hey, I am uploading this a bit early because I am not sure whether I will have access to internet for the duration of next week, so if no new chapter arrives this Thursday, then despair not, because I should at the very least be ready to catch up next Sunday.

Until then, enjoy!

The birth of…something

Loivissa POV(eight weeks after the battle)
"I will do anything to bring down Mercury the Traitorous", Loivissa boldly declared before the entire assembly.

Silence, complete and utter silence was what her declaration was met with. It was not the condescending type of silence that was often used against fools that spoke out of turn, but rather a more surprised and astonished silence that seemed to have frozen time itself.

The playful lighting of the torches that decorated the walls of the dungeon underneath Stronghammer Keep, provided the only source of movement from the other seven people that were still seated around the round wooden table.

To Loivissa's immediate right, her brother sat, still gaping at her standing form unintelligently, and to her immediate left sat Aaron, with his father, Earl Karl, next to him, and with his younger brother Garth sitting on the other side of their father.

Next to Loivissa's brother sat the only known dragon rider that had escaped capture when Estildirin had been taken, though others might have also escaped, but they had instead chosen to remain in hiding. She was a dwarven dragon rider named Dweyrn, whom had been returning from the wilds after the attack had begun and had therefore had the opportunity to turn back from what she had perceived as an already lost battle, though she had not been overly courteous with the exact details up until now.

Dweyrn's dragon was named Augms, which was supposed to mean something in the dwarven language, but Loivissa knew not what it was. Augms was a pretty ordinary, if somewhat small, brown dragon, albeit he was a bit twitchy and uncannily nervous around any flying animals larger than an owl.

Loivissa guessed that it had something to do with the battle that had taken place in the air above Estildirin, but she could not be sure, as both dragon and rider were fiercely protective of each other and the exact details of what had happened in Estildirin, along with how they had found Loivissa and Evandar here.

Next to Dweyrn sat Nari, whom had previously been a guardsman stationed in Ceris, before the Alliance forces had all but rolled over the city, that is. Nari had been directed to Carvahall by a mixture of elven and Ceunon collaborators, and was supposed to act as their voice in this meeting.

And finally, between Nari and Garth, and almost directly opposite of Loivissa's seat, sat the both most welcome and most puzzling addition to their little conclave; Vanir, the former elven ambassador that was supposed to still be in jail in Ilirea.

Vanir had been the last to find them, arriving in Carvahall only yesterday. He had supposedly found them by guessing that they went north and then listening to the whispers of nature that signalled the presence of any dragon rider. It was a skill that Loivissa was most glad that Mercury did not know of, or else he would have probably already broken down the doors.

"Sister…", Evandar said, though it sounded neither like a reprimand nor a praise. It was more like a statement to emphasize his astonishment at her declaration.

It was not an astonishment that was hard to understand by anyone that knew her, as her earlier declaration had been the first time that she had uttered Mercury's name in over four centuries, though she had begun tentatively using it in her thoughts in the past few weeks in order to break any hold that he might still have had over her.

Most of the occupants of the room did not actually know her well enough to know of this fact, but the general vibe of those that did was pretty contagious, so they just acted along like they all knew exactly why what she had said was so surprising.

Loivissa's reason for using this specific time and place to utter the name for the first time in centuries was to both make sure that everyone knew exactly what her stance in this was, as well as giving a shock effect that would hopefully direct the group to agree with her stance.

In truth, this ragtag bunch of various people from various nations and groups' sole reasoning for meeting was pure chance and the faith that people had to the Shadeslayer name. No meeting had been called and no messages had been sent out, but somehow, through the workings of fate, this group of diverse people had gathered in Carvahall and were now about to discuss what they should actually DO about the current state of the continent of Alagaësia and its people.

The holdings of the Empire, along with the urgal lands and the entirety of the Spine, but with the exception of the lands surrounding Ceunon, had all been renamed as the Silver Wave Alliance province of Albion. Du Weldenvarden had been joined with the lands of Ceunon and the scarcely explored and even more scarcely settled lands northeast of the North Sea to form the province of Bedegraine, while the Beor Mountains had been joined with the Hadarac Desert and the stretch of land between the eastern tips of Du Weldenvarden and the Beor Mountains to form the province of Lav Fjäll.

The lands further to the east had probably been given the same treatment, but no one had heard much about what was happening there, so the specific details were rather hard to come by.

It was just like the Mercury that Loivissa had known all those years ago to do something like this. In fact, what he was doing now and what he did to the old Ra'zac Empire was so similar that Loivissa had spent more than a few nights wondering whether she should have seen the truth about his nature back then and stopped him before he ever even got started.

She considered the fact that she had been too blind to see it back then to be her second-greatest failure ever, second only her blindness to his charades during their time in Teirm. It was a large part of why she had to make sure that he died for his crimes, so that she could be absolved of hers.

"My lady, we have not yet agreed upon such a course of action", Nari hesitantly commented from his seat, "if we antagonize them further, then the Alliance forces might start cracking down on the populace".

"We stand by Lady Shadeslayer in this matter", Earl Karl backed her up, though that was to be expected, as his eldest son, Evan, had not been among the survivors of the battle, "is your new 'archduke' really going to let the bastard get away with taking so many of our brothers and sisters' lives? Need I remind you that it was Mercury's actions that cost your nation the life of its queen?"

"No one needs to be reminded of anything", Nari grumbled, now showing the first sign of contempt since he had arrived in Carvahall, "but I will not stand for your blatant slandering of Lord Däthedr. It was only thanks to his successful negotiations that Du Weldenvarden was given a ruler from its own population, or need I mention how the new ruler of the dwarven kingdom has yet to even set step on Alagaësian soil? Or how Mercury himself seems to have taken up direct governance of both the human and urgal lands? Losing Queen Islanzadi has been a mighty blow to our nation and its people, and I assure you that it is something that will not be forgotten quickly, but we have to consider the wellbeing of the rest of the population as well".

"Wait! If the queen is dead, then what happened to Blödhgarm?", Vanir suddenly exclaimed.

"His corpse was shipped back alongside the queen's and buried with full honours next to hers. Why?", Nari answered confused at the sudden burst of emotion from Vanir, who had otherwise been relatively quiet until now.

"I wish that he had let me go in his stead instead", Vanir mused sadly, as he buried his head in his hands, "why, oh why did I not refuse to do as he asked?"

"What are you talking about? Speak plainly, for I believe that this might be of interest to our discussion here as well", Evandar said calmingly but still with a tone that demanded answers.

"I suppose that it is time that I told everyone of how I escaped my captivity then", Vanir said, only now removing his hands from his face, before he started his explanation of the events that had transpired in the dungeons of Ilirea Castle.

It was a new tale to Loivissa, and one that reinforced her belief that Mercury had to be put down for the good of everyone, but throughout it all, she also received the distinct impression that Vanir was desperately wishing that Blödhgarm, and not he, had been the one to live, and that he somehow had to atone for Blödhgarm's sacrifice.

It was a dangerous mixture of emotions to have in someone, as they could compel him to do entirely irrational things, but if she could make Vanir realize that atonement could come from joining her cause in helping all of Alagaësia be rid of the tyrant, then she would have a warrior whose resolution would never falter.

She would not be using Vanir's sorrow to her advantage, not really, just directing him to do some good in the name of it. Everyone would be better off for it in the end.

"That sheds light on how one of you escaped imprisonment", Nari commented, before he directed his gaze towards Loivissa, "now, I believe that it is time that you told us your story".

Everyone's eyes turned towards her as they sat there and waited in anticipation. It was highly uncomfortable for Loivissa, but she did not let it show as she steeled herself for the inevitable plethora of questions that came with her story every time that she told it.

Sure enough, the first question that came, as always, was, "are you sure that you were not let go under the orders of Mercury himself?", and as always, her answer remained that Ilumëo had vowed in the Ancient language that she had received no orders from Mercury to set her free.

"Do you think her sympathetic to our cause?", Evandar prodded from beside Loivissa.

"No, I do not even think that she liked the idea of setting me free", Loivissa replied a little surprised, as this was the first time that that particular question was asked, "she gave me the impression that she was doing it out of a twisted sense of loyalty to her master, but after meeting with him, I highly doubt that he would be too pleased with her if he ever found out what she did".

"Interesting, though we are still skirting the issue of what we should do about the current situation", Evandar obviously tried to get them back on track from the many detours that their conversation had taken, "does everyone agree that we cannot allow our homes to be taken from us and the lives of our brethren to be extinguished by some power-hungry lunatic without doing anything to stop him?"

A general chorus of acknowledgement went around the table, though some were far less enthusiastic than others.

"Good, then now that we have established that we all wish to see an end to Mercury's tyranny, how do we go about actually accomplishing it?", Evandar continued.

"We could organize a revolt? Show the people of Alagaësia that there are still people fighting for their freedom?", Garth suggested eagerly, "we could become the new Varden that tear down the rule of the tyrannical oppressor".

"Openly revolting would only result in the death of everyone at this table and anyone that would be foolish enough to join in it", Nari scoffed at the idea, "you speak just as a child would, a child that has never felt the fear of death creep into him as he witnesses the true horrors of war. No, if that is to be our cause of action, then the elves will not join you. Our numbers have been limited enough as it is, and unlike the mortal races, our race does not recover from such a decrease in numbers for many centuries, millennia even".

"What ARE you willing to do exactly, because it seems to me that all you do is complain?", Garth demanded angrily.

If Nari had been offended by the tone, he did not show it, as he merely folded his hands atop the table and calmly clarified, "the group that I represent have discussed this matter with Lord Däthedr before my arrival here, and he told us that though he is sympathetic to our cause, his first obligation would have to be the continuation of the elven race as a whole. To that effect, he will be willing to unofficially see through fingers with minor occurrences within his domain, but if he feels that our actions might draw unwanted attention from the Alliance, then he would have to put a stop to our actions in such a way that his domain would not be punished on our behalf".

"So essentially, he will tolerate our presence as long as we behave like good little dogs to our Alliance masters?", Garth scoffed, "might as well be slaves then".

"That was not what he said", Evandar interjected before the argument would spiral out of control, "as a ruler yourself, Earl Karl, you have to understand the sense of responsibility that Lord Däthedr feels towards his subjects, and the fact that he is still willing to see through fingers with anything that will not draw too much attention is a testament that he really is willing to help in any way that he can".

"Yeah right he is, as long as he-"

"Enough son! Do not object to matters that you do not understand!", Earl Karl cut off his youngest son, "I too have to consider the actions that I take in regards to the consequences of my subjects, and let me tell you that the thought of openly revolting fills me with dread when I think about all the lives in my earldom that would be lost. I can only begin to imagine the worries that someone responsible for the lives of so many must feel".

"But father, he killed brother", Garth continued to object as he turned to stare at his father in surprise, "surely, we are not going to let him get away with that?"

"We are not!", Loivissa said firmly, "but your father and Nari are correct in that open war would be akin to suicide for us, as well as many of our people. Even if we decided to go through with such a course of action, I highly doubt that many would be willing to join us. Not after what happened to the grand army. This is why my brother and Dweyrn had to send their dragons to Vroengard to act as a distraction to Mercury's troops to hide our true location".

"I assume that you have a different plan in mind then?", Nari questioned.

"If we kill the head of the snake, the body withers", Loivissa said, "let us bide our time and prepare until the snake is asleep, and when we are ready and it is happily relaxing in its victory, we strike! One swift blow with the sole purpose of eradicating the cause of the evil that has hit this land!"

"You suggest that we do nothing until our enemy turns his back to us?", Vanir asked confused, "how do we know that he will ever do such a thing?"

"We do not, and I am not", Loivissa corrected him, before she turned to her brother and asked, "what was the primary reason that the Black Hand was such a threat during the Shadow War, despite not even counting half as many men as a single city guard at the time?"

"Because no one knew who was a member, so they had freedom to act indiscriminately and infiltrate even the higher echelons of power…", Evandar answered before you could literally see the wheels turning inside his head as he understood what she was trying to say, "so if we take a page out of their book, stick close to the ground and do not cause too much trouble, we will be able to gather resources and information enough to find a way to kill Mercury!"

"Exactly!", Loivissa confirmed, "Mercury is not like Galbatorix was. Unlike the mad king, this tyrant is not content to stay in his castle and reign from there. Already, he has made a trip to both Teirm and Dras Leona within the last seven weeks, so if we can catch him unaware on the road, then we will have our chance to ambush and kill him".

"I suppose this means that I shall have to take up office in Ilirea then", Earl Karl sighed, "I mean, if we want inside information, then what better way to get it than directly from the source, aye?"

"Would Mercury not be suspicious if you suddenly declared that you wished to move to the Ilirean court, father?", Aaron spoke up for the first time since the meeting had started, "not to mention that he might know of our relations with the dragon rider order in the past".

"I do not think that we have to be afraid that Mercury follows the movements of every lord in his realm", Loivissa assured Aaron with a comforting hand on his shoulder, "besides, if he already knew of your family's affiliation with the riders, then he would have already sent soldiers to bust open the doors to check whether I was hiding here".

"See son, there is little for you to worry about", the earl agreed, "besides, your uncle, Lord Telvin, owes me a favour, so I do not even think that I would have to officially request a position in the court, as I could likely get him to request my presence there instead, but I want you and your brother to remain in Carvahall and learn everything that I taught your elder brother in his stead".

"Then it is decided then", Nari commented, "I will talk to the rest of my group upon my return to Du Weldenvarden, but I feel confident that they will agree with me that this is the best course of action. We elves will begin infiltrating the lands in the form of traders and begin recruiting villagers to our side. I am sure that a wide network of informers and possible reinforcements would come in handy".

"I feel that we should choose an official leader to better organize our efforts", Vanir interjected, "I propose the Lady Loivissa. Blödhgarm's last order to me was to find the Shadeslayers, because only a Shadeslayer can turn the darkest of situations around".

"I would like to recommend Lord Evandar instead", Dweyrn said nervously from her seat, and when everyone's gazes turned to her, she squirmed and continued, "I mean, he is the senior-most dragon rider left, and therefore, technically the lead dragon rider. Not to mention that he has experience doing this sort of work from when he was the leader of the dragon riders in Alagaësia".

Loivissa had mostly forgotten about the rider's very existence because she had done such a good job of remaining inconspicuous during the meeting, obviously a lasting effect from whatever had happened in Estildirin, so hearing her openly object to anything came as somewhat of a surprise to Loivissa.

"I suppose that we shall have to have a vote then", Nari said, "unless anyone else wants to contribute another candidacy? No, then I would like for the two candidates to temporarily leave the room to give us privacy to openly discuss this".

Loivissa nodded and left with her brother quickly coming behind her, but the moment that the heavy steel door leading into the room had closed, she turned to her brother and said, "they will choose you".

There was no accusation in her voice, nor any regret. It was clear as day to her that if the timid Dweyrn was willing to stand up and propose another candidate, then her chances were not very high.

"I am afraid that I must agree with you", Evandar nodded, "they likely feel that you have too much of an emotional investment in this matter to see things as clearly as a leader must".

"I suppose…", Loivissa breathed as she leaned against the wall, "but then again, if I am to be honest, I still think that I would go after Mercury even if he turned all of our lands back to us, so I guess that that means that they would be right, would it not?"

"This is something that I will never forgive him for", Evandar said angrily as he leaned against the wall beside her, and upon her questioning look, he clarified, "you were once so full of life and joy, but when you returned from the war, it felt as if it was not really you that returned, not really anyway".

"I know", Loivissa sighed, "hopefully, that will end when Mercury's life does".

The door opened and Aaron's head came through the crack, "we have made the decision", before it disappeared again.

Evandar looked at where Aaron's head had been, before he looked sadly back at Loivissa and softly asked, "and if it does not?"

"Then the sister that you knew has truly been lost forever", Loivissa replied with a wry smile as she pushed from the wall and headed inside again.

Once both were inside and stood at attention, Nari took the word, "we have come to a decision, and despite some very vocal protests on the matter", at this, he sent a dirty look in Aaron's direction, whom Loivissa noticed blushed at the accusation, "most of us have agreed that it should be Evandar that leads us".

"I suspected as much", Loivissa nodded her head at Nari to show that there was no hard feelings between them.

Afterwards, everyone sat down again, but before anyone could start on another subject, Evandar took the word, "so, now we have a group, we know its aim and the way we wish to achieve it in, and we have selected a leader for it, but there is one thing that I feel that it is still missing; a name".

"Yes, a name would solidify our unity and help our collaborators better know that they are dealing with more than a few people", Nari agreed.

"Then I would like to suggest Aiedail as the name of the group", Loivissa commented.

"The name of your lost sword?", Vanir asked confused.

"No, the name of the morning star that my old sword was named after", Loivissa corrected him, "it may be selfish of me to wish this, but the last message that I ever received from Adûn was that the morning star shines the brightest in the darkest of night, so let us be the light that signals the end of this night that has befallen the land".

"The light that shines through the night…I like it", Nari said with a smile tugging at his lips, "all in favour of Aiedail, please raise your hand".

Hands went up all around the table and the name was unanimously accepted. After that, they continued discussing the finer details of what they were to do for many hours more, before they eventually called it a night, which was well and good, as it had apparently already been night for a long time by then.

As Loivissa returned to her room, she could not help but feel that this was the birth of something that was so daring that it would either go down in the annals of history as the single greatest achievement ever…or the worst. No matter which, she would see it through to the very end.

And so, Aiedail has been formed to oppose Mercury, and we also got to see some more of the more personal consequences that resulted from Mercury's wipeout of the Grand Army. Do not despair though, because in regards to the number of deaths, the worst is over.