The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (25 page)

“There
is no one else here; come on out,” said the guardian with a warm smile.

The
bear looked at him for a moment longer and then entered the open.
 
He was so huge that it was clear that he was
the largest of his kind.
 
His eyes were
crystal blue and had a hypnotic effect on those that looked into them.
 
There was also an edge in his gaze that would
freeze the very heart of a lesser being, but Adair did not seem to be affected
in any way by this monstrous beast.

“What
do you want, my lord?” the beast asked plainly.
 
The bear could speak like the peoples of the different races.

“You
look like you have put on some weight, my old friend,” he cajoled the
bear.
 
He smiled slyly as he said this,
knowing full well that the weight was in muscle and not fat.
 
He liked to give his faithful companion
grief.

“You
look like you have aged finally,” replied the bear with a snort.

“I
fear that before long that I will look and feel much older.
 
I have need of you once again.
 
War is coming. We must have the assistance of
you and your fellows.”

“Why
should we come out of the north to save the people of Tuwa?
 
They do not even know about us.
 
We like it that way.”
 
He shook his fur to shake loose some debris
that had attached itself to him as he was coming out of his cave.

“I
need you to convince the others to help.
 
This war, if unchecked, will enter your territory.
 
Then you will no longer have a choice in the
matter.
 
You will be forced to fight or
flee.”
 
There was a sardonic tone in the
guardian’s voice as he said this.

“We
never flee or retreat!
 
We are the most
valiant creatures in this world, and you know it!
 
What is it exactly that you would like us to
do?”
 
His hair stood up on end as he
spoke.
 
He did not understand sarcasm and
did not like being told that he or his kind was weak.

“I
would like you to personally accompany me as I join the battle.
 
As for your friends, I would request their
assistance where needed.
 
Men, dwarves,
elves, and even giants will need your help in this fight.
 
You must realize that what happens to them
will have a positive or negative result on your kind.”

“Why
don’t you tell me exactly what has happened and then I will see if we can be of
any assistance to you.”

Adair
told the story about the intervention of Kana and of the split of the elves.
 
He also related the tale of the man marrying
an elven princess.
 
When he had finished
speaking, silence engulfed the small cove.
 
The white bear looked off to the north as if lost in thought.
 
He did not say anything about what had just
heard.
 
He simply stood there and stared
off into space.
 
After a long moment, he
turned his head to look at Adair.
 
He
fixed his friend with an icy stare that clearly indicated his displeasure with
what he was being asked to do.

“I
will help you deal with this nightmare.
 
There is wisdom in what you say, and I cannot overlook that.
 
I will try to persuade the others to help
out.
 
For now, at least, you have me,” he
said with a slight bow.
 
This was the
first time that the creature recognized the guardian with a bow.

“Good.
I will leave you to discuss this matter with the others.
 
I will return in a few days to see what they
have decided,” Adair said.
 
He petted his
furry friend gently on the head and vanished.

As
Kana flew through the air over the Black Forest, she felt surges of excitement
and an ever-mounting anticipation.
 
She
looked forward to crushing King Ciel Tiranidrol and his dilatory elves.
 
She knew that the good king would do
everything in his power to avoid a conflict and that this reluctance would give
her the time she needed to surround the forest kingdom.
 
She laughed softly as she continued to think
about her plans and what she was going to do next.
 
She knew that garnering support from the orcs
and goblins would be rather easy.
 
The
rock trolls would be somewhat difficult to cajole into action, but she would
find their weakness or give them something that they had longed for.

The
thick forest below gave way to an open plain that had rolling hills and tall
grass that swayed with the wind.
 
The sun
shone brightly overhead as she continued her journey to meet with the first
nation that would aid her high elves in exterminating the woodland elves.
 
Two massive mountains came into view on the
horizon.
 
She altered her course slightly
to head to a mountain on the east side of the Blaine River.
 
The mountain to the west was Mount Adem, home
of the dwarven king, Kasim.
 
The mountain
she was heading for was much taller and did not look like its neighbor at
all.
 
There were two jagged peaks that
rose high into the air on the west and east sides.
 
In the middle appeared to be a vast body of
water that was shimmering slightly as the sun reflected off of its calm
surface.
 
Kana was heading to Mount
Tarin, the home of the orcs of middle Tuwa.
 
She knew that these creatures would be some of the fiercest warriors she
would have in her army.

As
she neared the lake at the summit, she saw several orcs running about on the
shores of Lake Tarn preparing to defend their camp against her intrusion.
 
These creatures did not trust anyone; they
even fought amongst themselves because of their ill temperament.
 
Kana dived suddenly toward these stout
defenders, which caught them completely off guard.
 
She came up abruptly and lighted on the
lake’s shore.
 
She walked resolutely
toward the orcs who had taken up their posts at the massive arrow
launchers.
 
They had trained the weapons
on her but did not fire.
 
They had
changed their minds about killing the intruder once they had seen who it
was.
 
They instantly knew that it was an elemental
and that she was very powerful.
 

She
had forced these thoughts into her would-be attackers’ minds so that she would
not have to kill them unnecessarily.
 
She
had no problem with this as orcs do not know how to shield their minds.
 
She smiled slyly at the small group of
defenders and then came to a halt a dozen paces in front of the nearest
defensive weapon that was aimed at her.
 
She waited calmly for them to speak or to make some kind of indication
as to what they were planning to do.

The
orcs looked at one another uneasily as silence enveloped the standoff.
 
They were all thinking the same thing, and
that was who had the great displeasure of reporting to their general that an elemental
had arrived.
 
Their leader would not be
happy that they had not even fired once at her, especially since she was one of
the wretched guardians who had always kept their kind in check.
 
Slowly one of them in the back of the
formation slid down off his seat on his launcher and began to walk toward a
small camp at the base of the mountain peak on the eastern side.
 
Once he felt he was out of firing distance,
he broke into a dead run.
 
He began
shouting something quite unintelligible in his native tongue as he ran toward
the encampment.

As
the orc neared the biggest tent in the camp, guards came out of nowhere and
tackled the frantic messenger.
 
They
could tell by the color of his clothing that he was one of their tribe, but
they did not know why he acting so crazy.
 
As the guards wrestled with the poor soldier, the tent door swung open
abruptly.
 
General Akuji Tadok K’K
stepped out into the sunlight with a look of suppressed rage at the sight of
the fight taking place at his entry.
 
He
was a towering figure that was as tall as or taller than most elves.
 
His long silver hair swayed in the breeze
while the sun glistened off of his hard gray and black hide.
 
He had a bulky muscular frame that made his
stature overbearing to anyone who was in his presence.
 
He was the leader of the largest and most
feared orc army in Tuwa.
 
His hard, cold,
gray eyes fixed on the struggling figure that went still once he felt his
leader’s gaze.

“General
Tadok K’K, you have an unexpected guest,” the messenger stuttered
frantically.
 
He was shaking all over as
he spoke to his general.

“Stand
up, you filthy scum!” blasted General Akuji.
 
He looked even harder at the trembling orc.
 
“Who is it that you let live?
 
This person had better be very important
since you disobeyed my standing order to kill anyone or anything that nears our
camp!”
 
The threat sent chills down the
spines of everyone that had gathered around this impromptu meeting.

“My
lord, it is an elemental. She…she did something to us in our minds so that we
would not shoot her out of the sky.
 
She
is holding the others hostage and sent me to tell you that she has business to
discuss with you,” the poor orc explained.
 
He shuttered at the hard look General Akuji gave him.
 
He was so scared that he soiled himself as he
stood in front of his leader.
 
The guards
that had been holding him moved away from the shaking orc because they could
sense that their general was about to do something to the messenger.
 
The smell of feces and sweat filled the air
around the antsy soldier as he shook uncontrollably in front of his general.

“I
do not care if it were the guardian himself…you still try your best to kill
him, you maggot!” yelled the general as he wrapped his hands around the
messenger’s head.
 
In one swift motion,
he ripped the poor creature’s head clean off and threw it aside.
 
He stormed off, screaming profanities in his
own tongue into the air as he marched toward the shoreline.
 
He would deal with this unwanted visitor
himself.

As
he neared the massive arrow launchers, he could see that the orcs manning the
weapons were in a transfixed state.
 
This
only enraged him more, and his cursing became even more offensive.
 
He walked right up to the elemental and drew
his massive silver war hammer and swung it back for a deathblow on this
intruder.
 

Kana
smiled slightly at this gesture and allowed him to swing away.
 
His blow missed the guardian somehow, and he
went spinning past his target from the force of his errant attack.
 
She immediately turned about and seized him
with her mind.
 
He rose slowly into the
air as she approached him.
 
His face was
full of rage and disbelief as his struggled to break free of his invisible
bounds.

“General
Tadok K’K, it is a pleasure to meet you at last.
 
I have heard stories of your power and
greatness from the peoples of Tuwa.
 
I
must say that I am not at all impressed by what I see in front of me,” she said
nastily.
 
“You were purported to be this
fearsome leader that took no prisoners and that trusted no one.
 
Yet, your guards did not kill me, as is your
custom.
 
Why is that?”
 
She was taunting the captive general just to
prove her superiority and power over him.

“Why
are you here, you filthy witch?
 
Why
bother us when we have kept our pack with you and your wretched council?”
queried the general hotly.
 
He was trying
his best to not be afraid, but that was rather difficult when a powerful being
like Kana had you in her clutches.
 
Still, he managed to give her baleful looks that clearly told her that
she was not welcome in his camp.

“I
am here on personal business, Akuji.
 
I
have need of you and your kind.
 
I want
you to join me in a cause that will cleanse Tuwa of lesser beings like the
elves.”
 
She was baiting him with what
every orc wanted: revenge on their neighbor to the north.
 
It was the residents of the Forest of Renshaw
that had acted as the guardians’ tool in punishing them so many years ago.
 
Revenge would be sweet and was long overdue
for the orcs.
 
General Akuji’s fear
subsided, and he looked hard at Kana as if trying to ascertain whether or not
she was being truthful.

“You
want us to attack the light footed elves?
 
What’s in it for us?”

“Your
chance at revenge is one of the obvious benefits.
 
The opportunity to help me take over the rest
of the Tuwa is another reward.
 
I plan on
cleansing Tuwa of elves, men, and dwarves.
 
Orcs, goblins, and rock trolls will then rule these lands once again
with me as your leader.”

“You
plan to conquer Tuwa and make it your own?
 
Why?”
 
He knew that he was in no
position to argue with the powerful guardian, so he decided to play along.
 
Maybe there was something in her offer that
would benefit him personally.

“The
ultimate form of power is dominion over others, my witless general.
 
The elementals command the elements of this
world in which you live, and I want to rule the people who live in Tuwa.
 
To have control over the elements and the
races would make me invincible.”
 
She
desired to have absolute power, and she was willing to do whatever it took to
achieve this goal; even if it meant having to deal with these unintelligent
brutes.
 
She would be able to control
them much easier than any of the other races because of their lusts for blood
and revenge.

“As
long as you share your power with those that help you capture it, we will work
with you.
 
Agreed?”

“You
are very shrewd, general; we are agreed then.”
 
She lowered him back to the ground slowly.
 
As the general touched down, he quickly
realized that she had risen slightly above the ground and was hovering a few
feet in the air.
 
It was clear that Kana
wanted him to understand that she was in charge and that he was beneath her in
every way.
 
However, they would both
benefit from this arrangement and would tolerate the uneasy truce they had just
established for the sake of exacting revenge and gaining power.

“What
is it that you want us to do now?”
 
General Akuji bowed slightly as he addressed Kana.
 
The orcs that were standing around this
spectacle immediately bowed as well.
 
They knew that if their leader bowed to someone else that it meant they
were all in that person’s service even if they all thought she was nothing more
than filthy scum.

“I
want you to get Generals Maurizio G’Dang, Nero Oggoamak, Synan Thrudak, and
Tomo Bruguk Tak,” she listed off the other leaders of the orc tribes.
 
“They will be needed in order to win this
war.
 
I will be off to invite our little
goblins friends next.
 
Then I will visit
the rock trolls to help shore up the weak parts of their armies.
 
By that time, I expect you and the others to
be ready to make war upon those accursed elves.
 
Do not attack them before I return.
 
I will need to split the army up so that we do not put all of our eggs
into one basket.
 
You will have help in
your assault on the people of the Black Forest.”

“Who
is it that will help us in our attack on the elves?
 
Will it be the rock trolls or the goblins…or
will it be both of them?”
 
Not that we need help from scum like them.

“In
order to answer your question effectively, I will need to explain what has
happened to the nation of the elves.
 
Many months ago the two daughters of the elven king fled with a third of
the elven nation to escape their father’s tyrannical rule.
 
They now dwell in Mount Quang and Mount
Konane in the north.
 
They no longer
associate with their fair brothers and sisters of the woodland.
 
Their main army has already begun my campaign
with an assault on your arch nemesis.”