Telemnar was listening to the report one of his scouts was giving him while a healer was taking care of the wound on his arm. They had encountered a band of harpies earlier that day, and had taken care of them quickly but not without some pain.

Many warriors had been injured, thankfully none too seriously, and Telemnar, as was his habit, was the last one receiving the care of the healer. He listened closely to the report, trying to ignore the fact that the healer was about to put alcohol directly on his wound to clean it.

The scout could not hide his admiration when he saw his captain did not even wince when the healer poured down alcohol on his open wound. Prince Telemnar was known as the best warrior that ever had came to Fëa, but what few people knew about were his surprising strength and outstanding endurance. The healer started to do stitches while the scout was finishing his report.

"Why would Elenarda send a delegation to Fëa?" the prince asked out loud, but the question was more for himself. He knew the scout would have no idea. "They must know that the darkness is moving North with every passing year, and that we can no longer guarantee the safety of the Old Forest Road."

The road that was crossing Fëa, nowadays called Spirit Forest, was going from West to East, cutting in two the woods between the Elvenking's kingdom in the north and the zone that had fallen to darkness at the south of the road.

Even the mortals, the humans located eastern of King Nestadren's realms, were now rarely taking this road. When they did, they asked the fairy king for the protection of his warriors, a safety they were paying with generous amounts of goods and money.

Creatures had taken residence in Black Lake, Khamûl's ancient fortress in the southern part of Fëa, and they seemed to be multiplying like vermin. They had seen more creatures and demons in the past year than they had seen in the past century.

The demons had grown in size and in cleverness. Fortunately, the creatures had remained the same dumb brutes they had always been. Every year, more creatures were coming north of the road, and many small colonies had disappeared, their people either sailing to Ithil Island or moving to Yára's fortress in the Deadlands.

The forest was just too large and the population of Fëa could not afford to keep watch over such a vast territory. There were around 300 fairies and elementals living in the kingdom. There were a few counselors, almost 250 warriors and less than fifty women. Most of the males had forced their mates to sail to Ithil Island in the past decades, which explained the uneven number of males and females in the realms.

Furthermore, there had been no fairies or elementals that were born in Fëa in the past century. No one could bear the thought of bringing into this world innocent souls who could be slaughtered by Balthir's forces before they reached their majority.

Telemnar listened to the sounds of the forest around him. It was complete silence. No innocent animal still lived in that part of the woods. They all had moved to the northern part of the forest, closer to his older brother's kingdom near the northern of the caves of Fanyarë. Telemnar heard the familiar sounds of the whistles his warriors used to communicate while they were on watch.

"Lieutenant Dhoah is on his way," the scout commented.

"Yes. You are dismissed," Telemnar told the scout who bowed respectfully before jumping down the flat.

"I am almost done, young prince," the healer told him. While Telemnar was on duty, his warriors were calling him Captain instead of Prince, and he liked it this way. He wanted to be recognized for his warrior deeds rather than for being one of the heirs of Fanyarë. Telemnar realized that his arm was now bandaged, and that the pain had greatly diminished. Dhoah jumped onto the flat at that moment and ceremoniously nodded to his captain.

"My lord, there is a large group of elven warriors that have successfully crossed the forest and are now safely on the eastern part of the forest."

"A scout already told me, Dhoah. They are wearing the uniform of the Elenarda's warriors."

"What the scout probably did not tell you is that Tengenwa is with them, along with King Arveleg and Queen Elentári."

"Queen Elentári and King Arveleg are traveling to our valley?" Telemnar repeated, bewildered.

"So it would seem. I have met them two centuries ago when King Nestadren traveled to Elenarda. I recognized them."

"Why would they be coming here?" Telemnar wondered. There had been no contacts between this realm and the other realms for the longest time. The high elven races, the Star elves who lived in Elenarda, had always looked with contempt at the more common folks who lived near or on the outcurts of Fëa.

"I know not, Captain," Dhoah added. "I cannot imagine what was so important that they would take such risks to come visit the king in person instead of sending a messenger. The High Elves have always acted as they pleased, without consideration for their security. And we are having just another proof of that today. You will see, I am sure their motives for coming to see the king are not as important as they think it is. It might even only be a courtesy visit!"

"I need to leave. If they are visiting Fëa, I need to welcome them with King Nestadren. I must rush back through the woods and arrive before them to warn him about their visit."

"I am done, young prince," the healer said. "I would have preferred for you to rest for a few hours, but I understand that nothing will keep you here. Just make sure that you see a healer once you get back to the palace, to make sure your wound will not get infected."

"I will," Telemnar promised, although he doubted his wound could get infected with the amount of alcohol the healer had put on it. He arranged his bow, quiver and dragon blades on his back. The healer flew down the flat, leaving Telemnar and Dhoah alone to discuss. "Dhoah, you are in charge until I am back. Make sure that we have at least five warriors on duty at all times on each watch flet. I find the forest too quiet. I hope it does not mean that another attack is imminent."

"Telemnar, please be cautious." Dhoah had been Telemnar's friend since he came to Fëa and he called him with familiarity when they were alone. "I would prefer to send a few warriors with you while you go back-"

"Dhoah, my monah (mother)was killed many centuries ago, and I do not believe you are a good candidate to replace her," Telemnar jested before putting his hand on his lieutenant's shoulder. "I will be back shortly. Send me a message should you need more warriors in case of an attack."

*Dhoah = Falcon/wand