The tense atmosphere eased for a moment when Annan extended his invitation.
The Bark Elf looked at Serana, and the Deer Halfling nodded to him.
"This place will be unlike any human city-state you've ever known..." the Treefolk Druid encouraged him.
“Then let me see what made Treebeard willing to betray the Druids...” The Bark Elf's icy gaze fell on Annan. “...Annan Potter, lead the way.”
"Come with me. And just call me Annan."
The Druids gathered around Annan, while the Druid Avengers followed behind.
"Mr. Treefolk, have you all been well?" Annan asked.
Treebeard chuckled like an old man. "We settled in the Third Monster Mountains. There's no Ratfolk threat there, and no humans venture that deep into the forest. What about you?"
"It was hard at first... We were forced to flee the Northern Frontier. After we brought the hundreds of thousands of people from Star-Moon Bay and Breeze City to Middle Earth, they scattered. Only a little over ten thousand stayed with us. Olmedo took them to buy Shelter Harbor Town in the Third Monster Forest Mountains, while I came to the Tartun Empire to seek a fief..."
Annan told Treebeard what had happened over the past few months. The Druid Avengers heard it all too.
“Wow, I didn't even know that.” “Your city-state is a Floating City? Then why not raise it into the sky?”
If he had been surrounded by an envoy delegation, Annan would have said that making the Floating City rise was merely a way to escape danger, while remaining on the ground offered greater benefits. If he had been among his own people, he would have told the truth: the Arcane Core's range was too small. He would raise the city once it could lift an entire city's worth of land. But