Chapter 139 - 128 (1/2)

As I search for him, this self-proclaimed Demon King, pinpointing that drifting smell among the crowd things starts changing around me, the food is taken away and the tables cleaned, chairs and flowers put across it while many elves start filling the already full place in even more.

I keep looking around, inhaling the air, but no matter how much I strained my head there is no use in trying to find a single person among so many elves, and eventually I get stuck in between the crowd, having to push elves away from my path wich makes advancing a very slow process.

”Thank you all for coming to our annual gathering.” I barely hear an elf talk, but at this point everybody seems to get in position to watch the center where the tables are now and silence any murmurs to hear him talk, all rooted in place and making it almost impossible to move, so without even wanting to I hear them talk I end up doing so as he continues: ”This year, above all the ones before, has many subjects that need to be attended to. There is chaos among the other races, and some… conflict within ours. So please join our discussion, elders from within family names, as we shall decide how to protect our children once more.”

At that the crown starts shifting once more, but this time to allow the elders to step forward, many elderly elves that, for humans, would appear to have forty years of age, but probably were even older than the trees in this forest, all with those characteristic tattoos covering their entire bodies, some more, some less, and even among the elder elves there seems to be some sort of hierarchy for the ones with an older aura to them and the ones with more tattoos, even along the knuckles, fingers and long ears, for they sat closer to the first elf that was talking at the edge of the table.

At that point they start talking about the demons, the human war that the south has with the north, and how things have not escalated between both sides since the demons started stretching their paws in the continent.

The tone of voices raises when they start discussing about their reaction against it all, how they should not care about the demons or humans, and even if some try to say how is unavoidable that the other races affect the elven kin somehow the majority still believes in neutrality, or lack of interest in anyone beyond their own rather.

”It has been like this for years, is what has protected us against the ravaging anger of the other youngling races, and we are not to change it now.” Or so they told.

I cannot say that I am surprised by the outcome of their conversation, having contact with the elven kin for so many years already that I almost thought the way they act with us, magical creatures, is the way they behave with anyone.

One of the few places that been a magical creature has some benefits I supposed…

However, even if most kept to themselves as the elders talked, with minimal murmur around so they could hear them better, someone, a known voice, resonates in this chamber, bringing silence soon afterward as the crowd shifted to reveal his form at the sound of his words, all bodies turning and tiptoeing to see better.

”I have a solution to your problems elders.” At that all sight falls upon him, and I knew before his smug smile turns his lips up who that voice belonged to.

How could I ever forget? My brother's kidnapper voice.

Cain.

I should have expected that he would be so bold and confident as to speak up in the middle of a discussion with the elders, and as, growling, I start trying to approach, I consider that there is no proper place to fight him on and there are many innocent elves around, so I end up going against the flow and climbing upstairs to watch him better from the balcony, ready to pounce down at any given opportunity.

After all I do not want to hurt nor be as impolite as to start burning everything up with one of the few kind kin towards myself.

So I wait for the opportunity to fish him out of there, eyes glued on his figure as he comes closer to the long tables.

He is dressed in some sort of armor, the silver plate mixed with some red cloth crisscrossing his body, as well as a metal rose on the side of his chest, a mix of formal attire and battle armor.