The meeting was scheduled for the moment the first rays of sunrise reached the grasslands.
When the Elven commander arrived on the gentle slope half a mile north of the rainforest’s edge with her royal guard, the sun had only just begun to rise above the snow-capped peaks of the Greyspine Mountains.
Morning light flowed across the sea of golden and emerald grass.
Dewdrops glittered like countless shards of crystal.
Commander Elyndra, Supreme Commander of the Southern Front appointed by the Elven Council, wore her silver hair in a low ponytail bound with a narrow leather strap.
Her pale blue eyes looked almost transparent beneath the dawn.
She rode a white Elven warhorse.
Its mane had been braided into dozens of fine plaits that rested elegantly along its neck.
Its hooves left only shallow impressions in the damp earth.
Behind her stood two hundred Royal Guards.
Every one of them carried a long spear.
Silver armour reflected the pale morning light.
Rows of upright spears resembled a moving forest, while blue pennants fluttered gently in the cool breeze.
Farther behind them, hidden beyond the reverse slope, waited the Elven main force.
Five thousand infantry.
Two thousand archers.
One thousand cavalry.
Seven battle mages already stood in position, the crystals atop their staffs shimmering faintly through the morning mist.
“Are you certain he will come?” Elyndra asked.
“He said he would.”
Lysandor stood beside her.
“Based on the precision of their messengers and the discipline of their Cold One riders, they keep time according to fixed intervals after sunrise.”
“The error shouldn’t exceed a few minutes.”
Elyndra gave no further reply.
She had served in the Elven military for nearly two centuries.
She had witnessed Human heavy cavalry charges.
Dwarven shield walls.
Foreign mercenary companies from lands beyond the sea.
Never once had she imagined that a creature from the rainforest would invite the Supreme Commander of the Elves to a diplomatic meeting.
She dismounted gracefully and handed her reins to the captain of her guard.
“Form ranks.”
The captain raised his hand.
Two hundred Royal Guards struck their spear shafts against the ground in perfect unison.
The impact echoed across the hillside.
Even Elyndra glanced sideways.
Their formation was noticeably tighter than during ordinary drills.
They were nervous.
They had all heard Lysandor’s report.
They knew they were about to meet a gigantic Lizardman.
One with a city.
An army.
And a voice.
But hearing about such a being…
And seeing one…
Were completely different experiences.
The earth began to tremble.
Then shapes emerged from the shadows beneath the trees.
The first were two formations of Cold One Riders.
One appeared on the left.
The other on the right.
Their mounts’ dark green scales gleamed with a metallic sheen beneath the rising sun.
Each breath produced an even stream of white mist in the cool morning air.
The riders leaned low over their saddles.
Their spears angled downward at precisely forty-five degrees.
Golden slit pupils glowed through the drifting fog.
Then came the infantry.
Five companies of Saurus Spearmen stepped from the forest together.
Ranks perfectly aligned.
Spears standing like a forest.
Bronze shields catching the dawn.
Elyndra’s gaze swept across the formation.
Her thumb rested lightly upon the pommel of her sword.
Not because she intended to draw it.
She was forcing herself to suppress every outdated patrol report she had ever read.
“Primitive pack behaviour.”
“No organized formations.”
The reports had all been wrong.
The spacing between these shield walls was so exact that even the finest Elven drill instructor would have struggled to improve upon it.
Two companies of Blessed Saurus Warriors emerged along the flanks.
The faint golden sheen upon their scales shimmered beneath the sunrise, sharply contrasting with the darker warriors surrounding them.
The Royal Guards quickly noticed another detail.
These warriors did not carry ordinary spears.
Their shafts were thicker.
Their blades significantly longer.
Then came the Skinks.
They did not march from the ground.
They descended from the trees.
One Elven archer suddenly spotted several Skinks crouched high among the branches.
Each held a javelin across its knees while quietly observing the field below.
He quickly elbowed the soldier beside him.
His companion looked upward.
Then swallowed hard.
Finally…
Crusher appeared.
When the massive Triceratops emerged from the rainforest, absolute silence swept through the Royal Guard.
Not because they lacked courage.
But because the creature’s sheer size exceeded everything within their experience.
The Elves had seen mammoths.
Armoured war elephants.
Even Dwarven siege engines.
Yet none compared to a reptilian titan standing well over four metres at the shoulder, crowned with three enormous horns, each step shaking the earth beneath it.
Elyndra watched the army assemble along the rainforest’s edge.
Several details immediately caught her attention.
From the moment the force emerged until every formation had reached its designated position…
Not a single roar.
Skinks tapped coded rhythms against tree trunks with their tails.
Cold One Riders adjusted spacing using silent gestures and reins.
Infantry synchronized their pace through scent and breathing patterns.
It was an entirely silent command system.
Perfect for warfare within dense forests.
Any enemy would likely discover them only moments before contact.
Then…
Every Cold One Rider dismounted simultaneously.
Every Saurus warrior grounded their spear.
Every Skink raised a javelin upright.
A massive blue figure stepped from the forest.
Three and a half metres tall.
Blue scales reflecting the pale morning sun.
Unlike his soldiers…
He adopted no military posture.
He simply walked.
Across the open space separating the skirmishers from the battle line.
Each footstep sent a deep vibration through the earth.
His tail swayed slowly behind him.
Massive claws opened and closed almost absentmindedly.
He stopped precisely where the final shadow of the rainforest met the open grassland.
Close enough that every Elf could clearly see the vertical pupils in his eyes.
Elyndra looked up at him.
Mounted upon horseback, her eyes had roughly aligned with the foreheads of ordinary Saurus warriors.
Standing before this immense blue Lizardman…
She had to tilt her head completely back.
She had lived nearly five centuries.
Many Human generals she had encountered were older than this Lizardman likely was.
Yet never had she felt such overwhelming pressure from an entirely unknown being.
Beside her, the captain of the Royal Guard’s hands trembled.
His spear remained perfectly steady.
But they trembled nonetheless.
Lysandor noticed that even the veteran soldiers offered no reassurance.
Their own breathing had become slower.
Heavier.
Only Elyndra remained composed.
She released the sword hilt.
Handed her reins to the captain.
Then stepped forward alone.
“I am Elyndra.”
“Supreme Commander of the Southern Front under the Elven Council.”
“I have come in accordance with our agreement.”
Kroq-Gar looked down at her.
His slit pupils narrowed briefly in the morning light before widening once more.
He gave a single nod.
His tail lightly tapped the grass.
“Kroq-Gar.”
“Lizardman Lord.”
Elyndra studied his eyes.
She found neither the hostility she had expected…
Nor curiosity.
Instead, she saw the same detached scrutiny she had witnessed countless times among the Elders reviewing diplomatic treaties.
Cold.
Rational.
Completely devoid of emotion.
“Our scouts report that your people are not the beasts we believed them to be,” Elyndra said.
“They claim your cities possess a complete civilization.”
“I have three cities,” Kroq-Gar answered evenly.
“Each one was built upon the ruins of Chaos.”
“Your scout captain did not lie.”
His tail swept toward the assembled army behind him.
“This is my army.”
“Only part of my field force.”
Elyndra glanced across the Cold One Riders and Saurus warriors.
An army capable of assembling silently inside dense jungle.
And this represented only its mobile force, separate from permanent garrisons.
She remembered asking one of her advisers before departing.
“If an advanced civilization truly exists within the rainforest…”
“What do we do?”
At the time…
It had been a hypothetical question.
Now that hypothesis stood directly before her.
“What do you wish to discuss?”
“Our common enemy.”
Kroq-Gar’s pupils opened fully, becoming deep black fissures.
“You call them the Dark Enemy.”
“I call them Chaos.”
“I have already crushed three of their camps and destroyed one fortress within my territory.”
“Your scout captain told me your people understand very little about them.”
“You have never encountered Chaos at its strongest.”
“You do not yet understand how deeply it is corrupting this world.”
Elyndra remained silent.
Behind her back, she made a subtle hand signal visible only to her Royal Guards.
Do not move.
No sudden actions.
Her two hundred guards stood ready.
The main army waited beyond the hill.
Yet this ancient creature calmly informed her…
You still don’t understand what your true enemy even looks like.
“You know them well,” she finally said.
“I do.”
Kroq-Gar’s answer came without hesitation.
“I have been killing them for thousands of years.”
The light faded slightly within his eyes.
“Now tell me.”
“Why do you besiege Clermont?”
“Border disputes?”
“Resources?”
“Territory?”
“Or simply to drive Humanity back beyond the mountains?”
Elyndra remained silent for several moments.
A breeze swept across the grasslands.
Blue banners snapped in the wind.
Then she lifted her head and met his gaze directly.
“All of those reasons.”
“And security.”
“Humans crossed the border first.”
“But the Elves could have chosen negotiation.”
“If Humanity were our only threat…”
“Perhaps we would have.”
“But now we face two fronts.”
“Humans in the south.”
“The Dark Enemy in the north.”
“The Elven Kingdom cannot fight both forever.”
“Now you have a third option.”
Kroq-Gar lightly struck the ground with his tail, carving a shallow groove into the soil.
“Neither Humans.”
“Nor Elves.”
“Nor Dwarfs.”
“Order.”
“Chaos does not distinguish between races.”
“It corrupts everything.”
“Your records speak of the Dark Enemy for centuries.”
“But you have never faced their true armies.”
“If the northern front collapses…”
“It already has.”
Elyndra interrupted quietly.
“Last month we received reports from the northern frontier.”
“The armies of the Dark Enemy are gathering beneath the northern slopes of the Greyspine Mountains.”
“Their numbers remain unknown.”
“Our mages have detected unprecedented magical disturbances.”
“If the northern front falls…”
“They will strike the Elven Forest from behind.”
“And we are still besieging Clermont.”
Though her voice remained calm, her grip tightened around the reins.
“What do you want?”
“For now…”
“Allow Human civilians to withdraw south into the rainforest.”
“They will remain within my territory.”
“During that evacuation…”
“The Elves and Humans will observe a ceasefire inside my domain.”
His tail brushed the grass once more.
“In return…”
“I will teach you about Chaos.”
“The kinds you have never encountered.”
“Even those your scout captain admitted he knew nothing about.”
He straightened to his full height.
Three and a half metres of ancient power cast a long shadow across Elyndra and the front ranks of her Royal Guard.
“I am not asking you to abandon the siege of Clermont.”
“I ask only one thing.”
“Permit the refugees to pass safely south.”
Elyndra searched his eyes.
She looked for ambition.
Territorial expansion.
Political manipulation.
Hidden motives.
She found none.
Only an ancient being calmly stating facts.
I possess knowledge you do not.
I require one concession.
I will repay it with information.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
The simplicity unsettled her.
She had spent centuries negotiating with Humans.
Every sentence concealed another meaning.
Every agreement carried hidden traps.
Kroq-Gar spoke in none of those ways.
After a long silence, she finally released the reins.
“I must consult the Council.”
“Until I return with an answer…”
“Your armies will remain inside the rainforest.”
“They will.”
Kroq-Gar gave a single nod.
He turned and walked back toward the forest.
The Cold One Riders mounted as one.
The Saurus formations pivoted in perfect unison.
Crusher swung his enormous tail, gouging a deep trench across the grassland before disappearing into the shadows beneath the trees.
Elyndra stood motionless, watching the immense blue figure vanish into the darkness of the rainforest.
Only then did she turn to her captain.
“Break formation.”
“We’re returning to camp.”
Her voice remained perfectly steady.
Yet when she mounted her horse…
She missed the stirrup the first time.