They pushed their horses and mule hard, making as much speed as possible. The sun was just dipping below the horizon when they made it back to the city. The wide streets were deserted, and it was silent as a tomb. A figure appeared in the doorway. It was an ancient elf woman, her hair was shades of faded red to nearly white. Lov wanted to approach her, but Nord motioned him away.
Lov ignored his uncle and walked up to her.
"What happened here?" He asked her, trying to gently take her in his arms to give comfort.
She let out a wild yell and slammed her fist into Lov's mouth. She sprang away from him quickly picking up a nearby cat and sprinted off with it in her arms farther into the city.
"I could of saved you a punch if you'd of listened to me." Nord said, leading the animals behind him. "That's Old Maid Sybell, she's always been a bit nuts."
They mounted their horses and rode further into broad streets and avenues between trees, and they both became more uneasy with each step. Elvenhom is a quiet city, but the surrounding forest echoed as if dead. None of the sounds they'd come to associate with the living trees that were Elvenhom pervaded, and very few souls stirred. The taverns and inns were quiet, there was no hammering of blacksmiths working at their forges, nothing of the normal hustle and bustle between merchant and customer.
"I don't like this." Nord said gravely.
"You're just now sensing it, Uncle?" Lov asked. "I felt it as soon as we stepped into the city, before I even asked that old lady."
Nord shifted in his saddle. "What do you mean?"
Lov shook his head, "Father was right when he said you could be thick." He gestured to the city around him, "Look around us, Uncle." He pointed to one of the great trees, smoldering like a piece of charcoal. "There's no one home but the crazy lady!"
Nord frowned at Lov. "Let's just stick together and see if we can figure out what happened here." he said, leading them towards the heart of the city. "If anyone who will know anything is still around, they would be at the council building."
They passed through the silent streets. The smell of smoke pervaded everything. The only sounds they heard were those made by old elf men and maids they passed. They tried asking them about what had happened, but after the fifth and sixth time being told a preposterous story of Titans cutting off ears and driving all able bodied younger elves from the city, they just pressed on. The trees along the roads seemed to stand a quiet honor guard for friends lost, never to be found in the halls of the living.
The council building came into view. It had been the pride of elven architecture. Built with the help of the ogier, it was a grove of trees that had been shaped and grown into a massive building. It had housed the council as well as the court system of the elves.
It didn't look like it would be holding anything anytime soon. Huge holes had been hacked out of the walls. As they approached for a closer look, Lov felt something squish under his boot. He looked down and was horrified. Ears, long, beautiful, pointy ears, littered the streets. He grabbed his uncle's hand and pointed downward.
Nord looked down at the sight and let out a weary sigh. "Looks like those elders were telling the truth."
Nord was speechless after that. He walked into the building, ducking slightly to avoid hitting his head on the opening. Lov followed him in. They stood in the large central chamber, where audiences were heard. More ears littered the floor. Nord felt an icy knot of dread form in the middle of his stomach when he spotted a body near the floor's center.
Lov ran forward to the body, looking to see the face, but it was an utter ruin. It looked like a grape that had been smashed between two fingers. But the hair was still there, thick and straight like Amon's. The young half-dragon could tell it was his father. He wept silently for the end that had come to Amon, the only man Lov had ever known to be able to cool his mother's most heated and fiery wrath.
Rage began to boil to the surface of his thoughts. "Uncle, I want revenge." He said in a quiet, deadly voice.
Nord looked at his nephew and he could feel the hatred radiating from his body. "Who would you exact justice from?" He asked, kneeling down and removing the family seal from his brother's finger. He traced the outline of the eye upon it. It was the Eye of Gruumnsh, the orc god of strength and power. His great grandfather had taken it from a fallen warrior, keeping it first as a trophy, then as their family seal.
Lov all but spat, "The Titans!" He turned and ran away from his uncle, tearing through the empty city, heading to his home. There was something he wanted before he left this dead, desecrated place behind.
He ran into his mother's study room, where she liked to experiment and create new things. He finally found it hidden in the back of a shelf behind some inkwells. It was a piece of his mother's shell. It sparkled green and blue in the faint light.
Lov walked out of that house, and never looked back. The dark part of him wanted to burn it behind him, so no one else could ever have memories there, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Instead he went back to Nord, and they left the city.