The End of Eternity

A Crack in the Emerald Dream

In the exact same moment, the general Beni An Iri was holding the new superweapon in his hand. His hand was trembling slightly, but it was not due to his excitement, but rather because of his anger. He lifted his hand up in the air, shaking with the object he was holding violently.

"What the heck is this?!" He roared. He repeated the sentence several times before puting the hand back down, looking at the thing. It was a teddy bear.

He was supervising the experiments for weeks and his only result was a cute fluffy teddy bear. He wanted a weapon, which would drive away their fear from the undead horde and this was the manifestation which had appeared.

The two members of the elven council suppressed their urge to laugh. They even had to turn away to manage the feat.

"Hillarious." Whispered the first. "I do not think we need to watch over this incompetent fool any longer. You were right, he is fit to supervise the research." The second person nodded and both of the tall figures walked into the distance. They did not even bother with bidding farewell, before parting their ways with the general.

They did not know, they were not the only ones suppressing their urges . As soon as they left the big hall, Beni An Iri lashed in the direction they had left with his hateful gaze. He opened up his hand and the teddy bear fell to the ground, the show was flawless.

"Prepare the real experiment." He whispered in a way only the closest elves, who stood next to him, could hear him.

Just a few people knew, that the situation in the Emerald Dawn was serious and the war with the undead was already ongoing. Their main army was still years away, but their vampires had already arrived some time ago and with the pace the things were going, the undead would defeat them even before the main army would be standing at their border.

Many vampires managed to get through the border and with the promise of eternal existence, they managed to convert many elders and key figures in the elven society. Before anyone could have taken any action, the vampires's fraction was de facto ruling the country, seeking to destroy it from the inside. Third of the elders were now vampires and the second third craved to become vampires too, or had become a nodding-machines out of fear. The council of elders was completely paralyzed, unable to take any action.

The last line of defense were officers in the elven army and a few brave aristocrats and elders who were still defiant, but they kept dying one by one. No guards were able to protect them for long from the vampire assassins.

While Beni An Iri was thinking about the serious situation they had gotten themselves into, a messenger stepped into the room.

"General, sir! The transport has been attacked! The package is stolen!" The general's face paled as one of the few of his achievements had been snatched away from him.

"You mean Melvin's Emporium's transport?"

"Yes, the soldiers protected it bravely, they have even killed some vampires, but the attackers were too numerous. "

" . . .and the scroll containing a clue about defeating the cursed undead for which our scouts risked their lives is lost." The general had no doubt in his mind, it was the work of vampires. He had deliberately sent just a small unit to protect the transport to avoid attention, but his plan had failed.

"They must have infiltrated Melvin's Emporium too." An officer next to him blurted out.

"What are you still standing here for? You have finished your report, get out." General Beni An Iri snapped at the reporting soldier.