“What are you talking about? Are they attacking us?” Bromgar jumped from the table and started heading toward the door.

  “No, they are just standing,” Rurik said.

  "Just standing? Why are they just standing?" Bromgar said. Arix grabbed his hand from behind. "Remember. You have to end this cycle," Arix said in a low voice.

  Bromgar stared at Arix. “If they attack us, we will not sit and watch.”

  “If they attack you, we will help you defeat them,” Arix said.

  Bromgar turned away from Arix and went out of the town hall. Arix and the group followed him. A few of the dwarves also followed Bromgar.

  “These fuckers came to destroy our village again,” Bromgar hissed. “How many of them are there, Rurik?” he asked.

  “More than we have ever fought, Chief,” Rurik answered.

  “What did you expect? You guys killed all of their women and children,” Tarin said while walking beside Arix.

  “What’s done is done, boy. I will try to offer peace. But if the worst comes to pass, we will have a war on our hands,” Bromgar answered.

  “I hope they accept our peace offering,” Lyra said. Her heart was beating fast.

  “I hope so too,” Bromgar said as he reached the entrance of the village.

  Upon reaching, Arix saw the whole army of the Nyctona standing at the foot of the village.

  Most of them had curved swords in their hands, and every single one of them was riding a horse.

  A few of them who looked like generals were standing in front. There were five of them, to be exact.

  In the center of them all, slightly ahead of the rest, there was a Nyctona covered in armor with a turban on his head.

  “He looks like the king,” Lyra whispered.

  Arix nodded, and Meilie did as well.

  Bromgar stood there silently, watching the army at his gate. After a while, he swallowed hard and went ahead with Arix and the group, along with a few other dwarves who had come this far.

  The sun was about to set. Crows were cawing in the sky, and a cold wind started blowing through the air.

  Bromgar went ahead and stood before the Nyctona who looked like a king.

  The king looked down at Bromgar from his horse.

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  After a brief moment of silence, he reached for a pouch on his horse and pulled out something.

  It was a Nyctona's severed head. The eyes were glazed with blood, and the mouth hung open.

  After seeing the severed head, Lyra's eyes widened and she put both hands over her mouth.

  Everyone else stood there without saying a word.

  “You killed my wife. My beloved wife,” the king said.

  “How do you know that we were the ones who killed her?” Bromgar argued. Arix shook his head slightly at his response.

  “You left a child alive in our settlement. He revealed everything,” the king said.

  A brief silence followed again. Bromgar took a deep breath and continued, “You killed my boy eight years ago. He would have been eighteen by now if he were alive. What about that?”

  “What about that? We will kill you all too. You can join your son in hell,” the king said.

  "And where will that leave you? We will take as many of you as possible to hell with us. Maybe you too," Bromgar said. Arix shook his head a little and stared at him.

  Bromgar cleared his throat and continued, “How long will this cycle go on? You killed my son. I killed your wife. Let’s end this here. Let’s live in peace now.”

  “Live in peace? You dumb dwarf. There is no peace. You think I will let you go after you killed my wife?”

  “Fighting us will result in nothing. You have been fighting us for centuries now. Do you even remember why?” Bromgar said.

  “My ancestors vowed to wipe out your race from this land,” the king said.

  “And why is that?” Bromgar asked.

  “You don’t know, or are you playing dumb? You were our opponent in the Great Battle of Heaven. You killed every last Nyctona on the battlefield,” the king said.

  “That was centuries ago. I was not even alive. Why fight the battle our ancestors started? Think about your men and children. This worthless battle doesn’t let them grow and live in peace,” Bromgar said.

  Arix thought of adding his own words, but held back. This was not his place — the kings had to decide the fate of their own people.

  “Battle of Heaven?” Lyra whispered, leaning toward Meilie.

  Meilie gave her a side look without saying anything.

  “We will not live in peace until we wipe your race out,” the king said.

  “You are not going to accept our peace offering and insist on fighting anyway, knowing that you might lose?” Bromgar said.

  “Yes,” the king said.

  “Very well then. If you want a fight, then we will give you one,” Bromgar said, looking at Arix.

  Arix was looking at the king without saying anything.

  “Night is upon us. We will start this war tomorrow morning. I hope you have the dignity not to attack at night,” Bromgar said.

  “I do. We will stay here until morning and then slaughter you all.”

  “We will see who will slaughter whom,” Bromgar hissed.

  The king stared at Bromgar and then at Arix. “Peace would have been a good option, but you killed my wife. I will never forgive you all. I will kill every last one of you,” he thought before taking out his sword and raising it in the air. "I, King Kharvos, the eighteenth ruler of the Nyctona, declare war upon these dwarves," the king shouted.

  Every Nyctona started shouting and cheering.

  Bromgar turned away and started heading back into the village.

  “You saw it, boy. They will never accept peace,” Bromgar said to Arix.

  Arix took a deep breath and said, "I feared this would happen. This Kharvos guy will not sleep well until he kills all of the dwarves. We will help you in battle. Right, guys?" He turned back to his group.

  "Yes," Tarin said. Lyra agreed, and Meilie nodded.

  The other dwarves also followed them and spread the news about the attack.