Chapter 4: Council

The air was heavy with the smell of light fragrance and sweat, the words passed between these six hung in the air deepening the mood of anxiety as their conversation continued.
The Rebel Council was convened, and fear was the main topic.

One stands before the others; an Elf of many seasons less then his body hints at, the position he holds aging him faster then nature intended.

"Zariah City has sent out another search party for us. This brings the total to 4 this moon cycle..."

"We understand how many that makes Artan. What are we to do with them? If they do not return to the city, the Bacchus Senate will have a direction to start sending more. If we don't do anything, they are sure to find us eventually."

"Calmness sister, we'll need to have clear heads for finding a solution to this issue. Artan, Ishal does have a point though. How are we to combat this threat?"

"I am hearing you Pereis, and you Ishal. This council meeting will try to find out exactly that, what we can do and what we will do about the search parties and many more issues."

"Many more issues? Have my brother and I been gone so long that they have compounded?"

"Myki, please inform Pereis and Ishal of the latest events please."

There is an uneasiness as the youngest member of the Council stands and takes a step forward, thoughts whirl almost like ancient whispers from a long forgotten crypt. Near no one trusts one that can pass over a mind like a page of parchment or scroll and this Council is not immune to that stigma.

"The search parties have started to burn fields, wild crops and even lighting forests ablaze. The threat is now not if they find us, but they get close."

Myki could almost touch the tension in the room as it grew around her, she began to concentrate, visualizing her way toward blocking thoughts from invading her own. Instead of the deep tension she was filled with this longing sadness as she began to feel utterly alone.

"Myki, is something the matter?"

"No... no... Thank you Ahlan. The issue Artan was describing further gets worse; the population of our camp is growing and we may need to expand out of the forest. This brings with it dangers of living on the ground instead of above it, as well as much less cover against a Zariah search party. We have touched upon the subject of us moving the whole of the camp."

"Move the whole of the Camp! We are speaking of hundreds, if not thousands, of Elves! What other madness has been spoken while we were away?"

"Enough Ishal. We have all spoken likewise when we touched upon this issue and we wish to find another way then moving, though for the good of our people we must keep our options open to anything. Please continue Myki."

"Thank you Artan. Our final worry of this meeting is the rumors we have heard of Zariah City and its blossoming school of Magic. Whispers of the school actively researching forms of Magic for war and destruction. We all know who they would first wish to use these new techniques on, so the question of how to combat it merits much thought."

"Thank you Myki. The threats from Zariah City are becoming very hard to ignore and we must act soon if our Camp is to survive much longer. This is the reason for this meeting, and the reason for us calling both Pereis and Ishal back from their negotiations with the Human elders... I now open the floor, how are we to face this threat?"

The room was visited with profound silence, even Ishal seemed deep in thought for many moments.

"Perhaps..."

"Yes Nami?"

"Perhaps if we were to have access and knowledge of the spells Zariah is creating, a suitable counter could be found. We find a water to quench their fire, a fire to melt their ice."

"And how would we gain access to these spells? Much less form an opposite in the time it would take them to march upon our borders and destroy us..."

"Ishal, please. While I have more confidence in our ability to form a counter spell, I do also agree with my sister's first point, Nami how would we gain these spells? If they were even held in the middle square of Zariah, they are still within its walls."

"We are able to sneak into the city to obtain information and yet not items?"

"Madness! Suggesting that we put someone to not only sneak into Zariah, but to also steal scrolls from their school? Who would agree with such a suicide mission?"

"It may not be suicide Ishal. Perhaps the informant could help us with this."

"That half traitor? Brave enough to save some of us, but not enough to break from Zariah City... feh."

"I will remind you he has provided us with many crucial pieces of information thanks to him staying under the Zariah banner. I shall seek a meeting with him and see what he can do for us."

"I suppose that is settled then Artan? Perhaps he will be able to solve at least one of our problems... I'm up for optimism."


©2010 Cyi Taiga & Jono Taiga