(A few days ago)

In a spacious hall with a ceiling twenty feet high, designs of fruit and flowers were carved into the molding, and small, fat children with wings looked down at the marble floor from every angle. Vases of blossoms gave off a cloying scent that made my eyes itch. The hall had a square oak table in the center with numerous comfy chairs to sit in. Since there were no windows, sun rays could peek into the room. Instead, a magnificent chandelier hung above the oak table, brightening the hall with its golden light.

The dark brown walls made of wood perfectly complemented the marble floor though one would think the combination wouldn't work. The only way to get in or out of the hall was the steel door with countless runes engraved in it. Seconds became minutes, and minutes turned an hour when the door finally creaked open. Xanali stepped into the hall and strolled toward the table.

"They'll be here soon, mother," Xanali pulled out a chair and said, looking at the door. Then, a tall, graceful woman dressed in majestic red robes. Her hourglass figure sat well on her wafer-thin body. She had a complexion of an impeccable golden hue. Her pencil-thin eyebrows eased down gently to her black, beetle's-leg eyelashes. A sculptor could not have better fashioned her seraph's ears and pixie's nose. Filed to perfection, her rose-red fingernails ran through her fiery red hair. Spools of it plunged around her photogenic face and hid a swan's neck, elegant and smooth. This woman was born to draw attention toward her, and it was hard not to look and give her full attention. When she opened her mouth to answer Xanali, her beguiling, oyster-white teeth lit up the room.

She was the ruler of Nagaland and Xanli's mother, Salesi Harthill. Even after marrying the king of Nagaland, she kept her last name without changing it as any woman would have. Once Salesi settled down, people began to enter the hall one by one through the door. At first, some elves arrived, then some dwarves, orcs, and humans. At last, a group of orcs with books the size of a newborn baby entered the hall and took their seats before the table. After the nagas filled the rest of the empty seats, Salesi finally rose from her chair to address the sixty or so people in the hall. They all stopped muttering amongst themselves and turned their gazes toward her. Victoria and Evan sat with the humans in the crowd, holding hands under the table.

"First of all, I thank all of you for answering the summons and coming here," said Salesi in her captivating voice that fits for a ruler.

"We are gathered here to make an important step in history to protect our world from all the evil there is and will be," Salesi started her speech in a calm manner.

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"The great eight clans used to protect the world and us. But the reason you've all here is that you and I both feel the same. They've failed us. They forgot the very reason why they were created in the first place. Corruption has rooted in them to the core. If we want our future generations to thrive and prosper, we as their elders have to come together and do what must be done," Salesi paused and looked at her audience.

"We must be the shield that protects our world from evil and darkness," Salesi slightly raised her voice.

"We must be the light-bringers in the shadow," her words echoed through the hall.

"We must fight for the future of this world for our children,"

Everyone had a tiny spark in their eyes after hearing her thundering words. Each of them in the hall was handpicked by Salesi herself. The most important thing Salesi looked at in them was their patriotism and the thirst to protect the world. If one was to dig more about each individual, they could find that these people either witnessed the Dark Lord's wrath in person or were kicked out of their clan for doing what the others deemed a violation of clan rule. But if they hadn't violated the rule, many would have died or failed to get the justice they deserved. For instance, Evan left the Guardian Guild after witnessing Ghost obliterate the entire Itholan island and the Barnes family.

What he witnessed that day and how weak he felt affected him mentally. For almost a year, Evan fought the traumatic experience and took the path to self-destruction. At one point, he wanted to kill himself so he could stop hearing all the cries for help. As a god-sent, he had Victoria and Xanali. Evan would have been inside a casket six feet deep if it weren't for them.

After finally stabilizing his mental health, Evan decided to stop running from his fear and fight it head-on, and his fear was just a man, the Dark Lord. So when Xanali told him about Salesi's plan to fight the Dark Lord, he agreed without a second question. Just like Evan, every single one in the hall had a story. Some were affected by the Dark Lord's actions in one way or another, while some had a strong moral sense to fight evil and protect the world. Since all the great eight clans made sure the biggest evil in the world was the Dark Lord, they naturally felt inclined to fight the Dark Lord.

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"Instead of giving a long speech about who I intend to fight, hopefully with your support, I will show you what he was capable of and what he will do to us if we do not fight,"

Salesi flicked her wrist as a cube materialized on the table's center. A dim light shot out of the cube and formed the image of an island. The images changed from uniquely built buildings to people laughing with their children on the streets. Those who realized where these images were taken clenched their fist and prepared them mentally. Almost everyone knew what was about to happen except for the orcs, who lived most of their lives in seclusion. Then, as they guessed, the beautiful island became a battlefield. The people saw everything they admired burning as dead bodies littered the ground. One by one, the images showed how brutal the last couple of days were for Itholan.

"Thousands of mothers lost their sons and daughters. Thousands of children lost their fathers and became orphans, and thousands lost everything they had and had to beg for refuge in the nearby kingdoms," said Salesi as the images continued to vex their minds.

"Only one man was responsible for all of the death and destruction, the Dark Lord," as soon as Saelsi uttered the name, the entire hall went silent. But unlike most of the population, the people in the hall seemed furious rather than afraid of Michael. Some of those who lost their loved ones in Michael's war against Itholan clenched their fist to the point their nails sank into their skin and started to bleed.

"As we all know, the great clans did nothing to bring him to justice. They are busy doing their politics and fixing their public image. That's one of the many reasons why I want to form a defense against the Dark Lord in the shadows. Because to fight evil such as him, we need to get our hands dirty," said Salesi as Xanali sighed inside. A year ago, if her mother proposed to build another order in secret to fight against the Dark Lord, she would have outright rejected it or tried to talk her mother out of it. But after witnessing all the death and destruction caused by the Dark Lord firsthand, Xanali learned the hard way that her moral views do not apply to him.

Evan slowly raised his hand,

"Evan, right?" Salesi turned her gaze toward Evan.

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He nodded and continued with his question.

"Let me get this straight. Are you telling us that we have to find a new clan or an order outside the great eight clans?" asked Evan.

"Our new order doesn't need to be separate from the great eight clans. As you may have noticed, some of you are in one of these clans. You don't have to leave your clan to fight just like I don't have to leave my throne. What matters is we are in this together, and we must focus on one thing, putting an end to the Dark Lord's reign before it begins,"

"In other words, you want us to be double agents?" Victoria's question followed Salesi's explanation.

"I don't want you to be anything. You are allowed to leave if you want to. I am prepared to put my life on the line to ensure my children and the future generation get to live in a world without any fear of the Dark Lord and his evil aura. The question is will you do the same," Salesi asked Victoria.

"I am," it wasn't Victoria who answered the question but Evan.

"I can't talk for the others, but I had enough of Ghost and his cruel reign of terror. I watched him slaughter thousands of soldiers for what? Revenge? No," Evan shook his head,

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"He wanted to quench his thirst for blood. There was a time I said to myself he is not that bad," Evan shrugged.

"Yes, he was not bad. He was evil. I saw the look on his face when he slaughtered Maxim Barnes, his wife, and his daughter. He enjoyed their pain and suffering. To this day, there are people who still suffer because of him. I, for one, will not stand aside and let him continue to terrorize the world I want my children to grow up in. So yes, I will put my life on the line and fight him to death,"

Evan banged the table as Salesi smiled, looking at the people around Evan who agreed with him. Despite their racial differences, everyone in the hall decided to form a vanguard against the Dark Lord. Five thousand years ago, what started as a mere group of seventy members grew into a shadow clan that rivaled the great eight clans. Like it or not, history had a tendency to repeat itself.