War-Bloodied Claws

Chapter 10: The Veela Nation

Fleur began to bounce excitedly as they approached the Nation of her birth. Hadrian smiled to see such happiness to her; to know that her upbringing had fostered a love for the land that she had been born to. Fleur then pointed, "Once we cross that large magical barrier over there at the edges of the trees; we will have entered into the Veela homeland; the Forest of Dreams. It is ancient forest; rumored to once have been a place stewarded by the elves, but for some reason...they left the land.

When the veela were being persecuted for being demons and stealing the emotions of people...swaying them from their lovers or stealing children to use in blood rituals to enhance our beauty or magic, or even extend our lifespans; the first matriarch took over the forest and wove magic over it. To shield her and her people from the outside.

The place was in ruins from how many centuries it had been since the elves left; so we rebuilt our homeland here to our content, but that took many backbreaking years to have it as it is now; the place of peace, safety and more for the veela. Meaning it is a place of great beauty and luxury; most common veela are living in some level of wealth if they stay inside the walls of the nation. Those outside are varied; some return...unhappy to find the large amounts of prejudice still to our race, and then some do not each year.

Whether it is because they find mates or because they die; it is varied year to year." She told them

She breathed softly, "Human mages have attempted many times to break the barrier or to cross it, but found they could not break it and would not cross if they intended intentional harm or destruction to our lands." Fleur told them, "It is called the Forest of Dreams because of the powerful magic that causes the potential infiltrators to hallucinate and forget why they came to our lands; causes them visions of their most pleasant wants and desires."

She smirked, "Ancient magic that no veela today could ever hope to replicate; largely due to the lack of veela with adequate succubus blood to them as well." Fleur eyed the floor of the carriage, "I will not deny that the ancient veela; some of them at least, were exactly as the humans feared us to be. But most of us prefer not to torment others; only seek our mates, have families, and live our lives to the best and fullest we can."

Fleur eyed them, "I often wonder what it would be like; you know, to be able to command some of the ancient powers of my ancestors. But I have very little connection to them by blood and finding a relic to the ancients in order to beseech it for power if proven worthy...that would take quite a lot of planning."

Hadrian nodded to this as he eyed Herodes then, "Do you know anything of this? Why your people left the land here?"

Herodes considered as he thought, "Not really; the High Elves are notoriously territorial of their land. If I had to guess; this was ancient elves, so perhaps the techniques they used to try to cultivate the lands were not effective enough then for prosperity."

Herodes made a face, "The Elves do have advanced magic regardless of the ages they live in, but magic infused land is not easy to work with either. It also depends on exactly how large the settlement was and how many were there to maintain it."

Fleur considered, "I would say it was sizeable; there were ruined buildings and temples that were eroded and crumbled when we found it. The veela back then documented the site as record and we have photos of how it was when we found it; well, more like really accurate drawings than photographs. Mother could probably show you them, if you'd like?"

Herodes smiled, "I would. I may be able to tell you what settlement was there if I see them."

Fleur then smiled as they all glanced out the windows and gasped in awe. Hadrian and Tom smiling more than gasping.