REBORN AS A HIGH ELF SLAVE

The road stank of blood and overturned earth.

Eon was now standing over the boss of the bandits with one boot planted firmly on the man’s chest. Thick earthen spikes, punched up from the packed dirt, were locking the bandit’s arms, legs, and torso in place like a crude cage. The man’s clothes were shredded, one shoulder laid open where a muddy spike had grazed him, and red blood ran from the corner of his mouth every time he coughed. Eon himself barely looked touched, only a shallow cut along his forearm and a tear in the sleeve of his tunic.

Twenty paces away, the last of the fighting had already burned itself out. Nora stood among a scatter of bodies, chest rising and falling hard, short blade in her hand still dripping with the blood of her enemies. 

Around her, roughly twenty bandits lay still. The rest of the hundred had dragged themselves off the road with broken limbs, sitting frozen in the dirt. Some even were staring at her like she was something that had crawled out of a nightmare from their dreams. 

Elsa still remained mounted on her horse a little farther back, spear resting across her thighs, silver hair and white clothes streaked with other people’s blood. She looked calm. Almost bored from how easy the fight had been for her. Nora was enough to make the rest of the bandits too scared to even try to come forward now..

The boss under Eon’s leg tried to rise. But the earthen spikes held him down. Still, Eon put more weight on the boot, and the man grunted, coughing up another thin spray of red.

“So? Who sent you?” Eon’s voice was quiet, almost seeing through the guy.

The bandit spit blood sideways. “Nobody. We just saw an easy mark. Caravan full of elves. Figured we’d…”

Without letting the guys finish the words, as if he wasn’t liking the answer he was getting, something shifted under Eon’s palm. A thin, translucent blade of water formed in his right hand with a soft hiss, edges catching the morning light. The boss’s free hands flew up instinctively, trying to shield his face even though the rest of him was pinned. He was shocked to see silent casting. Especially from an Elf. 

Eon tilted his head. “Huh, you seriously thought I could pass with that lame excuse? A hundred bandits just happen to be waiting on the exact road we’re taking? Just the morning after we left the village, when nobody was around this route? You think I’m that stupid? Even a fool would find that too suspicious.”

The boss said nothing. Only the wet sound of his breathing filled the space between them.

Getting no answer from the guy under him, Eon got a little angry. He lowered the water blade until the tip hovered an inch above the man’s throat. “So what’s it going to be? You talk: who and why did someone want you to engage us? Or if living has become too much of a bother, I can fix that too, right now. Your choice.”

The guy still said nothing. Keeping his mouth shut, eyes on Eon’s without blinking.

As the guy’s staring raised his anger more, Eon’s wrist tensed. The blade edged closer. He really was considering whether slicing the guy’s neck is a better move right now. If he doesn't talk, there is no reason for him to waste his time around here anymore.

Just before the blade was about to press on the skin, “Neir,” the boss snarled through gritted teeth, frustration finally cracking his silence. “Neir Hyra. That prick’s the one who gave me the order.”

The name instantly rang a bell in everyone behind Eon, as well as in him.

Behind Eon, boots scuffed dirt. Elsa walked up, spear still in hand, the blood on her clothes already starting to dry dark. She stopped a few paces away, eyes narrowing.

“Neir Hyra?” she said. “Why would he come at us directly? Didn’t we just send Hans to talk peace and open trade before….? Wait, then does that mean….?”

Eon pressed his boot harder on the guy’s chest, under him. The boss’s ribs creaked.

“That’s not possible,” Eon said, more to himself than to the guy under him. “I sent my representative to mediate with Neir. That can’t have gone wrong already.”

The pinned man managed a bloody smirk. “Heh… mediate with that guy…” He shifted as much as the spikes binding his body to the ground allowed. “I don’t know anything about your messenger. All I can say is, my orders come by letter. That’s it.”

He jerked his chin toward his own chest. “It's here… Left side. Inside pocket.”

Eon eased the pressure just enough for the man to dig the folded paper free with two fingers. Before can unfold it himself, Eon snatched it, unfolded it with one hand, and scanned the short, blunt lines of text.

“Intercept the group heading into Edger County. Kill every one of them except the marquess and the elf leader. No questions. No delays.”

Eon’s jaw tightened.

‘What the fuck…? So, Hans’s negotiation fell through? Already?’

He released the earth spikes completely. Losing the mana that was holding them together, they crumbled back into loose dirt. The boss pushed himself up onto his elbows, breathing hard, then sat fully once Eon stepped back.

“I don’t like being ordered around by some other county’s bastard son either,” the man said, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand. 

“What can I do? Neir runs the black market in both Hyra and Edger county. Every illegal cart, every quiet deal, every bribe that keeps the patrols looking the other way, has his eyes. If you want to eat out here, you do the occasional chore for him. A man like me got to survive somehow, right?”

Eon laughed once, short, sharp, empty of humor.

Then he stepped in and drove his knee straight into the boss’s face this time. A sudden kick.

Cartilage gave with a wet crunch. The bandit reeled back, hands flying to his nose. Eon planted his boot on the man’s chest again and leaned down.

“What the fuck are you saying?” His voice had gone flat and cold. “You’re talking like doing criminal work is fine as long as it keeps you fed. As long as the coin comes in, anything’s justified. Is that it?”

The boss’s eyes watered from the broken, bloodied nose. He still managed to bark back, “Don’t speak like you know a damn thing about me, bastard. You have no idea what I had to go through to….”

Eon pressed harder. “No. I don’t know. And guess what? I don’t want to know. I have zero interest in whatever sob story you tell yourself so you can sleep at night while you attack people around the county, who are just trying to live. I don’t care how many lives you’ve ruined or how many families you’ve torn apart. None of that matters to me.”

His tone dropped even lower. He got down, mouth closer to the man’s ears.

“All I know is this: anyone who threatens me and my people, becomes my problem. And I’m getting real sick of problems showing up every single time I try to give them a little peace.”

The boss stared up at him, blood still leaking from his nose. After a long second, he let out a tired, almost resigned breath.

“Then why are you still letting me live? Kill me. Get it over with. Why not solve one of your problems right now?”

Eon didn’t answer immediately. He turned his head just enough to glance back over his shoulder.

Elsa stood watching, spear lowered but still ready. Verra had come up behind her, expression unreadable. Further back, the elves were leaning out of the carriage windows, faces pale but eyes fixed on the scene. Nora remained where she had stopped, blade still in hand, watching Eon, curious just as everyone else.

For a moment it looked like he really was going to finish the guy.

Then Eon lifted his boot and stepped fully away.

“No,” he said. “I’m not killing you.”

The boss blinked, confused.

Eon crouched so their faces were level. When he spoke again, the words were quiet, meant for the bandit’s ears alone, and carried a weight that made the air around them feel colder.

“I’m letting you go so you can deliver a message for me. Tell that scumbag Neir Hyra that I’m coming for him. He better be ready. His little tyranny over Edger County ends, starting now.”

He straightened, turned his back on the bleeding man, and started walking toward the caravan without looking again.

Behind him, the boss sat in the dirt, one hand pressed to his broken nose, staring at the one and only elf he had ever met till now.

And he wasn’t quite happy with this meeting.

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