Current timeline.....

  Harwin and his group had camped near the first town for the night. They got up at dawn-break. Everyone took a small breakfast before beginning their travel once again.

  The party reached the town in a matter of hours.

  It was a magnificent settlement — giant, fortified walls surrounding it. There were numerous guards, and outposts filled with archers.

  There were hardly any fertile land around the First town, but the available one was well-utilized via the best cultivation technique in the whole continent. It was a necessary expense so even during war-time, the town would remain self-sufficient.

  Great towers and buildings were visible even from behind the mighty walls.

  The caravan had to wait in a long queue to get admission through the fortified gates.

  There were hundreds upon hundreds of carriages. Some parts of large caravans, while some solo merchants, but there were parties of adventurers as well.

  The guards were inspecting everyone thoroughly. What was most peculiar was the fact that there were other races in the ranks of the guards as well. Normally, the distrusting nature of a wood-elf could never have allowed for such a thing.

  It was around noon that Harwin's caravan finally got to the gates.

  The guards inspected each carriage separately. However, they acted quite frank with the leader of the caravan (dwarven one), as he was a recurring visitor in the town.

  Finally came the turn of the carriage of Harwin. The guardsmen were quite surprised to find wood-elves.

  There were all kinds of races coming to this town, but wood-elves rarely arrived especially unannounced. Usually the great-forest or other elfin settlements would send out letters first, and only if they got approval, would they dare show their face.

  “State you names and the name of your village? Also the reason for your visit?” The guard questioned Kraft.

  At the same time Farelen got off his ride and headed towards the guard’s direction. Upon seeing a giant elf heading his way, the guard became a-bit worried, and signalled for a few reinforcements as well.

  Viyetral followed behind, as he knew Farelen was easily provoked.

  “I am captain Viyetral, and this is my friend, captain Farelen. We are from the northern Great-forest which is under the protection of the sword-saint Graftel. The reason for our arrival is something that does not concern you.” Viyetral replied calmly yet firmly.

  All of the guards were shocked at this sudden revelation. One of them ran to fetch their officer.

  The other guards stood with straight-backs —awaiting the command of these two captains who severely out-ranked them.

  The officer of the guards, after being informed, ran towards them at once.

  He was a young fellow, similar in age to Kraft. He also stood silent once he was in-front of Viyetral — awaiting commands.

  The caravan leader was astonished upon witnessing this scene, as he had thought this party to be an ordinary one at first.

  “Now then officer, first let these gentlemen pass through the gates. They have done us a great favour by letting us travel with them. It is quite ill-mannered to keep them waiting any further. We will discuss this matter a-bit away from the crowd.” Viyetral ordered the captain who at once obliged.

  Harwin and the others bid their farewell to the caravan members, and shortly after entered the city themselves.

  Once they had seperated away from the crowd, Farelen was the one to address the captain:

  “So youngling, we are from the northern village, as you have already heard. The leader of our race, sword-saint Graftel, has sent us for some urgent business to attend to. We would like you to escort us to a captain, or whoever is incharge of this town.”

  “I understand. Please let me hand my post to someone else, then I shall take you to the council hall at once. Do forgive the behaviour of my subordinates, as they had no idea who you were.”

  The officer did not look anyone of them in the eyes. He was obviously dealing with a situation that was way above his level of responsibility.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  It did not take very long for him to return.

  The party then made their way to the center of the town.

  The town had well-maintained cobblestone pavements. The streets were large enough to accommodate large crowds as well as passage for carriages and mounted men.

  Though the carriage of Harwin's party had trouble passing through it due to its sheer size, but also because the streets were bustling with people, street vendors, and caravans passing through at the same time.

  It was a very busy town, and certainly felt like the central hub for trade. Elsanye could be considered a village in comparison.

  Soon after, they reached the council-building. It was ridiculously large. It had a-lot of free-land holding around it as well which was covered with many well-crafted statues, and gardens.

  The building itself was purely white. It was made up of crystalline stone which was found in the eastern mines of the dwarven town of Iwortn, and then was mixed up with clay. This was obviously a very lengthy and expensive process, so it was obvious that the elves of the first town were doing pretty good for themselves.

  Harwin's party had to wait at the door for sometime, as the guards did not let just anyone enter without proper identification.

  Once the officer explained the situation, and the identities of the men he had brought, the doors were opened immediately. The youngling bid them farewell, as even he did not have permission to enter the estate.

  A familiar face arrived to guide them inside.

  It was an elf who was the same age as Viyetral and Farelen. He had this aura around him that was similar to that of the other captains of the village. He had a seasoned warrior’s face and eyes, but this person was on the heavier side, unlike the other captains who were all leaned muscular.

  “Farelen and Viyetral....what are the hounds of the sword-saint doing here? Have you come to bite someone?” The man spoke quite disrespectfully, but neither of the two minded.

  “Thrandul, your tongue is as sharp as ever. You have not changed, but that gut has certainly found his way out. Are you with child by any chance, old comrade?” Farelen mocked.

  “Now, now Farelen. The man is obviously stressed out, due to having to perform duties under old senile men. He has to release that pent up anger somewhere. That place seems to be a pantry.”

  Viyetral added to the insult. The others were abit worried about this exchange.

  There was silence in the air for a while following the comments, but suddenly all three of them guffawed loudly which surprised the rest of the party.

  Soon the three hugged eachother. Farelen took it even further by picking up Thrandul as if he was child, but then received a kick in the gut for this action which made the giant drop to his knees.

  This was a scene that shocked Harwin and his companions. They did not expect someone to drop the giant Farelen to his knees.

  “I see that you have not lost your strength, old friend.” Farelen claimed while getting up.

  “You have certainly scared the young ones behind you. Who are they?” Thrandul asked while smiling cheerfully.

  “Oh, I had almost forgotten. All of you gather here.” Farelen ordered.

  They obliged immediatley — obviously dumbfounded by it all.

  “First of all, this man is an old friend of mine and Viyetral. His name is Thrandul — a captain like ourselves. This here is Landel, the village chief’s grandson. Lady Alisa is the Chief’s grand-daughter. That is Kraft, my student, and finally that man beside him is Gor. He is the advisor to the sword-saint and the village chief.” Farelen introduced all of them.

  “Oh quite the interesting bunch especially this human. Do tell me, how did our sword-saint ever agree to take advice from a human?” Thrandul questioned with an intrigued look.

  “He is very talented in matters relating to trade. Never the less, we do not have time to do small talk. Let us meet the council-men of this town. We have some impertinent matters that need to be addressed immediately.” Farelen replied.

  "Hmmm, Council-men.....it will take some time to gather them. You can rest inside whilst I inform them of your presence.”

  “Do try to make haste, but also gather everyone who is important enough to make decision in this town especially those with great influence whether apparent or not. We can trust you with this, right old friend?” Viyetral asked.

  “Sure sure. No need to be so formal. Just relax for a bit. I will ask one of the servants to get you something to drink.”

  They agreed, but did not enter the Council building right away rather strolled around.

  They often got cold stare, mainly due to being outsiders. The carriage and the rides were taken by one of the guards to the many stables around the council-building.

  Grantal was taken in one of the guest house. A few healers were also sent his way. Once they were informed of his lineage, everyone in the estate was more than happy to help. Uyteral, his father, did have great influence throughout the elfin empire.

  Soon Harwin's party entered the building.

  It was lavishly filled with foreign decor. The entirety of the building especially the interior was constructed by a genius architect.

  There were great columns to support the entire structure which further added to its elegance. The interior was huge with numerous rooms.

  It also had several floors. Harwin lifted his head once they had reached the centeral hall of the building, only to see endless rounded stair. It certainly was an architectural marvel, and of-course must have fortune as well.

  The party was guided by one of the servants to a waiting room.

  The servant was a female half-elf, which was apparent as she did not share the usual qualities of the wood-elves. There were a great many servants in the entire building.

  There were Guards infront of most rooms. The estate itself had more guards than the population of younglings in the village of the northern great-forest.

  Harwin was astonished by one particular servant — he had gills, but the face of a man. His appearance was of an aquatic being.

  This person was one of the few fisher-men species in the continent. The race was uncommon in this region, but were plentiful in the eastern end of the continent where they had built villages around sea shores. Another extravagant endeavour as such slaves or servants were very costly in the market.

  The waiting room had all sorts of luxuries as well. It was painted golden, and had tapestries hung around the walls. There was a large chandelier on the roof as well. The furniture was fancy, and expensive which made young-ones a-bit uncomfortable to even touch it, much less sit.

  It was obvious that the elves of this town had covered themselves in luxuries and comforts of all sorts. This comfort bred greed for more which in-turn resulted into treachery, but the question was this:

  Who was a foe and who was a friend?