While Lusian slept, a commotion echoed through the settlement.
The ground gave way without breaking.
The earth simply opened.
It happened in the lower stretch of the mountain, between two recently established herbivore settlements.
Three scouts were the first to see it. They had gone out gathering near the settlement. They were not young. Nor were they reckless.
Out of caution, they did not run.
They planted their hooves firmly into the ground.
Lowered their heads.
Aligned their horns.
Preparing to fight.
But what emerged…
was not a beast.
It was something else. Something they had never seen before.
Too upright.
Too… deliberate.
A being of dark stone slowly emerged from the crack. It wore no armor; its own body looked carved from black rock. There was no flesh beneath that structure. Only stone.
And yet… it emanated powerful mana.
White, pale, taut threads ran across its body, like tendons supporting a form that should not move.
At the center of its chest pulsed a polyhedron of dull crystal.
Like magma buried beneath stone.
A core.
Its face had no mouth.
No nose.
Only a smooth surface crossed by carved slits.
And those obsidian eyes…
were watching them.
The three scouts understood instantly.
That thing was dangerous.
And far stronger than they were.
Two more figures emerged behind the first.
"Do not run."
The voice vibrated through the air like stone scraping across wet rock.
The herbivores remained motionless, confused. Within minutes, more semihumans began approaching from the nearby camps, drawn by the commotion.
The creature slightly inclined its head.
"We have come to warn you. The evil one has appeared… and it will destroy the continent."
The silence immediately tightened.
"Identify yourselves," ordered the semihuman leader, stepping forward.
"We are the Lithaar."
There was a brief pause.
"The active balance of this continent."
One of the scouts stepped back half a pace, uneasy.
"Then explain," he said cautiously.
Another Lithaar tilted its neck.
"The soil is dying."
It slowly raised a stone hand and pointed toward the vegetation covering the mountain.
"All of this… is being created by the evil one. That vegetation steals the mana of the earth. It is consuming what exists beneath it."
The obsidian eyes swept across the gathered herbivores.
"And when it finishes… nothing will remain."
The semihumans looked at one another.
They did not fully understand those words.
Why should they care about what happened beneath the earth?
They only knew one thing: there was food there. Abundant. Rich in mana. And thanks to it, they were becoming stronger.
The tallest Lithaar spoke again.
"The balance has been altered. A non-native accumulation point has been created."
It raised a stone hand.
The vibration traveled through the ground.
The small rocks began bouncing in the same rhythm.
"Thar'Kaal has been born again."
A heavy pause fell over the valley.
"It must not exist."
The silence became absolute.
"It is a destructive being. A thief."
"An accumulator," roared another Lithaar.
It stepped forward.
"It was expelled a thousand years ago."
The declaration fell like an ancient sentence.
"We demand its destruction."
The obsidian eyes glowed faintly.
"Or we will do it ourselves."
And this time… it did not sound like a warning.
"There will not be a second warning."
From a smaller opening, two more Lithaar emerged.
They were smaller. More agile.
Younger… and clearly more inexperienced.
"Let us see it," one of them said. "We can neutralize it."
The leader slowly turned its head toward them.
"No."
But the young Lithaar had already moved.
It climbed the slope swiftly, advancing toward the mountain until it reached one of the enormous roots of the Mother Tree protruding between earth and stone.
It extended both stone hands and pressed them against the root, as if trying to tear it out.
"Evil thief… die."
Then it happened.
The root glowed faintly.
The Lithaar's mana was absorbed instantly.
The stone body became motionless.
The dull light of its core went out.
And the young one remained still… like an abandoned statue.
Its companion reacted immediately.
"Kael!"
It ran toward him and grabbed his arm.
The moment it touched him, the energy also left its body.
The glow of its core collapsed.
And it fell lifeless to the ground.
The Lithaar leader watched the scene in silence.
But it was already too late.
The two stone bodies remained motionless beside the root, their cores extinguished.
"The evil one…" it finally said. "Thar'Kaal will end everything."
The vibration of its voice traveled through the earth like a funerary echo.
From the mountain, Selvryn was the first to sense it.
Her eyes immediately lifted toward the Mother Tree.
Lusian felt it as well.
A weak call.
Small.
But filled with anguish.
The Tree was calling them.
As if it had sensed danger.
While the commotion grew at the foot of the mountain, Lusian descended mounted on Thunder.
The black steed moved among the rocks with unnatural calm, every step carrying contained electricity. Blue arcs ran through its mane and slid beneath its hooves, leaving the air vibrating in its wake.
Selvryn clung to Lusian's back, holding tightly while she watched the valley with tense eyes.
When they arrived, they found the motionless bodies of the fallen Lithaar beside one of the exposed roots of the Mother Tree.
Marks from hands were pressed into the living bark.
The mana around it still trembled.
The Lithaar leader slowly clenched its stone fists.
Without emotion.
Without surprise.
"You see."
It raised its gaze toward the mountain, toward the immense tree stretching above them.
"Thar'Kaal will destroy everything."
The dry wind crossed the valley.
"Its purpose is conquest."
Thunder stepped forward once more.
There was no tension in Lusian.
No haste.
He simply watched.
"Explain," he ordered.
The Lithaar's obsidian eyes fixed on him.
"What are you?" Lusian asked again.
The leader slightly inclined its head.
"We are the Lithaar. The active balance of this continent."
The ground vibrated beneath everyone present.
"Take us to Thar'Kaal."
Another Lithaar stepped forward.
"We will cut off its breath."
"We will darken its surroundings."
"We will isolate its flow."
The leader continued:
"And when it dies… the world will return to balance."
The Lithaar began advancing up the mountain.
Then—
Thunder discharged.
Electricity exploded in blue arcs that illuminated the night.
The air tore apart with a brutal roar.
The stone plates of the Lithaar vibrated violently.
The ground crackled beneath their bodies.
From the saddle, Lusian spoke with absolute calm.
"You do not have permission to advance."
His eyes remained fixed on them.
"Much less to harm the Tree."
Silence suddenly fell over the valley.
For the first time since their existence… the Lithaar felt something strange.
The presence of that human was monstrous.
They could not measure it.
They could not comprehend it.
But they could recognize it.
Danger.
The Lithaar leader held his gaze for a few more seconds.
"You will regret this."
Even so… it retreated.
The earth closed again when the Lithaar disappeared.
Without a trace.
Without cracks.
As if they had never been there.
Only the two motionless figures beside the root of the Mother Tree remained.
Empty statues.
And one certainty hanging in the air:
More problems had appeared.
Mukhar rested both hands on his ceremonial staff. His enormous ears swayed slowly, and his trunk released a deep sound as he observed the petrified figures.
"So they truly exist… interesting."
Lusian barely turned his head toward him.
"You know them?"
Mukhar slowly shook his head.
"I only heard ancient stories."
His small eyes fixed on the motionless Lithaar.
"It is the first time I've seen one."
That same night, a discussion began in the semihuman camp.
At the center of the great communal shelter stood Mukhar, leaning on his ceremonial staff. In front of him, the tribal leaders formed a wide semicircle.
Massive bodies.
Skin marked by scars, claws, and wounds from countless battles.
Survivors of the savanna.
"The savanna is dying," one of them said. "That is no longer up for debate."
"But the mountain lives," another immediately replied. "And from today onward it will be our home. We must divide the territories. The summit will be mine."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Mukhar smiled faintly. His large ears swayed slowly.
"Go and take it," he said calmly. "But do not come asking for help afterward."
A buffalo female snorted heavily.
"The mana in that place is not wild. The plants grow with incredible energy… delicious. We must take it. The humans will not interfere."
Her eyes gleamed with aggression.
"And if they do… we will crush them."
A murmur spread through the shelter.
"And the elves?" someone asked. "Will you crush them too?"
The female struck the ground with a hoof.
"If they interfere… yes."
Mukhar closed his eyes.
For an instant, the shelter became completely silent.
Then he spoke.
"Do you think all of this is coincidence?"
The leaders looked at one another.
Though few admitted it aloud, everyone knew Mukhar was wise. Far more than he appeared.
"It is not," he continued.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Something happened on that mountain."
"Something we do not understand."
Pause.
"And it may be a treasure… or a disaster."
No one was shocked by those words.
Because they had all thought the same thing.
"Then why not take it?" the buffalo female insisted. "You can take the citadel. I will follow you."
"The humans will not surrender it," growled another leader.
Mukhar struck the ground with his staff.
Dry.
"Enough."
The shelter fell silent.
"We will not attack head-on."
He slowly looked at each of those present.
"Not yet."
Pause.
"We will observe."
The night wind shook the shelter's cloth coverings.
"And no one will approach the mountain during the night."
Another pause.
"Not even Ur'Khaal survived."
The weight of that name fell upon everyone present.
Several looked away.
"First we must understand what killed him."
A young leader finally spoke, uncertain.
"What if it was that human… Lusian?"
Mukhar stared at him.
"That human is strong. Perhaps stronger than…"
The sentence remained unfinished.
Even he seemed uncomfortable finishing it.
In the end, he released a long snort.
"For now, no one will attack. First we will talk. We will try to reach an agreement."
No one laughed.
Because everyone knew something about Mukhar: although in the savanna he devoured more food than anyone else, he never allowed hunger to rule his mind.
Selvryn sat down abruptly, clearly furious.
"Why are you so patient? They hurt it."
Lusian nodded slightly, without losing his calm.
"Calm down. The ones who hurt it… turned into stone, even though they were already made of stone."
Selvryn frowned in frustration.
"The dangers are increasing. We should begin by driving those animals away. They are eating the newborn forest."
Lusian did not take his eyes off the mountain illuminated by the night.
"Do not be reckless. We are not ready yet. Give everyone more time to grow stronger."
Pause.
"Peace is something difficult to obtain. Let us enjoy it while it lasts."
Selvryn could not understand him.
That human possessed enough strength to subdue every semihuman in the savanna… and yet he remained there, observing, waiting, tolerating.
It was frustrating.
But she also understood something more important.
The absolute priority was protecting the Mother Tree.
Without it, the elves would slowly die.
And Lusian was its guardian.
That was why, as long as he remained before the tree… she would stand at his side.