As I said, the poachers are just a distraction and won't cause much damage. Sure, Nefas has a few other tricks to throw us into disaster. Don't forget he's a powerful black magician! " after a short pause he added: "And don't worry too much about the poachers. My warriors will take care of that."
That cleared a lot of Alec's questions, but he wanted to know more. An important question was still on the tongue.
"I don't know if I have the right to ask, but why haven't the elves and dwarves done anything yet? You must have noticed the poachers by now!"
"I wonder that too!" Ryoe put in quickly. "The elves are much more astute than we are!"
Etenor smiled slightly and replied, "You still have a lot to learn, Alec, Ryoe. Yes, the elves are more astute than us humans, but still, the area where the poachers have appeared is not under their management.The people are responsible for this, so as long as the situation is not too critical, they will not intervene. "
The feeling of traveling to the home of the elves and dwarves worried Alec a little. He had met many Elven Lords but never visited their halls. Stories were told about it, but most of it was grossly exaggerated. Only those who have really been there before can tell what it looks like in the home of the elves and dwarves, but none of them say more than a few words about it. Probably it is a silent promise between the peoples not to tell anything about the homeland of the other.
"With that I have actually said everything I wanted to tell you. Unfortunately, I can't give you more information. We don't know that much ourselves! If you want to find out more, you have to ask my friend to whom you should bring the letter. He lives in Grafrath. "
"Grafrath ... !?" Ryoe gasped. That was so far away!Grafrath was on Lake Grafton and to get there one had to cross the Balaghat Plains and the Ecrins River and then find a safe pass over the Catena Mountains.
"If you look so sullen at Grafrath, how are you going to get to El Ghor or Zadar?" Asked the king, amused.
"Oh, I was just ... surprised ..." Ryoe replied softly and leaned into his chair, arms crossed.
"And how do we get to Grafrath? Shall we fly?" Asked Alec. After all, they hadn't thought about the trip yet.
"No, no!" Began the king. "That is far too dangerous! You would attract attention and would be great food for the archers of our enemies!"
"We should travel on foot?" Asked Ryoe, who had found his language again. "And Neo ?!"
"You take it with you, of course! He's also good on foot," laughed the king.
"What about shadows?" Alec asked. "Should I take it with me?""If that's what you want, you're welcome to take him with you. It's always good to have another companion by your side."
"The only question is whether Shade wants to come with us at all ..." Ryoe said defiantly.
"You could say that," added Alec. "He has a mind of his own!"
"Well then," said the king. "Ryoe you can go and prepare everything for the trip and you Alec stay here a moment!"
The two young men looked puzzled and Ryoe shrugged.
“Well, I'll go and prepare everything.” It bothered him a little that Etenor wanted to tell Alec more than he did, but he wasn't the king's son.
Ryoe got up from his chair and walked quickly out of the room without saying another word. When the door closed behind him, Alec said: "And why am I still here? A moral sermon? Or something else like that? By the way, what kind of speech was that before the assembled warriors?"A strange introduction if you ask me ... "
"Now all of a sudden you are pestering me with questions, my son!" Said Etenor and got up to take a look out the window. "My speech was only aimed at persuading the warriors. Or do you think they would have accepted this assignment without the necessary incentive? People have become lazy since there have been no more wars! With the story that every child knows, I have just laid the foundation. "
"And why am I here now?" The boy asked impatiently.
"Well ... I have something for you, my son."
At this point in time, Alec didn't know that this gift would have a decisive impact on his life ...