My vision cleared. For the first time, I saw. There were brown things, green things, blue things. I knew their colors; I remembered them from childhood. But I did not know where I was. To my right, some imposing mountains showed themselves. There was a place there—I knew it. Even without deciding, I approached. It was surrounded by tall stalks. At the top, its color hid the blue of the surface but left a soft black, nuanced by the life constantly flowing. I knew the way. Since we arrived at this continent, I had seen it. But today, I did not know why it was happening. I was not asleep...
"No. You are dying from offering too much blood to your aberration called Arach."
No, you are wrong. She is good. She protected us from everything, prevented us from dying. The laugh you let out is not pleasant. I do not know where we are, but my life is not there. We are the last elves. Our duty is to possess this mountain. There we will live peacefully and happily, for thus our goddess promised...
"Foolish, foolish elf. You are the strongest among your people, but with all your skill, you do not see the truth. Here, there is an elf woman—inside the same mountain—one who has fought against chaos and the new friend of your goddess. She will be there to lead you into the new era of the Drown."
There are no eras, no times or spaces—only darkness and liberation in death. My ancestors care for me from their bodies. That allows me to resist. That is how I faced the dragons, how I face my enemies...
"Boy, you are childish. Do you never ask yourself anything? Why, for example, is there no offspring among you? So few remain. Tomorrow, I will show you that she does not feed on your blood. I need you awake, not just fanatical. I will show you how to avoid bleeding so much, so you can listen to me awake, so you can see the truth."
My eyes opened, but I saw nothing—not strange. For hundreds of years, darkness was all we knew. Indeed, a couple of strips of skin covered my wrist cuts—where I had sacrificed my blood for her. I breakfasted on bugs with mushrooms—nothing more. A little putrid water cleared my throat. At that moment, I presented myself for the morning bleeding. With lancets, we all poured blood to feed our goddess, renewing the pact. But I could not do it. Just as I was about to prick myself, my voice changed. I made a superficial cut; my blood fell but was little, closing after a few minutes. The rest of the day, I accompanied everyone in the rescues and adaptations of the dragon bone armor. I would have to change my own weapons for anonymous ribs. To not lose my father, I used his phalanges as the base for my new swords' hilts. They were considerably more resistant—no doubt about that. By dinner, I already felt very different. The bugs tasted for the first time in years—the bugs had a disgusting flavor. The water was nauseating—there, I thought we also urinated and defecated. I left the cave and felt myself guided through hallways to another, larger one, with a tiny glow in the quartz surrounding a spring. I drank until I was full.
I missed the bleeding night, but no one missed me. Now that I thought about it, I could move here—to the cave with clean water. I thought it would be a good option. But if Arach got angry with me, she would have no mercy. She would tear out my viscera, and my remains would not rest with anyone...
"Do you really believe that? Listen to yourself. I showed you the misery in which they live. They are elves, not Gully dwarves. Observe and remember—when was the last time she killed anyone? Whoever it was... she has no more power than you. You are the ones who gave her everything, and also the ones who can take it away."
I will not listen to you, demon. I will eat and live here a couple of days, but not under your rumors.
Today makes five days. With my usual diet—adding a couple of rodents I found in the other cave—suddenly, I could see even in the absolute darkness in which we lived. I avoided the bleeding, but I could see everyone—wallowing in their dried feces, dirty, moving miserably without thinking, walking to the deep mines, seeking everything by touch. Was this the fate of all elves? Would the last of my species live here like vermin?
"No, boy. It is not their fate, but that is where they are headed. As you see, now that you are in better condition, you will be able to hear me even when you are not asleep. Take your troops out of here. Feed them. They will be needed when they want to sacrifice your people."
Damn you! You would be right about the food, and of course, I will take troops to recover. But that is very different from what you propose. Our goddess needs food, and we give it to her. She needs us to believe in her—that we do. We live by her design and would die for her.
"That you do, little elf. Day by day, they have died. Of your family, less than half remain. All who are not warriors eat only every third day. They are so weak they cannot even have children. The warriors have two meals a day, but they are poor and also bleed to feed the vanity of a fat, stupid god."
My goddess is not fat or stupid! I do not want to hear more from you. All you do is try to confuse me. That will not happen. I have a commitment to her. My life was saved, and now it is my turn to die when she designates it.
"I will leave you while you care for your troops. Just think about what I told you. Carry your dragon weapons. Go to the battle she sends you to. But when you see her—when you see your two enemies and your ally—do not forget your ally is an elf! One from the Dark Forest—well-fed and carrying a torch for a greater purpose. There you will see the truth. Only then will you know that your people depend on that elf surviving. Then, only then, call my name... Lilith."
Days had passed since then. My troops were much stronger. The weapons were powerful. With this, we did not need to depend on numbers. We would not die in combat. The armor was also on Arach's body. I feared giving that woman reason—she was a horrendous thing. But she told us she was abandoning us, that our duty was to go to the caves we barely survived, to find the chaos troops and eliminate them, that she would travel to face her teacher, that even if we perished, our duty was to leave a world without sin. My people left with doubt. I did not let them see their people when their eyes finally captured absolute darkness. My weapons, my past accompanied me. The question that haunted me: would I be capable of turning my back on my goddess? If we submitted to this elf, would we have children? Would we die at the hands of the Dead King, as I heard in secret... Do we deserve to live?