ISBN 978-5-0056-3062-9

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      Chapter 1. My World

      I’ve lived here as long as I can remember. In the village. Into exile. From a world that was ours. The elves. Dark elves. But people took it. They landed on our mainland before I was born. About a hundred years ago. They kicked us out on the reservation. To the mountains. Where there is little writing and a lot of magical animals. Dangerous animals. The ones that frighten the invaders. They frighten us, too. Dragons and wyverns, giants and night monsters that don’t even have a name. I, Lucas, am nineteen years old, though by our elven ways I am still a child and cannot speak my mind at the tribal council. Although I would like to say a lot. “Why do we live like this?” “Why are we not fighting the invaders, but hiding in exile?” But the elders want peace. So tonight I’m sitting in one of those big tribal meetings.

      “We need to establish trade with humans. We must send messengers. The war is long over. We must move on with our lives.

      This is said by an old and infirm grandfather, all gray-haired. With ashen skin. Warts covered half his face. And this is our leader Ulan. Our hope for the future. He’s already dying. And everything guides us. But to what. I couldn’t keep quiet.

      “We have to fight for ourselves. Build your own state. As it was before. As you should remember. We talked about the most beautiful cities built by our great ancestors. We must reclaim our greatness. We are dark elves. The lords of this land. Alien humans must be thrown into the sea from which they came.

      “Keep quiet, youngster. We can’t do that. Look around, there aren’t even three hundred of us in the village. Of these, only forty are warriors who can hold weapons. The rest are women, children, or the elderly. There aren’t enough of us. There are fewer tribes like ours every year. In the past three years alone, two neighboring villages were destroyed by magical beasts. Dragons are getting impudent. We should have survived the winter. Who are you willing to sacrifice your parents or sisters for the sake of your nonsense?

      The old leader of the Lancers was speaking. Many nodded. Young people, no. Even his beautiful daughter, Maria. She was looking at me intently. A beautiful young woman, just like me. She’s only fifty. Still a girl. Straight facial features. Blue hair, just like the rest of us. “The curse of exile” as the old people say. It is given to us because we fought and did not negotiate with people. Those bastards who took over our land. They eat our food. They sleep and live in our cities. They send diseases and curses upon us. I don’t accept peace with them. But what a good one it is. This girl. It’s still too early for me to get married, and I’ll have to wait twenty years, if not forty. And she’ll be back soon. He can woo her. It can wait a bit. After all, we live a very long time. If you don’t kill us.

      “I understand you don’t have an answer.” Therefore, my decision. Theodore will go to the people. The strongest of the warriors. Take the message to people. Let’s start a new life. A peaceful life. How does the council vote?

      The old man said. Our leader. Our undoing. The council of five decrepit old men raised their hands in approval

      – The decision was made unanimously. Diverge people. And the power of the full moon of Zelu will come with us and not be swallowed up by the darkness.

      Everyone dispersed. Young people spat, showing their indignation. “The young people are not what they used to be. The end of our race will come because of them.” No, old man, it’s because of you cowards that we live like this. Give the country to people. Almost without a fight. Believing the old legends about saviors from across the sea. By letting them into our homes. By allowing them to bring their diseases and curses. Let us have their faith in the Light. They build their own states on the wreckage of our world. They will introduce wars among themselves. Their Ton continent, where they lived, was slowly being swallowed up by the sea. So they moved in with us. It’s probably completely submerged by now. Sorry not with people. Although I’ve never seen them in my life. I hate them so much. How you can come to someone else’s house and kick out the owners. I don’t understand. Drive us to reservations and laugh at our peace-loving ways. They must all suffer. These people. He kicked a large stone that was lying on the ground. The outline is similar to a person’s face. He rolled into the river. And I went far from the village. But I hear footsteps behind me. He drew his sword and pointed it in the direction of the footsteps. Another thing I needed was to die in a forest like this. From magical beasts.

      “I’m Buka. Maria. I forgot who swaddled you as a child and played hide-and-seek.

      She smiled at me as she lowered my sword. She’s different today. Funny, beautiful, and kind. What’s wrong with me. It’s a strange feeling. My heart sank. It’s hard to breathe.

      “What you need from me.” Your dad said a lot at the council. You need to be with him. Pray for peace with the humans.

      Rage filled my mind again. The feeling of warmth for her was gone. What a quick change of mood I have. I’m changing. Maybe growing up.

      “You shouldn’t have done that. He wants peace. So that we can live. Start families. Getting married.

      She looked at me intently, then came close to me. So nice. It’s her smell. It burned my nose. She made perfume out of flowers. But this is an ancient pre-wedding ritual.

      “I chose my betrothed.

      “And who’s the lucky guy?”

      Pain seared my soul. She will choose a good warrior and live with him. And I have to watch it. No, I’d rather go deeper into the forest. Maybe to another village. Or to the city of people. To avenge us. Rumor has it that there are a lot of bandits in the cities made up of us dark elves. They rob people. Here they are the real patriots of our motherland. Noble, not like her father.

      “You’re my chosen one. Even though it’s early for you. But I’ll wait.

      She kissed me on the cheek. Then I bit her neck. These are our customs.

      “Now, according to our ancient custom, fight me.

      She took out a small dagger and scratched her palm to mark the beginning of the battle. I did the same. Customs also need to be changed. But I’d do anything for her. She’s a strong lady. A warrior, a huntress. She knows my tricks. She knows me. There were many blows and cuts. But I noticed that she doesn’t want to win at all. She wants me to win. She chose me. Just like I said. I plunged my sword into her heart. She fell. Death began to creep up on her. I pulled the sword out of her chest. I put all my mana into recovery spells. A bright glow lit up the river. Maria was cured and became my wife. Such is the ritual of rebirth. We need to cancel it immediately. After all, there were cases when the groom did not have enough strength. And the bride was dying. You can’t just exchange rings like people and go to the monk. I agree with people on one thing. This custom is better.

      – My husband, let’s go and tell everyone about us.

      She’s so happy, and so am I. She’s my wife. I can’t believe it. She’s mine. I won’t be able to lie down with her for another twenty years. But this fact itself makes me happy. I took her hand. Warm and gentle. As I remember it from my childhood. It’s a good thing we’re not human. They don’t live long, so they’re always in a hurry. They don’t hold waiting in high esteem.

      The world was changing. But I didn’t notice it. I spent the third day with my beloved. As a wedding present, the chief magically built a small house for us to live in. The whole village was happy for us. They had a feast. It was a fabulous time. But it ends. Like all the good things in this world.

      “Come on, honey. The whole village is in a big house. People came to negotiate.

      Maria said as she ran into the house. I was cleaning the skins of two wolves at the same time. I just nodded at her and put on my best leather armor. I didn’t trust people. He hid the knife in his leg. I always carried my sword, too. I left the house. The whole