do. We had to save our people, even if it was from ourselves. We had to stop Sortolm at any cost. We eventually made our way to the Rilthis Citadel and discovered it was not just Sortolm that needed to be stopped. Those that fought continuously against the monsters of the deep had relished in the war, seeking levels over anything else. They allowed our people to suffer in the blood of their friends and family, starving on the streets, surrounded by the dead just so they could gain more levels. They also needed to be gone.”

Lee was pale; he knew that the Harrowing had to be a significant historical event, but not to this extent. Nitis, seeing the pale face of Lee, gave him a moment, as this also gave one to himself. They both sat silently for a few seconds before Nitis spoke again, but instead of continuing his history lesson, he asked a question. “Did you have war on your world Lee?”

Lee, still pale, nodded and spoke without any filter. “We did. We had horrific wars. The first of recent times was named The World War. As it took place over most of the world, multiple nations fought, and the war ended with around thirty million dead. It was so terrible that it was named The War to End All Wars. This sadly wasn’t true, as roughly thirty years later, we had another named World War two. From my knowledge, Sixty million people perished. So yes, we were familiar with war. I personally never had to experience any, but they did happen, and they were not rare. According to our history, my world was built on war and slaughter.”

Looking up from the ground to give his attention to Nitis, he saw that Nitis had frozen stock, still in shock. Quietly, Nitis whispered. “Millions?” Lee slowly bobbed his head in response.

Nitis took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. “After we are finished discussing the Harrowing, I would like to hear more about your world. Perhaps we could learn from the mistakes your world made.”

Lee smiled softly. “That is fine. I have learned so much from yours; you can learn from mine.”