After their small interlude of speaking about war, Nitis returned to the main topic of the conversation, the Harrowing. “Once we decided that Sortolm and the majority of the war party needed to be dealt with, we thought about how we would accomplish the task. Together, the current council and I tried to start a revolution by garnering the support of the common people, but this failed.”

Nitis pauses for a moment before calmly closing his eyes and continuing. “Our small group could not stop our own leadership, but there was another person who could… Sonar and Anix thought of the solution; we would seek out Lucian and attempt to stop the war.”

Upon hearing of their plan, Lee barely managed to restrain his scoff. Instead, Lee raised a single eyebrow in askance.

Nitis nodded as if he was of the same mind. “I know what you are thinking, as I thought the same. The plan is suicide, Lucian is here for revenge and our eradication, but the longer the war continues, the more our people suffer. It was a risk we had to take. We argued about whether it was the correct choice for a time, but Sonar eventually convinced us all.”

Nitis sat straight and gazed into Lee’s glowing blue eyes with seriousness. “I will never forget the words Sonar Sono said that day. ‘The enemy of my enemy becomes a fleeting ally, for in pursuit of a common goal, alliances are forged from the embers of opposition.’”

Lee gave a small smile upon hearing Elder Sono’s quote. “We have a similar saying on my world. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ I think Elder Sono’s is much more accurate.”

Nitis’ gaze softened, and he gave Lee a small smile of his own. “A quote that transcends race and worlds.” After speaking, Nitis lost his smile, and it was replaced with his stone face facade. “Once we decided that we were going to attempt to speak with Lucian, we had to find his whereabouts. We left Singrad mere hours after arriving and left in haste to end the war and to save the lives of those who were on the brink. It took us less than a day to find a Human war party, but instead of fighting, we surrendered and asked to be taken to Lucian himself. At first, there was confusion, and then anger rose from within the Humans; But before they acted, one of those whom we had captured and released prior recognized our group and spoke on our behalf. Deciding to believe in one of their own, we were taken as prisoners and led deeper into the now Human occupied land.”

Nitis took a shaky breath before he continued on. “It was then that we discovered how different our cultures were; we were treated well as prisoners. We were fed, and we were not abused. I could not say we would have done the same if the positions had been swapped. I saw the look of the others in the group, they were surprised with the treatment we received, and that was when we realized that we had lost our way at some point in time.”

Lee felt a pang in his chest as he heard that, at the time, the Dark Elves would have treated their prisoners harshly. He imagined himself as a captor and told himself that he would treat prisoners respectfully, or at least he hoped he would. Lee let out a slight frown and a sigh as Nitis continued.

“It took two weeks, but eventually, we were brought to the Human’s main encampment. It was a circular fortified fort built above the ruins of Myam, an Elven City.” Nitis swallowed his saliva with a gulp before shakily stammering out. “They didn’t bother to clean or hide those who had fallen….”

Jesus Christ. Lee thought as he closed his eyes in sorrow. Seeing that Nitis was about to continue his story immediately, Lee cut in. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Nitis. Slow down and gather your emotions; this is not something easily spoken about.” Nitis looked up from the desk into Lee’s eyes; at that moment, Lee saw a mixture of emotions that he knew well, ones he had felt just before coming to this world—sorrow, helplessness, and remorse.

Feeling something wet on his cheek, Lee wiped his face. He was crying. Shocked and bewildered at the tears, Lee looked back to Nitis. Nitis was watching Lee closely with a face full of grief. “You should not have had to bear these emotions at such a young age, but I can see the empathy and recognition in your eyes.” Nitis took a moment to search for his words, “I do not know your past extensively, but I am sorry you had to experience these terrible emotions at one point in your life. You are too young…”

Lee decided, at this moment, that he needed another drink. He stood and walked with haste toward the ornate glass chalices and the pitcher, quickly pouring himself another alcoholic beverage. Nitis sat quietly and patiently waited for Lee to finish his task.

Lee downed his drink in one go and filled another, taking the second to his seat. Lee sat down and gazed into his chalice, focusing on the ripples in the amber-colored liquid, and he swirled the glass around.

Nitis spoke with sympathy after sitting in complete silence for around thirty seconds. “Shall I continue?” Lee took a deep breath and exhaled. “Yes, I just needed a moment,”

Nitis watched Lee closely for another few seconds, scanning him as if to see if this was the truth. Eventually, Nitis nodded slowly and began his tale once more. “It took a day before we were brought before Lucian in the center of the fortifications, surrounded by his army. I could feel his wrath and anguish, even while kneeling ten meters away. Sonar spoke first, pleading with Lucian, asking him to spare the civilians, as they were not involved. Lucian was about to burst into outrage just before Sonar spoke once more. He Asked Lucian if he would want his family and friends to die for their leader’s mistakes. At this moment, Lucian paused and evaluated Sonar with an unfathomable amount of focus. It felt as if the air was still as we waited for his reply. Eventually, Lucian responded. ‘I would not.’”

After taking a deep breath, Nitis carried on. “It was at this point that Anix joined the conversation, explaining the reasons for the slaughter of the Human settlers, the actions of Sortolm, the current state of the refugees and injured within Singrad, and the many orphans caused by the war. Lucian listened carefully and eventually came to a conclusion. To nobody’s surprise, he agreed that we needed to kill all those responsible and involved. Lucian looked around at his standing army and made an announcement. Stating that the leadership of our people needed to be exterminated and that the war would not end until every single one was dealt with. At this time, he also encouraged his people not to be like ours and to spare the common people. I agreed with him.” Nitis finished while wearing a sad self-deprecating smile.

Looking down at his ink-stained desk with remorseful eyes, Nitis spoke quietly. “Lee… I know what books you’ve read in the consortium and what is in each of them. Do you remember what was written about my level?”

Lee thought back to his reading and remembered that Nitis was said to be over level 400. “Over level four hundred.”

Nitis, still staring at his desk, asked another question. “How do you think I obtained the majority of my levels?”

Lee was about to respond with ‘killing monsters,’ but he started to connect the dots. Before he could speak of that thought, he looked upon Nitis, who would not meet his eyes; Lee realized how he got his experience... by helping Lucian kill his people.

Leaving his question unanswered, Lee asked one of his own. “Do you regret it?”

Without looking up from his desk, Nitis answered with a single word. “No.”

Leaning back into his chair and taking a sip of his drink, Lee waited for Nitis to continue. After what felt like a full minute, Nitis spoke. “We marched towards Singrad with Lucian and his army, killing all of those who stood in opposition. Anix made sure that everybody killed was a warrior and not a civilian. Sonar tried his best to mend the relations between the humans and us, but it was a lost cause, and I fought with my magic….”

Nitis finally removed his gaze from his desk and looked at Lee. “We made it to Singrad and led the Humans straight in. They looked on in disgust at our once beautiful capital city. They thought us savages, and I suppose we were. Since our departure, the number of dead had risen. No food, water, shelter, treatment… The people were cast aside and left to rot in the streets. We fought our way to the Rithil Citadel, and once we arrived, Lucian started his onslaught. I had little time to observe the power of his spells, but I saw the effects clearly. The first thought to appear was just wondering how Lucian had obtained a Master rank element and his levels. I still don’t know the answer to that question.”

Lee didn’t know much about the world he was in, but he knew that reaching that amount of power in a Human lifespan was highly unlikely without outside help.

While Lee was pondering, Nitis carried on. “Sortolm stood no chance; he was a leader, not a fighter. The goal of ending our people’s suffering took less than a second, as Lucian obliterated Sortolm into a paste in the blink of an eye. We continued killing everybody who supported Sortlom, and once we were finished, Lucian gathered all who were left outside of the city. The bright light outside hindered us as a people, but we either attended the gathering or died. He then declared that we would forfeit our land and be banished as a race to the Shadowgrove Forest, to be killed on sight if we left its boundaries. We didn’t even try to persuade him differently. We saw what he could do, and we did not want to be next. Anix led our people for weeks aboveground while we were followed by the Human army, eventually arriving at the edge of this forest we currently reside in.”

Lee sat still, staring into the amber liquid in his chalice, as he asked a question. “What happened after?”

Nitis looked to the ceiling and exhaled. “We created the Council of Elders and fought our way through the forest to find a place to create a city.” Nitis waved his hand about to indicate their location. “We as a people needed to change; no more would there be a single leader, no more would we continue to treat others unkindly, and no more would we behave with such barbarity. We stayed put here, working on ourselves for more than four hundred years before we dared to try and reconnect with the Humans. Their opinion of us did not change. They stuck to Lucian’s decree and fought with us on sight. We did not wish to incite another war and quickly fled back into the forest. They soon sent a diplomat to the forest's edge, requesting an audience with Sonar, our Elder of Others. We were reminded of our past and reminded of our place. Every one hundred years, Sonar meets with a Human representative, and it’s always been the same.”

Nitis looked away from the ceiling to stare at Lee with a pleading look. “You are the first Human nearly every single Elf here has seen. You have said that you have been treated fairly and with respect. Do you think that we deserve to rejoin the world? Do you think we will ever have the chance?”

Lee sat there unmoving, gazing into the amber liquid. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “Yes. You do not deserve to be locked away anymore.” After another pause, Lee began to tell a story. “During that second world war, I told you about, a group of humans did things way more atrocious than you ever did. Do you know the word genocide?”

Nitis shook his head while patiently listening to Lee. Lee nodded once. “It was what Sortolm and Lucian were attempting—a concerted effort to eliminate a select group of people as a whole. During World War Two, a man from a country called Germany wanted to commit genocide against many people simply because they believed in different things. This was less than one hundred years ago on my world. That same country is now viewed positively. We know of their history, and we acknowledge it and learn from it. My own country enslaved people for a very long time. Every country, nation, or group has done something terrible throughout its history. You’ve spent nearly a millennium in this forest; I believe it’s long past due for your return.”

Nitis leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, thinking. They sat there for around ten seconds in silence before Nitis spoke a simple phrase. “Thank you, Lee.”