by Mark Omodia
Chapter 9
The Rho Tribe
The creatures drew closer Ozin and his crew who were growling in the cage. After examining them, one of the creatures much smaller than the rest removed her mask. She was a Morflon. She didn't hold a crossbow. The others tried to stop her but she forced her way and went right in front of the cage.
'You are trespassing on foreign soil', she said to Ozin and his crew. 'Identify yourselves!'
'We come in peace!' Ozin replied. 'We are headed for the Rho tribe.'
'What business do you have at the Rho tribe?' she asked.
'I wish to see a friend', Ozin replied.
'And this friend is?' she asked.
'Cylas', Ozin replied. 'Cylas Silverton!'
The young female shuddered when she heard the name.
'And you are?' she asked.
'I am Elder Ozin of the Alpha tribe...' he replied. 'The patriarch of the Bastion family... And you are?'
'That is not important', she replied.
'That is enough!' one of the masked creatures yelled.
The masked creatures opened the cage and led Ozin and his comrades out.
'Elder Ozin, we are sorry for the inconvenience, but these are desperate times', the creature said. 'You are welcome to the Rho tribe!'
All the creatures removed their masks. Behold, they were all Morflon. They led Ozin and his comrades to meet Cylas. The Rho tribe was a far cry from the typical Morflon tribes. They embraced sophisticated technology and development a lot more than the other Morflon did. Their buildings were similar to that of the Morrs and so were their streets. The only difference was that their buildings were not as tall as the Morrs'. The members of the Rho tribe also dressed like the Morrs, only they did not wear as much jewelry.
As they went towards Cylas' house, the leader of the guards said; 'Once again I apologize for the way we treated you. You see, the Red clan has staged a series of attacks on our tribe. They come here to pillage, leaving nothing but defaced corpses drenched in their blood.'
'I am sorry to hear that', Ozin said.
Cylas was the brother in-law to Ozin. He was one of the prominent and wealthy Morflon of the Rho tribe. Because of that, he had a vast expanse of lush green land where he built a massive elegant mansion. He had several Morflon working for him. Ozin and his comrades were generally impressed at what they saw in the Rho territory.
By the time they got to Cylas house, they saw several guards and servants kneeling down and begging in the courtyard. They all quivered in fear. Cylas' voice could be heard from inside as he roared in anger. He was punishing them.
'All I asked was that you keep an eye on her', he yelled. 'Is that hard to do?'
He soon calmed down as Ozin and his comrades approached with two guards.
Like other Morflon of the Rho tribe, Cylas did not keep dreadlocks. He had a ponytail and a hulihee.
'If it isn't Ozin Bastion', Cylas said as he ran to embrace him. 'In all my days I never thought to see you again. This really is a pleasant surprise.'
'How do you do brother?' Ozin asked.
'I am well', Cylas replied. 'I could not have been any better.'
Looking at Ozin's companions he asked Ozin; 'I see you brought some companions. Something is obviously wrong with the other one I presume' he was referring to the Morflon that was stung by the wasps.
'Yes', Ozin replied. 'He was stung by wasps in the woods.'
'What a pity', Cylas said.
Signaling some of his servants, he said; 'Take this Morflon to the inn and take care of him.'
'Thank you brother', Ozin said as the servants took the Morflon away.
'It's nothing', Cylas replied.
'Meet Gaiel Bigheart and a friend of ours', Ozin continued, introducing his comrades.
'...The son of Morriah?' Cylas asked.
'Indeed', Ozin said.
'I didn't even know Morriah was married', Cylas remarked. 'My! How they grow these days.'
They both laughed.
'Please come in', Cylas said as he led them into his house.
'What's it been, like twenty three cycles?' Cylas said as they all took their seats.
'Indeed', Ozin replied.
Ozin then called Cylas aside and spoke to him.
'I am sorry for the past', he said. 'I should never have tried to stop my sister from wedding you... I should not have treated you so...'
'Never mind that', Cylas interrupted. 'We all make mistakes. All is forgiven.'
'It hurts me every time I think of it', Ozin continued.
'I have told you that all is forgiven', Cylas said. 'I am not like that. I do not like to keep grudges. I would not have been this successful if I did. Besides, I cannot afford to be at war with my wife's elder brother.'
'That means a lot to me', Ozin said. 'Thank you!'
They embraced each other affectionately.
'Speaking of my sister, where is she?' Ozin asked as he and Cylas took their seats.
Cylas shook his said. His facial expression changed.
'She passed away two cycles ago', he said in a sombre tone.
'I am sorry to hear that', said Ozin who was in shock. 'What happened?'
'She was ill', Cylas continued.
'You know, she was my rock. She meant everything to me. Now the only one I have left is our daughter Lya.'
'You named her after her mother', Ozin said. 'Where is she now?'
'That young one has a passion for the outdoors', Cylas replied. 'She's a tough one you know... She slipped out of the house this morning. Can you imagine? I have all these guards and servants and no one saw her leave.'
'Is that why you were punishing them', Ozin asked, referring to the servants and guards.
'Exactly', Cylas replied. 'I mean I pay them handsomely and they cannot even keep an eye on my daughter.'
'Do not worry', Ozin said. 'Children of these days behave like that.'
'But she is a female', Cylas said. 'She should not be allowed to run wild. I mean no one knows the trouble she might be getting herself into right now.'
Ozin remembered that he had seen a young female among the guards, so he said;
'Could it have been your daughter we saw amongst the guards this evening?'
'What?' Cylas said, shocked.
'She did have some semblance to my sister', Ozin said. '...and she shrieked when I mentioned your name.'
Cylas immediately got up and summoned his guards.
'You make yourselves at home', he said. 'The servants will show you to your rooms. I have to go fetch my daughter. I will see you when I get back.'
He then took off accompanied by some guards.
It was dark by the time he got back. He dragged his daughter into the house. He was scolding her. He was very furious. His daughter did not help matters too as she grumbled and tried to resist. He then ordered his guards to take her to her room and lock the door. He also ordered them to keep watch.
'Imagine!' Cylas said. 'They now recruit young ones. She is even female for crying out loud.'
Ozin and his crew were all chatting together when Cylas walked in.
'Did you find her', Ozin asked.
'Yes', Cylas replied. 'The guard in command said they recruit Morflon as young as sixteen cycles old, but she is not up to that. She is only fourteen.'
'Then how was she able to convince the commander otherwise?' Ozin asked.
'It baffles me', Cylas replied.
'I think she took that trait from you', Ozin said jokingly. They both laughed.
'Such a confident smooth talker', he continued.
'She is my daughter after all', Cylas added.
'I am just glad she is safe', Cylas said when they had stopped laughing. 'She is in her room now. You will see her tomorrow.'
Elsewhere, at some other time, the Morr King Sett was walking along one of the walkways in the lawn just outside the palace with Oldric.
'Your highness', Oldric said. 'I believe it was not fair that you did not
release the Morflon as you promised.'
'I never promised to release him!' King Sett said. 'I never intended to release him. Why would I release the creature who committed the highest atrocity in my book?'
'You waste your time responding to Oldric' Egon said as he caught up with them. 'His intellect has proven too meager to comprehend superior strategy.'
'What do you want?' King Sett asked Egon.
'It has been days since the human arrived here', Egon said. 'He has experienced the Morr elegance, a lavish banquet was organized for him and he now resides with us in this magnificent palace... I still cannot put a finger on what you hope to achieve by this.'
'Sometimes I feel ashamed to call you my son', King Sett said. 'I thought after all this time you would have had the slightest understanding of my plan, I mean given that you are my offspring one would expect that you have inherited some of my impeccable traits... to say you have no inkling of my plan shows that you are not yet fit to be a leader... you should have noticed that I am trying to make him warm up to us. As time goes on he would reveal things about himself to us... he already has told me that he is not from here and that he is the only one here, but I cannot help but think that there is more to him than meets the eye, I mean very few get to use the transporter. Some say it is a tool of nature to help fulfill destiny... I don't know how true that is, but I believe that he didn't stumble upon here by chance, he must be someone great or important. That is why I did not abduct him. I could have had him whenever, just like the other Morflon; but that would have sent a wrong message. You do not abduct someone you want to be your friend. Besides it would have only proven any sinister idea the Morflon had put in his head about us.'
'You cannot be serious father', Egon said holding back his laughter. 'You actually think this human is of importance. If he was, the Morflon would not have given him up that easily.'
'Sometimes you do not know what you have until you see it with someone else', King Sett said. 'Besides, the Morflon might not have noticed his potential, but they were taking care of him, thus he was their ally. And whenever the need would arise, he could come to their aid. And you know how things are between us and the Morflon. But now he is on our side, and I intend to make sure it stays that way.'
'What if he finds out you didn't release their brother?' Egon asked.
'He would not', King Sett replied.
'But your highness', Oldric said. 'The human so far has not shown any quality that matches ours.'
'Deceit is a powerful weapon', King Sett said. 'He might just be pretending. Or perhaps he has not noticed his potential yet.'
'I cannot believe this', Egon said. 'Amidst all this tension between us and the Morflon, you base your strategy on a hunch? What if he is a spy? What if he doesn't have all these qualities you speak of? What then?'
'This forest is more mystical than you think son', King Sett replied.
'Oh please father', Egon interjected. 'We are the most superior species in this part of the forest. We have a large, organized and well equipped army. Yet we allow ourselves to be threatened by these feral creatures. Look at the fence of the fortress, so massive and impregnable, believed to keep unwanted creatures out. But in reality it is a cage we have built for ourselves. We hide behind the walls of the fortress because in truth we are afraid of what lies outside. We claim to be the most dominant species in the forest yet we hide and watch while our enemies wax stronger and even try to challenge us. We have become prisoners in the forest we claim to rule. The fence should have been broken down cycles ago.'
'Please do not go down this road again', King Sett pleaded knowing fully well what Egon was going to say next.
'I say we do what should have been done many cycles ago', Egon said. 'The Morflon are feral creatures. They were under us before. I say we send out our finest battalion of soldiers and remind them who is in charge. It is time we tamed them!'
'You are a blood thirsty oaf', King Sett scolded Egon. 'You do not know the slightest thing about battle. If you did, you would know that this would not end well.'
'That is because we have allowed their insolence to last this long', Egon said. 'Things would only get worse if we do not nip it in the bud now.'
'We have the human now', King Sett said. 'We have already taught them a lesson.'
'A very temporary measure', Egon said. 'After we subdue them in battle, we would have reminded them who is superior; but we do not stop there, we would demand an offering from them every year to remind them that the fear of the Morrs is the beginning of wisdom. That is a more permanent measure.'
'I cannot lead my army into such a senseless battle', King Sett said. 'Modern battles are won by wit, not ruthless aggression.'
'I know you are not cut out for such', Egon said. 'That is why I am suggesting we wake the immortal Trinidos.'
Both King Sett and Oldric gazed at Egon in shock. They literally stopped walking.
'Who has been feeding you with all this thoughts?' King Sett asked. 'Who have you been speaking to?'
'I understand that you are shocked', Egon said. 'But we all know that of all the creatures in the forest, the Morflon fear the immortal Trinidos the most. Besides, he is the only one ruthless enough to lead such an assault as he has the most hatred for them. Plus he would serve as a morale booster for the soldiers.'
'This discussion is over', King Sett said.
'Think about it father...'Egon said.
'Depart from my presence at once', King Sett said.
'Your highness' Egon greeted as he bowed before taking his leave. King Sett and Oldric stared at him, amazed at what he had just said. The thought of waking Trinidos was a step too far.
