Elandor raged with fury at the declaration of war by the three neighboring kingdoms of Baiteng, Aelorienne, and Serenwynn. "Don't these kingdoms know all that Kaelon has done for them in the past?" Elandor roared, slamming his fist on the table. "And now they stab me in the back? Now, when I need support most? This ungrateful pact of parasites and would-be saints! If they insist on it, then let them have their war! Let them burn as if they were in hell!"
His advisor, Kaeldrim, stepped forward cautiously. "But my king, we cannot wage war against three kingdoms at once! That would be madness." "Kaelon is powerful," Elandor retorted sharply. "More powerful than any other." "Against one kingdom, yes," Kaeldrim countered. "Perhaps even against two with the right strategy. But against three? That's a suicide mission. And even if we win, the other kingdoms won't just stand by and watch us annex everything." "Only the kingdom of Longteng would pose a serious threat," Elandor reassured. "But we have excellent relations with them. Emperor Qin and I grew up together, we trained and fought together. He's like a brother to me. We have nothing to fear." "But Baiteng is allied with Longteng," Kaeldrim warned quietly. "And our kingdom is weakened. We've spent vast amounts of gold on bounties… Forgive me, my king, I mean invested." He lowered his gaze in shame.
Elandor approached him and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Kaeldrim, my old friend. You served my father faithfully. And you have always been a good advisor to me, and above all, a good friend. No matter what happened, you always stood faithfully by my side! But you must never look down on your king's abilities!" Kaeldrim nodded slightly several times, but his gaze remained fixed on the ground in shame. "How many battles and wars have we won together, my old friend?" Elandor asked.
"I've lost count, my king," Kaeldrim said.
Elandor nodded slightly, smiled, and said:
"And have we ever lost a single battle, my old friend?"
Kaeldrim looked into his king's eyes:
"No, my king," he said, raising his head proudly. "We have always been glorious."
"And why? Did we have the strongest army? No. Did we have the most allies? No. Did we have the most resources? No. So what did we have that our enemies didn't, Kaeldrim?"
"A wise king!" Kaeldrim said, bowing to Elandor.
Nodding, Elandor approached Kaeldrim and took hold of him by both shoulders. "Believe in your king now, my old friend!"
Elandor's eyes gleamed dangerously.
Thus, Elandor officially declared war on the Three Kingdoms. Beforehand, he sent a message to the kingdom of Longteng to secure his flank:
"Most esteemed Emperor Qin of the Longteng Empire,
We have been bound together since childhood. You have surely heard of the tragic murder of my beloved Lysandra and my daughters. Cowardly dogs defiled and beheaded them. These criminals fled to the kingdoms of Baiteng, Aelorienne, and Serenwynn. But instead of handing them over, these kingdoms have declared war on me. How can I accept this disgrace? I know that a wise emperor like yourself would never tolerate such injustice. I march not to conquer, but to demand justice. I take only the heads that are rightfully mine. Heads of my own people. I hope for your understanding and respect for my plans, just as I offer you my deepest respect.
Your brother Elandor, King of Kaelon."
Elandor set his plan in motion. He sent a strike force against the Baiteng Empire—but it was only a decoy. He had countless empty tents erected near Baiteng's castles to simulate a siege. As expected, Aelorienne and Serenwynn rushed to the aid of their ally Baiteng. They anticipated little resistance, believing Kaelon's main force was tied down in the north. But Elandor had positioned his army in ambush along the Kaelon River.
When Aelorienne and Serenwynn's troops reached the river, they found all the bridges destroyed. "This could be a trap," the Aelori general warned his ally, the Wyn'ari general. Cautiously, they began to cross the river. For safety, the Aelori general offered a prayer: " Ô lumière divine, source de toute pureté, écoute ma supplique. Enveloppe-nous de ton éclat et ôte la vue à nos ennemis." Which means something like: "O holy light, source of all purity, hear my plea. Envelop us in your radiance and blind our enemies."
A dazzling light, brighter than the sun, enveloped his troops and blinded every enemy. A Kaelonian scout, observing the entire scene, was blinded by the light and instantly struck dumb. Even Elandor and his men, hundreds of meters away in their trenches, had to avert their gaze. Panic broke out.
"Calm yourselves!" Elandor shouted over the din. "You know your landscape! You don't need eyes to know where the enemy is! Today your families need you! Today your kingdom needs you! Today we will not lose! Take up arms, soldiers of Kaelon!" The soldiers rallied. "Sol'kael! Luma'rin!" – "For Kaelon and the Light!" echoed the battle cry. A hail of arrows darkened the sky.
The enemy generals reacted immediately, ordering their soldiers to raise their shields and seek refuge in the river. The Wyn'ari general then invoked the wind: "O wyn'aelor sel'thalor, lor'enai ven'rae. Shal'wyn enae ven'sorin, aethar'thal ven'nor." This translates to: "O holy wind, breath of the world, hear my plea. Enfold us in your veil of protection and blow away the blow of our enemies." He attempted to create a wind barrier, but the hail of arrows struck it before the spell was complete.
When the bulk of the enemy army was in the middle of the river, Elandor offered his own prayer: "O flumen sanctum, custos terrarum nostrarum, audi supplicem meum. Robora me contra eos qui Kaelonem minantur, et fer malitiam eorum extra regnum nostrum." Which means something like: "O sacred river, guardian of our lands, hear my plea. Strengthen my stand against those who threaten Kaelon, and carry their wickedness away from our realm."
And indeed, the river answered. It swelled into a raging torrent, sweeping away Aelorienne and Serenwynn's soldiers. Those who had already reached the bank fell victim to a second hail of arrows, as the water weakened the Wyn'ari's wind magic. The few remaining on the far bank were forced to retreat. "We have lost. We can only save ourselves and the remaining troops," the Aelorienne general said dejectedly. "We must entrench ourselves in our castles and wait for Baiteng's support." The Wyn'ari general hesitated for a few more seconds, but he knew there was nothing more he could do for his soldiers and averted his gaze in anguish.
They sent a falcon with a distress call to Baiteng. But one of Kaelon's archers shot down the falcon. Elandor had the message forged by a scholar. The text remained almost the same, but Elandor added a crucial postscript:
"Your Honor, King Yang of the Kingdom of Baiteng,
Unfortunately, our armies have suffered a crushing defeat, and we are now in retreat.
Kaelon will surely attempt to annihilate us with a decisive strike, but we will barricade ourselves in our castles and urgently request support from the great Kingdom of Baiteng.
P.S.: Please take the southern route. Our scouts report that the northwestern route has been sabotaged."
Then they sent the forgery off with a new falcon. Elandor wanted to lure the Baitengians from their fortress, but they were to take the long southern route so that he would have time to intercept them.
"We must reach their kingdom before the Baitengians," Elandor ordered. "But, my king," Kaeldrim objected. "Even if they take the southern route, we will never make it with our baggage." "Not if we take off our heavy armor!" Elandor said. Kaeldrim was appalled. "Against the steel of the Baitengs? They have some of the hardest steel in all of Mittertal. They'll cut us through like butter!" "We need speed and the element of surprise. If the Baiteng army reaches Kaelon first, their senses will be heightened! As Tiger People, they already have the advantage of possessing one of the best senses in the world!" Elandor insisted. "Obey my command!"
Elandor nodded slightly and continued to consider his strategy for increasing his chances of success in the battle against the Baiteng army, aware that the Baiteng Empire could not be underestimated. After all, the Baiteng Empire possessed one of the most advanced technologies in all of Mittertal.
King Yang, still in his kingdom, received the message. He wanted to set off south immediately, but his advisor Meiyun, the "Beautiful Cloud," held him back. "My king, look at this mistake," she said, pointing to the word éte. "The accent is missing. It should be été. An elf would never make that mistake." They analyzed the routes. The southern route would take much longer. "If the message is a forgery," the king concluded, "then the enemy is trying to mislead us."
"If the northwestern route has indeed been sabotaged, then we would need one day there and one day back to reach the southern route. The southern route would then take us three days. That means we would need a total of five days."
"But if we were to take the southern route and it had actually been sabotaged, then we would need three days there and three days back to finally reach the northwestern route. That means we would need a total of seven days in this scenario."
"Therefore, we logically take the northwestern route—the direct route to Kaelon."
A scout brought Elandor the bad news: "The Baitenger weren't fooled! They're already on Kaelonian soil." Kaeldrim turned pale. "How could they have known?" "That's not the right question right now, Kaeldrim," said Elandor, now strangely calm. "Where were they last, Scout?"
"They were at the Maren Belt, my king," said the scout.
"They must be passing through the Maren Pass." "I'll ride ahead," Elandor decided. "Come as fast as you can." "Alone? Against an entire army?" Kaeldrim cried out in despair. "I have a plan," said Elandor.
Elandor reached the pass before the enemy. From a high ground, he saw them coming: a massive force of Tiger squads in impenetrable armor. An army brimming with power and strength. An army without equal. An army that seemed invincible.
Elandor didn't move. But what was Elandor waiting for? Had he perhaps frozen in fear? The Baitenger drew ever closer to Elandor's location, second by second, until they were almost at the narrowest point of the pass. Then he closed his eyes, clasping both hands together in front of his chest, as if in prayer. Then he moved his right hand slightly outward and upward, as if greeting the sun and simultaneously receiving its light. His lips formed several prayers in succession:
"Solanar, leon'cor – mar'cor veshai." – "By sun and lion, I pledge courage and loyalty."
"Solanar'kael, luma'dar zenai mor'nal." – "Sun of Kaelon, guide me through shadows and doubt."
"O flumen sanctum, custos terrarum nostrarum, audi supplicem meum. Robora me contra eos qui Kaelonem minantur, et fer malitiam eorum extra regnum nostrum." – "O holy river, guardian of our lands, hear my plea. Strengthen my stand against those who threaten Kaelon, and carry their wickedness away from our kingdom."
He repeated the last prayer several times in succession.
By combining several prayers simultaneously, he created an amplifier prayer to amplify the final one.
The King of Baiteng, whose tiger-like hearing was extremely acute, raised his fist. He heard something. A rumble. First faint, then deafening. A gigantic wave of water, summoned from nowhere, crashed over the pass. It simply swept away the mightiest army of the Middle Valley as if they were toy figures.
The way was now clear. Elandor besieged Aelorienne and Serenwynn for 90 days until famine forced their surrender. All the fleeing citizens of Kaelon were handed over and executed. Elandor returned home in triumph, displaying their heads on spears. But it wasn't enough for him. He convinced himself that there were still perpetrators at large. He expanded his campaigns, attacking neutral kingdoms, spilling blood without end. He sought phantoms, for the true culprits were surely in Melandor.
Kaelon teetered on the brink of destruction! And Elandor's soul sank into a quagmire of hatred, madness, and powerlessness—a vortex that ultimately drew the attention of the Devil. And what the Devil desires, he takes.