by Ian Haywood
Alana had given the secret code for her spies who had infiltrated the Great Council to begin their attack on the other genuine Elders and for the first time ever, the Great Chambers were going to have blood spilt within it.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
The scene that unfolded before Gereziac’s eyes was nothing short of horrific as those who had infiltrated the ranks of the Great Council had now finally revealed their allegiance to Anna and were now striking out at the Elders who remained loyal to Gereziac.
The rest of the Elders were completely unarmed and completely defenceless against the weapons that were being thrusted towards them to cause great harm.
Alana did nothing more than stand and laugh as the gruesome scene unfolded and the four soldiers watching over her were struggling to undo the ropes around their wrists so they could jump in and fend off the attackers.
One of the Elders had managed to escape through one of the doors in the Great Chamber and he was making his way as quickly as he possibly could to find a guard in order to raise the alarm and get help as soon as possible.
Gereziac was about to jump forward and join in the battle, but a couple of the soldiers had managed to free themselves and moved ahead of him first.
He looked back and saw the other two finally removing their ropes and they quickly moved forward to add to the defence.
Gereziac now knew that Alana was unguarded and he had no other option but to move back in order to make sure that she didn’t manage to escape during the chaos.
But the drama unfolding before him was becoming more and more frightening as the blows continued towards the Elders – each one causing serious damage and in some cases even fatal.
Gereziac was well aware that it wouldn’t be long before the Great Chambers would be filled with more of his men who would be able to bring the attack to an end quickly.
But until then, the genuine loyal Elders lives were completely dependent on the fighting skills of his men.
And right now they were only just holding their own because shockingly, the traitors attacking were proving to be a formidable enemy.
A decision had to be made quickly.
Gereziac had no choice but to leave his post guarding Alana and join in until help arrived.
But as he was about to move, he caught a glimpse of Dormus being pushed to the ground by one of the spies and it was obvious that it may not end well for his most experience Elder.
He knew that he couldn’t reach him in time and shouted out.
“Dormus! Use this!”
Dormus turned immediately to be met by the sight of Gereziac throwing his sword towards him.
He managed to catch it and in doing so, turned the fight a little more into his favour.
Dormus was well known many years before for his fighting skills and Gereziac knew that he would be able to defend himself incredibly well.
And he was right in thinking so.
The first of the attackers met his demise as Dormus managed to thrust the cold steel blade through his chest before he could move his sword down to block.
As the lifeless enemy fell to the ground next to Dormus, his sword dropped and landed a few feet away from where Gereziac was standing.
Of course, Gereziac leapt forward to claim the weapon before Alana spotted it and he wasted no time in waving it around Alana’s face to remind her that he wouldn’t hesitate in using it if she tried to do anything stupid again.
Even though the blade was inches away from her face, Alana was not fazed at all with Gereziac’s threat and if this really was the end of the road for her, then she was going to make sure Gereziac suffered in some way.
“As you can plainly see, Gereziac,” she mocked, “I too have friends in high places and they remain just as loyal as they did before you brought me here as your prisoner! But the question I would be asking is how many more allies do I have within your ranks? Who could suddenly pop up out of nowhere and attack you without any kind of warning? Whether I am alive or dead, they will attack nevertheless!”
“I ought to kill you right now for what you have done!” Gereziac snapped.
“It’s not me who you should be concentrating on right now. Somewhere out there the Disciples of Draig have your precious daughter and I dare to think what could be happening to her right now, Gereziac.”
Gereziac knew that Alana was right and he had hoped that the court had ended by now with the sentencing he wanted – Alana being put to death.
But what was happening right now was the last thing he thought could happen and he was now in a predicament where he had to choose where his duties should lay.
And as no end of confusion filled his head, he was elated to see a number of soldiers bursting into the Great Chambers to hopefully bring an end to the massacre around him.
There was no end of men fighting against each other and as Gereziac surveyed the room, he was shocked to see how many bodies were lying on the ground.
Of course the largest number of corpses were the innocent Elders and they were joined by a couple of the traitors who started the fight and one of Gereziac’s soldiers.
The eerie sounds of swords cutting through flesh that filled the room earlier were now replaced by the sound of metal hitting metal as both sides were armed.
Scores of Gereziac’s men attacked as a unit and in doing so, easily eliminated those who were causing harm.
But the damage had been done.
Only two Elders survived the attack and Gereziac had played a part in saving one of them through his quick thinking.
Dormus looked visibly shocked as all the mayhem around him suddenly started dying down and he looked across towards Gereziac with an expression of thanks for doing what he did in order to save his life.
The other surviving Elder, Kitus, just stood in shock at the aftermath that surrounded him – many of his friends now lay dead or dying at his feet and there was nothing he could do in order to stop it from happening.
But relief changed to anger as Dormus set eyes on Alana and he was determined that justice would be served.
“Alana,” he shouted across towards her, “you have been found guilty of treason in the highest degree and now the murders of innocent Elders. There have been many who have been brought to me for the most vicious of crimes, but you are without a doubt the most evil person that I have ever set eyes upon and even though it is wrong of me to say so, I have the greatest of pleasure in sentencing you to death!”
Gereziac had got what he wanted, but the victory meant nothing as he realized what price his people had paid in trying to bring Alana to justice.
He looked across at Kitus, who bowed his head and then spoke to Dormus.
“I thank you both for what you have done and I swear to you that the memory of the other Elders will continue on. The Great Council has not been eradicated – it will be reborn. But Alana here will not return to harm any of you anymore. I will see to it personally.”
Gereziac turned his attention to Alana.
“You will be executed in front of the people to show them all that we will stand idle while someone shows treachery towards those who have given their lives to make sure that everyone lives in peace. The Elders and the soldier who lost their lives through your own evil actions will be given the best state funerals to show everyone what heroes they truly were – but you Alana will burn at the stake!”
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
I didn’t know where to look after being introduced to what I could only describe as a man mountain by the name of Mortus.
I thought Lucius was well built and Zephal wasn’t exactly small either, but Mortus completely towered over either of them and I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said that his arms were about the width of my body.
And he was standing directly in front of me blocking my way – and my light.
Tanya moved to Mortus’s side and the comparison in size between the two of them was incredible – and I suddenly thought that if they truly were lovers then I’m
sure that Tanya wouldn’t be able to move for quite a while if those two made love.
But the aura surrounding Mortus was one of pure evil and I knew that he would most definitely be the one who could cause me the most damage if he chose to.
It seems that my whole life has been a lie if I was to believe what Tanya had told me earlier about being raised by two people were not my real parents – and then Lucius making me believe that he was helping me against Zephal when he was just doing so to get me to Alana.
Then there was Tanya – who I thought was my best friend and we even shared a place together only to find she was only doing so for her own evil reasons.
I really don’t know what to believe anymore.
Everything that’s happening to be is unexplainable – I am now in a world where every kind of evil exists and monsters are real.
And every one of them seems to want me.
Mortus must be at least a foot and a half taller than me and right now his chest is at my eye level, so in order for me to see his face I have to tilt my head up.
But when I do look at his face, all I see is a constant scowl and eyes that seemed to burn through to your soul if you look into them for too long.
Throughout my life I have seen images of the devil in books and films and right now it seems as if I’m looking directly at him.
I may be able to hold my own if I was to have a fight with Tanya, but I can safely say that if I got on the wrong side of Mortus, then he could finish me in a matter of seconds.
All the time that I tried not to make eye contact with Mortus, it seemed to me that he was constantly glaring down towards the top of my head and when I looked at Tanya, she seemed to be staring at me too.
Tanya could see that I was nervous at the two of them doing so and she was quick to mock me.
“Does the pretty princess not like peasants like us looking down at her?”
Mortus laughed loudly.
“Her position means nothing in my world!” he said loudly to Tanya, “I think she should be bowing down to us, my Queen!”
Tanya smiled at Mortus after hearing him refer to her as his Queen and she leant forward and whispered into my ear.
“It looks like I outrank you here, Naomi! Now it’s my turn to call the shots rather than keeping my mouth shut whilst listening to your constant whining in the mortal world.”
And with that, she leant back and looked up at Mortus adoringly before speaking to him.
“I think I could get used to all this power, Mortus. You have already made me feel special, but there’s something really satisfying about deciding whether someone lives or not! When we are done with this bitch, can I kill her personally?”
Mortus looked down at her and nodded his head.
“I swear you can do whatever you wish to her when she has served her purpose!”
Tanya looked back at me with an expression that could only be described as how a sibling would look at you if they got something you wanted.
She may think that she will ultimately decide my fate, but rest assured Tanya will get the shock of her life if she tried anything.
I find it hard to believe that I have now obtained some kind of powers and the strength that comes with it has certainly raised to the surface and I certainly don’t feel threatened so much by Tanya.
And it is also my belief that she wouldn’t be acting in such an arrogant manner if she didn’t have the frightening power of Mortus behind her.
The staring contest between Tanya and I came to an abrupt end as Mortus suddenly grabbed hold of my chin and forced it up so I had to look at him.
As he did so, he squeezed both of my cheeks tightly which sent excruciating pains shooting up towards my temples.
“It is hard to believe that Gereziac could have produced such a fine specimen of a woman as you!” he said to me.
I couldn’t answer him back as the tight grip he had on my face was forcing my lips shut and I could feel my eyes watering as he continued squeezing.
“Mind you, I’m sure that the good looks definitely came from your mother!”
Mortus was having fun in what he was doing to me and an extremely jealous Tanya suddenly piped up from the side.
“Mortus, am I not the love of your life?”
Mortus loosened the grip he had on me and I took the opportunity to move back a little more so he couldn’t grab hold of me again unexpectedly.
He then turned his attention towards Tanya and took her hand before speaking gently to her.
“That is indeed correct,” he started, “but you must understand Tanya that from time to time I might want to indulge in a little moment of fun as life can get so tedious sometimes.”
Tanya was shocked by what Mortus had said and she responded.
“But am I not loyal to you?”
Mortus nodded his head and took her other hand.
“I know that you have thoughts towards other men, Tanya. So, don’t sound so shocked when you see me doing the same with other women!”
Tanya suddenly looked across at me with a look that could strike me dead.
“Why would you want this inferior bitch when you can have me anytime you want in any way you desire?”
“Sometimes it is nice to have a woman who likes to put up some kind of a strong fight instead of giving in to me so easily, Tanya!” Mortus replied.
This made Tanya furious and she tried to break away from the grip Mortus had on her hands, but to no avail.
“Let go of me, Mortus!” she demanded. “I will show you a woman with fight – let go of me and I will kill this bitch where she stands!”
But Mortus just squeezed Tanya’s hands tighter until she couldn’t hide the pain from him.
“Listen to me!” he shouted into Tanya’s face, “If you wish to remain as my favourite, then it will be within your best interests not to display another outburst like that again! There have been many before you who have been in the same position as you and they are no more. I’m sure you don’t want to end up like them. Do I make myself clear?”
Tanya had no other option but to nod her head and as she did so, Mortus’s mood changed to a calmer one and he let Tanya go.
I could see the pain that Tanya was in and her whole demeanor had changed from brashness to that of a scolded kitten.
It was pathetic to see an incredibly well-built man acting in such a bullying way to a woman who was nowhere near his physique, but I did feel some kind of satisfaction in watching her suffer.
And as I hid my inner laughter, I started to pick up a strange smell around me.
But it wasn’t a smell that I would expect to be coming from where we were right now.
I looked around to see if I could find the cause of it – but I found nothing.
There was no smoke to be seen and no flames.
But I was definitely picking up a strong smell of burning wood.
So if there was nothing around me to explain what I was picking up on right now, where could it be coming from?
And why could I suddenly hear a large number of people cheering loudly?
But then the cheers suddenly turned into booing and a tirade of threats aimed towards someone in particular – and soon it became clear who the hatred was aimed towards.
Alana.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
No words could describe the anger that Gereziac had towards Alana and he had finally got his opportunity to make her pay for all the evil that she had done.
In wars there will always be casualties and each side will always know that they go into battle with the possibility of never returning again, but what Alana and her allies that had managed to infiltrate the Great Council did to the Elders went way past the boundaries of decency.
Dormus and Kitus had returned to their private quarters and Gereziac had sent for someone to check on them to ensure that they were genuinely okay.
But back in the Great Chambers, the cleaning up of the massacre was well underway and teams of Gereziac’s men
were moving bodies out of it to be taken to the safety of the barracks ready to be given the official burials that Gereziac had promised.
And those funerals would take place after an important matter was dealt with – Alana’s execution.
If there were others within Gereziac’s ranks who still remain faithful in some way towards Alana, then the public display of her death will show them exactly what fate would await them if they tried to attack without warning again.
Security was at its highest everywhere and every soldier had their own part to play in ensuring that no more harm comes to either Gereziac, the remaining Elders or any of the people.
And with such an important event about to take place, Gereziac knew that his old friend Zephal would not want to miss one minute of it – so he was currently heading to tell him the good news.
