Holy Blood 19

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Chapter 19

“You’re serious?” Lulu asked in the morning.

“Yep,” I replied.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” She asked with her hands on her hips and a frown. “You are a game novice after all.”

“I might be a game novice, but I think I can read people good enough.”

“I hope so. What race?” 

“Dark elves,” I answered. 

“We’re so dead,” Lulu said putting her head in her hands.

I laughed at her actions. “Don’t worry they explained their history to me beforehand. And I got a blood pact that protects us as long as we don’t attack first. So, behave,” I said patting her back.

“I’ll trust you for now,” she said crossing her arms across her chest.

Nolliha showed up with her husband shortly after dawn. There were a few other dark elves with them that wore more metal armor. They really shouted guard to anyone that looked at them. 

“You two ready to go?” Nolliha asked. 

“Yep,” I said moving forward. Lulu sighed but followed along. After less than five minutes we were both thoroughly lost. I didn’t know how they did it, but I felt like I was in the same five meters of woods even though I knew we were moving and quite quickly at that. Lulu was constantly glancing around trying to figure out where we were.

“We have mastered the ways to keep ourselves safe from those that would do us harm. Maybe if we get to know you better than me might teach you how to find us,” Nolliha said from ahead of us.

“That would be a great honor,” I said nodding my head to her. Lulu gave me a look but kept quiet. 

The sun was high in the sky when we emerged from the forest. A large valley stretched out in front of us. From where I stood, I thought it looked like a prefect natural fortress. Large cliffs rose into the air, from here I could see that they were jagged and not something that could easily be scaled. If I had to guess, I would say it was a crater for a meteor or a dormant volcano. 

The only entrance, the one we were currently using, was a narrow single person path that zigzagged down the cliff to the valley floor. Two watchtowers provided guards with easy line of fire to anyone attempting to use the path. I was sure there were plenty of other defenses scattered around the valley.

“Quite a sight,” Lulu commented from behind me.

“That’s what I was thinking,” I said.

Looking past the natural formations, we saw a small village at the center of the valley, surrounded by farmland. Compared to the valley, the village looked… quaint. If you were to look for something similar on Earth it would be an Indian tribe with tents and only one or two permanent buildings. Even those looked like they could be pulled down at a moment’s notice. 

“Not much to look at is it?” Iscacu said. I didn’t realize he had even joined us. 

“It is a little surprising,” I said with a nod. 

“While we are powerful, without a city barrier we can’t grow much further. You might think the barrier is there for protection and you would be right, but there is actually a more in-depth reason a barrier is required.”

“Oh? Please share your knowledge,” I said. Many people might want to skip background or quest dialogue, even back when I first started playing games, I was enthralled by the text. The fact I could influence a part of this world just made it all the more real compared to the old games that only had set outcomes.

“Children. Birth attracts a great number of demons. Without a barrier to shield this signature from the monsters it is a great risk to have children,” he answered his mouth in a hard line. It appeared that this had been a big issue for them for a long time. Considering they were still around after all this time without a city, I was impressed with their strength or at least long-gevity.

“That’s horrible! I know your history is a dark one, but surely even in the past there were good members of your race. Why wouldn’t any of the cities give you a chance?!” Lulu asked with a heated tone.

“Once a god decrees something, they rarely change their minds. The lack of priests around the world is also a reason from what we’ve been able to gather over the years.” 

“I see. So far, you’ve been only welcoming to two strangers that you met in the woods. That gives you at least the benefit of the doubt in my case,” I said grabbing Iscacu’s shoulder.

“Thank you. I hope this event leads us to a better future,” he said with a small smile.

As we got closer to the bottom the path leveled out and it was easier to traverse. We made quite the splash with the people working the fields as we followed the path up to the center of the valley. More than a few people stared at Mohr and Kano. I was glad they were accepting of the strange looking creatures, though they might be normal to the people of this world. 

Finally, we made it to the village. We were led to one of the two permanent buildings in the village where three elderly Dark Elves stood waiting. They bowed their heads when we came up to them. There were two females and a male. 

The elder in the middle stepped forward and folded his hands together. “Welcome to the humble village of Alivonda. We don’t have much to offer past letting you get out of the weather,” he said. 

“I know many stories are told about our race, more than a few we deserve, but we have learned from our foolish past and do not wish to go the same way as our old goddess,” the elder on the right said stepping forward.

“And we know that any god or goddess will likely require much from us, but we are more than willing to pay any price. We just want to survive,” the elder on the left said.

“I understand. I want to make it clear from the beginning. I don’t promise anything. I am a lowly priest and cannot speak for the goddess,” I said. I wanted to make sure there was nothing under the table before I got too deep into this.

“We understand this and are willing to accept. No matter what the goddess may say we will not judge you based on her words,” the middle elder said. 

“Sounds good. Is there a place we can sit and talk? I would love to learn more about your people so that I can tell the goddess everything.”

“Of course. Follow me,” he gestured to the building behind him.

A few hours and a lot of tea later, I’d had a crash course in the Alivonda village history. They were driven from the Labyrinth, a whole world of caves and caverns that housed as many races as the surface. The gnomes and dwarves worked together with the many races to destroy every Dark Elf city they could find. Tezzieuana was the last and knew of the genocide and fled. 

Unfortaenely, the Dark Elves were just as feared on the surface as the Labyrinth and could not find a place to rest. They’ve been nomads ever since. They would build these temporary villages, but they would only stay for a few months. This village has been their longest stay at just over a year. 

All that remained of the city of ten thousand was this tiny village of five hundred. Nearly all of them over a hundred years old. The houses they used to be so proud of had been reduced to a measly four that they were even sure of. It was a far fall for the people here. 

“That is a sad story that an entire race would be eliminated due to their failings,” I said sipping my tea. Even on Earth we stopped eliminating and just made people our slaves for a while. Hell, we came close to eliminating ourselves in the long run. But, I guess there were a few people in the past that tried to kill off an entire race of people for one reason or another.

“Sir Herald, would you like a full tour of the village? There’s not much but we are proud of what we have managed to accomplish here,” Elder Gasale asked. He was the main Elder at the old age of five hundred and seventy-nine. He was a child during the genocide and remembered the horrors of the time the clearest. 

“Yes! A tour should be done! I’m sure sitting for hours listening to us old souls go on has made your legs stiff,” Elder Cholonsa said. She was the next elder in line. At five hundred and two years of age. She was born on the surface after the purge. Next to her sat Elder Nusoknu, who was her twin. Their birth triggered a large-scale demon raid on their village. They both nearly died from what I was told but managed to survive hidden under a tree stump for two days. 

“A tour would be nice. Please led the way,” I said standing up. They sat in the Japanese way and my legs were ready to fall off.

“Nolliha will show you around. We are a bit too old to be moving around like you young ones,” Elder Gasale said with a chuckle.

I nodded and made my way out of the building. Lulu close behind. I stood on the small porch and stretched. “What do you think, Gamer veteran?” I asked as she did the same next to me.

“I don’t know. At the surface, I want to believe them, but dark elves are almost always the bad guys in games and fiction. I would hate to side with them and then it turns out they planned to use us to revive their goddess,” Lulu replied with knitted eyebrows. 

“I will ask the goddess if that is even possible. In the end it will be her decision,” I said with a shrug.

“I still find it strange that you can actually talk to a goddess,” she said shaking her head.

“Me too, but I just roll with it.”

We were led around the village by Nolliha. They appeared to have most of the jobs needed to survive in the harsh environment. A weaponsmith, armor smith, herbalist, and many more. Farmers were the most prominent job though. Of course, there were no children. I did see a woman that was pregnant and looked to be about to pop at that.

“Nolliha, I thought your village wasn’t having children?” I asked when I saw the woman.

“Ah… Yes, she is young and made a mistake. Now… Now we will probably have to leave this place.”

“Really? It seems quite defensible. Even if the demons attack once couldn’t you hold out?” Lulu asked.

“That is true. We will probably be able to resist whatever demon makes its way here from the magical signature of the birth, but more always come. The magic doesn’t just happen with a burst. It sits there like a target for many days.”

“Interesting,” I said tapping my chin in thought. It sounds like a system to keep population controlled outside of cities. I wonder with the players appearing, if there would be a way to fix that. There is a mostly set number of players after all. More NPCs would be needed to fill out cities and towns.

“Nolliha. Is there a place in the village that has any sort of religious significance? I would like to talk to my Goddess now,” I asked coming to a stop. 

“Follow me,” she gestured then started leading us out of the village. A few minutes later we came to what looked like a graveyard. Stones that bore names were laid in nice lines, with a quick count I noted there were thirty of them. “It has been a rough year. One we cannot repeat many more times,” she said with a hard grimace. “Take your time. I’ll be in the village, this place is too sad for me.” 

“I think I’ll follow her and look around a bit more,” Lulu said turning to follow after Nolliha.

I looked to Mohr and Kano. “Well, I’m going to go talk to your mother. I hope she’s in a good mood,” I said. I walked to the center of the graveyard and kneeled. Mohr and Kano moved to stand on either side of me. I pictured the statue from back at the city and started praying. I didn’t have much content to work with but thankfully the scene around me changed after only a few seconds. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in front of Otris’s throne room.