I thought I would never see this village again

"Where is Gilbert?" One of the guards in the trees asked as she entered the village. Elves preferred to build up in the trees where they would not be easily spotted or attacked.

"He was captured by an undead" hanging her head Lea remembered how he father gave himself up to that undead for her. She kept walking towards her house while the guards were trying to make sense of what she had just told them.

She was too exhausted from everything that had happened and the long trip back home and so she went straight to her bed and slept as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Later that evening the guards reported the event to the village elders who were troubled by the news of an undead kidnapping their villagers.

"Has there been any other reports of undead in the area?"

"No, There has been an increase in monster activity recently but no undead were reported"

"We should summon the girl in the morning and question her. We can't have undead attacking our villagers" Gronde said dismissing the other village elders and guards.

The next morning Lea woke up thinking it was all a dream only to feel pit in her stomach realizing her father was gone and she was alone now. Her mother had died when she was little and her father had been taking care of her alone since then. She would do anything to save him but after seeing the power that undead commanded she knew it was an impossible task.

I should go see Zaria and tell her about what happened

After a short walk through the market Lea stopped to knock on the door of Zaria Greenwood, an old family friend that had a close relationship with her father.

"It's been a while, How are you guys doing? Too busy to come see little old me?" Zaria teased as she dished out some food for herself and her guest.

"well... not good actually" Lea didn't know how to say it.

"Oh?" She wore a worried expression as she pressed for more info.

"A few nights ago when me and dad went exploring in the forest we were attacked"

"What?! Is everyone alright? Were you injured" Zaria inspected her for any injuries.

"No, but... we were attacked by this huge wolf that..."

A loud knock came from the door interrupting the story.

"Zaria, is Lea in there with you? The elders have sent me to summon her" A loud gruff shout came from outside the door.

"Brock is that you?" Zaria asked back while going to open the door.

"What do the elders want with Lea is it about the attack?"

"They want more information, it shouldn't take long"

*rumble* "I hope so" Lea held her tummy as she looked at the food one last time before getting up.

"Wait, I'll come too. I want to hear the rest of this story."

Passing by the market again they headed to the largest tree in the village. The elders hollowed out the tree and built a "house" where official village meetings and similar events would take place.

"FIRE BEETLE SHELLS! 2 FOR 10 SILVER" "WOLF PELTS! 8 SILVER EACH" A familiar voice was shouting nonsense prices from a stall at the market.

"Esther? What are you doing?"

"We really shouldn't keep the elders waiting we can come back and ask her later"

Esther? Where did I hear that name before?

At the entrance of the tree there were two guard that recognized Brock and let them pass without issue.

"And then this huge wolf showed up out of nowhere"

"A shadow wolf? How did you escape?" A village elder questioned.

"I didn't, my dad told me to run while he distracted the wolf. But before that..."

"The undead showed up?" The village elder Piel questioned again.

"Yes. I don't remember everything that happened after that" Lea took on a sad expression and looked down at the ground. It was still traumatizing to think about the events that led to her losing her father. "After the undead killed the wolf my father volunteered to become a servant of the undead in exchange for it letting me go"

"So that's what happened..." Zaria and Brock were also sad since they were all good friends with Gilbert. They all trained to become soldiers together but when Gilbert's wife died he left to raise Lea.

"Where about did this happen? We need to rid ourself of this undead before it becomes a bigger problem." Gronde inquired.

"Near the human village but you shouldn't go near that undead. He is a monster that killed that wolf in a single attack without even touching it!"

"I see, but rest assured we will send our best warrior to deal with it and hopefully we can even get your father back."

This made Lea hesitate. She knew they were being sent to their deaths but having a chance of saving her father made her stop protesting. "I will lead you there then"

"No way, it's too dangerous for you. I know where that village is so I will lead" Zaria volunteered.

"I'll come too. Let's go get our "best warrior" from the market before she scams any more people"

So that's where I know the name from!

"I win again!" Gilbert declared as he won the the third game of "chess" in a row. It was a new game created by his master.

"Yes sir, congratulations" Lendark Congratulated the one his master had given charge of him to. This is the third time he was made to play this game. He noticed that his master had created this game to teach battle tactics to people.

He must be planning to use this to teach his soldiers in the future