by Mark Omodia
Chapter 14
Bad News
After about a week and a half, we got back home to an elated Alpha tribe. Everyone was shocked to see us back alive. Ozin's children and their families welcomed him. Euphina, who had been bedridden, leapt for joy as she saw Morriah, Gaiel and I. Lila and Kayne were all over us. Lila showed me my corn and I saw that the stalks were now taller than me.
We were all in a merry mood. Cylas' guards went back home as well, bringing word of Morriah's safe return to Cylas who was more than relieved as until then he didn't know where Gaiel was. Time healed all wounds as after pressure from friends and loved ones, Gaiel was forgiven. But just when it felt like nothing could go wrong, the unexpected happened.
From across the plains in the Alpha tribe, certain Morflon were spotted, staggering whilst burdened with their belongings which seemed hurriedly packed. They looked haggard. One of the Morflon slumped. Alas, it was Cylas. His daughter who had been beside him the whole time panicked as she tried to resuscitate him to no avail. She cried for help and the indigenes of the Alpha tribe came to their rescue. Cylas was immediately rushed to Ozin's house where he was laid down and water was sprinkled on him. Lya watched in anxiety. It would take a while before Cylas would regain himself.
When Cylas was alright, he freshened up and was given food to eat. And after a good rest, he narrated his ordeal to Ozin. What he told Ozin was grave, so grave the council of elders held a meeting to discuss it.
Cylas appeared before the council of elders to officially narrate his ordeal.
'Elders of the Alpha tribe, I greet you', he began. 'I had just come back from the south. I arrived only to behold the Morrs spilling the blood of my brothers and razing our houses to dust. Smoke was everywhere as Morflon scrambled like animals being smoked out of a hole. The Morrs had no mercy. They sporadically fired their crossbows and thrust their swords into the chests of helpless Morflon... an all out massacre, that's what it was.'
Tears began to fill his eyes as he spoke.
'I thought of my daughter Lya', he continued. 'Could she have survived all this? I raced to my home which was already in flames. Many of my servants and guards had been slaughtered. From beneath the rubble I saw Lya unconscious and badly bruised. I grabbed what I could and fled, placing Lya on my shoulder. I was lucky. All those who fled were lucky. I say this because from the way they attacked, they had no intention of keeping prisoners.'
The elders stared at Cylas in horror. Each of them had horrid images in mind as they paid attention to Cylas.
'Why would King Sett attack your tribe?' some elders asked.
'I am afraid King Sett is not behind this', Cylas said. 'The immortal Trinidos is. He it was who spearheaded the massacre of my brothers and sisters.'
The elders all gasped as they heard the name Trinidos.
'Why would they wake him up?' they asked.
'No offense', one elder said. 'But the Rho tribe is notorious for their antics. Perhaps they got themselves into this mess.'
'It is probably to punish them for aiding Morriah's escape', Azadus said.
Just as they were speaking, a Morflon ran in to break sad news.
'Another tribe has just been attacked!'
The elders were immediately filled with trepidation. A cocktail of confusion and hysteria filled the air. No one understood what was going on. Why were the Morrs attacking them? The issue was now a general issue. Thus the elders of each clan all came together to dialogue.
A general meeting was held in the Tau tribe. By this time, several Morflon had migrated north as more clans had been attacked.
'Four clans have been attacked now!' an elder said. 'More and more Morflon are migrating due north to avoid slaughter. How long can this continue?'
'What did we do to warrant these attacks?' another asked.
'It definitely has something to do with Morriah's escape', another said. 'Perhaps we should hand him over to them, maybe they might reconsider.'
'That portrays weakness!' yet another said.
'Morriah is our brother. Even if he is guilty of killing Lord Boas that does not warrant our total annihilation', Ozin said.
'You brought this upon us', an elder said to Ozin who immediately took offense.
'There is nothing wrong with saving a brother', he snapped.
'What we need now is a cause of action', Azadus said, twirling his moustache. 'Pushing blame would not get us anywhere.'
'You members of the Alpha tribe always try to lord it over the rest of us', an elder said. 'You expect us just to leave Morriah just because he is part of your kindred.'
'That is a very foolish analysis', Azadus retorted.
The place was rowdy as Azadus and the elder almost began to fight had they not been restrained by the others.
'Each minute we spend bickering at each other, the Morrs advance towards us', Ozin said.
'The Morrs have declared war', he continued. 'We must be prepared to match them strength for strength if we want to survive.'
'How do you propose we do that?' an elder asked. 'Their army outnumbers ours and they are more equipped than we are.'
'Where there is a will there is a way', an elder replied.
'You forget that they have an immortal with them', another said. 'How do we even the playing field?'
Everyone discussed amongst themselves as no one could figure out a way. Suddenly, an elder came up with an idea.
'Let us wake an immortal of our own', she said.
'That is ridiculous', some elders immediately replied. 'All the immortals are Morrs. They are more likely to support their cause, not ours. Besides, all the known shrines of the immortals are within the fortress.'
'There is one immortal that could support our cause', an elder finally said. '...and his shrine is not in the fortress.'
'Who is that?' the other elders asked, paying keen attention to him.
'The immortal Radok', the elder replied. '...the greatest warrior that ever lived.'
'That is impossible', an elder said. 'No one ever saw his body. How are we even sure he is immortal?'
'Radok's body was never found because it was burnt to ashes', an elder said. 'But the body is not what makes a creature immortal, it is the soul. They carried out the immortalisation ritual without his body.'
'No one knows if the immortalisation ritual actually worked for him', Azadus said.
'But it is worth trying', the other elder said.
'Concerning the immortal Radok', an elder said. 'How do we wake him up if he has no body?'
'He will need a vessel; a creature, Morr, Morflon, whoever, with the supernatural ability to house more than one soul in one's body, even immortals' another one said. 'The good thing is that he can be woken anywhere, by anyone.'
'So how do we get a vessel?' another asked. 'Vessels have no distinct physical features. Most creatures don't even know they are vessels. So it will be hard to find one.'
'I suggest we split in to our separate tribes and each carry out the ritual', an elder said. 'Select any of us who volunteers to be a vessel then carry out the ritual. We would continue the ritual until he wakes up.'
'...Or you get tired', Azadus said. 'Let us say we succeed in waking him up. What makes you think the immortal Radok will support our cause? What if he ends up being the one to annihilate us?'
'Relax Azadus', an elder calmed him down. 'Radok was a selfless and compassionate Morr. He is more considerate than the other immortals. He might listen to our plea... it is worth the shot at least.'
'While you are taking a shot in the dark...' Azadus said. '...at least have a contingency plan, should all else fail that is. Supposing he does not wake up or he is not even an immortal, what then do we do?'
'Elder Azadus', Cylas said. 'I think I have a solution to that.'
'You!' Azadus yelled. 'What are you even doing here? Who let you in?'
'I am representing my family the Silvertons', Cylas replied. 'Our patriarch is badly wounded from the Morrs attack and he i
s recuperating thus he cannot be here now. Besides there are only a few families represented here from the Rho clan as many were massacred.'
Everyone was silent. Cylas took their silence as an approval as he continued.
'We all know that strength for strength we could match the Morrs, at least with some certain improvements in our arsenal. But the real problem is the one leading them to battle. Trinidos is an immortal, which means he is stronger and faster than any mortal. To make matters worse no magic can affect him. He seems invulnerable but that is not the case. Everyone has a weakness no matter how small. And I have gotten his... you see, rubincense is essential to immortals. It is the incense used to immortalise someone and it is the incense used to wake an immortal up. But it is also the incense used to make an immortal sleep again... You see, it is believed that the rubincense shatters the divide between here and the spirit realm; it blurs the line between both dimensions. It creates the passage between both realms. An immortal who is awake does not need the rubincense unless he is going to sleep, thus if the immortal comes in contact with the rubincense, it distorts his reality and he loses control over his body as the rubincense is trying to force his soul back to the other realm. Although it is only temporary if you do not chant the words that make him sleep. But so long as there is rubincense, no immortal soul will be at rest... I believe we can use this to our advantage.'
Everyone watched as Cylas dipped his hands into a sack he had beside him and brought out a smoke canister.
'It has been discovered that the rubincense can be compressed into cans and other items', he continued. It is based on this principle that we made this. This is a smoke canister. Once I remove this ring, the pressurised rubincense bursts out and diffuses all around. Watch...'
Cylas removed the ring on the canister and threw it in their centre. The gas shot out and spread all over the room, filling the place with red haze. The elders were amazed.
'Elders', he said with a grin. 'With this, no immortal can harm us.'
'We can even chant the words to make him sleep', an elder yelled ecstatically.
'We shall paint the entire forest red with burning rubincense', yet another yelled.
The hall became rowdy as everyone lauded Cylas' invention.
'As for the weapons', Cylas continued. 'I believe there are enough blacksmiths to produce sufficient weapons for our arsenal. I have ideas of catapults and other massive equipments which we could make.'
After a tumultuous meeting, the elders arrived at the following decisions which were relayed to the others: Each tribe would provide volunteers and carry out the waking up ritual, the adult males would begin to train for battle while the females would get rubincense from the Quercus trees around, all Morflon would gather as much food as possible and head to the valleys due north where the female and children and the old would hide within the caves and sufficient weapons would be forged for the battle.
