The Broken Council

by Steven R. Burke

  "You vermin failed me! You know the penalty for such insubordination," the general declared menacingly.

  "General, why are you going to punish us for not attacking our new leader?" asked one of the ores timidly. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he knew he was dead. Tadok K'K took two swift steps to reach the idiot who dared to question his authority. He reached out with his right hand and ripped his throat from his body. Black blood gushed everywhere as the helpless soldier fell to the ground soundlessly.

  "Does anyone else feel that I am being unreasonable?" General Tadok K'K asked imperiously. "Good; the rest of you will be spared for the war's sake. However, you will be on the front line to help us determine just how far the elves' arrows can fly." He laughed hard and loud as he marched off toward his tent. The rest of the ores joined in the laughter as they went back to their respective duties.

  Kana continued to streak across the sky toward the Sheldon Mountains where the goblins of Tuwa made their aphetic home. They lived so deep under the ground that no sunlight had ever touched the cavernous halls of the goblin nations. They simply cannot stand natural light, which made them use artificial means. They loved to make fire and to use it against their perennial enemy the dwarves. They hated those bearded midgets and their intrusive nature. The stout people of Carrick were always driving their western neighbors out of their perfectly dark and dank dwellings within the mountains so that they could get more of their precious ores. They loathed these intruders completely, but they were no match for their power and military tactics.

  As the rogue guardian approached the mountain range that was home to her little friends, the sun had set and the day was drawing to a close. She could see the night post arriving at their stations just outside the main secret entrance on the western end of Sheldon. She burned white hot now to make an even stronger impression on the goblins that stood watch. They would be very impressed by the display and would send for their leader immediately. They were a superstitious bunch that would hail her as their god. Her task here would not be nearly as difficult as her visit was with the ores. The most difficult part would be when she explained that they would be fighting on the same side as the brutes of Tarin.

  Kana knew that the ores had the nasty habit of eating their little goblin friends, but she would be able to persuade them to join her cause in spite of this risk. When she explained that the rock trolls would be fighting with them, their fears would subside. She knew that this visit would not take long and that she would have the time she needed to persuade the rock trolls to join her. They would be the most difficult by far to convince, but they should prove to be the deciding factor in the overthrow of the dwarves and men.

  She went into a dive so steep that it looked like a star falling from the night sky. The goblins that were on guard began to tremble and shake before this awesome display. One of the guards had enough sense to run back into the tunnels to report the spectacle to their leader. Kana stopped just above the ground and hovered there while she waited for the lords of the five tribes to arrive. She continued to be illuminated as she remained suspended in the air. She smiled to herself at how easy this task was going to be. She knew that in order to unite the different tribes they would all have to witness this grand display. She stayed where she was for only a few minutes before one of the lords appeared with his entourage.

  Within minutes of one another, the remaining three lords appeared followed by the only ruling lady. They were all transfixed by this powerful display and were in awe that such a visit would be made to them. No one said anything for a long time; they just stood there looking at the Elemental. They could not tell exactly what the creature was or from where it came. More importantly, they did not know its intent toward them. Maybe the being was there to destroy them. Kana read these nervous thoughts and decided to end the prolonged silence.

  "My friends, I am Mistress Kana, master of fire and air. I am here to discuss a cause that requires your special talents and abili ties," she said with a warm smile. "Will Lords Daray Krumok, Kieran Magurth, Rothrock Momurth, Pirro Thadak, and Lady Kiara Sodok please come forward?"

  The five leaders came forward slowly and stopped several yards before the stunningly beautiful apparition. They kept a respectful distance from the guardian and dropped to one knee as they awaited further instructions. Kana smiled at this display of total obedience and submission from her newest subjects. They apparently revered her as a god, so she would make use this to further her cause. This is going to be even easier than I thought.

  "Noble leaders of the great nation of goblins, I have come to ask your aid in cleansing the lands of Tuwa of its rebel races. Men, dwarves, elves, and even giants have plagued these lands for too long. As a guardian, it is my duty to protect the elements from these thoughtless creatures, and I require your help to cleanse Tuwa of one of the vilest among them. Will you join me?" she asked in a booming voice.

  "We will, Mistress Kana," said Lady Kiara with a sanctimonious nod.

  "Excellent. As my first act, I will form a unified army of the goblin nations. I will then bolster your ranks with your neighbors to the north of your beautiful mountain homes," she explained.

  "Who are you referring to exactly?" asked Lord Daray cautiously.

  "I will meet with the rock trolls tomorrow morning to persuade them to join your ranks. Once you have joined together, your first mission will be to wipe out King Jarvis and his pretentious dwarves," she said with a venomous hiss. Stunned silence greeted this declaration. The leaders of the tribes looked at one another uneasily as they took in what they were being commanded to do.

  "How will we be able to uproot the bearded miners?" asked Lord Pirro tentatively.

  "With the aid of the rock trolls, you will be able to remove your foes from their strongholds," she replied coolly. All five of the leaders nodded their acceptance of this answer while harboring a sense of dread in their hearts. They did not believe they could do what was asked of them.

  "I sense that you still do not believe that you can overthrow stunted dwarves. Bring Yuki Togok to me," she commanded imperiously.

  "I am already here, mistress," Yuki said with a slight bow. She was a fearsome-looking goblin that had silver hair that glimmered in the moonlight.

  "You will be my general of the armies of the goblin nations," Kana said resolutely. The tribal leaders looked at Yuki in shock as they backed away to allow their new general to approach their mistress.

  "I will wreak havoc on our stunted foes until they are no more!" she shrieked vehemently.

  "Very well, General Yuki. Now, prepare the armies for attack, and I will return to you with the rock trolls to fill your ranks. They will have two commanders that will answer to you, and they will keep their soldiers in line," Kana said succinctly.

  "We will be ready," replied General Yuki. She bowed to one knee this time. The host of goblins that had gathered together outside the gate bowed like their general.

  Kana smiled warmly at their acceptance as she rose steadily into the night air. She began to glow crimson red as she turned into a ball of fire again. When she was nothing more than a red dot in the sky, she bolted in a northeastern direction toward the home of the rock trolls. The goblins went into a frenzy of work after her departure. They were excited and scared all at once. They were afraid of the dwarves and their brutish ally from the north, but they felt a new level of confidence after their meeting with the powerful Elemental. They had never seen one before and were in awe that she would choose to reveal herself to them in person.

  As the land below Kana changed from mountains to open and desolate plains, she began to think about the task that lied before her. The rock trolls did not revere the guardians as gods and would have to be persuaded in a different manner altogether. They would not be willing to accept her as their leader simply because of who she was. They would not be impressed by her magic, and she could not use it on them. Their tough hides made them impervious to her powerful offensive magic. The only e
xception to this rule was her ability to control minds. The only problem with this is that they can break a mind-controlling spell after only a few minutes. They did not use the same mental defense mechanisms that Kana was used to. She did not fully understand how they ejected mental intrusions. She would have to persuade the brutes to do her bidding without resorting to coercive measures. She would have to appeal to their destructive and distrusting nature.

  She had another problem to address first, and that was finding the rock trolls. They did not have camps or homes that were visible to the naked eye. Their dwellings were hidden within the rocky and forbidding terrain of the Land of Nodin. Even if a person could navigate the windy and unrelenting landscaped of the brutes' homeland, you would not be able to actually find them. Their rough skin had the ability to mimic their surroundings so perfectly that sometimes they cannot even see one another. Kana would have to use her mental powers to track them down.

  As she continued to fly high in the night's sky, she began to be buffeted by the winds of Nodin. She immediately changed into her ethereal form so that she could fly with greater ease and also to disguise her approach. She could already sense the presence of a large number of rock trolls directly below her. She did not think she would find them so quickly. It was her understanding that there were not that many of them and that they lived deep within their barren land. Why are there so many of them and why are they so close to their southern border?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a massive boulder narrowly missing her ethereal head. She quickly changed back into her human form and threw up firewalls in the air to protect her from the numerous projectiles heading toward her. How did they see me? She was stunned for several seconds by this surprise attack. She had gotten careless in her approach and had waited too long to disguise herself. Her task had become even more difficult than she had anticipated. She would have to make examples of some of her attackers to gain control of the situation.

  She concentrated on the minds of three of the closest brutes. She immediately turned them on one another. One of the rock trolls in her control grabbed the head of one of the attackers and pulled with all of his might. The ensuing brawl filled the air with dust as debris flew in every direction as it escalated. The sun began to crest over the eastern horizon and helped to illuminate the fight in progress. Kana extinguished her flaming walls and descended rapidly toward the center of the action. She turned into a mix of flames and fierce wind as she approached her target. Some of the projectiles became trapped in her vortex and followed her speedy descent.

  A sickening thud was heard as she hit the ground bodily. The purpose of this tactic was immediately apparent. A massive shock wave went out in all directions. The brawling rock trolls were reduced to pebbles within seconds. The earth continued to shake and rumble for minutes afterwards. She had landed in the very center of the entire nation. Her attack had woken every single one of them, and the quaking was the sound of their approach. She did not fear them because they could not kill her. However, they could beat her incessantly, which would rob her of valuable time. She would have to kill every single antagonizer if this situation escalated into an all out battle. Their loss would be significant to her. She would have to try diplomacy.

  "Lord Trahern, I must speak with you," she said in the most commanding voice she could muster. As she said this, the ground shook violently. A massive figure landed directly in front of her and began to laugh mirthlessly.

  "Little witch! Why you trespass here?" bellowed Lord Trahern. His red and yellow eyes narrowed in dislike as he looked down at her. He did not believe the guardians were gods; rather, he believed them to be devils or demons. He fixed her with a deadly gaze that would have killed a lesser being.

  "Lord Trahern, I am here to enlist your help," she began coolly. She stared fixedly back at the massive leader who was twice her height. "I believe that the races of men, dwarves, elves, and giants have made a pack to conquer the lands of Tuwa. I learned of their treachery firsthand when the men of Nairi attack a separatist group of elves without provocation. These elves, which now go by the name of high elves, have allied with me and have struck back at the people of Nairi. They have also joined forces with the ores in the south. Together they will attack the elves of the Black Forest by week's end."

  "Why should care?" he bellowed back. Rock trolls did not speak much, which was why the races of Tuwa believed that they were mute. Kana knew this was untrue and that they could definitely communicate when the need arose.

  "I need you to help the goblins in their assault on your neighbor to the south. You do remember them?" she asked slyly. King Jarvis regularly attacked the rock trolls to try and thin out their numbers. The king's trade routes were constantly under attack by the brutes even though they carried nothing of value that the mindless oafs would want.

  "I kill little beards?" asked Lord Trahern. It was clear that he did not speak much because his actions did the speaking for him. Kana knew better than to be deceived by his broken speech. He was very intelligent in spite of his verbal handicap.

  "Yes, Lord Trahern. You will kill the dwarves. You will also kill men, elves, and giants as well. Does this please you?" she asked.

  "Me happy," replied the massive leader. He had a grim, satisfied look on his face as he looked at Kana.

  "Good; then we are agreed. The goblins are organizing as we speak for the assault on Mount Carrick. After you have gathered your people together, head to the western end of the Sheldon Mountains. General Yuki Togok will be expecting you. She will lead the combined army, but your commanders will lead the siege battalions," she explained with an air of command.

  "Me agreed," he said sanctimoniously. He then began to laugh raucously as Kana shot up into the air. She felt reassured in her plans now that she had sorted out the finer points of her plan. Now she had one more visit to make before returning to the ores. She must visit her captive friend, Lord Keb.

  General Yuki continued to bark out orders at her newly formed army of goblins as they made preparations for their attack against their bearded neighbors. The main body of this new military group had congregated in the largest cavern underneath the Sheldon Mountain range to make their final preparations. The air was filled with smoke from the numerous torches lighting the stone hall. There was so much noise that is was impossible for the general to hear her own thoughts. She was beginning to lose her cool and was just about to lay into her boisterous soldiers when the cavern walls began to shake. It felt as though the mountainside was being pulverized by boulders. Then the shaking stopped just as abruptly as it had begun. Silence enveloped the room as they all waited for something else to happen.

  The massive crowd of goblins was looking around the vast cavern with fear and trepidation. They were mainly looking up at the ceiling because that was where the rumblings had come from, and they worried that a second round of shaking would bring down the roof. Screams of sheer terror filled the silence as several of the goblins on the south end of the gathering place caught sight of the rock trolls who had been standing there since the rumblings had stopped. The massive brutes had mimicked their surroundings to hide their presence until after the rumblings. They did not know what made the mountain shake so violently, but they felt it was prudent to wait a few minutes before revealing their proximity to the huddle masses.

  Several of the screaming goblins fainted from the surprise appearance of the larger-than-life guests. General Yuki ran quickly to greet the expected visitors and to calm the now-hysterical army. She reached the stoic brutes in no time and bowed before them in greeting. As the general stood up, she could hear a voice in her mind telling her that she did not need to fear them. The voice continued by explaining that Kana had bade them to come and join the army of the goblins. They were also supposed to report to General Yuki and no one else. Then there was silence again in her head, and she looked around as if someone had been whispering to her. The three rock trolls that stood in front of her nodded to indicate that it was the
y who had been speaking to her. I had no idea that they could communicate with their minds.

  "Welcome. We have been expecting you," Yuki said with another bow. This time the entire army bowed with her. They had stopped screaming and yelling once their general had bowed the first time.

  "Me Lord Trahern. Commander Vahe and Commander Jabari," Lord Trahern said as he gestured to his two commanders.

  "We are grateful for your willingness to help us in our fight with the stunted thieves of Mount Carrick," she said edgily. "Continue with the preparations while I speak with our guests." She turned around to face the rock trolls and gestured for them to lead the way out of the cavern. As they departed, the goblins began to speak quickly and quietly to one another about the turn of events. There was a feeling of great anticipation and excitement that was generated by the appearance of their massive friends from the north.

  As General Yuki emerged from the underground lair, the night sky clouded over to hide the stars and the moon. The three rock trolls followed her lead without saying another word orally or telepathically. They continued down the grassy slope on the southern side of the central part of the Sheldon Mountains. As they neared the base of the mountain, they came upon a small forest of trees that was thick with vegetation. As they entered the canopy of trees, darkness engulfed them completely. There was no light and no sound as they continued walking toward some secret destination. The four unlikely companions did not have need of light to find their way in their pitch-black surroundings. It was as if the rock trolls instinctively knew where they were heading even though the general had not communicated to them where or when they would be stopping.