A FORTRESS FORGED IN BLOOD – DYANA’S POV

Madagascar – Former Presidential Compound, Antananarivo

Princess Dyana’s silver eyes reflected the rising sun, tinted red from the smoke that still curled into the air from the southern districts. Below the palace, the land trembled—not from fear, but from transformation. Magic pylons hummed with power. Ancient Elven war-wards, newly reactivated, carved silver patterns into the earth. Forestia’s banners rippled from high towers.

Madagascar had fallen. But Dyana knew it would not remain secure unless they moved forward.

“My Princess,” Commander Velthira stepped into the open hall, bowing with flawless grace. Her High Elf armor gleamed, restored and ceremonial—yet her eyes were tired, like all who had survived the last month. “The eastern refugee vessels have begun arriving on the East African coast. Human reinforcements will not be far behind.”

“Good,” Dyana replied without looking back. “Let them come.”

She turned from the balcony and strode toward the war map etched into obsidian and starlight on the central floor. It displayed much more than Madagascar. It now included the African mainland, glowing softly across the Mozambique Channel.

“Are the Aristocrat legions ready?” she asked.

Velthira nodded. “The House of Iselyra has pledged three companies. House Vantra sent its Sky Lancers. House Thalane... is still hesitant.”

Dyana snorted softly. “Let them hesitate. The age of hesitation is over.” She placed her hand over the glowing plains of Mozambique. “We strike tonight. Silent landings—illusion cloaks, priestess veils, thunderless spells. We take the port cities before dawn, and then we move inland.”

Velthira hesitated. “The Neutral Faction might object. Even some within our own court...”

“The Queen ordered me to make Madagascar a fortress,” Dyana cut in. “But a fortress must have buffer zones, must control supply lines, and must choke any path of human retaliation. That means the East Coast of Africa must fall. I will not wait for the humans to rally. I will bring the war to their door, The Aristocrat will be the one to bring glory to elves.”

And with that, she gave the command.

The first assault into Africa had begun.

THROUGH THE SEA OF SMOKE – CIVILIAN POV

Mozambique Channel – Refugee Vessel “Umoya-Tatu”

The smell of burning hung in Leila’s hair like it had sunk into her soul. Even out on the open waters, the scent of Madagascar—the ash, the blood, the scorched stone—clung to everything. The small ferry-turned-refugee ship rocked gently on the waves, its hull overloaded with more people than it had ever been meant to carry.

Leila cradled her little brother, Moussa, who hadn’t spoken in two days. Not since the palace fell. Not since their mother vanished into the smoke and soldiers dragged them onto the boats.

“Is that Africa?” someone whispered.

Ahead, through the fog, lights glimmered on the horizon. The Mozambique coast. Home.

She had lived her whole life on Madagascar. She barely knew anything about Africa. But now, it was the only place left.

The old priest beside her muttered prayers in Swahili. The French-speaking couple nearby held hands in silence. Most barely had clothes. No one had food.

Suddenly, there was a shout from the upper deck. Soldiers. Not humans.

“Something’s flying!”

Leila clutched Moussa tighter. High above, barely visible against the clouds, silver-winged figures passed overhead. Elves. They didn’t attack the refugee boats. They didn’t need to.

They were heading to the shore.

That was when Leila realized something terrible:

The Elves weren’t chasing them anymore.

They were going ahead to take where she was trying to run.

THE FORGOTTEN PORTAL – NEUTRAL FACTION COMMANDER’S POV

South America – Deep Amazonian Portal

Commander Vaelin Thorne stood at the rim of the overgrown ritual circle—the very same used by Mary’s Royal Faction during the initial invasion of South America. Forgotten by both human intelligence and Royal command, it had been buried under moss and shattered stone… until now.

Behind her, hundreds of Elven warriors, all marked with the grey-green sigils of the Neutral Faction, waited in silence. They bore no royal crests, no aristocratic colors. These were the pragmatists—those who sought neither dominion nor destruction, but only Elven survival.

“Activate it,” Vaelin ordered.

A circle of priestesses lowered their staffs. The earth glowed. Vines uncoiled. The portal shimmered open.

“It’s risky,” her second-in-command murmured. “Mary retreated for a reason. The jungle devoured her legions.”

“That’s because she attacked like a queen,” Vaelin muttered. “We will strike like hunters.”

One by one, Neutral Faction units stepped through the portal—no banners, no war drums, only silence and cloaking magic. The second invasion of South America had begun—not with fire, but with shadows.

Vaelin stepped through last.

And when she emerged in the dark green of the Amazon, she smiled.

The jungle belonged to no empire. It belonged to those who listened.

THE ISLAND REQUIEM – MARY’S POV

Undisclosed Island Base – South of Timor Sea

Mary sat in silence, legs folded, her bloodied armor resting on a pedestal nearby. Her side still burned where the human blade had pierced her. She refused healing magic. Pain reminded her of mistakes.

Around her, the remaining 70 Royal Knights trained in tight silence. Sparring in pairs, meditating, rebuilding shattered armor. Her island base—formerly a hidden Elven observation post—now served as the Royal Faction’s only sanctuary.

Tirien, her second-in-command, approached quietly. “The scouts returned. The Neutral Faction has reentered South America using the same portal we used.”

Mary didn’t flinch. “Let them.”

Tirien frowned. “They move without approval.”

“No one seeks approval anymore,” Mary replied, voice quiet. “The Queen has grown silent. The Aristocrats burn Africa. The humans regroup and strike harder. This is no longer a war of orders. It’s a war of survival.”

Tirien paused. “So… what are we?”

Mary turned toward the sea, where the waves curled gently against the black rock shore.

“We are the storm waiting to return,” she whispered. “Let them forget. Let them chase shadows. But when we rise again, the world will remember why Queen Elara and her loyalists rule the Elven Empire .”

AFRICA BURNS – HUMAN COMMANDER’S POV

Mozambique – Nacala Naval Base

Commander Asha Okonkwo ran a hand across her shaved scalp as reports kept pouring in. Magic flashes in the eastern district. Sudden disappearances of comms units. Local militia stations vanishing overnight.

“Elves,” she growled.

Across the command table, her Brazilian counterpart, Colonel Pereira, nodded grimly. “Same tactics they used on the Pacific islands. We’ll need to fall back to Maputo if they control the port.”

“No,” Asha said. “We hold. If they take this coast, they’ll have a direct magical route into Zambia, Tanzania, even Kenya. And this time… there are no oceans to protect us.”

“But we’re outgunned.”

“We’re not outmatched,” she said, turning to the comms officer. “Patch me to Pretoria, to Nairobi, to Addis. Wake the damn continent. Africa is under siege. And this time, it’s not just a refugee crisis. It’s a full-scale invasion.”

And in the dark sky above, silent wings passed. The first Elven assault had begun.

EPILOGUE: A WORLD REIGNITED

* Princess Dyana had turned Madagascar into a fortress.

Now, she brought the war to Africa.

* Leila, the refugee girl, had survived one apocalypse only to see the next fall before her eyes.

* Vaelin Thorne, of the Neutral Faction, had returned to South America through the lost jungle portal, not for conquest, but for something older and more dangerous—balance.

* Mary, the wounded Royal Knight, bided her time. Her wrath was not yet spent.

The Elves were no longer a unified empire on Earth. They had become factions with diverging agendas, shadows of a dying supremacy.

But the humans, too, had changed.

In Africa, in South America, in the islands of the Pacific, and across classified ocean command posts, something new was forming—alliances, coalitions, countermeasures.

The fires of war had not been extinguished.

They had only scattered—into sparks across the world.

And soon… they would ignite again.