Kalandri was rummaging through one of the more intact wagons when some glare caught her attention. It had come from a reddish coloured gem. She hadn’t expected to find a Flamestone, a finely cut precious stone that could allow nearly anyone to use magic, even her. It was a true shame that in most cases it was her kin who found themselves on the receiving end of such a power.

The Stone itself was placed near a small pile of parchment. Even though she knew next to nothing of the human language and even less of their glyphs she decided to check it out. Anything about the artifact would make her effort worth it. Wishful thinking or not she could even find out how the Stones were crafted.

First was a rather heavy looking tome with covers carved out of wood. There wasn't much of use in it; it looked like the author had yet to complete it since about half the pages were empty. The illustrations were scarce, but where they appeared they covered the whole page. She saw several landscape paintings as well as a few portraits. Surprisingly enough, the portraits depicted rather normal-looking people, not grandiose ones. In one of them Kalandri even recognized a man she had killed a bit earlier. It was more like a notebook than anything else.

Below it were mainly texts no longer than single page; presumably those were orders. She also stumbled upon a folded map. Thanks to the two lakes in the bottom-left corner and several other landmarks that were depicted she got a sufficiently good idea where they were on it.

"I think we did pretty well." Heliel tried up sum up their deeds as they approached their encampment "I mean, just look at this."

Despite being rather overladen with the things she had chosen to bring home, Heliel playfully showed off a longbow.

"Just be careful with the string. I don't think we could replace it if it gets broken." Kalandri sighed.

"Calm down. That's mine to worry about. By the way, I'm dying to hear whatever idea you've got planned." Heliel nodded in response to her words.

"It'd be best to discuss it when we're all gathered. To be honest, it's not much of a plan yet.'

"What is that I am hearing of?" Liliar chimed in.

He hadn't taken part in the fighting, being left to protect the camp instead.

"Isn’t it time to take what is rightfully ours, brother?" She smiled. "I am growing tired of picking on easy prey. Come everyone."

“Sounds like you are planning something grandiose.” He nodded. “Count me in.”

 

She unfolded her discovery whilst her Kin gathered around her.

Memories of her Kin’s perils so far flooded in as she unfolded the map she had found. How they were forced out of the valley they used to call home when the first human legions began marching from the north. The cursed day she lost half her Kin. How they were forced into the mountains. These memories were still a fresh wound on her soul.

The map depicted an area roughly equal to two weeks’ worth of travel on foot from one end to the other. Dozens of settlements: villages, towns and fortresses alike were recorded on that piece of paper as well as who they belonged to. The closest ones were located in the plains to the northeast. Under them was drawn an eagle insignia, the same as the one she had seen earlier that day. Those, of course, weren’t the only peoples in the region. To the southeast were marked a series of forts that obviously belonged to somebody else. If stories that she had heard as a child were to be believed, those were elves. Lastly there were a handful of settlements west of the mountains, but in order to reach them one would have to travel through various mountain passes and other obstacles.

“I believe that these woods will suffice in covering up our movements.” Kalandri began sharing her thoughts.

“Even I could do that.” Salri chuckled whilst patting her stomach. She was halfway through her pregnancy and yet she was her proposition more lightheartedly than others. “Pick the closest village and let’s get going. I have no intention of even risking hunger during the coming winter.”

“And alert the entire human population of our presence?” Kalamir scoffed. “We need to plan better.”

It was obvious that her brother and Heliel shared that sentiment. So did Kalandri to some extent, although in her case it stemmed from the desire to do more.

“First we’ll need to secure our position.” She replied to Kalamir. “See that castle? This is where the local ruler and his warriors probably reside. Should we take it there won’t be much to worry about.”

He nodded in response. There wasn’t much of a need to put her proposition to a vote.

 

It had taken some four days for her Kin to reach their destination. It wasn’t that the path was too long or difficult that slowed them, but the barely predictable behaviour of the Elders. The need to stray from the roads didn’t help either.

The single word she’d use to describe the past few days would be “tiring”. She sighed, all that mattered was that they were there. Kalandri stared at the settlement.

The castle, the place where the local humans’ leader resided, was somehow both the most impressive building that she had ever seen and nothing particular at the same time. What stood before her was no incredible feat of architecture, there were no towers scraping the skies, no ornate structures. No such things were facing her.

Walls of dark stone, about two times her height, surrounded a yard roughly the size of their old encampment. There were several buildings inside of that yard, most of which were made of wood. The keep, a rectangular stone building, was probably the tallest structure there, being three floors tall. All that was build atop a hill while around it laid the village itself.

She noted the presence of some guards standing at the gate. They were armed with spears and none of them had heavy armour. That only served to further strengthen her belief that most human warriors were being sent off to wage some war. 

 

A plan was quickly drafted. Salri and Heliel would stay at the outskirts of the village, taking down anyone who tried to escape their attack; but little else. Malikh and Liliar would lead about half the Elders to secure the village. Storming the castle was left for her and Kalamir.

Kalandri heard the sound of fighting, probably Malikh’s doing, from down below as she approached the castle’s gate. She then grabbed the Stone and made an attempt to focus its powers on the gate. In that very same moment she felt her hand being burned. An explosion was also heard. Nevertheless Kalandri was pleased with the result; not only was the gate swept away, but so was a part of the wall.

The guards stood in shock of the terrifying display of power. Kalamir quickly disposed of the guard silently and efficiently while Kalandri slowed down to get hold of herself. She could barely think of anything beyond the burn. She watched Kalamir lead the Elders in battle from afar.

 

After all the fighting was over she decided to enter the keep. The first floor was split in two major rooms: a dining hall and what was probably the ruler’s bedchamber. She noticed a man lying on the floor of the hall who appeared to be still alive, judging by sound of him breathing, even if only barely.

As she was rummaging through one of the rooms on the higher floors, she sensed someone staring at her. She turned to see the man she had passed by earlier. He appeared to just be staring at her, his face showing something in between confusion and terror.

“Go away while I am in a nice mood.” She grunted. Of course, the man couldn’t understand her.

Kalandri continued her search; it be nice treat her burn as fast as possible. There were bound to be fabrics good enough to use as bandage or at the very some cold water in the castle.

“If you are going to stand there like that, you could make yourself useful and bring me something for this.” She showed her hand.

Surprisingly enough there was a response, which she found unexpected. She had mainly been speaking to fill the silence.

“V’da?” He asked.

Kalandri assumed that meant “water” in his language. She nodded: “Yeah, “v’da” as you said it.”

She smiled slightly. Maybe he could be of at least some use.