Forced Choices

A group of elves were gathered outside the village, divided into two sides. On one end were the Evernight elves, beautiful and refined beyond compare, while on the other end were the shorter and more backwards locals. There were about a hundred people from the Duskword Tribe here, and someone whose outfit was different from the rest was pacing back and forth in front of the villagers.

The Evernight elves glared at the man in front of them, but none of them dared to speak up against his rude glances. He snickered and said loudly, “A merger is your only way out, the only way to keep your tree of life.”

“Is this even a merger?” a young Evernight elf shouted.

The Duskword elf walked over to the youth and stared him in the eyes, enunciating every word, “If I call it a merger,...