The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (17 page)

The
general’s memory of the events was incomplete, and the parts where he was
possessed he could not remember.
 
As he
regained his consciousness, he saw that he was alone and that Bronwen and Kira
had been killed.
 
There was no sign of
the assassin anywhere.
 
He cried out in
vain for help that would not come.
 
His
hoarse voice echoed dismally off of the still cavern walls.
 
He silently knelt down and retched.
 
What
have I done?

***

General
Yukio had been organizing his army to maximize the defense of the city for the
past three days when on the third day an unnatural rumbling sound came from the
heart of Mount Quang.
 
His men all
cowered at the sound thinking that this mountain was now possessed by the same
demons that haunted Mount Konane.
 
Yukio
knew immediately that something had gone horribly wrong.
 
He called for his horse to be brought to him
as well as his armor.
 
Once his horse was
prepared and he was ready for combat, he took off out through the main
gate.
 
The troops stared after him in
disbelief.
 
They were wondering where he
was going.
 
All he had instructed them to
do was to protect against an attack.
 
In
a matter of a few seconds, he was out of sight.

He
pushed his steed hard as he circumnavigated the mountain.
 
He was heading to the Gorgen Falls.
 
His horse would have to be left behind
because of the narrow passageway once he arrived.
 
He made it to the other side of the mountain
unbelievably fast and jumped off his horse as soon as he was at the falls.
 
He tied his companion to a sturdy tree,
jumped into the pool and leapt through the wall of water.
 
Once behind the falls he pressed the secret
button, and the hidden door opened to admit him.

As
he raced through the winding passageway, his thoughts were on General
Marek.
 
How could he let something happen to Kira?
 
He promised to keep her safe!
 
His anger and suspicion grew as he drew
closer to his destination.
 
The distance
between the falls and the Twilight Cavern was much shorter than the path
leading from the castle.
 
When he had
reached the cavern, he immediately noticed the immense devastation.
 
He was sickened by the sight of Bronwen’s
broken body and turned his head in disgust.
 
He bent down to check his friend for a pulse and found none.
 
He stood up to survey the rest of the
battlefield.
 
Immediately he saw a figure
hunched over another body he instantly knew was his wife’s.

He
roared in rage at the sight, and Marek stood to see General Yukio charging at
him.
 
His sword was drawn and anger
consumed his face.
 
General Marek stood
defenseless as his friend approached.
 
He
tried to shout at Yukio to wait a moment so he could explain what he thought
had happened, but his pleas went unheard.
 
In Yukio’s mind, he believed that high elven general had betrayed
him.
 
He began to draw his sword back as
he neared the scene of the disaster.
 
His
friend did not flinch and stood tall to face the bringer of perceived justice.

Yukio
twirled his long sword in his right hand as he swung down hard on Marek’s drawn
blade.
 
The clash of steel shook the air
for a moment and then the battle was on.
 
General Marek was an accomplished swordsman, but he was no match to
Nairian general.
 
After a flurry of
parries and wild slashes, the fight reached its apex.
 
After a feint to the left that unbalanced the
high elf, a dagger appeared in Yukio’s hand.
 
The small blade was quickly buried in Marek’s side.
 
This move proved to be the prelude to the
fatal blow to follow.

Yukio
gripped his sword with both hands and raised it at an angle over his left shoulder.
   
As the general twisted a little more to
gain leverage, he looked into the eyes of the person who had destroyed all he
cared about in life and saw something that did not register immediately.
 
The Nairian general roared in rage and with
one fluid stroke removed general Marek’s head.
 
As he turned away from the headless corpse that was falling to the
ground, he dropped his sword and knelt by the mangled body of his wife.
 

Her
eyes were cold and distant as he looked at her face.
 
He placed his hands on her deformed head so
that he could read her final thoughts and see her untimely death.
 
He immediately saw Marek attacking his wife
with magic and saw everything else that transpired.
 
In his mind, he believed he was justified in
executing his friend who turned out to be the assassin.
 
While looking through his wife’s memory, the
events of what happened had been altered somehow to show the general acting of
his own volition. There was no recollection of a shadowy assassin.

Yukio
laid his wife’s head back down to the earth and picked up his sword again.
 
He walked over to Marek’s body and spat into
his lifeless face.
 
After a few moments
of muttering curses over his friend’s corpse, General Yukio stopped long enough
to shout out in absolute rage.
 
His yell
was so loud that the walls began to shake and tremble.
 
He then came to his senses and realized that
the cavern had been destabilized by the various battles.
 
The ceiling was coming down, and he had to
act fast to get out of there.
 
He picked
up his wife and started toward the exit.
 
As he neared it, he reached down and picked up Bronwen’s body.
 
He had a dead body over either shoulder as he
reached the exit.
 
As he entered the
tight tunnel, the cavern collapsed on itself.
 
Small rocks hit Yukio in the back as he continued to run.

He
quickly reached the falls and the pool of water that his horse was drinking out
of.
 
As the disheveled general emerged
from the tunnel, his body began to weaken rapidly.
 
He threw the dead to one side and fell
unconscious to the ground.
 
As he awoke
sometime later, he could feel hot breath as well as a moist thing caressing his
face.
 
As his vision cleared, he saw that
it was his horse licking him.
 
He slowly
sat up and saw that there was a thick fog surrounding him.
 
This made it difficult to see what lay around
him at first.
 
What he did know was that
something deep inside him had broken and that he would never be the same again.

As
he stood up, he felt pain both physical and mental like he had never felt
before.
 
He walked gingerly over to the
pool and looked at his reflection.
 
He
was covered in blood and dust from his ordeal in the cavern.
 
He cleaned off the blood and dirt from his
body and armor by jumping into the water.
 
After a few moments he returned to where he had cast the bodies of
Bronwen and Kira.
 
He spent the rest of
the morning digging graves for his friend and his wife.
 
Before he laid them to rest, he took his
wife’s crown off her head and Bronwen’s badge off his dress robes.
 
He would use this tattered badge and
contorted crown as proof of the treachery of General Marek.
 
He covered the bodies with dirt and then a
massive mound of rocks.
 
He then stood on
top of his wife’s grave and pulled out his knife.
 
He swore a blood oath then and there to
avenge his wife’s murder.
 
He held the
high elves, all of them, responsible for his wife’s demise.
 
They
will pay for this unforgivable treachery!

The
sky was clear as the sun rose steadily higher as the morning progressed.
 
General Yukio’s army watched anxiously for
their leader’s return.
 
He had left so
quickly that he did not say when or if he would return.
   
His men caught sight of something in the
distance heading toward them at a steady pace.
 
They immediately sprang into action and closed the main gate.
 
The archers prepared to fire while the
catapults were readied behind the wall.
 
They were not going to let down their general by allowing anyone into
Alanderas.
 
The figure glinted as it
continued up the path to the entrance.

As
the visitor came closer, they could tell that it was a person who was heavily
armored riding on a massive war horse.
 
One of the archers, who had excellent vision, yelled out that it was
their leader approaching and to open the gate.
 
As the rider approached, the gigantic doors swung open to admit
him.
 
General Yukio had a fierce look on
his face and did not look at any of his men as he passed through the
entrance.
 
He brought his horse to a halt
behind the walls and dismounted.
 
He
rummaged through his saddlebags for something while his men closed the massive
gates and gathered around their leader.

“Men,
we have been deceived,” General Yukio said dejectedly.
 
“Queen Kira, my wife, was murdered by General
Marek!”
 
He lifted the head of his former
friend into the air for all to see.
 
In
his rage, he had picked up the severed head of the traitor Marek and carried it
out of the cavern before its collapse.
 
Consciously he did not remember doing this.

Silence
fell over the troops; everyone was trying to get a look at the traitor’s head.
 
They simply could not believe that Kira’s
general could do such a terrible thing.
 
Some noticed that he had something else in his other hand.
 
They started whispering to one another to
pass this new information along.
 
They
all tried to get a better look at what he was holding in his left hand.

“I
have here the mangled crown of my dear departed wife as proof of this
treachery.
 
Also, I have the badge of the
chairman of the high council, Bronwen Merindiel, as a token of their deaths,”
he said sadly.
 
He did not think it would
have been this hard to tell his men what had happened.
 
He had been numbed by shock and from the
melancholy he was experiencing.
 
He had
not yet grieved for his wife or his good friend Bronwen.
 
This was not the time for grieving either.
That would have to wait.

“I
believe that we have all been lied to and deceived from the very start.
 
The high elves knew that the men of Nairi
would pose a threat to their plans to dominate the other races.
 
They believe that they were better than anyone
in Tuwa.
 
They even blasphemy the gods by
killing their chosen leader because she would not go along with their
treachery!” blasted Yukio.
 
He was so
angry that he could barely contain his rage.
 
He cast down the evidence in utter disgust.
 
I
cannot believe she is gone. I will not rest until justice is served!

The
stunned looks on the faces in the crowd of soldiers around Yukio flushed red
with anger at this betrayal.
 
The people
of Nairi had had dealings with the elves for centuries without any conflict or
deception.
 
They could not accept the
fact that they were protecting a people that would kill their own leader.
 
To make matters worse, they killed their own
queen for not wanting to be a part of their ludicrous plan for domination.
 
Why did they choose to rebel against the
mighty Kana and her plan for saving the elves?

“What
do we do now, General?” asked one of his captains gruffly.

“We
prepare for a surprise attack on these fiendish high elves.
 
I doubt that the people of Queen Kishi had
anything to do with this plot, so we will leave them out of this unpleasant
affair.
 
I believe she had an idea all
along that many of the people were plotting to take over the lands of Tuwa and
that is why she left,” explained Yukio confidently.

“What
do we need to do first, sir?” asked the same captain.

“First,
send a messenger to Commander Drujien.
 
Tell him what has happened, and have him make haste to the base of Mount
Quang.
 
We will not attack until we have
their numbers added to ours.
 
The inner
wall is defended too well for the troops we have stationed at the outer wall,”
instructed Yukio.
 
“Second, we prepare
for a direct assault of the inner wall.
 
After we breach that barrier, we will then direct our efforts toward the
castle and the council chambers.
 
Our element
of surprise will be realized when the high elves recognize that we are inside
and outside their wall at the same time.”

Immediately
the men sprang into action knowing that the tasks before them were urgent.
 
A messenger was sent on one of the fastest
horses to retrieve the soldiers under the command of Favian Drujien.
 
The rest of the troops returned to their
stations as if nothing had happened.
 
They were to make their preparations while performing their other
duties.
 
They high elves needed to be lulled
into a false sense of security.
 
This
would give them the edge in the fighting ahead.
 

Meanwhile,
their general went to the high elves to report a slightly altered version of
what occurred in the mountain.
 
He would
assemble the high council in one week from today in order to officially report
his findings from his investigation into the deaths of Queen Kira, Chairman
Bronwen, and General Marek.
 
Little did
they know that this was a stall tactic to allow for Commander Favian to arrive
and to make his final preparations for the siege of Alanderas.

General
Yukio rode slowly toward the main gate of the castle.
 
His mannerisms clearly indicated to the home
guard that something horrible had happened.
 
They had not heard anything from general Marek since the rumblings from
Mount Quang and the mysterious disappearance of her majesty the day
before.
 
The guards on the wall bowed
their heads solemnly in acknowledgment of the general and in response to his
now apparent sullen demeanor.
 
No one
dared to look him in the eyes because they were afraid that the horrible truth
would be realized if they gazed into them.
 
Yukio brought his valiant steed to a halt in front of the doors that had
opened at his appearance.
 
He waved for
one of the high elves stationed at the gate to come to him.
 
As the beckoned soldier saluted the general,
the dejected leader of the army of Nairi bent down and whispered something in
the ear of the guard.

After
a brief moment of silent instruction, the guard snapped to attention and
saluted the general before he did an about-face.
 
He took off toward the living quarters of the
high council members.
 
He had been told
to summon the members for an unofficial report regarding what had happened to
the queen.
 
Yukio then continued on his
horse through the gates of the inner wall and headed to the castle.
 
Once he was directly outside the double doors
to the royal house, he dismounted slowly and removed several objects from his
saddlebags.
 
He then opened the doors and
disappeared into the shadows.
 
He felt
sadness and loss for the first time since the horrific events of the previous
day.
 
Tears streamed down his face as he
neared the bedchamber.

As
the general looked around the disheveled bedroom, he tried to envision exactly
what happened.
 
He seated himself on the
floor where he crossed his legs, closes his eyes and opened his mind in an
effort to sense traces of magic if there were any.
 
There was a powerful vestige of magic all
over the room, much like a spider web.
 
As he touched on the magical cords he understood quickly that there were
two different people using their magic to hide their presence. One of them in
particular was using an unnatural psychic power to control the minds of
everyone in the room.
 
He felt certain
that this person was the one responsible for the tragic deaths.
 
The identity of the assassin was not yet
clear to him, so he decided to do some tracking by retracing their footsteps.

He
looked around the room to where the trap door should be.
 
He stomped his foot on the door to get it to
open, but nothing happened.
 
He went to
his weapons cabinet and retrieved a few items he thought might do the
trick.
 
He hefted an enormous war hammer
over his should and set down his other options on the floor.
 
He did not have much time to do his
investigating because of his meeting with the council, so he was quick to try
his new idea of breaking the door open.
 
Down came the war hammer with a deafening
thud
as it smashed into the floor.
 
He made an indentation in the floor, but it would not give way.
 
For the moment, he left it alone so he could
go and meet with the people who were likely responsible for his wife’s
murder.
 
He looked forward to this
opportunity very much.

He
went back to his closet to change out his armor.
 
He walked toward his kingly armor that was
displayed in the very back.
 
It seemed
appropriate to wear this special suit when he addressed the treacherous
villains.
 
Even though the queen was
gone, he was technically still the king.
 
He did not like the idea of being a royal figure, but it would work for
him in this instance.
 
His mere
appearance should instill fear in those responsible for this tragedy.

After
he finished dressing, he began his march to the council chambers.
 
As he made his way to the hall, he saw a
flurry of activity around his destination.
 
He immediately knew that they were making preparations for the meeting
and were beefing up security as best they could.
 
The security would be enough for today, but
the official meeting would be something else entirely.
 
He knew that he would be able to manipulate
the situation to his advantage as he always had before.
 
He would prove to himself all over again that
he was the consummate master of persuasion.
 
He would not have to raise his hand at all to get what he wanted in this
case.

He
had reached the back door to the chamber hall before he knew it.
 
He had been so consumed in his own thoughts
that he did not realize how much time and distance had passed.
 
He set his jaw and renewed his resolve to do
what was needed as he entered the council room.
 
He saw the worried looks on the faces of the council members as he
entered the hall.
 
He walked resolutely
toward his wife’s throne and sat in the chair to make a point to the people at
the round table.
 
This gesture answered
their fears about their queen and at the same time infuriated them. How could
this man sit on the throne as if it were his right to do so?

The
council members began to whisper to one another about what was really going
on.
 
They were all thinking that Yukio had
killed their queen so that he would be king.
 
General Yukio looked at each member in the council and was wondering
when they would realize that someone else was missing from their group.
 
It appeared that everyone was concerned about
Queen Kira’s absence and not their beloved chairman.
 
He believed this fixation on the queen was
further evidence of their treachery in this matter.
 
This helped to stiffen his resolve to stick
to his plan.

“Where
is the queen, General Yukio?” asked one of the members of the council boldly.

The
general stood slowly from his seat and set a bag on the table in front of
him.
 
There were more whisperings among
the group at the sight of this mysterious parcel.
 
Yukio’s face fell slightly as he worked up
the courage to relate the events of the previous day.
 
He did not think it would be this hard, but
the death of his wife and good friend had left him scarred.
 
He knew then that he would never be the same
again.
 
He knew that his actions would
lead to a war if he was not careful in his dealings with the council this
day.
 
If he did not give way his
intentions or his real beliefs on the matter, then he would be able to crush
them all in one swift stroke.
 
If he was
unable to control himself and give something away, there would be no avoiding
an all-out war.
 
Either way, he would
have his revenge.