Failed Negotiations

“Just… that?” Elara frowned. “Okay, can you maybe—like—give me a little more to work with?”
Lux cleared his throat before he answered.
“If I tell you everything, what are you going to do? Besides, this is kind of obvious, Elara… you should’ve seen it sooner.”

Elara bristled. She paused a beat, thinking, then murmured in that same distracted way,
“Maybe we should let them get hit by the undead a few times…” She lifted her head and asked, loud enough, “Lux, right? That’s what you meant?”

Lux cleared his throat again. Calm, steady, almost too polite: “No.”

Elara froze for a second.
“Come on, can’t you at least talk like a person? A little feeling when you say things?” She inhaled slowly and let the silence sit for a moment.

An idea popped into her head. Excited, she started to explain to Lux—when, out of nowhere, a huge, heavy monster fighting a few adventurers stumbled and crashed down. It fell on top of Elara. Her scream cut off fast.
“You idiot!” she yelled from under the beast.

Lux stepped out from under the creature, covered in blood, clearly annoyed—but then he cleared his throat and, with a mocking laugh, said,
“Well? You said you had a thought, right?”

Elara snapped back, sharp and rough:
“Shut up, you jerk! I even forgot what I was thinking… wait—now I remember.” She straightened, voice fierce. “You told me I could control undead, or bring them back to life, right?”

“Exactly,” Lux said. “So—what are you going to do with that power?”

Elara gave a sly, almost hyena-like grin. “Exactly what you’re thinking. But first, we have to talk to every base like diplomats. Smooth and careful.”

About three hours later, Elara reached the first base. It was the closest one, but also the weakest compared to theirs. She called out from the gate, loud and clear, “I come from Ben and Talon! I need to speak to your leader about something important!”

A watchman nodded and signaled the others to open the gate. Elara stepped inside expecting a base full of wounded and chaos—but most people looked fine. No signs of a new attack. Nothing messy.

Lux looked around, puzzled. “Why does this feel so… normal? Like a safe holiday spot rather than a base at war.”

“Exactly. Let’s go meet the boss and find out what’s up.”

“Okay—watch your words. One wrong line and this whole place might turn on us. Be careful.”
“I’ll try.”

A short way in, a man wearing the look of someone important came forward with a smile. “Welcome, young lady. I’m Nikh, right hand to our leader. You say you’re from Ben and Talon—why didn’t they come themselves?”

Elara stumbled a little but pulled herself together and answered politely, very formal:
“Yes. I come from Ben and Talon. Why they didn’t come is something I must discuss with your chief. Please—lead me to him.”

Nikh looked shocked, stress in his eyes. “Alright. Follow me. I hope this isn’t bad news—our chief does not like hearing bad news.”

They walked to the largest room in the base and stood at the chief’s door. Nikh knocked and announced loudly, “We have an envoy from Ben and Talon! May they enter?”

A deep, rough voice from inside said, “Bring them in.”

Nikh opened the door and led Elara into a big room. Stone walls, carved with gold patterns like leaves and roots. A large golden table. A throne on one side. Treasure and antiques filled the other. Elara paused to take it all in.

Then the leader spoke from his seat. “Welcome. Tell me—why have Ben and Talon come to see us again?”

Elara felt nervous. The chief’s face was rough—bearded, scarred, all the marks of a veteran fighter. She took a deep breath and, trying to sound sure, began:
“This is important. We need to talk now—may I start?”

“Start.”

Elara told the whole story. Attacks, wounded, everything. The chief closed his eyes and stayed quiet for a moment. Then, very calmly, he asked, “So—what do you want from our base?”

“You’re in danger too!” Elara said, leaning forward. “If this keeps going, all the bases in this region could be wiped out. People will get taken, and many will die.”

The chief shook his head. “I’m sorry, but what happened to your base is only happening to your base. We communicate with other nearby bases. No one else has reported attacks. So this looks like a war between your base and the undead, not a regional war.”

Elara froze. She answered, sharp and a little angry:
“What do you mean? Aren’t you going to join us? Even if you don’t help and we fall, won’t your base be at risk? We should unite now—strike at the undead and their master while we can.”