The Broken Council (The Guardian Chronicles 1) (27 page)

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 antagonist 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 orcs 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 orcs.
 
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
they who had been speaking to her through telepathy.
 
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, he Commander Vahe and he 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.

Suddenly
the forest gave way to a lush meadow that had an eerie green color to it. There
were several small ponds in the clearing.
 
The sky above had become even darker than before, which made the space
look stranger than it would in the daylight.
 
General Yuki came to an abrupt halt and turned about to face the leaders
of the rock trolls.
 
She stared at them
for a few minutes trying to figure out how to best communicate with them.
 
Their verbal skills were not the best, and
she did not know how to speak telepathically.
 
Maybe they could read my thoughts
like they did before.

“You
speak with mouth; we speak with mind,” offered Lord Trahern.
 
He had read her thoughts and offered this solution
in answer to her quandary.

“Very
well then, I will begin by saying that we have a great deal to discuss before
we even attempt our assault on King Jarvis and his midgets,” began the
general.
 
The rock trolls nodded in
agreement.
 
“First, we need to discuss
what your people will do to bolster our ranks.”

Our talents lie in siege tactics and in
hand-to-hand combat.
 
Maybe we could be
spread out amongst your ranks to strengthen the foot soldiers and to protect
your archers
, suggested
Commander Jabari.
 
His face remained
impassive as he spoke to the general through his thoughts.

“That
would work; we could also have your siege warriors be surrounded by our archers
so that they too would be protected,” offered the general thoughtfully.

That would work best.
 
So, now we need to discuss actual numbers so
that we can have a good idea how to divide up our forces.
 
How many foot soldiers and archers do you
have?
 
Commander Vahe did not change his expression
as he communicated non-verbally.

“Now
that the armies of my people are united, we have two hundred and fifty thousand
foot soldiers with one hundred thousand archers.
 
There are an additional one hundred and fifty
thousand foot soldiers and fifty thousand archers that will remain in place to
guard our home,” explained General Togok.
 
She had a ponderous look upon her face as she threw out their numbers.

We have fifteen thousand warriors all
together.
 
Ten thousand of those are
siege warriors, and the remaining five thousand use their brute strength as
their weapon of choice.
 
So, the five
thousand could be scattered throughout your two hundred and fifty thousand foot
soldiers,
explained
Commander Vahe.

We will divide up the siege warriors
into ten groups of one thousand each.
 
We
should surround each group with one thousand archers.
 
That will leave you with ninety thousand
archers to divide up amongst the foot soldiers,
continued Commander Jabari.
 
It was as if the rock trolls shared a
collective conscience.
 
They appeared to
be on the same page at all times.

“I
will divide up my foot soldiers into ten battalions so that there are
twenty-five thousand in each.
 
There will
be seven thousand five hundred archers per battalion, which will leave us with
fifteen thousand back up archers.
 
Agreed?” asked General Yuki.

We agree.
 
We should make sure that we completely
surround King Jarvis before we begin our assault.
 
I would recommend that we send five
battalions on the surface and the other five under the mountain.
 
Five siege battalions will accompany the
above ground assault while the remaining five siege battalions join the
underground attack
,
Lord Trahern suggested mechanically.

“Excellent
strategy, Lord Trahern,” replied General Yuki.
 
“How long will these formations and divisions take to be
implemented?”
 

She
was very pleased with the numbers they were sporting and with the strategy they
had come up with thus far.
 

Three days; no more,
said Commander Jabari in reply.

“It
is settled then; we will begin preparations straight away.
 
We will need to meet with our commanders and
captains to make sure they understand the strategy.
 
I do have one final question.
 
How will we communicate between the
battalions?” asked the general.

Each battalion will have a rock troll
designated to be the communications specialist.
 
They will communicate with one another through the earth using one of
our special abilities.
 
This way there
will be no chance for our enemies to intercept our intelligence or orders.
 
The initial attack can be synchronized
perfectly using this method
,
answered Commander Jabari.

“All
that is left now is to put our plans into action.
 
Three days from now we will make our march on
Mount Carrick and have it surrounded by dawn both above and below ground.
 
We will attack them from below at that point
and then assault them from above at dusk.
 
We take no prisoners and will not stop until they are all dead!” said
General Yuki with wicked delight.
 

She
began to cackle menacingly as she stood in the lush clearing.
 
The rock trolls looked at one another at this
unnecessary display of elation.
 
They
collectively thought that their little goblin leader was a bit touched in the
head but did not say anything out loud or even in their minds about it.

On
the third day after the secret meeting, the combined armies prepared to move
out.
 
They had been integrated thoroughly
and prepared for a relentless siege of King Jarvis and his people.
 
They had established a series of secure
supply routes from each of the five goblin dwellings.
 
The rock trolls did not need any sustenance because
they received their nourishment and power from the earth.
 
The runs they established would provide
sufficient means if the battle should take months or even years.
 
There was excitement in the air that was
tangible as the army waited for things to get started.
 
They had waited centuries for revenge against
the dwarves, and they were just days from initiating a war that would secure
them pay back and dominion over their stunted foes.

The
army had split in two and gone to their designated gathering places.
 
The goblin’s armor was thick in all the right
places, which allowed them to still move swiftly.
 
The captains and commanders had much more
cumbersome full body armor, but they were definitely better protected.
 
The rock trolls were covered in immensely
dense armor that covered nearly every inch of their bodies.
 
The only way a dwarf would be able to take
them down was with a lucky shot with a poisoned arrow or dagger.
 
Yuki’s troops would be much easier to kill,
but their massive numbers would make up for their lack of adequate
protection.
 
They would swarm their
enemies and overpower them by sheer force.

As
the sun began to set in the west, the goblins became less apprehensive and more
excited about the task that lay ahead.
 
They did not venture out into the light unless it was absolutely
necessary while they prepared for their assault.
 
They decided to wear special helmets that
would shield their eyes from the brilliant glare of the sun for those who
traveled topside.
 
They also covered
themselves with protective balms and clothing so that they would not be burned
alive in the unrelenting radiance of the daylight.
 
As a result of this sensitivity, the army
traveling above ground would take twice as long to reach Mount Carrick.
 
The underground troops would arrive first and
would begin their campaign immediately.
 
They would do their best to encourage the whole army of the dwarves to
defend against the surprise attack underneath the mountain.

***

Darkness
consumed the mountainside of the southwestern slope of the Sheldon Mountain
range.
 
General Yuki had decided to
accompany the above ground troops because they would need her support and
encouragement the most.
 
Her tactical
abilities were far superior to any other commander in the goblin armies and
much sounder than the rock trolls tactics of brute force.
 
The night sky began to fill with stars, and
the moon shone brightly in the clear sky.
 
The mounting anticipation was so intense that it was palpable in the
air.
 
The general smiled at the fierce
looks on her troops’ faces.
 
As she
surveyed the sea of green and gray, her heart leapt for joy at the massive
pillars spread evenly throughout the gigantic formation.
 
She found a small boulder and climbed on top
of it.
 
As she stood above the crowd,
silence fell and every ear was turned toward her to hear what she had to say.