As they ate Aellisia thought over what Zilia had told her, the feeling was strange but as she had spoken it felt like this was a story that she had heard before. It was like when she practiced the skills that she had recalled but more vague, in a way like there was more to the words than was being said, almost like she felt there were parts of the story that were somehow missing. As she took another bite from the meat she brooded over that fact for a while until Eahlswith's voice entered her thoughts.
'Are you well? I sense discontent from you?'
Aellisia smiled at her and shook her head before taking another bite and then meeting her eyes.
"It's fine, I was just thinking about what Zilia was speaking about earlier, I almost feel like I've heard what she said before, but it's almost like parts of it are wrong or missing. It's a weird feeling and I'm not sure what to think of it."
Eahlswith in turn lay near her, ripping at the cooked meat and organs in front of her, and for a few moments she was silent as she chewed before meeting her gaze again and speaking.
'I understand that. And I think that you need only to give it some time, perhaps as you speak more on this with her, understanding will come. I also have been thinking upon an earlier conversation we have shared regarding the Human Females desire to converse with me as you do.'
Aellisia's attention sharpened at her words and leaned forward slightly in anticipation, Zilia for her part had been watching the two of them with a sense of bemusement. She had gotten somewhat used to the silent conversations they had often shared, and when they were sitting together like this in the evenings she noted that Aellisia's expressions became more animated and gave her a slight indication of the mysterious Aelven's emotions. She blushed slightly as she thought of the fact that they had been together almost a month now and it seemed that Aellisia was finally letting her guard down around her, being less reserved in the way she acted and allowing herself to be more expressive in front of her. With a soft smile, she looked away from the pair and ate the cooked meat giving them what privacy she could, and not wanting to be caught staring.
'I have thought upon our bond, and why it is that we can converse as we do, if you recall at our first meeting you spoke to me and I understood the words that you spoke easily. However, after listening to you and the Human, I have noted that the words you spoke back then were... Different.'
Aellisia tilted her head to the side in confusion her brow furrowing slightly, racking her head over what her friend meant before responding.
"Different how? My thoughts at that time were chaotic and very confused, and I can recall telling you I meant no harm, but I thought I spoke to you in the language that Zilia called Aelvenish?"
Eahlswith shook her head slightly in the manner that she had seen Aellisia do to indicate disagreement before speaking again.
'The words you spoke were similar, yes, but afterward when you spoke to me they lacked the same... Power as those first words. Almost like there was more behind them to convey the meaning. If you recall it took a great deal of time after that of us living together for your words to come through to me clearly, and it was only after that I was able to communicate with you as we do now through this bond. I think that perhaps for the Human she will need to speak with the same power as you did to establish a bond with me.'
Aellisia was nonplussed, Imbue words with power? She didn't recall how she did that, nor could she understand how to teach someone else how to do that, would Zilia need to use Aelvenish? Or would the Common tongue work as well? As she thought this over she felt that the power that Eahlswith spoke of could have meant Mana, but again how does one imbue your words with Mana? Shaking her head slightly to clear her mind of thoughts she went back to eating her meat which had cooled considerably during her conversation with Eahlswith. For now, she felt that the answer wasn't a simple one and that she would need to speak with Zilia about it to truly understand. So thinking she looked across at Zilia and smiled softly, taking note of the fact the woman was looking away from them as they had been speaking. She had noticed that on occasion when she and Eahlswith were speaking Zilia did that, as if to give them a little privacy. Whilst she knew that Zilia couldn't hear what they were saying she felt that it was a nice gesture on the woman's part that she even thought that way.
"Zilia? Sorry about that we were just talking, I didn't mean to leave you out."
The human looked back at her, her deep green eyes meeting hers, and smiled before speaking in a soft tone.
"It's fine, I figured that you two were talking and I wasn't offended in the slightest, I just wish I could join you sometimes."
Zilia's tone had turned a little wistful at the end and her smile drooped slightly as she glanced away. The action made Aellisia's heart clench in her chest and she felt saddened that Zilia couldn't talk with her and Eahlswith in the way that she and Eahlswith could speak like she was excluding her from something.
"That's what we were speaking about actually, we were trying to understand how to let you hear Eahlswith like I do, I might have an idea, but I want to try and think on it a little if that's ok? I would love for your input when I have a bit more of an idea if you wouldn't mind?"
Zilia looked back at her with her face lighting up, her smile even bigger than before.
"Of course! Whenever you want I'm willing to help!"
Aellisia couldn't hold the gaze for more than a moment before she felt her cheeks heating up causing her to look away. She still felt confused as to why the human woman could occasionally make her react in this way, she couldn't place when she had started to have this effect on her, but she found that she didn't dislike it, although it did embarrass her slightly whenever she did. In an attempt to cover up her own embarrassment, Aellisia decided to change the topic entirely.
"A-Anyway, you said that you'd finish telling me about the history of the world after we ate yes?"
Zilia herself couldn't help but smile at Aellisia's reaction, she wasn't sure what she had said to make the Aelven woman blush like she had, but she felt her own cheeks heat up slightly at the sight of her acting in a somewhat cute manner.
"Yes, I did, although to be fair there isn't much more to be told."
Clearing her throat Zilia composed herself before speaking, her gaze drifting off as she recalled the history lessons that she had received in the temple school when she was younger.
"As I was saying earlier, the Empire was surrounded and had lost its grip on the other species, the Pantheon was still silent, and in the Empire, the only God that they were permitted to worship was the Emperor himself, as Iuric had styled himself as the true and only God who had descended to our realm to live amongst us and was responsible for sealing the so-called 'False Gods' to prevent them corrupting us. Eventually, the Empire was invaded from an unexpected direction, the Aelven woman who had freed the other species attacked from the Southwest border of the empire with an army of freed slaves and war golems."
Zilia's tone was excited as she spoke and her eyes were far off as she looked at Aellisia, in turn, Aellisia was riveted and leaned towards her in her excitement to hear what she was saying.
"She was incredible by all accounts, amongst the Aelven she was called the 'Vengeful Blade', to the Beastkin she was known as the 'Cleansing Wind', and the Dwarves honoured her as the 'Steel Wolf'. She led her armies on a direct course to the heart of the Empire, increasing further and further in size as she freed more slaves until finally, she sieged the Imperial Capital as her allies began attacking from each direction. After less than a week, she overcame the magical and physical defenses of the Capital and marched on the Imperial palace where she personally fought and executed the Emperor. It is said in the stories that she wielded magic and divine gifts, that she could shrug off a hundred arrows and her spear could penetrate the stoutest shield."
Zilia's voice had increased in volume as she spoke, and as she realised how excited she had become she coughed in embarrassment taking a moment to calm herself before she spoke again.
"Anyway, with the death of the Emperor his son Iuric II took the throne and signed a peace treaty with the myriad races, the same one I spoke of before. The Empire agreed to release all the Slaves under its control and the Aelven heroine who had won the war was gifted with the lands south of the Aelven homeland and past the Dreambroken mountains, which at the time were simply called the the Broken Spires. With the war ended she established her own Queendom, the Queendom of Maethyria where she took in both the former humans who lived there as well as many of the slaves she had freed in her march, and for fifty years they prospered there. The Beastkin tribes unified after the war and became the Republic we know today, the Dwarves purged the two clans who had refused to aid them and became the Underempire, whilst the Aelven solidified their rule and became the Emerald Dynasty refusing to return any of the lands they had taken."
Zilia sighed as she finished speaking and looked mournfully at the fire, her tone had become sombre as she spoke and as she started to speak again it remained so.
"No one knows exactly what happened next, but human traitors in Maethyria had somehow managed to infiltrate the palace of the Queen, and under the orders of the current Emperor Iuric III, used some form of magic tool to get revenge on the Queen. They abducted her and teleported her back to the Imperial Capital where she was imprisoned and tortured for weeks without end. The other races were outraged and marched to save the Heroine annihilating the Imperial armies in their way, but by the time they arrived it was too late, the Empire claimed that they had killed her for the 'Sin' of daring to strike down a god. The Emperor himself refused to surrender the Imperial capital to the massed armies that surrounded it and in the height of his madness burned the Capital and everyone within it to death refusing to allow the 'Lesser Species' to sully the 'Glorious' heart of humanity."
Her voice had become bitter as she spoke of the actions of the ancient Empire and disgust was prevalent across her face as she spoke of the actions of the long-dead Emperor. Her eyes were hard as she stared into the flames of the campfire and Aellisia could see that the actions of her forefathers greatly angered Zilia. She stood up and moved to sit next to her, gently giving her a side hug.
"It's fine if you don't want to say anymore, I can see this is upsetting you."
Zilia sighed and closed her eyes before returning the hug.
"No it's fine, I just can't help but think how selfish and stupid they were back then, everything I've read or been taught shows how twisted and evil the ancient Empire truly was. And yet they sought to kill someone because she did the right thing, someone who saved so so many people and freed the other races. I just can't understand why they did what they did, and why there are people now who want to return to those days."
Drawing in a shuddering breath Zilia opened her eyes and straightened herself up, pulling away from the side hug Aellisia was sharing with her. For a moment she continued staring in silence at the campfire, before speaking again.
"Afterwards, with the destruction of the Capital the Emperor's three sons, each declared themselves the next ruler, the races retreated in disgust and sorrow and left humanity to its own devices, and civil war tore the Empire apart breaking the Empire into three parts, each one declaring themselves a new Kingdom named after each of the Emperors sons, Treus, Vannia, and Korris. As far as Maethyria however it was plunged into an eternal fog that blankets it still, some say that it was a punishment of the Pantheon, and the people who lived there sleep inside the mists eternally, although the Pantheon themselves have never confirmed what happened and why. It was exactly one hundred and thirteen years after the death of the Heroine when the Pantheon returned to the people, the War in Heaven had ended and they had cast out many gods, who now reside trapped in the Demon continent alongside those who had once worshipped them, now twisted and corrupted to reflect the evil of the gods and goddesses they once served all of them becoming the Demons that even now attack us."
Zilia looked up at Aellisia whose face was still covered in concern and gave a bitter smile before casting her gaze downwards again.
"And there you have it, the history of the world, warts and all. Not much has changed since that time although it's been about nine centuries since the return of the Pantheon, the three Kingdoms occasionally make war upon one another trying to reunite humanity under one banner whilst the other races rarely interact with us anymore leaving us to our own devices. Demons attack and we defend ourselves as best we can with those of the other races who recognise the threat that they present and march against them, whilst the Pantheon is unable to exert their influence on our world as they once did although none know the reason why that is."
After she had finished speaking Zilia stared off into the fire, and Aellisia too looked into the flames, her brow furrowed as she thought of all the things that Zilia had said, and a somber silence filled the camp as both were caught up in their own thoughts.
