After Hazel left her, Astrid stood and faced her former ally from the Greyvolk Tribe, Olga Kjarr. The two dark elves didn't say a word for a while and simply stared at one another in silence. Then, Astrid spoke up in a cold yet neutral tone.

"What did you mean before about Dolk and the rest of you bastards not wanting to return to Kollr? If that was the case, then why did you follow his orders to begin with?"

It started to bother Astrid after Olga told her that they didn't want to cooperate with her brother after everything that happened. They've likely been conspiring with Kollr for a while, and this included their plan to try and kill Astrid to allow her devious little brother to take the title of Tribe Chief.

And yet, for some reason, Dolk and the other dark elves that betrayed seemed to no longer wish to work with Kollr. But why? What changed their minds? And why did they do it after they tried to kill her? Was it guilt that drove them to separate from Kollr or something else?

Just what exactly were they up to now?

Olga scoffed after hearing Astrid's question as if she found it amusing. "We didn't follow his orders because we wanted to, Lady Astrid. We had no choice but to follow his command."

"And why was that? Did it have anything to do with his allegiance to the High Elves?"

Olga looked up at Astrid for a moment with a shocked expression, before her expression went neutral again. "Right, Dolk told you about that when you guys reunited."

"You mean when he surrounded me with his damn minions and tried to kill me?"

"To be fair, he didn't know you were there and simply tried to ambush the first group of players he saw."

"Oh, and that's supposed to make me feel better?"

Olga shrugged. "Not at all. But getting back on topic, you are right about the reason why we had no choice but to join Kollr. After we discovered his secret alliance with the High Elves, we were basically at a point of no return. Either we do what he says...or we die."

Astrid clenched her hands tightly, to the point where she drew blood. "So, you would rather betray our people than die with dignity? Have you all learned nothing when we became members of the Legionnaire?!"

Olga faltered to answer under the fury of her former companion. Especially when her rage was more than reasonable after what the other dark elves, including Dolk, did to her.

"This isn't about the Legionnaire-"

"No, this is about the dignity and duty to protect the Greyvolk tribe!" She interjected sharply. "Both of which you and the rest of those bastards failed to see due to your own self-preservation to survive! We swore an oath to do everything in our power to protect our tribe. That is the Oath of a Legionnaire! But you and everyone else who were part of this insidious conspiracy broke the oath. More than that, you shattered it to pieces and stomped on the remnants in the damn ground! Have you no shame?!"

"No!" Olga snapped back. "Not when we were doing everything we could to protect our home!"

"Protect?" Astrid questioned. "You call stabbing me in the back and following the orders of my brother, who has allied himself with the High Elves, the very bastards that created us yet scorned our existence, as protecting our home?! Are you mocking me right now, or have you finally lost it?!"

"Joining the High Elves was our only option! If we didn't, then those bastards would wipe us off the map the moment they achieved their goal!"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Astrid arched a brow suspiciously. "Goal? What goal are you talking about?"

She figured that the High Elves were up to something, but she had no clue as to what their objective was. But, perhaps OIga or maybe even Dolk knew.

Olga faltered once again, as if hesitant to tell Astrid. "I-I don't know what their objective is. But I at least somewhat know what Kollr's was."

Astrid's expression darkened. "And what was that bastard's objective? I'm assuming that it had something to do with power?"

Kollr was someone who always sought power and control, which was why he was so desperate to try and become the Tribe Chief of the Greyvolk tribe. As the chief, he would also hold a seat in the Council of Meir. The council of Meir was a sort of organization that consisted of Tribe Chiefs and the like who discussed policies and laws within the Great Forest of Meir.

By becoming a Chief, he would then have a seat in the council, thus increasing his political power. And he could achieve this goal by getting rid of Astrid, who was currently next in line to become the Chief of the tribe. However, if that was all Kollr desired, then even Astrid believed that it was too overkill to partner up with the High Elves. He could do something like that without making such a bold move. Especially when it involved the High Elves of all people.

"It definitely is power," Olga nodded with a grim expression. "But, I feel like there was more to it than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when Kollr told us about his deal with the High Elves, he talked about his role as the new chief of our tribe as just the beginning. Like he was aiming for a higher goal."

"A higher goal? What the hell does that mean?"

Astrid didn't like how Olga talked about Kollr's goal in such a way. What could he possibly be after that? Becoming the Chief of the Tribe and a member of the council was just the beginning? Shouldn't that have been the endgame for him?

"I-I don't know the details, but...all I know is that Kollr is obsessed with keeping his end of the deal with the High Elves."

"And what deal is that?"

"To have the dark elf tribes under his control, and essentially, under the High Elves' control."

Astrid's eyes narrowed angrily. "And you betrayed us to allow something like this to happen?"

"Like I said, we had no choice in the matter."

"And now? What's changed?"

Olga told her before that she and the other dark elves who betrayed her were no longer on Kollr's side. If that was the case, then why was that?

Olga sighed. "Look around you, lady Astrid," she gestured to their surroundings. "Our world is no longer the same. There is a higher force manipulating everything. A force that none of us could even comprehend. We've become part of a bigger universe. The rules of our old world...no longer apply here."

Astrid started to understand the dark elf's line of thought...and it sickened her.

"So, you're only betraying Kollr...because you no longer feel obligated to protect your own home?"

If Olga believed that the rules of their old world were no longer valid, then that meant that she, along with the rest of the dark elves who betrayed Astrid and the rest of their tribe, had essentially abandoned their tribe altogether. And if that was the case, that only angered Astrid more than before.

"We have given our lives to the tribe," Astrid growled. "The Greyvolk tribe is everything to us! And you and the rest of those treacherous bastards are simply going to abandon them?"

"What do you expect us to do? Go back to the tribe, only to be shunned and scorned by our former tribesman?"

"I'm saying you should pay for your crimes! Even if you are hated by all, you clearly know what you've done was wrong, and could possibly be given some form of redemption! A way to earn the trust of our tribesmen again!"

While Betrayal was a major sin within the Greyvolk Tribe, that person could still be redeemed for such a crime as long as they received penance and understood the error of their ways. If they did, there was a way for them to be forgiven by the tribe. But by simply abandoning the tribe altogether, without being confronted with their crimes, Olga and the other dark elves basically lost their rights to be members of the Greyvolk Tribe and were now Exiles.

Olga shook her head. "We have no desire to return. Even if there was a chance for us to be forgiven...that was meaningless when our home was possibly no more."

Astrid suddenly faltered when this was uttered. Olga quickly noticed her expression and let out a heavy sigh.

"Lady Astrid, haven't you thought about the possibility that our tribe, our home, is no longer standing?"

Astrid didn't answer as she choked on her words. While the thought did cross her mind, she would always put it in the back of her mind, so she could focus on one thing: returning home. She tried to ignore that morbid possibility and simply pass it off as her losing her edge. But now that Olga had brought it out in the open, those same morbid and dreadful thoughts began to creep in, plaguing Astrid's mind.

What if Astrid's tribe were gone? What if...she had nowhere else to go to? What if all her efforts were for naught?

What if the Greyvolk Tribe, her people, her family...were all gone? If such a possibility were true...then what exactly was Astrid trying to do?

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