Elven religion was based on three fundamental principles: respect for the gods, the harmony of all living, and the defense of the cosmic order.

The dark magic, for the Elven theologians, contradicted all three of these principles. "The dark magician" argued the great philosopher Khosrow of Silvergrove in the seventh century, "lives in disharmony with nature, because he draws his power from death; he goes against the cosmic order, because he exploits the power of other creatures; and in his arrogance, he beguiles himself into going against the decrees of the gods, who in Their infinite wisdom have determined that men be denied magic."

The Kingdom of Neolandia was an enemy nation, but the Magic Republic of Neolandia represented to the eyes of the most conservative of the Elves an even more serious danger since it was ruled by dark magicians. When news came to the east of the Breach that the Emperors of Katolis were willing to negotiate with this new enemy, fear turned into panic.

Ezran had hoped that his friendship with the future Dragon King and the support of Queen Zubeia would allow him to find a diplomatic solution: he had unfortunately not taken into account that the power of the Storm Spire was absolute only on paper and that elves were accustomed to following traditions even more than authority.

Throughout Xadia, hundreds of preachers and Hikma (literally "sages": it was a title reserved for those elves who distinguished themselves in religious studies) poured into the streets, invoking divine anathema against "all the wicked who dare to make deals with the dark magicians". At Lux Aurea, the revolt took on such dimensions that Queen Janai had to flee the city: for three weeks Lux Aurea became a theocracy, ruled by the charismatic Hikma Ulug.

Such news could not leave Ezran indifferent: it was because of the fear of losing Xadian support that the peace meeting was interrupted before a definitive agreement could be reached.

But it was too late to stop the crisis. On October 1, 1244, a message arrived from the Storm Spire, from the Queen of Dragons:

Sol Regem was flying again.

Openly challenging Zubeia's will, the sun's blind archdragon had decided to personally punish the dark mages. He had lost his sight, but his wings were still strong: led by his supporters, including the aforementioned dragon Heliodorus, he set off for Neolandia, to bring fire and death to the Republic. At the time of the Grand Senate in 1240, the Queen of Dragons had prohibited dragons from intervening in the conflict, but with the entire Xadia on the brink of revolt Zubeia no longer had the power to stop Sol Regem, unless she started a civil war between dragons. Given the power of the Archdragons, however, such a war would have caused immense devastation, and Zubeia was unwilling to allow it.

The blind dragon's mad charge inspired the rioters: across Xadia, thousands of elves armed themselves to attack the dark magicians. Not only soldiers, but farmers, shepherds, merchants, scholars, people of all classes gathered in Lux Aurea, from where Hikma Ulug announced in front of a festive crowd, in a speech as passionate as delirious, the beginning of the Holy War.

There is still discussion about the number of elves who participated in this impromptu expedition: some sources speak of one hundred thousand people, others say even half a million. In reality, they were probably only sixty thousand: still an impressive number, even considering the vastness of Xadia.

They were mostly Sunfire elves, who had a reverence for Sol Regem going back to the founding of Lux Aurea, but Earthblood, Tidebound, and Skywing were also many. At first, Ethari, who because of his ties with Rayla and thus with Katolis had become influential among the Moonshadow elves, tried to prevent the rebellion from spreading to Silvergrove but was soon outvoted by Hikma Ulug's supporters and forced to flee to the Storm Spire, where the Dragon Queen offered him asylum.

Only the Startouch Elves did not join the rebellion, probably because of the influence of Aaravos. He was an ancient Startouch Archmage who had been magically exiled by the previous Dragon King because of his involvement in the assassination of the Sunfire Queen Aditi: after Avizandum's death, he had somehow managed to regain a physical body and had persuaded (or forced) the Council of Six, the supreme Startouch authority, to obey him.

For decades, Aaravos would continue to rule the Startouch elves and accumulate allies and power while remaining in the shadows, to the point of threatening the Dragon King himself. But the Aaravosian Wars would not have happened until centuries later. Instead, for the time being, the presence of Aaravos prevented the skilled Startouch wizards from joining Hikma Ulug's army: which would prove to be an important factor (according to Magister Devotolius even decisive) in the war that followed.

Sol Regem did not immediately fly to Neolandia: he stopped at the Wizard's Pass, where he waited for the arrival of Hikma Ulug's army.

On November 16, the army of the "pure brothers", as the followers of Sol Regem called themselves, crossed the Wizard's Pass and entered Katolis, intending to cross the imperial territory to reach Neolandia.

The rulers of Katolis observed the evolution of the situation in Xadia with increasing anxiety."No matter how hard we try to reach it: peace continues to escape us." writes a disconsolate Callum. "I have lost all hope both in men and in elves: all I see around me is blood and devastation."

The Imperial Council was in chaos: some (Lord Vrigel in the lead) thought it was appropriate to let Sol Regem pass, and thus prevent the wrath of the archdragon from falling on Katolis.

Lady Rayla, surprising everyone, proposed instead to go to the aid of the dark magicians:

"If Sol Regem reaches Neolandia, he will kill more people in a week than have died in six years of war: we cannot allow it!"

In previous years, Ezran and Aanya had often been at odds, sometimes blocking the empire's policy for weeks. This time, however, they immediately agreed: neither was willing to let a nation, even an enemy one, be exterminated before their eyes when they could prevent it.

The same evening of November 18th, the Emperors of Katolis moved at the head of their army, to block the way to the pure brothers. They had not had time to gather all their soldiers: the imperial army could therefore count only on twelve thousand soldiers, summoned in a hurry from the garrisons around the capital.

Meanwhile, Callum wasted no time and flew to Shafiz, to warn Neolandia of the imminent danger and prepare for countermeasures. He was aware, in fact, that only with dark magic would it have been possible to overthrow the powerful Sol Regem, and as much as the idea disgusted him, the dark magicians were the most suitable people for such a task: only once in history had an archdragon been killed by human hands, and Callum well remembered how.

Luckily, Hikma Ulug was moving slowly. A trained army was able to cut through the entire Katolis in just seven days, but that of the pure brothers was not an army: it was a disorganized rabble, barely held together by the charisma of their leader.

They moved slowly, plundering and burning the villages they encountered, whose inhabitants, according to Hikma Ulug, had to "atone for the sins of their rulers by financing the Holy War".

The most terrible episode of this insane invasion occurred on December 1: the pure brothers had arrived in front of the town of Voches and had asked the governor to join them with his men. The governor obviously refused: mad with anger, the elves attacked the city and managed despite the value of the defenders to overcome the walls. It was a massacre: the city was set on fire, and all the inhabitants (at least three thousand) were put to the sword.

Sol Regem merely observed. He had officially given orders not to touch the Katoleans since the target of the expedition was Neolandia: but when his followers began the assault on the town, he did nothing to stop them.

By doing so, Hikma Ulug had put an end to all hope of agreement with Katolis.

Empress Aanya wanted to march immediately against the pure brothers, but Ezran convinced her to wait: faced with the power of an Archdragon, their army was powerless. It was necessary to wait for Callum. Meanwhile, the imperial army moved north, so as to approach the Neolandian border. At Griburg they were joined by a contingent of Delbarite soldiers, sent by King Vigimer: together with reinforcements from Duren, this led the imperial army to count sixteen thousand men.

Eventually, Ezran and Aanya camped near the village of Akragas in southern Duren. The pure brothers would have to pass through there if they wanted to attack Neolandia, and there Ezran was joined by his brother. Callum was not alone: forty dark magicians, including High Director Taleq himself, had come to the aid of Ezran's forces.

The threat was such that even the elven magicians who accompanied the imperial army agreed to work with the Neolandians, to find a way to stop Sol Regem.

Finally, the morning of December 16th, Hikma Ulug's army appeared on the horizon. Over the poor brothers, the dragons flew menacingly, and the immense and solemn figure of Sol Regem stood out over all.

The Battle of the Black Sun had begun.