A Large Force Encroaches Upon the Border
The rest of the journey wasn't as tedious. Besides the water puddles on the ground, which was quite annoying, the bright sun blessed us with warmth once again. The singing birds and fragrant flowers on the path cheered Leah up, as well. We were forced to travel full pelt, but Leah would still occasionally react pleasantly surprised.
The North's terrain was flat, which I didn't expect. We didn't run into many uphill paths. We, as a matter of fact, rarely saw mountains. All we came across were some small elevations. Big and small rivers that curved and swirled ran through the North. The current green colour hadn't yet totally overwhelmed the yellow dirt during the peak of the war. With that said, the green we saw today was an important compensation for the freezing-cold rain that we were exposed to yesterday.
None of us spoke. We didn't see anyone on our journey, either. If there was just one person, we might've felt miserable due to loneliness. Sometimes, one's most formidable opponent isn't a foreign enemy, robbers or wild beasts but absolute loneliness.
I had no idea what we'd face; it was pointless to even think about it. Moreover, the bumpy ride was my biggest foe. Francis was a dwarf, his equestrian skills were superb. Veirya didn't show any signs of fatigue, ether. I, however, felt I'd eventually be launched off. I was a modern man without any equestrian training; a long journey without rest was draining for me.
On the way, I contemplated, "What's everyone at home doing? At this point in time, Queen Sisi's mighty army should soon arrive in the North. Our town will become a replenishment base for the army. What will that mean for the North?"
If Queen Sisi managed to capitalise on her boldness and captured the forest, the North would no longer be humanity's border. Instead, it'd become the centre of humanity's empire. In turn, the North would begin to develop, subsequently providing me with an opportunity. If, contrariwise, humanity was defeated and the elves counterattacked, then our town would be the first line of defence. I wondered if Lucia would spare our town out of friendship. The cruel elves might capture everyone and make them their slaves, otherwise.
As opposed to saying Queen Sisi was making a gambling, I could say she figuratively tied the entire North to her. In other words, the North's fate rode on the war's outcome. I started to feel more and more convinced that I shouldn't have followed Francis to the mine. If I stayed in the town, however, Veirya's fake pregnancy was highly likely to be exposed.
I couldn't do anything for Veirya's territory, either. I could lead lots of people by the nose. Sadly, I couldn't read Queen Sisi. She was an extremely insistent woman; she wouldn't change her perspective regardless of what anyone argued. That was just the way she was.
I wondered if the elves were done preparing. I only told them humanity might attack them. I never told them humanity was on their way. I figured they already knew, nevertheless. Given Queen Sisi's personality, she might flaunt the attack.
========
Current time in the elven lands…
"Brother."
Lucia turned around and gave her brother a nod. He nodded back. Then, he looked below the inspection platform. All of the elves were ready. The elves numbered fewer than humans, but also consisted of males and females. Nonetheless, the elves present were the elites among the elites. They were the guards of the elven race and their race's military power. Sending all of their fellow elves to the war wasn't wise, for there was a very high likelihood that those with the previous Elven Queen would take the chance to usurp power. His sister knew their family had always protected elves, though. They could die, but they couldn't let elves die. They couldn't allow the elven race to be wiped out.
Lucilia had also changed into her battle gear. She donned simple leather armour with a long elven bow strapped to her back. She had a long sword strapped to her belt as well as a short gun. In just one short week, Lucilia had mastered firearms. She quickly fell in love with the powerful weapon. The bullets could pierce the heads of wild beasts, so killing a human being had to be incredibly simple. Lucilia had only put bullets in a few elves' heads, not humans… yet. Perhaps she was about to finally have the chance to do so.
"All soldiers are ready. Humanity's army should take one day to reach the border. Under normal circumstances, they will attack in a week."
Lucilia, who had always fought side by side with humanity's armies, were familiar with humanity's military structure. The elves had been preparing themselves the entire time. They chopped down trees to block the paths in the forest, thereby making it impossible for a large army to spread out, subsequently forcing the enemy army to advance in columns. That allowed the elves to rush the enemy from both sides, split humanity's army at the middle, and finish off humanity once they were separated. The elves were at the disadvantage when it came to sheer numbers, but they were peerless in war.
Lucilia's brother scrubbed her head then stood before all of the elves present. He had his family heirloom, a bow, strapped to his back. The bow served more as a display of duty and prestige than a practical purpose. The elven soldiers brandished bows, long swords and guns. They waited for their general and the war.
"Brothers and sisters, humanity has initiated an attack on us. We saw through those wretched humans' ambitious nature long ago. Act as they may, they can't change their nature as wild beasts. They're greedy and selfish. They belittle our lands and slaughter our people. However, we elves are definitely not fodder! The forest is our pride, and we are its guardians. We will never surrender or cower. We shall engrave the fear of our bows and arrows into humanity's core even if we all die fighting. We must teach them to fear our forest!!! Brothers and sisters, our mission is to defend our people and forest. Humanity's Queen is accompanying this time. She insulted us before. She's also our enemy. Capture her alive! Show her our wrath! Go, soldiers! Go teach those vile creatures what war really means! March!!"
"March!!" responded the elves.
The elves had slim physiques; but nonetheless, their war cry didn't pale in comparison to humanity's. They raised their bows high. They numbered fewer than humanity; however, their determination and conviction was, by no means, inferior.
Elves weren't demons. Demons didn't have such intense tenacity. Humans weren't demons, either, though. The war against the demon race was, unquestionably, brutal. Howbeit, the most brutal war was unarguably the war between humans and elves.