"Andraste, last year when I traded my freedom for his," Mitch said in a strong but flat tone. This seemed to be a habit, this elf sacrificing everything to protect a family member, to protect this specific family member. Though he had turned Mitch stared at him intently, it was the only thing that could be done to prevent the memories from flooding back. Andraste was the name it had gone by for the elves in the past when the city had been a beckon of hope for the future. It had been the largest elven city, and it had also been the last to fall. In the final fights of the war, Andraste had been protected with the vigor of the elves' last stand, but their moral code to not kill was what had gotten them in the end. It fell.

Mitch could remember still fighting to the end, still trying to push back, but, with all the others, Mitch had been rounded up, as had Cliff, and they watched their city burn to the ground. The city had once held 5,000 elves, 20 had been lucky enough to be captured and only 10 of them made it to the slave market. Cliff was the only one that had escaped, Mitch still bore the guilt of that. Being crafty and having no self-interest, Mitch had made a plan that would never have worked for both of them, but Cliff had escaped and that was all that mattered.

The city no longer stood, and many humans had taken to calling it the Valley of death, no animal dared set foot in that part of the forest and so the silence was broken only by the occasional howling wind which many believed to sound like the mournful sobs of the dead. They claimed it to be haunted. Mitch knew the truth was that the forest could not survive without magic, nothing would grow as long as there were no elves to take care of it. It wouldn't be an easy task to traverse that area, but this man seemed just arrogant enough to ignore the warnings and search anyway if it meant getting his prize.

By this point, Mitch had relaxed and was leaning against the bookshelf with heavy-lidded eyes. Thaddeus paced in front. Though it would be most beneficial to start searching now, the adrenalin, from Thaddeus getting imposingly close, had worn off and Mitch was beginning to feel the weight of captivity once again. The elf's eyes began to slide closed, as if in contemplation, but it was really just weariness.