A New Split

Many more years passed, and Leo and Lilith grew old. The clan also grew ever stronger under their leadership.

But prosperity was bound to be followed by decline. After Lilith died, Leo missed her so much that he began neglecting the clan's affairs.

Lilith died in a war to put down a rebellion. The rebels had threatened one of the guards at Lily's side, using his family to coerce him. While Lilith was concentrating on casting a spell, the guard struck her a fatal blow.

Lilith's death dealt Leo a devastating blow. He ordered every living thing in the rebellious region slaughtered, and fear spread through the clan.

He then ordered the mages to study time magic in an attempt to change Lilith's death, but it was all in vain. It was impossible to learn time magic from just the few records of it in the Eternal Elves' mentor's notes.

But Leo, who missed his beloved, paid that no mind. He gave the mages an absolute order to develop time magic that could save Lilith, no matter the cost.

Leo's actions gave some warriors who had always looked down on mages a whiff of opportunity. They volunteered to monitor the mages' progress. Leo had become obsessed by now, and he agreed to the warriors' suggestion.

These warriors who discriminated against mages began watching the masters' every move, treating the mages harshly.

Because of Leo's orders, the mages held themselves back and avoided conflict with the warriors.

But the warriors paid that no mind. They took it as a sign that the mages were afraid of them.

The warriors beat and berated the mages at every turn, while telling Leo that the mages were only pretending to work.

Without caring whether the reports were true, Leo called the mages' leader to account. He had always suspected that the leader had plotted Lilith's death in order to become the mages' leader.

No matter how the leader defended himself, Leo refused to listen and shortened the time allotted for the research once again.

The enormous pressure left the mages struggling to breathe. They began planning how to overthrow Leo's rule, but the warriors discovered their uprising.

Leo flew into a rage and ordered the execution of every mage involved in the rebellion. Leo still had some reason left and understood the importance of mages, but the warriors cared nothing for that. They twisted Leo's orders and attacked all the mages.

During that time, war, fear, and blood filled every town in the clan. The mages did not sit and wait for death; they fought back. But this was exactly what the warriors wanted, and a battle between mages and warriors began.

In the end, the warriors won through sheer numbers, but they too suffered heavy losses. The weakening of Leo's clan gave the hostile forces around them a chance for revenge.

"Sigh, Lilith, I really miss you." Leo, now an old man, lay in bed, longing for his departed partner.

He knew what state the clan was in and had thought about dealing with it, but he was too old to devote much more energy to those affairs.

"Guard!" Leo shouted toward the door.

"Chief, you called for me?" The guard at the door ran in.

"Go and summon General Lothar," Leo said to the guard who had entered, lying on the bed. (Thoradin's surname should be Lothar, right? As Thoradin's descendant, Lothar's full name was Anduin Lothar.)

"Yes." Hearing the chief's order, the guard went to summon General Anduin.

This General Lothar came from the first tribe Leo had personally conquered during his expansion. When Lothar's tribe realized the gap between the two tribes, it had willingly joined Leo's tribe.

Lothar had great military and political talent, but confined to his small tribe, he had been unable to put his gifts to use.

After joining Leo's tribe, he was able to put his talents to use. On the battlefield, he could always defeat larger forces with fewer men, attacking his enemies' weaknesses. When dealing with others in the clan, he was always humble and approachable, earning the affection of many people.

Leo had also noticed him and had been watching him to see whether he could take over as chief.

"Chief, General Lothar is here." The guard entered with Lothar.

"All right, you may leave. I want to speak with General Lothar alone," Leo said to the soldier.

"Yes, Chief. Call me if you need anything." With that, the guard withdrew.

"Chief, what did you call me here for?" Seeing that the soldier had left, Lothar spoke to Leo.

Leo sat up in bed and looked at Lothar. "Lothar, my life is nearly at its end. Now I want to entrust this shattered clan to you. Can you shoulder the responsibilities of chief?" Leo asked, looking at Lothar.

"This is too sudden, Chief. I don't know if I can shoulder that responsibility." Lothar was shocked by Leo's words. He had never expected to earn Leo's recognition.

"You can! Your talents made you who you are. You're destined to be an excellent chief. Besides, can you honestly say you haven't had any ambition in anything you've done up to now?" Leo spoke plainly.

"I... I..." Leo's words left Lothar at a loss. He admitted that he was ambitious, but Leo's words had pierced his disguise.

"There's no one else here. Tell me, are you willing to take over as chief?" Leo asked Lothar the same question again.

"I am." Seeing that Leo had seen through his disguise, Lothar gave his answer without hesitation.

"Good." Leo was very pleased with Lothar's answer. He took out the war sword and jeweled crown from beside the bed.

"These belong to you now. Forgive me for being unable to give you a grand succession ceremony." Leo handed Lothar the weapon and crown that symbolized the chief's authority.

"I'll make the clan strong again! I swear it!" Lothar took the war sword and crown from Leo.

"No! The clan's decline is already inevitable. What you must do now is preserve its spark." Leo rejected Lothar's idea of restoring the clan.

"The hostile clans around us won't stand by and let us grow strong again, much less now that we've lost our mages because of me."

"I've already made preparations for you. Take the people I've selected for you and go here." As he spoke, Leo took out a map.

The map showed the extent of Leo's clan's territory. Leo pointed to a place at the edge of it and spoke to Lothar.

"Take the clan's spark here. It will keep you away from the war that's about to break out here, and you can thrive there."

Lothar looked at the location on the map. Drawing on his strategic talent, he concluded that the place Leo had chosen would indeed allow them to live well.

"I understand, Chief. I'll make sure the clan's spark lives on."

"Mm. The new clan will be called Arathi."