"It’s not a question of whether we need to pursue, but whether we dare. Do you dare? I certainly won’t stop you," the Court Mage nekver retorted, his face full of mockery, showing no deference to the other’s status as a God’s Favored One.
If they truly intended to pursue, they would have already gone in, just like those foolish students of his more than thirty years ago who chased into the Elental Plane of Water and nearly got themselves boiled alive. He’d only asked to salvage so dignity for the five of them—legends, all—who hadn’t managed to stop a young Red Dragon.
"You..." The expression on Bradimir, the God’s Favored One of the Elven Forest God, was quite a sight.
Moon Elves were always like this; no matter the situation, their first instinct was to shift the bla. As for him, nekver was rely on the Old Continent to search for relics of his holand and, incidentally, so lost Mystlock fragnts and technologies. He had no obligation to coddle these individuals, who were typically arrogant and domineering due to their divinely favored status. They were rely ’legends-lite,’ fed a mouthful by benevolent gods. In terms of true knowledge and skill, he mused, apart from Leopold, The Wandering God’s Favored One, and Aria, the Chosen of God, these young and fortunate few might not go as far as so of his own students in the long run. After all, while being favored by a god usually indicated talent, taking strides too quickly, without one’s own firm footing, wasn’t necessarily a good thing. This draconic pride of theirs was a perfect example.
In the end, it was Aria, the Moon Elves’ Chosen of God, who tily halted the pointless dispute:
"Enough. There’s no need to continue arguing this. The coordinates on the other side of the Teleportation Gate are near The Dark Mountains; it has most likely gone to seek its kin. A host of immature dragons is no cause for alarm. However, rashly congregating at the Eight Peaks Mountain fortress in The Dark Mountains now, further provoking the Dwarves, could soon lead to a second full-scale Skanis War. We are not currently prepared for such a conflict."
Or rather, the elven pantheon was not ready for a war between gods to erupt with the dwarven pantheon.
The God’s Favored One of the Forest God wanted to say more but was silenced by a look from Aria:
"Bradimir, I know you don’t fear war, and I’ve never doubted your loyalty and valor to the Moon Elves. But you must understand our current situation: we Moon Elves are in a precarious position, our very existence at risk.
"The Spider Queen ascended to greater godhood through the last God War. Dark plots by the Drow of the Gloomy Region are stirring against us. Under the will of the Chromatic Dragon Queen, dragons are massing on the pri material plane of Toriel, vowing to reclaim the lands they once dominated.
"Once Eternal Gathering Island falls, we Moon Elves will again beco holess refugees. Therefore, before that worst-case scenario unfolds, we must secure a new holand for our people. The new continent of Granyel is already a prize earmarked for division by the Pan-Ferren Deities. To the far west, the remnants of the Divine Realms are overrun by Beastn. All we can strive for is our forr holand, Skanis."
nekver, himself a true ’Skanis Elf,’ smiled upon hearing ’our forr holand’ but disdained to argue the point.
But Bradimir, hearing this dire prophecy for the first ti, was shocked:
"Eternal Gathering Island will fall? How is that possible? Don’t we still have the Dragon Mad Lock? How dare those dragons?"
Aria, noticing that her colleagues also seed sowhat unclear about the situation, decided to share so intelligence she possessed, hoping it would encourage them to act more ’calmly’ in the future:
"The most critical trigger component of the Dragon Mad Lock, The Slaying King Star, was struck by Chromatic Dragons half a year ago."
"But that’s the Sky Domain!" This ti, it wasn’t just Bradimir who was startled.
Even nekver, the veteran legend and Court Mage who had been silent, found this news sowhat unbelievable.
He and his students had more than once undertaken research projects on exploring the Sky Domain. That vast, boundless expanse contained nothing. Most importantly, the distance was prohibitive. Unless one could acquire a Magic Ship like those of the ancient Neisser, setting foot in that realm, let alone reaching The Slaying King Star, was pure fantasy. A Neisser Sky City was said to have returned in Toriel’s Anauroch Great Desert... could that be connected to this?
Aria offered no further explanation, instead reassuring the Elves:
"We should be thankful it was the Red Dragon, David Uthos, who returned through this Ultra-Distance Portal, and not Christoph’s Succubus descendant. Now that we’ve pinpointed the location of this ultra-distance Teleportation Circle, we can dismantle it. From this day forward, this place will no longer require a garrison. We also won’t need to worry about retaliation from Christoph’s legendary Red Dragon or fighting a two-front war against those Drow from the Gloomy Region—at least, not until we Moon Elves have completed our full withdrawal from the Toriel Plane."
"But that young Red Dragon..." The God’s Favored One of the Forest God still seed wary of David Uthos’s earlier display.
A Red Dragon, not yet even a legend, had inflicted such severe losses on the High Elves and escaped from right under the noses of several of their own legends. If word of this spread, it would be an utter disgrace.
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