Dreams of Peace

Is peace always so transient?

Philara had grown up in war. She had lost many friends and family members, including her own sister, to the battle with the Eldest. When the prospect of peace had come, it seemed like a fantasy. A dream.

The Eldest had proposed a treaty, for the first time since the war had begun decades ago. The leaders of all five great cities had convened a great council to discuss and, eventually, accept the terms. All of them were so tired of war. The demands were greater than they would have accepted at the war's onset, but the idea of having children grow up in a time of peace was a tempting one.

It was a tragedy that the peace could not last.

Minosa, Philara's father, had predicted as much. There was too much tension, too much evil perpetrated by both sides. While the leaders may agree on terms that settled the initial reasons behind the war, the people had developed reasons of their own that no treaty could settle.

Another battle broke out within weeks of the treaty's acceptance. Nobody knew who started it, only that there were many deaths. The cities decried the fighting, but it was no use.

The Eldest responded by torching the city of Alisgos to the ground.

Philara's hopes for her children were destroyed that day, along with so many of her people. There was no longer such a thing as peace in this world.