by Mark Omodia
Chapter 19
Aftermath
After several bouts filled with bloodshed, the war ended in a stalemate. Both parties lost important creatures to the war. The war was so tough that they had mutual respect for each other. Amidst all the gloom, there was a sigh of relief for the Morflon. It was a consolation to them that they did not all die as the odds appeared stacked against them then. They just picked up the pieces of their lives and started to rebuild their homes, their territories, their lives.
Every one mourned their dead. Cylas wept as he heard of Ozin's death; so did Ozin's offspring. A mass funeral was held for all the fallen heroes of the war. All their corpses were cremated. It was a tearful day. Before Ozin was cremated, several Morflon each took a strand of a piece of Ozin's hair in exchange for theirs. Morriah, Euphina, Cylas, Azadus and some of Ozin's offspring were part of them.
While several Morflon died, scores of Morflon were injured with varying degrees of severity. Gaiel was one of them. He was bedridden as he received treatment. By his bedside was Lya, who seemed to have put all grudges aside. Then there was me. I remained unconscious for a long while. No one knew what was wrong with me.
Morriah and Euphina kept watch of both Gaiel and I. Morriah had heard of everything that transpired in the valley. He was tending to my unconscious body one day when Cylas walked in.
'So it turned out that you were right', Cylas said to Morriah. 'He really is a special one Eric.'
'Ai!' Morriah said. 'I said it. I knew that he was the vessel Radok had chosen, but you were all quick to refuse that thought... Behold the man who saved us, the man who ended this battle.'
'I still wonder though', Cylas said. 'How is it possible that of all the creatures in the forest, he was the one chosen - an outsider who is not even from the forest?'
'I don't know', Morriah replied. 'I am just as confused as you are... You know, when I first came across Eric in the woods, I saw a creature that was going to die if I did not save him - a helpless creature. But now when I look at him, I see greatness, someone who is destined for something huge; someone who is going to do something that would shake the entire forest to its roots.'
'Do you think that Radok has left him?' Cylas asked. 'You know he was exposed to a lot of rubincense.'
'Ai! I don't think so', Morriah said. 'Although it is a possibility, one cannot say for sure. But I do know that the immortal Radok has chosen Eric to be his vessel. And he cannot use any other vessel until Eric is dead, and by dead I mean a natural death. So long as Radok is awake in him, he would not let Eric die through any unnatural means.'
'The immortal Radok must surely be kind', Cylas said. 'Someone like Trinidos would have taken over his body and rendered Eric as good as dead. Radok, on the other hand waited for the right time before coming out. He might not have come out if Eric was not in danger.'
'Ai!' Morriah said. 'I believe that the immortal Radok could see through Eric's eyes and that though he was not physically present, he was fully aware of everything going on since we woke him up.'
'True', Cylas said.
'He mentioned a word, a collective name for us and the Morr. He called us Murfs', Morriah said. Eric called us the same thing. Just before we began to prepare for battle, he mentioned that name when we were chatting. He said it should be our collective name.'
'Seems like the immortal Radok agrees', Cylas said.
They both smiled.
'I don't know what happened to Eric', Morriah said. 'But I hope he recovers soon.'
The Morflon may have been having a tough time, but they were not the only ones. The entire Morr fortress was in a standstill for days. Everyone mourned the death of their loved ones. A few sympathisers mourned Trinidos. King Sett did not die. Somehow, he survived the pummelling Morriah gave him. But he was badly wounded. He had multiple fractures including a crack in his skull. He was bedridden. He was pretty much a vegetable, nearly brain dead. Their best physicians took care of him, trying to resuscitate him; but everyone knew his chances for survival were slim. His future on the throne was bleak.
One by one, several Morrs began to scheme for the throne. The most notable amongst them was Lord Buron who began to act as regent. He used his new found position to consolidate his grip on the throne. He began to make allies and put strategies in place to ensure his smooth transition to the throne.
While the king's courtiers vied for power, Nyra spent her days and nights by King Sett's bedside. She wept for days without end, hoping that somehow, through some miracle, King Sett would recover fully. She was at his bedside one day when Oldric walked in. He too was weighed down by King Sett's anguish.
'Such a barbarian', Oldric lamented. '...whoever did this to the king. The creature must have felt a lot of hatred for him.'
Nyra just sat by King Sett's side, sobbing.
'Take heart sister', Oldric tried to comfort Nyra. 'All will be well.'
Nyra collapsed in his arms as she broke down. For one who had cried so long, one would have thought she would have stopped mourning, but it seemed her stream of tears just got wider with each day.
'But you have to keep your eyes open', Oldric continued. 'Certain Morrs are eyeing your husband's throne... Don't look surprised. You should have seen this coming.'
Nyra was further saddened by Oldric's news.
'You are King Sett's wife', Oldric continued. 'You are the queen and only surviving member of his family. His brother is dead, Egon is dead. You are all that is left. You are the rightful heir to the throne, should King Sett not make it.'
'Don't say that', Nyra retorted, slowly distancing herself from Oldric. 'Why would you say that?'
'I want him to live', Oldric said. 'Honestly! I would give anything to see him recover again, but I know that the chances are bleak. Some might even want to kill him, but I have put measures in place to prevent that. However, even so, there is a limit to what we can control.'
'Don't speak like that!' Nyra yelled. 'Don't be pessimistic! He will live...! He will live!'
She broke down in tears. Oldric moved to comfort her, but she refused. He just stood there with a heavy heart.
After about one moon, things began to look up. The Morflon had already begun to rebuild from the rubbles left from the war. Cylas stayed in the Alpha clan until Gaiel was well. But he soon had to leave so he could start up a new life. Before he left with his daughter, Morriah's family and Ozin's came out to bid him farewell. Gaiel was still recovering from his wounds, though he was a lot stronger. He still had bandages.
'You have been so nice to me', he said to them. 'I am eternally grateful.'
'Oh please Cylas', they replied. 'You played a major part in our battle against the Morrs. You saved our wives and children. We are the ones who should be eternally grateful.'
'I was only doing my duty to my kind', Cylas said.
'No need to show such modesty' Azadus said. 'You know we speak the truth.'
'Stay with us' Euphina said.
'As much as I want to I cannot', Cylas replied. 'The Rho territory may have been destroyed, but it is my home. And I intend to build it back to its former glory.'
'How do you intend to do so?' Ozin's family asked. 'Would it not be better to stay here?'
'Have no fear', Cylas replied rather calmly. 'We Rhos are good at starting from the scratch. It is not the first time we have suffered such, although it has never been to this magnitude... Don't worry about us, we will be fine.'
Lya said goodbye to the children in Ozin's family and Gaiel. When she got to him, they stared at each other in silence.
'You saved my life', she told him. 'I would miss you.'
'You take care', Gaiel replied, trying to hide his emotions.
They embraced each other.
'Some other time eh', Gaiel said.
'Some other time', Lya replied before going to meet her father who was also embracing everyone.
'I guess it is goodbye then', Cylas said.
'Ai! Till we meet again', Morriah said.
It was a very emotional moment, the Morflon watching Cylas go with his daughter and his surviving stewards. But they were not the only ones leaving. Morflon from the other destroyed clans also went back to pick up from where they stopped, to start from nothing.
Both Morrs and Morflon had tasted the bitter side of war and they had grown weary of it. All they wanted was to move on, to rebuild and to get over the pain that gnawed at them. It was a time of great uncertainty for all. The total ambience was dull with nothing but hope for a better future. Both sides had their issues to contend with, thus for now all was relatively calm. The only question on everyone's mind was 'for how long?'
Epilogue
It was the dead of night. The streets were empty as everyone had retired for the day. The sound from nocturnal creatures echoed all over the otherwise silent fortress. But not all Morrs were at rest. A hooded Morr walked briskly into an alley looking over his shoulder to see whether he was followed. After surveying the area, he slipped through a hidden doorway. The doorway led to an abandoned hall. The hooded Morr walked in to behold a few other hooded Morrs seated round a dim light from a dying fire. He took a seat amongst them.
'Were you followed?' the one who appeared to be their leader asked.
'No', he replied.
'Good', the leader said.
Turning to the others, he said 'The immortal Trinidos was put back to sleep. Our efforts at destroying the Morflon have been rendered futile'
'Trinidos failed us', one of them said.
'No!' their leader said. 'Trinidos did his best. Everyone knows that it was the immortal Radok that saved the Morflon... Who would have thought that they would think to wake an immortal...? Who even knew Radok was an immortal...? What baffles me the most is that an immortal took sides with them...? Until now I almost certainly believed that no immortal would come to their aid.'
'We underestimated them', another said.
'Indeed', their leader said. 'Now we are back to where we started. Prince Egon is gone. It is such a shame. We had just recruited him. He was instrumental in our plan to wake Trinidos... He proved very useful to us. Now all we have left is that obstinate King Sett...'
'He lies helplessly on his sickbed', one of them said. 'We could just put him out of his misery and put one of us on the throne, one who would do the bidding of the order.'
'Yes', their leader agreed. 'Now is our chance. We shall strike while the iron is hot.'
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Thank you for reading my book. I really do hope you had fun. If you enjoyed it, why don't you take a moment to leave me a review on your favourite retailer? Spread the word! And yes, be sure to look out for Legend of the Murfs: Helmet of the Rhine King, the next in the series coming out in future.
Thanks!
Mark Omodia
