"Get to the point, please." Lith said, "How kind of you." Aalejah’s voice became cold. "I was talking about the thousands of elves who until a couple of months ago lived under the aegis of the World Tree. They are in trouble." "Why? Is the World Tree dead for good or has the Fringe disappeared?" Lith asked. "Worse but I’d rather not talk about this on the amulet." Aalejah said. "We should meet in person. When can you come to the Empire?" ’The Empire?’ Lith thought. ’What is she doing there?’ "Why don’t you come here?" He actually said. "The Blood Desert is nice this time of the year and I won’t be forced to suffer any sort of political pressure." "Fine. Can I come now?" She asked. "I don’t see why not." Lith replied. "I’ll wait for you in front of the Empire’s embassy." "Bring Solus, please. This involves her as well. Aalejah out." "This doesn’t sound good." Kamila said. "It rarely does." Lith sighed. "You contact Solus, I make a few calls." Lith contacted Friya and the rest of his friends, blaming Aalejah for his tardiness and asking for their understanding. "I swear, as soon as I’m done with this elven madness, I’ll make it up to you." "You better." Friya pouted. "You’re lucky you have a decent excuse. If you had once again forgotten about me for no reason, I would have kicked your ass to the moon and back. Friya out." "Shameless. You are just shameless." Kamila giggled. "It’s my Ranger training, baby." Lith said with a stern voice. "Adapt, improvise, and find a scapegoat to throw under the bus." "That’s not the Ranger Corps’ motto." She laughed to the point of tears. "Yeah because ’Anything goes as long as it works’ is any better." "That’s not the Ranger Corps’ motto either." Kamila replied in confusion. "That’s what we want our handlers to think, baby." Lith winked at her. "Do you want to tag along?" "Yes, thank you." She nodded. "If I don’t, I’ll be worried about you until I know what’s going on." Lith, Kamila, and Solus Warped in front of the Gorgon Empire’s embassy the moment they were notified they had a guest. "Lith, Solus! It’s so nice to see you back together." Aalejah hugged them. "I was so worried about you, Solus. How could you keep me in the dark after everything I’ve done to help with your rescue?" "I’m sorry." Solus returned the embrace. "I have no excuses. I acted like a Lith. Thank you for your help, Aalejah. I know it mustn’t have been easy to turn your back on your people." "It wasn’t. I-" A harrumph cut the elf short as Kamila offered her hand. "Oh, right. Camellia, right?" Aalejah shook it. "Kamila. The Camellia is the magical flower Lith crafted for me." "Sorry!" Aalejah blushed in embarrassment. "It’s just that the Camellia is much more famous than you so I mixed you two up." "Are all elves this nice or am I just that special to you?" Kamila chuckled yet her smile didn’t extend to her cold eyes. "I’m sorry!" The young elf bowed in apology in a frenzy. "I tend to speak without thinking when I’m excited." "That’s actually sweet of you." Kamila chuckled, her smile widening and her attitude softening up. "I too am excited to meet you." "Oh, I’m not excited about meeting you. Where’s Menadion?" Aalejah looked around. "She’s a celebrity I never hoped to meet." "I see." Kamila sighed, inwardly giving up on any expectation of being treated politely. "I’ll call her for you." "Wait. That came out wrong." Aalejah realized what she had just said and wished for Mogar to swallow her whole. "I wasn’t trying to belittle you. It’s just that your greatest accomplishment is giving birth to Elysia whereas Menadion is- Gods, what’s wrong with my mouth?" "I don’t know, but keep talking and you and I are going to have a problem." Kamila angrily walked away toward the mana geyser where the three towers stood. "I pissed her off, right?" The elf’s shoulders slouched. "Big time." Lith replied. "Is she the type to hold a grudge?" She whined. "No, but keep up like that and she might make an exception for you." Solus had a hard time repressing her laugh. In Aalejah’s shoes, she would have died of embarrassment, but as a spectator of the elf’s constant fumbling, her performance was hilarious. The elf didn’t need Soul Vision to see that Lith was already annoyed and Solus was seconds away from laughing in Aalejah’s face. ’That’s great. We have yet to start talking and I’ve already outstayed my welcome.’ She inwardly cursed her big mouth. When Kamila returned with what looked like a leaner and slightly taller version of Solus, Aalejah forgot about her worries. "Oh, gods! You must be Ripha Menadion. Your portraits don’t do you justice." She started to jump up and down around Ripha, checking the colored streaks in her hair and then her outstretched hand for calluses. "Oh, this is just a hologram. I forgot you’re dead and your real body has been rotting away somewhere for centuries now. Too bad, I really wanted to check if you had been born with a special constitution." "I’m sorry my death is such a disappointment to you." Ripha grunted. "But believe me, it was no picnic for me either." "I’m sorry! I-" "Save it for someone who cares." Menadion cut Aalejah short. "Did you summon me here just to insult me or is there another purpose to your visit?" As the elf whined apologies that Ripha ignored, it was Kamila’s turn to stifle a laugh, feeling vindicated. "Can we have some privacy?" The elf asked after the Ruler of the Flames dismissed each and every one of her attempts to rephrase her words as equally rude. "Sure." A snap of Lith’s fingers brought everyone to his private quarters. ’I hoped to finally get to see the tower, but after everything I’ve said, I risk getting kicked out before they listen to me.’ Aalejah thought. "What’s wrong with the elves of the World Tree’s Fringe?" Solus asked, snapping the elf out of her self-loathing. "They are mostly fine." Aalejah replied. "Thanks for giving them my contact rune, Solus. Once they called me, it was easy to find accommodation for the elven tribes. A few have moved to the Fringes with enough space to host them. Read new chapters at empire "A handful of elves has decided to stop living in isolation and are traveling Mogar in disguise. Most of them, however, have remained in the Gorgon Empire. They are currently guests in Leegaain’s biomes, waiting for the new World Tree to contact them." "I don’t see the problem." Lith shrugged. "Yet you should." Aalejah shook her head. "Almost two months have passed since you killed the previous Yggdrasill. At this point, a World Sapling should have received the knowledge of their predecessor and evolved into the new World Tree." "Are you telling me I ended the Yggdrasill bloodline for good?" Lith was mildly amused and not one bit regretful. "I wish." She sighed. "It would make things much simpler. You see, all the members of the Yggdrasill bloodline share a deep connection that allows them to share information and life force. "It’s through this invisible network that the World Tree passes on to their successor their knowledge and the means to evolve into the next Yggdrasill."