Elaria felt a surge of hope. She truly believed that once the Elven City was officially founded, news of it would travel on the wind to every corner of the Continent.
Scattered tribes of elves, long separated, would finally hear the Elf King’s call and flock to their holand, uniting under his rule. With each returning tribe, the Elven territory would surely grow more and more magnificent.
"Your Majesty!" A tree spirit zipped down from the sky, hovering anxiously before Renjiro. "A band of human rcenaries spotted up ahead! They’re marching this way!"
The advantage of height was clear. Patrolling high above, the tree spirits had easily noticed the dark specks moving across the landscape thousands of ters away. They recognized them instantly as human rcenaries, likely aiming for the forest the elves had just left behind.
Renjiro barely seed concerned, waving a casual hand. "Don’t trouble yourselves with them. Once they get a proper look at the size of our army, they’ll have the sense to steer clear. If, however, they prove foolish enough to press on... well, simply deal with them accordingly."
"As you command, Your Majesty!" Clutching her iridescent staff, the tree spirit ascended swiftly back to her aerial post.
....
Monts later, the distant human rcenaries skidded to an abrupt halt.
Their eyes shot wide first at the breathtaking sight of graceful, winged tree spirits soaring effortlessly above.
Then, their jaws dropped as they registered the colossal golems, each towering over twenty ters high, marching with earth-shaking steps.
Next, they saw the regal figures of Renjiro and his commanders mounted on radiant, snow-white unicorns.
Finally, their terrified gaze swept across the seemingly endless ranks of the elven army stretching out behind them, a vast, disciplined force.
Shock rippled through the rcenary band, turning every face a sickly pale.
Several n instinctively scrubbed at their eyes, convinced the heat or stress was making them hallucinate.
"elves... giant golems... unicorns? Is this so kind of sick joke?!"
"Gods preserve us! Look at how many elves! Two riders on every single black panther... Their lines stretch further than I can see!"
"Weren’t the scouts supposed to confirm less than a thousand elves in this entire forest... how the fuck are there numbers in thousands?!"
"Less than a thousand?! Hah! I’m seeing ten of thousand, easy! Maybe more! And look at them, fully ard, moving like they are going in a war! This is a real army!"
"And they brought giant golems and unicorns with them and many... many more!"
"What about those flying ones? Are they elves too? Never seen elves like that... small, like young girls, but with wings!"
"Oh My God! What in the blazes are these elves up to?"
"Check their direction... they’re marching straight for the city! Are... are they actually planning to attack the city?!"
"That’s impossible... isn’t it... right?!"
The rcenaries were utterly paralyzed by the overwhelming spectacle. They stood rooted to the spot, mouths hanging open, the instinct to flee montarily forgotten in their sheer disbelief.
That hesitation ended abruptly.
One of the massive golems reached down, tore a towering tree from the earth as if it were a weed, and let out a deafening, tallic roar: "HUMANS! MAKE WAY!" It then threw the enormous tree. The projectile soared through the air and slamd into the ground just ters in front of the rcenaries with a bone-jarring CRASH.
That snapped them out of it.
Raw panic exploded. Faces bleached white with terror, the rcenaries broke ranks, turning and sprinting frantically back towards the distant safety of the city.
Every man ran as if demons were chasing him, desperate to escape the terrifying reach of the golem that tossed giant trees like javelins.
’Gods! A legendary golem, it had to be! Unbelievably strong!’ That tree was enormous, yet the golem had ripped it up and thrown it hundreds of ters like a re twig. The display of raw, terrifying power chilled them to the bone.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!"
"WARN THE CITY LORD! GET WORD BACK NOW! Alert the Guild! The Mage Association! The Temple! WARN EVERYONE! The ELVES ARE MARCHING! They have GIANT GOLEMS TOO! THEY’RE ATTACKING the city!"
Their desperate shouts grew fainter as they scrambled away, quickly vanishing from the elves’ sight in a desperate race against fear.
....
"Attacking the city?" Renjiro, resplendent in his Elf King’s crown, let out a soft, amused chuckle at their overblown reaction.
Beside him, Elaria voiced a quiet concern. "Your Majesty, do you think this might lead to... complications? A misunderstanding?"
Renjiro offered her a confident smile. "My Queen, rest easy. The lord of the city, powerful though he may be in his own right, isn’t brave enough, or foolish enough, to truly provoke a war with us."
Hearing him address her as "Queen," Elaria cast a discreet glance towards Lorien and the other commanders.
While her bond with Renjiro was intimate, she hadn’t undergone the formal coronation.
She didn’t yet wear the official crown nor had she received the Goddess’s blessing, she wasn’t, strictly speaking, the recognized Queen.
Seeing no flicker of surprise or disapproval on the faces of Lorien or the others, she allowed herself a quiet sigh of inner relief.
....
As the elven host resud its purposeful march, the panicked rcenaries finally reached the city, spreading their terrifying news like wildfire.
The city stood as a key border outpost of the Empire, one of humanity’s three great powers, marking the edge of civilization against the vast, wild forest.
Though not one of the Empire’s largest cities, it was substantial, encircled by formidable stone walls. Its architecture, Renjiro noted, was reminiscent of the dieval cities of his forr world.
Ho to hundreds of thousands, the city buzzed with activity. Its prosperity stemd largely from its proximity to the monster-infested woods.
The abundance of dangerous creatures drew countless rcenaries and adventurers seeking fortune and glory.
This, in turn, attracted nurous rchant guilds eager to purchase monster pelts, claws, cores, and other valuable materials to trade across the Empire.
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