The one who had tasked the elf with capturing Sakna was Saitron Voris. A nobleman belonging to one of the oldest houses in Norbeg. Fifty years old, good-looking, widowed but without descendants, his pupil was his nephew he had two older brothers.
His nephew willingly helped him in his undertaking, even if he hadn't gone into too much detail with him, but the young man, and he was more than sure of this, would have done anything for him, even killing his own mother. It almost didn't seem like Saitron had taken it into his head to awaken the ghost of the old king Ekaraoni to carry out his plan to conquer Norbeg. The two dined quietly at the table that was far too well set for just two people, chatting about the administration of the lands, how the various harvests were going and the news that came from Eronos. It was the largest city in the entire kingdom after Souldor, some of the most influential nobles, including his brother, had gathered there for weeks to discuss the fate of the continent. Souldor had no longer been the capital for decades now and the confusion and continuous wars that had arisen, due to the lack of a king who ruled over everyone, put the stability of the entire Norbeg at risk. Thus supported by the gods who still dealt with the affairs of human beings, they were reforming the entire constitution, establishing new powers, laws and borders."I don't like that woman, uncle, she looks like a demon," Xander said quickly. Saitron was counting on Edda's help, she seemed to know every type of magic, from the simple elixir, to the use of elementary entities, he had to trust that woman, even if inside himself a little voice suggested him to run away every time she was at his side. «I've already explained to you that we need it, then it's harmless» he poured himself more wine «Of course it's intimidating, but this fear of yours is caused more by the stories that are told about it».«Not at all pleasant» he was keen to point out «Even if there must be a grain of truth in the stories». Voris didn't like his nephew's restlessness, fear could push him to go against his plans and he shouldn't fail.«As soon as this story is over, she'll go back to where she came from, don't be afraid» she threw a bone to the dog, lying in front of the unlit fireplace, who bit it to go and hide it who knows where. «She knows a few tricks but she's still a woman, it won't be difficult to get rid of it if it becomes unwanted" She hoped with those words of hers to reassure him."Okay uncle you know I would do anything for you, I will tolerate his presence if that's what you want."«I'm happy to hear you say that» he raised yet another glass to toast that small victory.

Something started tapping against the window glass.

A wide smile appeared on Saitron's face and, with a wave of his hand, he stopped the butler who was about to go and check what it was. He went to the window, once the enchanted bird was opened, it jumped into his hands and whistled, only the one to whom the message was addressed could understand it, finished, his task returned to wooden.

"My dear Xander, finally some good news" he sat down again "Tomorrow we can leave, Tobias warn General to prepare the men".

"As you wish, Lord Saitron" he went quickly to look for the man.

"To the success of this enterprise of yours uncle" he said smiling raising his glass.

"To ours" they had to celebrate and they would do so all night.

Edda spent the whole time alone in her room, only coming out to give Saitron some advice for the success of their plan.

The woman was not very attractive, but her jade-colored eyes would have charmed anyone, she treated herself to expensive clothes and jewelry and always wore her tawny hair braided. She was not a simple witch, in fact she was a demigoddess, who had been enchanted by the possibility of increasing her powers thanks to the various spells she had learned over the centuries, in the various continents.

She took in her hands, turning it, a stone that she had managed to find among the hills, not far from the castle, it could have seemed like a very common stone found along the road, in reality it was the fossil of a small creature that had disappeared from the continent for two eras now. Those stones had served her to build her personal refuge, in fact she had heard that the major gods wanted to bring her before the court of the Primordials because of some of her practices considered inappropriate. For this reason he hoped that his plan would work out for the best and thus guarantee himself an escape route.

Finally the elf decided that it was time to rest. They had left the main road, until they found a quiet place away from prying eyes, he preferred to avoid direct confrontation and for this he was always very discreet and prudent, learning to become almost a shadow in the crowd, this helped him a lot for his task.

As soon as Sakna untied her, he jumped down and straightened his sore back, then he started walking around his new friend, looking him up and down, he approached him until he was touching him, sniffing him, a flash of anger lit up his eyes.

"Sit down and leave me alone if you don't want me to tie you to a tree".

She ignored him, lowered his hood and moved his hair, his ears had been cut off.

He grabbed her wrist, twisting it forcefully: "Sit down" he ordered her in a tone of voice that did not allow for replies.

"Okay" instead of sitting down she began to wander around there.

"You are different from the other elves who talk all the time, as if there was no sound more beautiful than their own voice" she began to collect the dry branches she found around. "I was wondering, if you knew who I really am, would you continue your work or would you run away as far away as possible" she remained still for a while reasoning to herself scratching her chin "Of course you are young, perhaps your people have stopped recalling my deeds, or you have nothing to do with your people anymore" she said touching her ear.

The elf became more and more irritated with each of her words, as she ignored him, humiliating him by speaking to him condescendingly of his punishment. He clenched his fists at his sides, as soon as Sakna threw the collected wood on the ground, he hit her with a backhand, splitting her lip again.

"How touchy we are" and spat out a clot of blood "I've done my part now it's your turn to light the fire" you asshole, if you didn't have to take me to your master I'd bite your head off. She sat down leaning against a fallen tree, half covered in moss. While he was taking care of the fire she started to dig up the past, becoming more and more nervous and eager to escape not caring about the fact that she would have missed the opportunity to know something useful about Sould. Then she noticed the sword that the elf was carrying, tied to the saddle, standing up suddenly she went to check it better, he quickly stopped her just before she could touch it.

"Don't worry, I don't want to use it against you" for now "I've seen a sword like this before" He loosened his grip without letting go, he was thinking about how to behave with her.

I found the raw nerve, it's easy with them, it's always about the past, they have too much behind them and they always try to erase unpleasant facts: "If it's the one I'm talking about, it has an engraving along the blade, in elvish, that says "may the blade stop separating and finally unite the old brothers"" the undead left her, so Sakna drew her sword and yes, it really was her. How ironic to be captured by a descendant of that bastard.

"Could you tell me something about the sword, about who owned it?".

Oh, poor little elf, now you want to make friends? But yes, I'll tell you who the asshole was, most likely your grandfather Sakna looked him in the eyes, for a moment, just for a blink of an eye he took pity on him "Okay, what's your name?".

"Elidor".

So the two sat down by the fire and Sakna began her story. She didn't leave out any details, she told him the whole truth. At first the anger, the resentment made her voice tremble, but as she continued her story those feelings seemed to fade, as if those events belonged to someone else's life.

In the end, talking about it served her better than making the elf who was clutching the sword to himself like a talisman understand who she was. It's all he has left of who he was. Sakna never in her life believed she would find herself feeling pity for one of them after what they did to her.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. But you'll still be my prisoner and I'll hand you over." He lay down on the blanket, he was tired, but a strange sensation kept him alert, it almost seemed like someone was spying on them.

Sakna, noticing her restlessness, understood that she had perceived their presence, she would never understand who it really was and surely she would have stayed awake all night. She settled herself as best she could and let her gaze wander towards that piece of sky that could be glimpsed between the branches of the trees, only they never changed and this reassured her every time. Everything changed and vanished inexorably, time dragged everything and everyone away with it, only she and the stars continued to remain.