Chapter Text
The soft crunch of leaves and twigs echoed softly through the snowy expanse of woods. The moon was full, shining down in all its glory, streaks of moonlight piercing through the leaves of the trees as they swayed softly in the breeze. At the head of his battalion, the Right General of Briar Valley trudged forward, tearing down wayward branches with his Magearm. Behind him, rows of soldiers in dark green armor and masks mimicking the facial features of various animals carried sacks of crops and other goods. Personally sent on behalf of Queen Maleficia, Lilia had just broken into a human camp and retrieved the same amount of food, plus ten-fold, that some human soldiers had stolen during the raid of some fae farmers’ crops. Justice never felt sweeter than after a smooth and successful raid as revenge on petty thieves who were too afraid to face him head on.
Serves them right for thinking they could mess with the dragon and avoid its claws.
Baur Zigvolt, one of Lilia’s fiercest front-liners and most trusted companions, marched stoically beside him. He wore a mask that resembled the head of a crocodile and towered several feet above Lilia. However, together, they were a force to be reckoned with. Soon, the sun’s rays began to peak over the horizon, signifying the time to set up camp was near. The battalion found themselves in an expansive field, located near to a large patch of medicinal herbs, some that enhanced sleep if made into tea. Lilia didn’t care much for what form his nutrition came in, but most of his men agreed this was the spot to camp out for the day.
As creatures of the night, they slept during the day, opposite to when the humans were awake and could be searching for them. One soldier found a particularly dense grove of trees along the edge of the field, where the others began routinely putting up tents and gathering materials to build a fire. Baur shouted commands at various soldiers with a series of noises that resembled animal sounds heard in the night. This was the common language of the subjects in the Briar Valley, which served as a reminder of their culture. Few fae could speak the human language, let alone cared to learn it.
Lilia’s childhood friend and soon-to-be consort to Princess Maleanor, Raverne had insisted that Lilia and Baur educate themselves in human culture and history. They did it out of care for Raverne, but Lilia didn’t see the logic in a world where humans and fae could ever learn to understand one another. After another moment of watching Baur delegate, Lilia realized the camp was in good hands for the time being. To keep himself busy, he decided to inspect the herbs growing nearby, some of which may be able to numb the pain of the soldiers who sustained minor injuries during the raid.
After years of dedicating himself to training, Lilia naturally moved silently over the grassy expanse toward the herbs. Just in case, he kept his form in the shadows, ducking and diving between trees and bushes. As he approached the patch of herbs, Lilia’s eyes widened as he took in a silhouette enveloped in darkness, kneeling in the field. It didn’t make sense there would be anyone besides Lilia, Baur, and the battalion all the way out here, as it was too far from the human kingdom and the Briar Valley to be a casual resident. And even if it was one of Lilia’s men, they would have been required to travel in pairs, whereas this figure was on its own.
In an attempt to examine the mysterious figure closer, Lilia hung upside down from a tree branch. Despite being a good distance away, the sudden swinging movement was enough to cause the figure’s head to turn slightly in his direction. Throwing something into a basket, the dark silhouette shot up and began running in the opposite direction. Lilia winced; how did they hear him from that far away?
No matter who they are, they must have extremely trained hearing, and running is already suspicious enough. Could it be—a human sent to spy on us?!
There was no way Lilia was going to allow the enemy to get away. He heaved himself up onto the branch in one swoop, beginning to leap from branch to branch in the line of trees. The figure was fast, but they were going to be no match for him. The line of trees in front of Lilia ended, and peaking out from a cluster of leaves, he spotted a small cottage with a faint line of smoke escaping the chimney. The mysterious figure quickly ducked into the door, shutting it behind them. A cottage? In the middle of nowhere? This was becoming stranger and stranger by the moment.
Once again, they were practically in the middle of nowhere! Who in their right mind would live so far away from anyone else, not to mention with less accessibility to resources and supplies. Then, a thought struck Lilia: could this be an undercover military base for the humans? It would be against everything Lilia had been taught about people to let this go unchecked, no matter what it was. Jumping down from the tree and landing on the compact earth with a thud, Lilia smoothly pulled out his Magearm from a leather holder attached to his belt. In the past, enemies who had attempted to invade the Briar Valley were met with Lilia Vanrouge. Every time he defeated them, they would retreat to their homelands, passing down stories of the vicious warrior with a hatchet carved from green magestone.
As he steadily and stealthily approached the cottage, he planned to take advantage of the element of surprise. Pressing his face up to the window, he couldn’t see through, as a thick curtain blocked his view. Holding the Magearm high above his head, Lilia shattered the glass in one fell swoop and dove into the window head first. Rolling on the ground, he hopped up, ready to be met with a hoard of barbaric, angry human soldiers. Instead, Lilia was met with a blinding blast of magic, which he instinctively dodged, jumping out of the way of the now nonexistent window. Lilia slammed his back against the wall, using his arm as a shield in case of flying debris.
In the dim light of a few flickering candles, Lilia’s eyes adjusted so he could see the interior of the cottage. All in one room, there was a fireplace with a cauldron, a worn-down dining table with two chairs, and an unmade bed. In the center of it all, stood an elf girl with matching white pigtails. Her expression was completely unreadable, and she held a gold mage staff with an indifferent air around her. Lilia’s eye twitched, clearly not expecting to have come across an actual resident, especially a magic-using elf of all things.
Adjusting the brown cloak she had been wearing in the field, she once again aimed her staff at Lilia, ready to fire if he tried anything. Irritation flashing across his face, Lilia hissed at the elf girl, chastising her in the shared fae language.
“How dare you shoot your magic at me?! Do you know who I am? I am a commander and the Right General of the Briar Valley. Do you know the penalty for assaulting a high-ranking military officer?”
The elf stared blankly at Lilia, as if he had two heads. At this point, he couldn’t tell if it was stranger that she was being so calm throughout the duration of this whole encounter, or that she wasn’t responding to what he was saying. Clearing his throat, Lilia readjusted the Magearm in his grip. This time, he decided to take a different approach to try and speak in the human language Raverne had insisted that he learned.
”Are you really dense, or are just pretending to not understand what I am saying?”
The elf shifted in her stance, not taking her eyes off of him, as stoic yet guarded as before.
”Well, go on! Say something before I resort to less conversational methods.”
Finally, the expressionless elf opened her mouth.
”No, I understood you just fine. I just didn’t bother to process what you were saying.”
Lilia’s jaw hung open in disbelief. During his entire career, no one had ever spoken to him with such ignorance. At this point, he almost had no idea what to say!
”To dismiss the language of your kind so openly is on the borderline of blasphemous. Do you expect me to show you mercy after you have spoken to me in such a way?
The elf girl tilted her head subtly, tiny strands of hair falling over one eye. Her staff raised slightly, aiming directly at Lilia’s eye line.
“I doubt I will be the one in need of mercy. You are the one who broke into my house. I could sue you for property damage.”
She shrugged, continuing to speak in a monotone and casual manner. However, her expression became more defensive.
”Besides, my intention wasn’t to be offensive. I just haven’t had the need to speak the language in a while.
That last statement stumped Lilia, but he shook his head, remembering that he didn’t have time to engage in nonsensical matters. For once, his instincts had led him astray, there was nothing worth his time here. He must have exerted himself during the raid more than he had initially assumed. He glanced between the staff and the now nonexistent window.
Not turning his back to the elf, Lilia eyed the staff, red and gold illuminated in the moonlight. He firmly grasped the ledge just below the window sill, hoisting himself up onto it, being careful to not cut himself on any of the glass shards.
“Wait,” she spoke up, in a monotone voice. However, there was something more expectant in it now. “You owe me something in return for the broken window.”
Lilia looked down at the window, taking in its very shattered state. Hanging his head in defeat, he let out a heavy sigh, hopefully signaling he didn’t have much energy to fix anymore messes tonight. Holding both arms in the air, he straightened his back
“I was just going to inspect the damage. Seeing as you don’t seem especially keen on me doing that, I will have someone drop off enough coins to repair the damages and more within the day. After all, the army shouldn’t be imposing on the lives of citizens. I can assure you–”
“Actually, a grimoire from the royal palace will be sufficient. And it would be much more fitting if you were the one to deliver it.”
The elf interjected, sounding persistently reassuring. Lilia paused, taken aback by his apology being interrupted. He almost never apologized! And now she wanted a repayment that made this mishap even more involved?
While Lilia couldn’t see how a random grimoire would help anything, he was just about willing to do anything to get the task over with. Nodding his head, he leapt back out the window and into the night.
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By the time Lilia and Baur’s battalion returned to the Briar Valley, the sun’s rays were just beginning to paint the sky in a series of pinks and violets. They directed the reclaimed loot to a storage house where the food would be properly inspected and sorted later. Baur jogged up to Lilia, casting a long shadow over Lilia with his massive frame compared to the much shorter right general. Coming to a halt, Baur saluted.
“SIR GENERAL LILIA, SIR!” Baur shouted. “Everything is in order and accounted for. The soldiers await your orders!”
Lilia winced at the shouting, but only for a moment. After knowing and working with someone for a number of years, you came to learn to accept their quirks, no matter how eccentric. Though, Lilia had to admit, he valued Baur even more for never apologizing to take up space.
Chuckling, Lilia looked up to address him. “Very good, Baur. Please tell them to turn in for the day, we have an intense training session to undergo tomorrow. I have a few errands to run, so we can discuss things in more depth later.” Lilia spoke, running through the training for the following night in his head.
Tapping his boot against the dewy grass, Lilia added one more thing.
“Oh, and have someone sent to the closest cottage to our camp from earlier. Ask the resident there about a commission for a broken window. It will be paid in full.”
“SIR YES SIR!” And with that, Baur went to address the battalion.
After watching Baur for another moment, Lilia stifled a yawn as he turned on his heel. Walking in the opposite direction, Lilia made his way to the castle. Sunrise was like sunset for the fae. When everything began to settle down or start up. The work of the right general never ceased, even in sleep; there was always more to be done. However, for Lilia, that looked like swords and fighting–the farthest thing from stuffy, old books.
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While Lilia read the occasional strategy book before a raid or short fairytale for nostalgia’s sake when he couldn’t sleep, reading and writing were two things you could rarely ever get him to do. Even as a child, he was most often the one who would distract Raverne and Maleanor during their private lessons with silly faces and other shenanigans.
Now, he held a position that required rock hard seriousness, because lives were on the line. Raverne, the left general and more diplomatic one, loved to study and soak up knowledge from the words on a page. So much so, he spent almost every waking moment of his alone time in the castle library. This is why it was no surprise when Lilia spotted his closest friend upon entering the library.
Light streamed in through tall windows, shadows being cast along the aging, wooden floors by leaves that swayed in the wind just outside. Raverne sat at a desk, head buried in a thick tome with fraying edges.
“Ho ho, and here I thought you were far too busy to focus on side quests after your diplomatic trip.” Lilia teased, wearing a sly smile.
Raverne looked up from his notes, grinning warmly at seeing Lilia.
“Ah, there he is! Another successful raid, I hear.”
Laughing proudly, Lilia pulled up a chair, leaning back and resting his heels on the desk.
“One of many.” Sighing exhaustedly, he glanced out the window. “Though, it only means the humans have found more of our weaknesses to exploit.”
For a moment, there was a flicker in Raverne's expression, Lilia noticed. He knew when Raverne was about to begin lecturing him. As if on cue, he stood up, enthusiastically flipping through one of the books.
“You know, my job is to lead peace envoys to mend relations between the lower fae courts. But, I have been extensively researching human history, as well.”
Raverne began, turning the book to show Lilia an illustration of humans performing household chores and a family having dinner together.
“They are quite similar to us, if you really think about it!”
Making his way back to the desk, Raverne slammed down the book, eyes bearing into the contents of its pages before continuing.
“There must be some way, some common thing to link our two kinds together. Something that will unite us and we can prosper together instead of tearing each other down!”
Lilia’s bored expression turned to a more wistful one. Raverne was so passionate about chasing a reality that the fae and human kingdoms could live in harmony. However, that was hard for him to imagine when his nights were filled with battling those same humans who stole their resources. Could the same people who were liars and thieves really hope for that same peace?
That was when Lilia remembered why he had come there in the first place.
“I know I normally wouldn’t ask something like this, but might you know where the grimoires are?”
Raverne glanced curiously at Lilia, eyes widening.
“My, has a certain someone finally acknowledged the value in a good book?”
Pouting, Lilia stood up from his seat, not in the mood to indulge his friend’s jab. Crossing his arms, he looked around at the vast sea of shelves.
“On the contrary, I have a debt to repay to a rather persistent citizen. They insisted any old grimoire would be worth more than the sum I was willing to pay.”
Lilia recounted his encounter with the elf girl, who was a seemingly gifted mage, yet lived alone in the forest between the human and fae kingdoms. Raverne leaned forward, appearing to hold onto every word. When Lilia was finished, Raverne hummed in thought, bringing his hand to his chin.
“Perhaps,” Raverne’s eyes sparkled. “Perhaps there is more to this elf than meets the eye. That blast you witnessed sounds quite powerful indeed. If I get the chance, I would like to meet her one of these days.”
Considering this, all Lilia could do was shrug. He had no idea how powerful she was, but that wasn’t his business.
“By the way,” Raverne turned to Lilia, tone curious. “What was the elf mage’s name?”
Lilia paused, realizing he may have forgotten that little detail during the initial commotion. Smiling awkwardly, he gave a small shrug, extracting an exaggerated gasp from Raverne, who held manners and introductions to a high regard.
Raverne showed Lilia to the section of the library where the grimoires were kept. Picking one up off the shelf, Lilia inspected one that seemed to be intact and sturdy enough. After Raverne gave his nod of approval, Lila started his journey back toward the forest with the grimoire in hand.
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Retracing his steps, Lilia located the cottage from the previous evening. As a night dweller, his eyes lacked their same vigilance in the sunlight they had in the dark. Despite any and all adversity, Lilia always managed. As he got closer to the cottage, he peaked around the side to see the window, still shattered, but now temporarily blocked by thick curtains.
Deciding to use the front door this time, he firmly knocked, announcing himself. After a few moments of silence and tapping his foot impatiently, Lilia knocked again. As he was about to knock harder, an exasperated voice stopped him.
“Keep that up, and you’ll knock the door off its hinges, too. It gets old, you know, sonny.”
Lilia whirled around, shoulders tensing at the scolding manner. He was met with the home’s resident, holding a giant wicker basket in either arm and wearing a thick cloak. Lilia’s eyes widened at the large baskets, but he decided it would be better not to question it for now. Remembering the grimoire, Lilia held out the grimoire with both hands.
“I have brought my payment, just as I said. One grimoire from the royal library. It must be up to your standards.”
Immediately setting down her baskets, she took the grimoire and began swiftly turning through its pages. She smirked, mumbling excitedly to herself. A confused Lilia stood there, unsure if she was going crazy after living in the middle of nowhere for too long or if this was just normal for her. Shutting the grimoire in one, practiced motion, shenodded in satisfaction.
“Yes, this is a fine specimen. A fruit-finding spell and everything. I will have to try this at the traveling market later today.”
Travelling market? Lilia hadn't heard about that before. Were there possibly more outliers who dared to live along the border between the opposing kingdoms? Crossing his arms, Lilia attempted to pull her attention from a further inspection of the grimoire.
“Travelling market? Are there other locals besides yourself who would make this forest a worthy stop for such a business?”
Lifting her head from the grimoire, the elf nodded subtly.
“Yes, you could say that. Not enough to be a town, but perhaps a spread-out village. Though, the market doesn’t come here. It is one or two miles past the border, in an isolated human village.”
Lilia paused. He knew this part of the forest left them closer to the human kingdom than the Briar Valley, so it technically made sense. But why, of all things, would an elf want to shop at a human market. Especially when that money eventually went back to a human kingdom that sought to absorb more and more of her kind’s resources?! Staring at her, he was baffled, to say the least.
When she didn’t burst into laughter or announce it as some strange prank, he realized she was serious. His job was to take back resources and more from the human soldiers who pilfered their storehouses. Though, Raverne’s words rang in his mind: There must be some way, some common thing to link our two kinds together. Something that will unite us and we can prosper together instead of tearing each other down!
Glancing at the two large wicker baskets, Lilia scooped one up, determined to find out the true nature of this travelling human market.
“I shall accompany you on your errands! Consider it further repayment for trespassing and shattering your window.”
Taken aback, she glanced at her broken window, then back at Lilia. Despite the original agreement, two soldiers had still already come by and promised a new window was being made for her at the moment. He had no reason to help her with menial tasks she could do perfectly well on her own.
“Soliders already came by to commission a new window, and now I have a new grimoire. The debt has been fulfilled well enough.”
Lilia clutched the basket tighter, too set on seeing this market. Besides, the window wouldn’t be finished for another day, and it would already be an inconvenience for her. All the more reason to let him tag along. She squinted her eyes, but after a moment, relented at seeing the determination in Lilia’s eyes.
Motioning for him to follow her, they began to make their way through the trees and the brush, crossing the threshold between the human and fae kingdoms. Most civilians saw no point in crossing to the other side, hence its lack of upkeep. Secretly, Lilia was grateful for the thicker trees and long shadows that acted as a partition between him and the sun.
Coughing, breaking the silence, Lilia glanced at the elf, hoping to come across as casual as possible.
“By the way, I don’t think I asked your name.”
Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she nodded, seemingly unperturbed by a usually rude question.
“It’s Frieren. And you are Lilia, right general of the Briar Valley.”
He nodded, smiling faintly. Before, Lilia had been insulted by her lack of respect for his title. However, now he could tell she simply had her own way of doing things, and he admired that about others.
“For the time being, just Lilia is fine.”
Frieren hummed, a little surprised. Though, she kept walking, eyes forward.
The wicker baskets swayed in their hands as they kept a steady pace. Lilia trailed behind Frieren, going a bit slower than he was used to. Her white pigtails bounced behind her, as if she had all the time in the world to just wander. A lifestyle the furthest thing from the life of a general; others were always looking to him for the answers to their problems.
Silence filled the space between them, interjected by the occasional bird call or breaking of a twig. However, it was a welcome silence; a comfortable one, even. The early morning was surprisingly calming, if you took the time to really be present in your surroundings.
Before they knew it, houses began to appear on the horizon line.