The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (12 page)

He
went into great detail explaining everything that had happened to him.
 
She seemed to come around when he explained
that the mighty elemental Kana felt it important enough to involve herself in
the affairs of the people of Tuwa.
 
She
was shocked at first when he explained that he had taken an elf to wife, but
she was pleased to hear that his union was blessed by the revered deity.
 
She was much more willing to listen to the
remainder of the story after this.
 
She
was not the only one to be hanging on every word that came out of Yukio’s
mouth.
 
It was as if he was commanding
everyone’s attention.
 

The
only one who was not transfixed was Commander Hacus.
 
He knew that the general was using some kind
of psychic power to manipulate the minds of everyone in the hall.
 
He remained cautious and vigilant while
everyone else seemed to shed all hatred of these elves and accepted them with
open arms.
 
He had a very bad feeling
about what was taking place.
 
What the
general was reporting to the queen was good and seemed to answer all questions
the queen had adequately.
 
It was a
sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach that had him so worried.

Once
General Yukio had presented all of the facts, Chairman Bronwen Merindiel
presented the request of Queen Kira.
 
To
his surprise, Queen Daria was only too eager to provide military assistance to
the high elves.
 
She felt that all that
had transpired was inspired by the gods and that they should not ignore the
pleas of a blessed race.
 
As a result of
this, she was overly accommodating to the delegation.
 
Commander Hacus was concerned by her willing
acceptance of Yukio’s explanation.
 
He
was shocked that they had formed an alliance with this new nation so
quickly.
 
The only person that seemed to
expect this outcome was the general himself.
 
He had a smug look of accomplishment that frightened the head of the
home guard.
 
He could not shake the
feeling that there was more to this situation than what they had been told.

“General
Yukio, you will be given command of my army once more.
 
Take all the troops you need with you to
fortify the city of Alanderas and the route between us.
 
That way we can commence in trading with our
newest ally,” she commanded with a pleasant smile.
 
This
has turned out much better than I had expected.
 
I simply do not understand why Commander Hacus was so worried.

“My
queen, I ever serve thee and the people of this great nation,” Yukio said with
a bow.
 
“I will give the command of the
army that is to protect the road west to Alanderas to Commander Favian
Drujien.
 
The protection of the trade
route along the Blain River will be given to Commander Hacus.
 
I will lead the troops sent to protect the
high elves,” General Yukio stated boldly.

“Very
well; rest while the troops are being readied for their departure.
 
You can also visit the king of Mount Ennis
while the men prepare.
 
King Edric is a
good friend and will be a powerful ally.
 
He will assist you in this time of need,” said the queen confidently.

“I
share your optimism and appraisal of the situation.
 
In the morning, we will leave to meet with
King Edric and should return in time to depart with the troops,” Yukio replied.

With
a bow and a smile, Yukio and the high elves left the queen and were taken to
their sleeping quarters.
 
Due to the
lateness of the hour, they went straight to bed after washing the dust off
their bodies from their long trek.
 
Bronwen and the others slept peacefully that night knowing that they had
overcome their biggest obstacle.
 
They
were hopeful that tomorrow’s meeting with the dwarves would be equally
beneficial.
 
Commander Hacus had some of
his guard keep watch over the queen’s guests.
 
He did not entirely trust any of them.
 
He also did not believe anything that Yukio had reported.
 
What worried him most was that the queen did
a complete turnaround without even hearing a good argument.

***

As
the delegation from the high elves returned triumphant from their meeting with
King Edric, a small bird was spotted on the horizon and seemed to be heading in
their direction.
 
Yukio’s hawk had
returned with a reply from the King Leroy.
 
The general untied the message and gave the warrior hawk some food as a
reward.
 
He quickly scanned the note in
utter disbelief.
 
In essence, the king
did not recognize the new nation because the elves did not do so.
 
The people of Landen had a strong
relationship with the people of King Ciel and believed, as did the elves, that
the so-called “high elves” were traitors.
 
The king had already made a pact with the elven king not to have any
dealings with the dissenters.
 
The
general crumpled up the note and threw it to the ground.
 
As he sat there musing over the bad news, his
horse ate the letter as it grazed for food.

“Well,
I suppose I should have expected that reply,” he said shortly.
 
“They believe you all to be traitors and will
not get involved unless it is on the side of the woodland elves.”

“That
is not good news at all.
 
Are you still
planning on sending a message to King Derek?” Bronwen asked patiently.

“No,
my hawk has informed me that he saw King Ciel’s messenger owl, returning from
the Forest of Aran.
 
I believe that they
too have made a pack with the elves not to recognize us.
 
Our last hope remains with the dwarves,”
Yukio said dejectedly.
 
I really believed the people of Landen would
have joined with us.

He
tied two messages onto the legs of his faithful messenger.
 
One was for King Kasim and the other was for
King Jarvis.
 
He instructed the bird to
disregard delivering a letter if King Ciel’s owl was seen in the vicinity of
either dwarven kingdom.
 
He did not want
to give away too much to the ever-expanding alliance of the elves.
 
The general knew that he could not waste any
more time worrying about his diplomatic mission.
 
It was clear that the elves were planning an
attack on the high elves very soon.
 
If
it came to a war, he wanted to be prepared.
 
He needed to take the troops that were waiting for his return and head
straight for Mount Quang.
 
He would need
to send a couple of the high elves ahead to deliver the warning about those
plotting against them.

“Do
not worry, General Ibreshri; the high elves cannot fail.
 
We have the goddess Kana on our side.
 
She will not allow this treachery to stand,”
said Bronwen consolingly.

“I
know. We will win this battle.
 
If it is
to be war, we will be victorious,” said General Yukio boldly.

As
Yukio’s hawk soared high above the Blaine River, the wind changed directions so
that the prevailing wind was from the south. The smell of war was in the
air.
 
The warrior hawk was heading south
to his next quarry and had been strongly instructed to avoid the Forest of
Renshaw at all costs so this head wind he was fighting was exceptionally
brutal.
 
He was also told to fly as high
as possible and to hide in the clouds whenever possible.
 
Not only was he attempting to avoid the eyes
of the elves, but the men of Landen and Aran.
 
General Yukio had suspicions that the kings of men had made alliances
with the elves.
 
This meant that they
knew everything King Ciel did.
 
He was
also concerned that there may be an attack on the capital of Alanderas being
planned by these conspirators.
 
He had
left Queen Daria with her blessing to go and protect their newest ally.
 
The general was determined to reach Queen
Kira and the high elves before any real threat could be posed by their
neighbors to the south.

The
hawk was ordered to gather intelligence on its way to and from his
destinations.
 
The hawk’s sharp eyes
could see beasts and people gathering on both sides of the banks of
Blaine.
 
He could not risk descending to
a lower altitude just to see exactly who it was that was preparing for
war.
 
Yukio’s faithful bird knew that
delivering his messages to kings Kasim and Jarvis was of the utmost importance.
 
He needed to not only deliver Yukio’s
requests, but he also needed to bring back answers from the dwarven
monarchs.
 
The support of those two
powerful leaders was vital to the safety of the high elves.
 
If they had allies south of their enemies, they
could crush them with relative ease.
 
King Edric had assured General Yukio that all of the dwarves would be
behind this new nation.

After
flying for many miles in a southerly direction, the warrior hawk turned west to
head toward Mount Adem.
 
King Kasim would
be the stronger of the two potential allies by virtue of his location.
 
The mountain kingdom of Adem lay to the south
and a little to the west of the Black Forest.
 
They would be able to draw the attention of the elves to their southern
border if King Ciel decided to attack the high elves.
 
Yukio was going to appeal to the strong
dislike the people of Kasim had for elves in general.
 
He knew that it was going to be difficult to
persuade the dwarves to ally themselves with the new nation because of who they
were, but the general knew that by appealing to what they did believe in would
win them over in the end.
 
They revered
Mistress Kana as a goddess and would do whatever she asked of them, so that was
the strongest point in their favor.

The
fortress of King Kasim Thokrög gleamed in the moonlight as the home guard stood
at their posts.
 
The silver and gold that
was inlaid into the fine craftsmanship of the walls and towers was the source
of the shimmering.
 
The bulwarks were
made of a substance that looked jet black and appeared to be as smooth as the
scales of a fish.
 
The width of these
impressive barriers was equal to ten dwarves laying head to toe.
 
There were several hidden stations where the
guards hid themselves to keep watch night and day without being seen.
 
An outsider would never be able to find them
even if they were right on top of them.
 
Commander Giles Bobrilir stood stoically on one of the parapets keeping
watch on this clear cool night.
 
He was
in charge of the defenses of King Kasim and of his majesty’s personal
guard.
 
He also had the sharpest eyesight
of any living dwarf according to the stories told in Adem.
 
This night was one of the first times that he
proved his natural ability to his men.

“Captain,
a warrior hawk is approaching!
 
Prepare
the archers!” barked Commander Giles in his gruff voice.
 
He had seen the bird long before any of the
bowmen could even see the speck in the night sky.
 
He had a very suspicious feeling that this
bird was a messenger bringing tidings they did not want to have any part
of.
 
He was prepared to shoot it out of
the sky if it dive bombed them or made any other aggressive movements.
 
If the unknown messenger proceeded on his current
course, they would let it live and see what it was brining to them.
 
The hawk was making for the front gate.
 
This was the appropriate approach to any
dwarven dwelling according to their customs.

“Sir,
where is the beast?” asked the Captain.
 
“I do not see anything out there, Commander.”
 
Has
Bobrilir lost his mind?
 
None of us see
anything in the sky.

The
eyes of the home guard turned skyward to search for their quarry once
more.
 
After a few moments, a black dot
appeared low over the plains.
 
It was
approaching rather fast and headed directly toward the main gate.
 
The guards were impressed with their leader
and his amazing eyesight.
 
They could not
believe that he could see so clearly at night.

“Captain,
keep the archers trained on that hawk while I go down to retrieve the
message.
 
If the creature takes an
offensive posture, kill it.
 
If it
approaches in a peaceful manner, let it live,” ordered Commander Giles.

“Yes,
sir!” said the captain as he snapped to attention.
 
“Archers, you heard the orders.
 
Do not lose sight of that bird.”

The
dwarven captain turned to tell his commander something, but he was already
gone.
 
Not only did their leader have
amazing sight, but he was also the most agile and silent dwarf.
 
As the captain searched for Commander Giles,
he caught a glimpse of him approaching the front gate.
 
He reminded the archers of their orders again
and told them to be careful to not hit their fearless leader if they had to
shoot the messenger bird.

The
hawk landed lightly on the ground right in front of the main gate as instructed
by General Yukio.
 
He waited patiently for
someone to come retrieve the message tied to his leg.
 
The general had tied both messages for the
dwarven kings. One was the color red to indicate that the note was for the king
of the red mountain, Mount Adem.
 
The
other was colored white to indicate that this note was for King Jarvis of the
snow-capped mountains of Mount Carrick.
 
The dwarves liked to color coordinate their correspondences so that they
would not get confused.
 
King Edric had
informed Yukio of this method and told him how to follow this protocol to
ensure those who received the messenger bird would remove the appropriate note.

Commander
Giles opened a hidden door in the wall on the west side of the gate.
 
He scanned the open field for any signs of a
possible ambush.
 
He did not see anything
aside from the very patient bird waiting to deliver its message.
 
Right away the commander noticed that the
hawk had two letters that were color coordinated.
 
This puzzled him because this clearly
indicated that the message was from King Edric because his people were the only
ones who knew the dwarven system.
 
They
had not heard from their distant ally for quite some time.
 
A note for each dwarven king of the southern
realms had a special significance.
 
He
did not know what it could be and decided to waste no more time.
 
He walked up to the bird that then
outstretched his leg to indicate to the dwarf to remove the red note.

He
removed the note, and the hawk took off immediately.
 
The bird soared high and headed due
east.
 
The commander returned to the safety
of the walls through the secret door and opened the red note immediately.
 
It was written in the language of the men of
the northern kingdom of Nairi.
 
How did they know how to deliver a message
to us?
 
King Edric must have helped
them!
 
Why would he do that?
 
He was lost in these troubling thoughts for a
moment and then decided to read what this person had to say.

               
King Kasim Thokrög,

I, General Yukio Ibreshri, have visited
King Edric Nognili with an urgent plea from Queen Kira Tiranidrol of the new
nation called high elves.
 
He has pledged
his support along with Queen Daria Thejar of the Nairi Canyons.
 
These elves have left the Black Forest at the
command of the powerful Mistress Kana.
 
She informed them that King Ciel Tiranidrol was leading the people down
a dangerous path and that she would assist them in building a new and better
kingdom.
 
One of King Ciel’s daughters
was crowned queen, and they took the name of high elves to distinguish
themselves from those they left behind.

As they are still in their infancy, they
are seeking the support of the righteous nations of Tuwa. I am the husband of
Queen Kira and her ambassador.
 
The
illustrious Kana herself blessed our union and has helped us secure the support
of Queen Daria and King Edric.
 
I have
been instructed to request your support in our cause of freedom.
 
The messenger bird that brought you this
message will return in two days with the reply from King Jarvis and return to
the main gate to receive King Kasim’s answer.
 
We fear that there may be an axis of evil forming against this new
nation and the powerful elemental Kana.
 
Please reply to our humble request as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

General Yukio Ibreshri

Commander
Giles was stunned by the request and its boldness.
 
No one from the race of men or elves had ever
attempted such a direct approach.
 
Dwarves traded with the other races freely, but they never got involved
in their politics.
 
This general claimed
to have the support of King Edric, but the commander simply could not believe
this to be the case.
 
He wasted no more
time on pondering the particulars of this matter and left immediately to visit
his king.
 
This was one message his
majesty would want to hear straight away.
 
Normally he would wait until morning, but this note contained
information that would take some careful consideration and time to determine
the appropriate response.

As
the commander passed his guards that he had called to attention earlier, he
told them it was a message for the king and thanked them for doing their
jobs.
 
He told them that he would return
shortly to fill them in because he needed to get the note to King Kasim as soon
as possible.
 
He nodded to the dwarves
and continued his trek up the mountainside.
 
He did not head to the entrance to the castle but to the east side of
the interior wall.
 
This barrier was not
as thick as the outer wall, but it was twice as high.
 
Situated atop the wall were trebuchets,
catapults, and stationary arrow launchers.
 
What were not visible to the naked eye were the numerous home guards
hidden at various locations on the top of the bulwark.

Giles
headed toward the far east end of this massive barrier.
 
He reached the point where the wall met the
mountainside and moved his hands gently over the smooth surface of the wall
while muttering something in his native tongue.
 
A secret door opened abruptly to admit him.
 
He entered quickly, and the hidden door
slammed shut behind him.
 
He was engulfed
in utter darkness, but this did not dissuade him.
 
He plunged into the dark with reckless
abandon.
 
He moved deftly as he made his
way to yet another secret entrance.
 
He
did the same thing as before, and this time the door glowed red for a minute
before opening.
 
This was the private
entrance to the king’s bedchamber.
 
King
Kasim was already on his feet and holding out his hand for the note the
commander carried.

“Commander
Giles, this had better be important,” said the king imperiously.
 
There was not a trace of tiredness on the
stoic leader’s face.

“It
is very important, King Kasim.
 
I would
not dare wake you in the middle of the night if I felt it could wait until
morning,” Commander Giles replied confidently.