“Ugh.” Eli said as his consciousness slowly returned, temporarily unable to offer a more eloquent comment.

“My mate!” Isla said, squeezing him tightly.

Even before he opened his eyes, Eli realized he’d been moved. Gone were the cold stone floors of the portal room, having been replaced by soft blankets and pillows. Underneath the covers with him he felt Isla’s warm skin and soft dress pressing against his mostly naked form. From a nearby window bright sunlight was streaming in.

Eli opened his eyes before wincing at the light and closing them again. “Ow.”

“You are hurt!” Isla said as she bolted upright. “I will summon healers. They will heal you and-”

Realizing he needed to cut her off before she did anything drastic Eli opened his eyes again, braving the pain. “Isla, no. I’m…okay.”

“You need not suffer, my mate!”

“I’m fine.” Eli said even though it felt like someone was driving a rusty nail through his forehead. “Just a headache.”

“What can I do to help?” Isla said, staring at him intently.

He looked up at her green eyes before hauling himself into a sitting position next to her. Despite her somewhat overprotective personality, in that moment he found her kindness sweet and endearing. With the pain in his mind quickly receding he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, capturing them in a soft kiss.

She quickly recovered from her surprise, kissing him back with all the fiery passion he’d come to expect and enjoy from her. He ran one hand up her arm as their tongues met, tracing lazy patterns on her skin that caused goosebumps to erupt across her. She groaned into their kiss before the more responsible part of Eli’s brain caused him to break the kiss before they got too far.

“Listen.” He said softly. “I owe you an apology.”

She furrowed her brow. “For what?”

“You offered yourself to me and I’m pretty sure I passed out before I could say yes.”

“Ah.”

“I’m sorry.” He said, taking both of her hands. “In my defense, I had a vision of Prometheus and he told me how to use the ring.”

“You…what? How?” Isla stammered. “I thought Prometheus was dead!”

“He is.” Eli assured her. “But he figured out how to copy an after-image of himself into the ring. I don’t exactly know how it worked, but… he told me how to beat the Titans for good.”

“How?”

He paused for a moment. “I think everyone needs to hear this at the same time. Where are the rest of the girls?”
“Most of them are gone – left on the assignments they promised you. Your retainers are downstairs. Minerva is in the library reading through some of the books we recovered from Olympus, and Aria is in the throne room preparing for the summit with the other elven nations later today.”

“Wait.” Eli furrowed his brow. “I thought the elven summit was tomorrow?”

“It was, yesterday.” Isla replied. “You’ve been asleep for almost a full day.”

“Shit.” Eli swore. “Alright. I’d better get moving then.”

With a grunt of effort he swung out of the bed and quickly located a set of fresh clothes – a white dress shirt and blue slacks – that had been laid out for him, no doubt by Lilly. He quickly pulled them on, followed by a pair of socks and black dress shoes that had been left for him by the door. By the time he was fully dressed he looked back to see that somehow the hunger and lust in Isla’s eyes had only grown as he’d put on clothes, rather than lessened.

“I… enjoy this outfit on you.” She said finally, seeing his inquisitive look.

Eli couldn’t help but grin. “Duly noted.”

The moment he opened the door he saw his two desert elven retainers relax visibly at their chosen guard posts – the bottom of the stairs leading to his and his bond mates’ bedrooms. Both wore the simple grey uniforms of Hightower family staff, but with several weapons strapped to them. Eli waved to them as he strode down the hall.

“Expecting trouble?” He asked.

“We thought it prudent to be prepared, given that we are at war.” Ziran replied, maintaining his stoic facial expression.

“And given your history of running off into danger alone.” His sister Sira added.

“He won’t be doing it again, I can assure you of that.” Isla finished from behind him. “I go where my bond mate goes.”

Eli finished descending the stairs before clasping both desert elves on their shoulders. “Thank you for watching over me. Can you track down Aria and ask her to come back? I have news.”

“Of course.” Sira replied.

“Right away.” Ziran added.

When the siblings took off towards the front door, Eli’s eyes redirected towards the kitchen. He started towards it before Isla darted around him, pulling out a chair at their enormous island and pointing towards it. Seeing no point in arguing with his beautiful dragoness he kissed her softly on the cheek before slipping into it.

“What would you like?” She asked. “You need to keep your strength up.”

“Coffee.” He replied, hoping the ichor of the caffeine gods would be enough to banish the last of his headache.

“Of course.” Isla turned before looking at the kitchen.

He watched her move towards the stove before he spoke up. “Would…you like for me to show you how to make coffee, Isla?”

She froze before turning her face towards him – enough that he could see her blush. “Yes please.” She replied in a soft voice.

Determined not to embarrass her any further, Eli eased out his chair and slowly walked Isla through how to use the coffee machine. As non-judgementally as possible, he explained where to put the coffee grinds, how to fill the water reservoir, and which buttons to press. By the time they had a full pot brewed Aria had returned with his two retainers in tow.

“You had us worried there.” Aria said as she wrapped her arms around his waist in the same way Isla did earlier. “Lilly said there was nothing to heal, but you were so clearly in pain.”

“Trust me when I say it was worth it.” Eli replied before offering his elven princess a kiss. “Do you have a way to get a message to the rest of the girls? They’re going to want to hear this.”

“Yeah, let me just call them.” She said, pulling a phone from a hidden pocket in her dress.

“I’m surprised there’s cell service at all, given the whole ‘end-of-the-world’ thing.” Eli said, cocking one eyebrow.

“Oh, there isn’t any on Earth.” Aria replied. “But we set up our own redundancies here in Irandell.” She grinned. “Don’t worry – the internet is still alive and well here.”

Eli chuckled. “I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.”

“What is the internet?” Isla asked.

“That’s… a discussion for later.” Eli grimaced as the call connected.

“You’re on speaker.” Aria said as she looked at him.

“I’m okay.” Eli assured his bond mates. “I had a vision of Prometheus. The good news is that he told me how to use the ring to kill Titans – it's apparently not too complicated.”

“That’s great news!” Freya said over the phone.

“The bad news is that hunting them down is a non-option.” Eli continued.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Eli recounted the entire vision with Prometheus. Other than a few small clarifying questions they let him talk, listening to the plan intently. When he was finished a long silence hung over them, almost making him think that the call had somehow disconnected.

“Well. The good news is that we don’t really have to change our plans.” Zee started, finally breaking the silence on the phone. “We’re still going to need an army.”

“Speaking of which, we should be going.” Aria said, looking at Eli. “The other elven delegations will be here any minute, and I need you to speak to them.”

“Right.” Eli nodded before speaking into the phone. “Be safe everyone. I love you.”

There was a chorus of ‘I love yous’ on the call before they hung up one by one. He waited until Aria ended the call before draining the last of his coffee and standing. As he put the mug down Aria placed her hands on his chest, smoothing out his white shirt.

“Any last-minute diplomatic advice?” He asked with a wry grin.

“Do whatever it takes.” She replied, locking eyes with him. “You understand the danger better than anyone. You need to make them understand too.”

“Got it.” Eli nodded.

With that, the three of them left their wing of the castle. Somewhat surprisingly they passed the Hightower family lounge and throne room – both of which were empty – on their way down a set of corridors and up a long, steep, and winding staircase Eli had scarcely used before. They emerged in a meeting room filled with the sounds of angry voices.

For a moment Eli stood in the doorway and took in the scene. The room was richly appointed, with a plush blue rug covering the grey stone floor. The walls and ceiling were made of the same material, but the former was interspersed with glass windows that provided stunning views of the castle and the city beyond. In the middle of the ceiling was an ornate silver chandelier that sparkled with soft, magical light that didn’t quite reach the room’s edges.

Unfortunately, the room’s inhabitants were far less serene. Each of the 5 chairs were occupied by the respective leaders of the realm’s elven nations, all of whom had apparently brought advisors, wives, mistresses, and attendants. Each of them jostled for position as they hurled insults at one another, complaining about a supposed slight or longstanding feud. The chairs themselves were ringed by a set of intricately carved stone pillars which Eli guessed was supposed to act as a sort of barrier between the regents and their advisors – not that anyone in the room was respecting that line now.

At the far end of the room sat Eyilean’s regent and Aria’s father – King Faelor. He was flanked by his wives: the dark elven Queen Morathi, the high elven Queen Selendis, and the snow elven Queen Aurora. He sat with a resigned look on his face, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his index finger as the arguments raged around him. Eli couldn’t help but notice that both his wives and the several advisors he brought with him represented a far more diverse set of magical races – where his entourage was made up of a variety of elves and non-elven representatives, the remainder of the room was almost exclusively high elven.

Spotting him the moment he entered, Morathi tapped Faelor on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He locked eyes with Eli for a moment before nodding, signaling Morathi to suddenly disappear and reappear behind them. Without another word the dark elven queen placed a gentle hand on Eli before disappearing once more, teleporting him into the crowd of advisors behind the elven king.

After recovering from the dizziness that came with teleporting, Eli offered Morathi a tight hug. “Thanks mom.”
Given his engagement to Aria he’d taken to calling his future mothers-in-law ‘mom’. At first it was at their insistence, but over time it became just as much a term of endearment for him as it was for them. While they could never replace the loss of his own parents, having parental figures around who could offer unconditional support and guidance was a huge benefit for him.

Still haven’t quite worked myself up to calling Faelor ‘dad’ though. He thought to himself as he offered both Selendis and Aurora hugs before slipping through the crowd of advisors, coming to a halt by the ornate chair.

“Eli.” Faelor said as he looked up. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Thank you for inviting me.” Eli replied, looking out at the still-arguing crowd. “Are they always like this?”

“Just be glad they haven’t started slinging spells at one another yet.” Faelor replied with a wry grin.

He couldn’t help but match his smile. “Are there any rules I should be aware of?” Eli asked, knowing the elves’ proclivity towards pomp and circumstance.

“Right now? No. We haven’t started formal negotiations yet – this is all just posturing.”

“How much do they know?”

“I gave them each Aria’s briefing. It covers all the pertinent events up until you returned yesterday.”

“Good. Can I take the floor then?”

Faelor gestured ahead of him. “Be my guest.”

With a steadying breath, Eli pushed his way towards the middle of the room. To his disappointment the motion went largely unnoticed, with the crowd continuing to voice their displeasure with one another. For a moment he questioned whether a group of people so apparently diametrically opposed could ever work together, but the sight of Aria through the crowd reminded him of her words.

Do whatever it takes. Eli thought to himself, locking eyes with his elven princess. I wish Nyxie were here. She could cast a spell to make everyone be quiet, even just for a few minutes.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, an idea quickly formed. He motioned to both Aria and Isla to cover their eyes before summoning his mana, causing his body to be wrapped in a golden glow. A few of the nearest elves yelped in surprise, but before they could do anything else Eli channeled his mana into a spell.

“Umbracil!”

A ball of darkness appeared over the chandelier above, leaving the windows on the walls as the only source of light. The sudden change was enough to catch everyone’s attention, causing Eli to release his hold over the spell. When it dispersed so did the elves surrounding him, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the room.

“Thank you for your attention.” Eli started as the regents gradually moved forward with a mix of curiosity and caution in their eyes. “For those of you who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, my name is Eli Grayson. I am here to request your aid in defeating the Titan forces.”

“He doesn’t ask for much.” A woman said from behind him, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Eli turned to look at the regal-looking elven woman clad in a green dress with a luxurious fur coat and an ostentatious gold tiara. “If I could do this without putting any more lives at risk – elven or otherwise – I would. Unfortunately as you’re no doubt aware, we’re well past that point.”

“And we’re just supposed to believe your assurances?” The elven woman challenged.

“Yes, you are Syltharia.” Faelor replied before Eli could. “Even if I wasn’t willing to personally vouch for him, you’ve seen the images coming from Earth. We need all our combined forces to even stand a chance.”

“Of course you’d vouch for him.” Another elven woman said. “He’s your son-in-law.”

“He is my son-in-law.” Faelor replied as Eli turned to face the new speaker. “Do you really believe I’d let him marry my daughter if I wouldn’t trust his word completely?”

He regarded the second elven queen for a moment, sizing her up. Unlike the first speaker her dress was a plain brown one, adorned only with a white metal pin on one shoulder. Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun behind her simple steel tiara and her blue eyes bored into Eli as if she was trying to see through him.

“If you don’t believe that the Titan forces are overwhelmingly powerful, you are welcome to step through a portal to Earth to see for yourself.” Eli replied, his lack of diplomatic tact causing Aria to wince slightly.

“Oh, it’s not that.” The elven regent replied. “I believe that there are powerful armies on Earth. What I take issue with is the idea that we need to spend elven lives to fight them.”

“We need Earth, Elenwe.” Faelor reminded her. “In case you’ve forgotten, we can’t travel directly to other realms.”

“Surely some of our portal sites remain well enough hidden that we can continue to operate them.” The elven queen countered. “While I feel badly for the humans and their plight, I don’t see the need to charge in and try to rescue them. Your coffers would suffer due to less inter-realm trade, but as a species we would survive.”

“The Royal Bloods of Olympus and their forces tried something similar.” Eli responded. “Now they’re dead. Do you really want to gamble your future on the hope that you can stay hidden forever?”

“I take it you have a better plan?” The third elven queen said in a soothing voice.

Turning to address her, Eli took a moment to eye his potential ally. She wore a deep purple dress with sleeves that were adorned with sparkling stones. On her head was a precariously balanced crown with several jewels that glowed with magical light.

“I do.” Eli began, hoping her more conciliatory tone meant that she was open to his ideas. “I have the location of the source of the Titan’s power. I am going to go there and destroy that source. Doing so will destroy the Titans themselves, and their forces will soon crumble afterwards from lack of leadership.” He paused for a moment to let them absorb the information. “Unfortunately that location is guarded by a sizeable army.”

“Which is why you need our forces – to deliver you to this source so that you may destroy it.” The elven queen nodded. “I see now.”

“A bold plan.” The only male regent other than Faelor said. “Of course, despite your best efforts my nation still has the largest army – meaning that more of my people’s lives will be at risk than any of yours. How convenient for you.”

Furrowing his brow, Eli looked at the man. He was the only one of the group not to wear any sort of crown, instead opting to let his greasy blonde hair fall to his shoulders. The thick red robes he wore over his white shirt and black pants seemed to weigh him down, and in one hand he held a gnarled walking stick with a blue orb on the top.

To Eli’s credit, he quickly realized who he was talking to. “You’re here representing Avallonè.”

“Lord Steward Vaelthar, at your service.” The man sneered. “As you can imagine, our regents are somewhat…indisposed.”

Deciding to tackle the issue head-on, Eli moved towards the man as he spoke. “Because I killed Queen Icitra.”

Vaelthar blinked in surprise at his blunt admission before replying. “Yes.”

“And you harbour some resentment towards me because of that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then let me set the record straight.” Eli growled, ignoring the stare from Aria. “Icitra killed her own family to seize power for herself and start an unwinnable war against Earth. I stopped her, but I spared her life out of mercy. Do you want to know how she repaid that mercy?” He paused for a moment, towering over the man. “She kidnapped and killed my parents. That’s when I killed her.”

“I… well…” The man stammered.

Eli locked eyes with the man. “As you can see, I have no time for bullshit political games. So how about we skip the posturing and you just tell me what you want.”

“I want you to hire mercenaries.”

It was Eli’s turn to blink in surprise. “What?”

“Our greatest resource is our soldiers.” Vaelthar said. “Eyilean’s is its wealth. If we should have to sacrifice our greatest resource, you should too.”

“If that is truly your concern, then I will contact the mercenary guild immediately.” Faelor said.

Eli turned to look at Faelor incredulously. “Really?”

“Of course.” Faelor replied with a shrug. “I would rather live with empty coffers than die with full ones.”

Feeling a swell of appreciation for his future father-in-law, Eli turned back to Vaelthar. “Good enough?”

“Yes.” Vaelthar said.

Backing off, Eli looked at the elven queens around him. “And the rest of you?” He asked, locking eyes with them one-by-one.

As each of them nodded, Eli felt the spark of hope inside him burn just a little bit brighter.