37

The Witcher: The last King of the elves

Chapter 37 – Unknowns

“That is impossible!” Francesca’s cold reply came without delay.

No wonder she had vaguely seen surprise in the eyes of several of the elders just a moment ago.

Who could believe such speculation?

Francesca, looking specifically at the eldest woman, said: “When the Elven Empire collapsed, all the Trees of Life within its borders were felled by humans. Thousands of years have passed, and the Trees of Life are no longer to be seen in the Forgotten Swamp.”

“Francesca, that is true, but that aura truly comes from the Tree of Life, and we felt it. In your dreams, have you not seen anything yet?”

“This is a sensation that resonates in our blood. You should have sensed it long before any of us—that is why you are here.”

“As the eldest among us, we are incapable of mistakes.”

At that moment, another elder elf spoke: “Francesca, although we are flower elves and were not born of the Tree of Life, the Tree of Life is still our mother. How could it be possible that we would not feel the aura of our mother?”

“We are different from those in the north, beyond the dark forest.” Francesca hesitated for a moment. The elders spoke with such certainty that she felt somewhat unsure.

“That is true. The high elves fought to the very end against the darkness and the monstrous creatures that are now exterminating the elves. When that happened, the humans took advantage and struck us from behind.”

“Then what you mean is...”

“Francesca, I believe we should send someone to the ruins of the Imperial Capital. If the Tree of Life has truly appeared there, we must protect it at all costs.”

“Yes!”

“Our elves have not been destroyed, and our faith still endures! As long as there is a ray of hope, we must follow in the footsteps of the high elves and rebuild a civilized nation that belongs only to the elves.”

Several elves spoke one after another, their expressions passionate and fervent. The elves, too, had different populations.

Divided into orthodox and branch. The orthodox elves were natural elves born of the Tree of Life.

All the elves under Thranduil’s command were high elves of nature. The same was true for him, the sun elf.

To put it bluntly, he was a mutated natural elf.

As for the branch elves, there were many kinds, including elemental elves, sea elves, dragon elves, flower elves, forest elves, blood elves, moon elves, and more.

Even the dark elves who had joined the darkness were also a branch of the elven race.

These elves of Dol Blathanna were flower elves. They were born among the sea of flowers. They were the spirit of the flower. They possessed magic connected to flowers and green plants.

Francesca looked at Filavandrel and asked: “Are you prepared?”

“Yes, your visions have brought us to this place, and only with your magic can we move through the dark forest. We must go to the Ruins of the Imperial Capital no matter what, but not now.”

“The Blood Moon is approaching, and there are evil creatures everywhere outside.” Although several of the elders were powerful and had reached advanced levels of magic, there was no guarantee they would not face danger.

“Let us wait until the Blood Moon ends before we move. By then, the message will have reached the elves throughout the continent.”

A message that, if false, would extinguish all hope for the elves. But even if that happened, they would at least have fulfilled one of their desires.

In truth, the elves had wanted to visit the ruins of the Imperial Capital ever since they had sensed the breath of life and nature a few days earlier. However, since Francesca had not yet arrived, they had not dared to leave without permission.

“If there is nothing else, Enid an Gleanna, we shall take our leave.”

“Be careful.” Francesca nodded to these elves from other tribes.

Even if Filavandrel had once been King of Dol Blathanna, his authority was insignificant now, and only a powerful elf could unite them again.

After several elder elves left the meeting hall, a trace of sorrow appeared on Francesca’s exquisitely beautiful face as she remained alone.

“Rebuild the Elven Kingdom?” She smiled bitterly. In this world ruled by cruel humans and forces of evil, it was extremely difficult to rebuild the kingdom of the elves.

Not to mention a Tree of Life…
Even if there were hundreds or thousands of them, it still could not be done. For the Tree of Life required time to nurture elves, and it took a very long time to build an army.

The monsters beyond the dark forest would never give them that chance. During this period, there was a high probability that humans would send a great army to once again destroy the hopes of the elves.

Because of this, the elves were scattered across the world, and the great majority of them even lived in remote places, for fear of being discovered by humans.

“I will do what is in my power…” Francesca would give her life to secure the future of the elves—she owed it to her race.

In the war, the elves had been defeated; today, though few would admit it, the humans were ignoring the fact that they too were being defeated by the monsters.

Any race that ignored the power of the monsters would be crushed.

In the world today, demons and evil creatures were the true rulers. As for the humans, they were nothing but ignorant civilizations.

…

Late at night, the deep darkness enveloped the continent.

Yet the central plaza of the ruins of the ancient elven city was brightly illuminated at that moment.

The high outer walls of the territory were already covered with torches, and the entire square was lit by flames.

“It is much more comfortable to see it this way!” Thranduil was very satisfied with his masterpiece.

He did not fear that the fire would attract the undead or the monsters outside. After all, his army was far too great at this point, and the border was secured.

Besides, now in the forest dwelled Treants, the silent guardians of the elves.

“There are more than three hundred so far…” Thranduil murmured, gazing into the distance where the darkness seemed to rule the world.

How much would ever be enough? That was Thranduil’s doubt, for he did not know how strong he would have to become in order to defeat the prophecy.