Once lush and tranquil, it now roared with the echoes of chanting. The ancient trees trembled under the voices of hundreds no, thousands of elves gathered beneath a colossal bleeding‐sun symbol carved into the earth.
Their hands were red with mud, blood, and ash.
Their eyes glowed faintly with fanatic devotion.
And standing before them…
Cloaked in robes woven from night itself…
Was the one they called:
Elder Rokan.
The Voice of Loki.
The Prophet of the All-Seer.
A lie Romulus tossed casually into the void had become a living, breathing empire of zealots.
---
Five Months After Loki's "Command"
Rokan gazed upon the kneeling elves. His voice was deep, his tone unshakeable.
"The god Loki has spoken. His first decree was clear."
He lifted a sacred crystal toward the sky.
The chanting died instantly.
"Gather followers."
The elves bowed lower.
Rokan turned, revealing a massive wooden cage behind him stuffed with terrified humans. Men, women, children all dragged from villages near Mosaic.
"Humans are weak," Rokan declared. "They cannot serve Loki through magic. But they can serve him through obedience."
He raised his hand.
Two elves yanked a human man out of the cage and threw him to the ground.
The crowd hissed like serpents.
Rokan stepped forward, placing a hand over the man's head.
"You will labor.
You will build the Dominion.
And through service… Loki will accept your offering."
The man shook violently. "W-What do you want from us!?"
Rokan smiled with a kindness that was far more terrifying than cruelty.
"Your devotion."
He snapped his fingers.
Elves dragged the man away.
Human screams filled the clearing.
The elves chanted louder, drowning it out:
"Loki! Loki! Loki!"
---
The First Friday
Rokan stood atop an ancient altar at dusk, surrounded by thousands.
"Today, our god returns," he proclaimed.
The elves fell to their knees.
They waited.
Minutes.
Hours.
Nothing.
The forest remained still.
Rokan stared into the distance with narrowed eyes.
"So… a test," he murmured.
The elves trembled.
"A test of faith."
He spread his arms wide.
"Loki watches from beyond. We must grow stronger to be worthy of his presence!"
The crowd erupted in frenzied cheers.
From that moment on, the elves doubled their efforts
All to "prove" themselves worthy of Loki's arrival.
---
Six Months After the Command
The Dominion had grown vast.
Elven scouts reported:
"Baron Mosaic grows suspicious. Human patrols strengthen."
Rokan answered without fear.
"Let them come. They cannot match our god's prophecy."
Behind him, a massive stone monolith rose from the ground built by enslaved humans over months of backbreaking labor. Its surface was engraved with runes that none of the elves understood.
But Rokan understood.
He traced the runes with trembling reverence.
"These marks… are not Loki's. They belong to Sol'varu, the true All-Seeing Flame."
The elves gasped.
"But Elder," one whispered, "Loki commanded us"
Rokan raised a hand.
"Loki… is not alone in the void."
The elves shuddered, realizing the enormity of what their prophet claimed.
Rokan smiled darkly.
"Loki's arrival awakened a greater deity—one who sees through all worlds, all lies."
He looked skyward.
"And to serve Loki… is to serve Sol'varu."
The elves roared in fanatical unity.
---
Seven Months After the Command
Humans were disappearing faster.
Villages near the Mosaic border were left barren.
The elves moved with inhuman precision
no footsteps, no sound, just shadows ripping families from their homes.
Inside the Dominion, human slaves hauled stones, constructed temples, mined the sacred crystals used in rituals.
The elves patrolled the forest like wolves.
Rokan stood atop the highest tree platform, overlooking the growing nation.
"Loki will appear when we are worthy," he reminded them.
A young elf approached nervously.
"Elder… what if… he never appears?"
Rokan slowly turned his gaze upon the boy.
"Then we shall drag him into this world ourselves."
The young elf paled.
"There are ways… ancient ways," Rokan whispered. "To summon a god into flesh."
A wicked smile twisted across his face.
"Even if it requires blood."
---
The Most Recent Friday
The elves gathered again.
Thousands bowed.
The forest glowed dimly with ritual fire.
Rokan raised a crystal.
"Today," he declared, "Loki's presence grows closer. The air trembles with his divinity."
The elves bowed lower.
But Rokan's eyes shone with a different truth:
This "Loki" had never returned.
Never spoken.
Never guided them.
Yet the Dominion grew.
Rokan whispered to himself:
"Where are you, trickster god?
Why does your silence deepen?"
A moment later, a scout ran into the clearing.
"Elder Rokan! We captured new humans. They spoke of… a prince. A child named Romulus."
Rokan's eyes widened.
He stood slowly.
"Romulus…?"
He felt something heavy stir in the runes of the monolith behind him.
A pulse of ancient magic.
A whisper of the All-Seeing Flame.
Rokan stared into the forest.
"…Loki has taken mortal form."
Thunder rumbled overhead.
The elves trembled in ecstatic horror.
Rokan raised his arms toward the sky.
"Prepare everything!" he roared. "The god walks among the humans. We must reclaim him!"
The elves screamed with devotion.
The forest trembled.
And far away, in Mosaic Castle…
A tiny baby sneezed.