The elves and the Pegasi had broken up the Valkyrie before the war. That much was clear. If they had allies as strong as each other still, they would have attacked the Humans and possibly expanded the continent of Fantasia. But no, they were against, and saying that they wouldn't survive a human attack meant that if they were the Valkyrie still, they wouldn't have had to fear.

I didn't know what changed her mind, but Lolinami suddenly decided upon something. She... she wanted to help Nanoria!

We were all ecstatic. Even Saoni, mildly traumatised by the giant argument, managed a strong smile and even a laugh. But what surprised me most was Fergus. He whooped into the hot air, laughing and dancing around in delight. His brown hair wasn't as long as other elves, but it was silky enough to still blow in the wind.

And that was when he came out of his shell. He ran over to me, blushing a little. "Hi, Arvid. Sorry for being so... I dunno... introverted? I really need to get along with everyone now that the Valkyrie are reforming."

So he went around to everyone, repeating the apology. I smiled at the elfling. "So," said Lolinami, "what are we waiting for? Let's get the elves some provisions and go back to Stronghold!"

With this, Fergus hopped on my back and Nanoria on Lolinami's, and we left off for Stronghold.

 After we fed up the remaining elves, we began training. It was a great surprise to me when Nanori summoned a small elf girl to the front and told us that she was the general of the elves. 

I was in charge of teaching the Pegasi flight patterns with Glycon, Saoni and her sister, but as I looked over at Goizu and Junke who were helping with ground combat, I saw them arguing with the General. "Well, I'll show you. I can beat any elf here." The young elf said, an edge of sass creeping into her voice. "Hmph," responded Goizu. "But can you beat Junke?"

I had seen Junke go hand to hand with another Centaur, and it ended before it even started. Of course, a dragon could just bat him away with one fell sweep of his paw, but he was indestructible otherwise. Saoni collected a sword in her mouth and handed it to him, violet eyes blazing competitively. "Wow, you sure are excited," I said to her, watching her prance with ecstatic joy from her left hooves to right. "Yeah, well I really enjoy watching fights like this. I'm actually going to be in one soon, as a Valkyrie's trusty pegasus. Might as well be enthusiastic."

Glycon's smile dropped from his face like a string that had just been cut. "Yeah," he said quietly. "We might never see you again after the war, be enthusiastic about that." I felt my heart sink, and bile rise to my throat like a helium balloon. Of course, it wasn't only the Elves in trouble, the Pegasi were going to have to fight for their lives as well.

I was brought back to attention as I heard the fast grate of swords sliding like silk out of their sheaths. The battle was beginning! I decided to give myself a bit of a distraction by watching as intensely as Saoni, her mane tossing happily. "Ready?" Saoni called, "then let the fight begin!" Almost the moment she said the last word, the young captain pranced forward on lightning fast feet, disarmed Junke and had her sword to his throat. I saw Saoni's face drop in annoyance. "Oh come on! Rematch!" I sighed. She always loved watching events like this, and she hated when they were as fast as that. They rematched and the same exact thing happened. Saoni grunted and turned away. "Well," she muttered, "let's get on with training."