4. Medi
It has been three years have passed since Cedi met Medi, and this day was different from the previous. Cedi been summoned to the Council of the Clan. The Council sits in the Tower of Dark hidden by Elves magic in the dark valley.
Today the five council elders of the tribes sits to discuss the important on hand. The council sits not alone but with an outsider present when Cedi arrived. They are dressed in layers of silk on them in garish colors and topped on their head is the long hat of the elves nation. Its a long triangle hat that reached to the top. Each of them also wears the emblem of the tribes to denote their allegiance but they sit below the Canaan flag at the Hall.
"Cedi, you are summoned here for a task. The Elves Nation is under attack by the Human Leagues and we been summoned to unite against this common foe. Since the star of this new war, the three other clans'; Micha, Karen and Genoe have agreed to an alliance leaving only us. But the time has come for us to join in too. We cannot abandon our fellow elves in this war as we are also affected. The Council has agreed to the alliance too, and we have ceased all hostilities between us and them." Theni, now he sits as the Senior Elder of the Council has spoken and we must comply.
Its true that during the last war, Canaan and Genoe were allies to fight the others, including one more House which has been terminated and removed from the list of Elves Houses. That last house was Judas; the instigator of the war that took the elves to split into two warring faction and also causing them to lose almost more than half their numbers in deaths or missing. It was a long war of over five years and both sides including the tribes suffered badly. The tribe under the House of Canaan dwindled to nearly one third its previous population while the Genoe was almost annihilated to the last thousand. It was only the intervention of Canaan which prevented the total massacre. Now both houses are back with some progress made in the last three years, they have boost their strength back with the return of refuges and also other migrants to their world.
"Cedi, you are to lead our warriors to join theirs in the coming war. Cedi, warrior of Canaan; you are to lead five thousand of our warriors to fight this war against the Human Leagues." The council has spoken to Cedi and he is honored on their request.
He has a question need to be answered.
"Council, are we still not at war with the House of Micha? How can we allied with them now? The war may be over three years ago, but we been fighting them on the skirmish into our land. How can we allied with one who does respect the sovereignty of our House. "
But his question was not answered by the Council but by the stranger sitting hiding in the side.
"Council of Canaan, if I may?"
The stranger stood up to seek the Council for permission to speak. The head of the council approved and the person introduced itself. The person is dressed in the white fur of the land creatures with a hood over the head. The hood was removed to reveal the person behind it.
"Medi?" Cedi was stumped by the appearance of her now in this tower.
"Council, how can we allowed a White Elf into our sacred hall?" He drew out his Elf sword but the Council stopped him.
"She is our guest. We have no war with Genoe. And the war between us and Micha is also over. There has been no conflict in the last year and this Human Leagues is a bigger threat. Stay your sword in its scabbard or we would be forced to have you removed." The head of the Council has spoken and Cedi must obeyed unless he is to be a rebel.
"The last war of the Elves is over and none of us won. The elves all lost in the war and its best we forget it as now we faced the bigger threat from Man. They have allied under one banner; the Human Leagues, all seven House like ours but they did not fight a war before. They are of full strength and they are united to destroy us in the coming war. They declared this war on us and we are to defend ourselves." Medi looked at Cedi and smiled.
"Listen me well, Cedi of Canaan; your enemy is ten times stronger and better armed than us. But we are of the Elves; breed warriors which can match one of us to ten of them. We need to strike them where they would take that defeat to retire back to their own borders. If we do not unite, we would be like House of Judas tomorrow." Medi spoke like an experienced Elder and yet she is not of them.
However, what she spoke of made sense now.
"Who declare this war? And who leads the Man in their war? We need to know so we know what we are fighting for," Cedi asked of her in defiant of her oratorial speech.
"King John of the Islanders leads them, assisted by the Lord Netsu of the Realm. The later may be a pompous idiot, but he has the biggest army on these lands. Lord Netsu is riding with a strength of ten thousand men as we speaks now. King John himself is reliably supported by a strength of five thousand, while the other Houses numbers are not known. Those numbers are our previous strength before we fought on it among ourselves." She glared at Cedi and knowing that he cannot challenged her numbers as yet.
"Enough of this, Cedi. The white Elf here would guide you to the meeting place of the other three houses. You would leave tomorrow, Cedi of Canaan."
"Yes, Council of Canaan." Cedi turned his back on the Council and make his way out of the hall. He was walking not too far ahead when Medi caught up with him. She grabbed hold of his right elbow but he shrugged her off.
"Cedi, listen to me. I am here to guide your people and not fight with you. But since you are chosen to lead them, I have to speak to you first." He walked on refusing to listen to her.
"Cedi of Canaan, stay your step so I may speak. Or I ....." She shout out and she dares to order. Cedi care not she is the guest of the Council now as no one outside of the Council can ordered me around. Cedi turned to face her but he could not bear to see her face. Cedi turned back with his back to her.
"You may speak from behind my back, Medi of Genoe. I have no need to face you as I do not want to. Speak your words as I have work to do."
Cedi stood there and refused to see her. Once they argued when they were friends and for a forth night, she refused to face Cedi when he confront her. Cedi wanted to apologize for his behaviour but her refusal to speak to him made Cedi more upset.
In the end, it was she who confronted Cedi for my apologize. Her last words still rings in his ears; 'this would be the last time I seek you for the apology. Next time, it would only my back you see."
"I.... Never mind, Cedi of Canaan. Meet me at the Metro Plains with your thousands and we would march from there."
She must had turned her back on Cedi and walked away. Cedi can hear her footsteps fading away.
"So she knows now what its like to have someone's back facing you when speaking." Cedi gave that thought out and slowly turned around to see Medi but she has walked too far to call her.
Nevertheless, Cedi looked on and really wanted to tell Medi these few words; "I missed you."
Guess, she would never know.
Or in the current state, care about it.
The Metro Plains lies on the outskirt of the dark valley, and its large enough to hold the assembled warriors. But the main concern is the size of the army stands more than half of the army in Canaan. Since the last war, they have fought among ourselves and most of them had perished in it. As they stand now there are not many elves many left at this time except for those who us who are here. They have grown in the last years but the growth is not as expected to made them as before. Neither has the other houses made up its previous numbers so they are almost even in the buildup of numbers.
Due to our smaller numbers, they are declared war by the others like Man or even the ugly Orcs as they feared if they Elf recover in full strength, they would be the formidable like before. This war they are going in with the other houses and they may be of strength to defeat the Human Leagues.
The five tribes contributed their warriors each to the coming war, and they are led by their finest. The Elves Nation are known for their archery skills and swordsmanship. That is what they feared for by the others including Man but every house has their own preferred weapons. Cedi can see the Lion pendant of Braven Tribe under the leadership of Mico with his eight hundred warriors. They are carrying their famed long pikes which are twice the height of a tall Elf. The Braven warriors are known to steadfast warriors which when lined up to faced the hordes, they are like a hard wall to break down.
Both Shiven' Eagle and Dina' Falcon Pendant offered five hundred each with their respective leaders; Grant and Damai. Their warriors come dressed in the leather armor cladding and holding long reached weapons but theirs are double blade heads coated with their own poison on it.
Camlash' Bear Pendant offer only four hundred warriors with their famed war hammers on a long chain under their leader Marius, while the rest are made up of Canaan' Dragon Pendant with our long sword plus the bows and deadly arrows under my leadership. All the four leaders have pledged their loyalty to me and Cedi is their supreme leader.
The column marched in accordance to their strength and Camlash took guard of our flanks and supplies. The supplies are drawn by oxen and horses with their backs tied to long wagons.
Medi joined them with her mate, the White Wolf and she led them on a journey to the set destination. Cedi did not bring along his Gryphon as its not suited in the battle plans. The Gryphon is the only one left and is needed to guard the valley. That was his biggest regret now as his legs cries out in pain on the long march. They are needed to traveled in fast movements to the place as time is of crucial that we be there to group as one.
Medi went ahead of them from the army most times as the scout. Cedi did not questioned her reports but his concern came on the fourth day of travel.
It was into the deep canyon of Pento that we need to pass to reach the final destination. The canyon runs short of under a mile but its sides are steep and the width of it allowed only twenty man width to march to any one time. The men are tired from their march so Cedi called them for a rest before they continue.
Its a wide valley where they rested and there is the forest as cover among us. I called forth the leaders for a conference.
"Cedi, the canyon ahead could be a danger point for us if the enemy set the trap here. Its a difficult place to retreat or advance in the case of an attack." Mico was right to raise the query as he has fought in these grounds before.
Cedi asked him of alternative routes and he told of the nearest one is two days march.
"Cedi, perhaps if we split the column up. Let me and Damai go forth first and set up on the other end. Then you may move in with Camlash and the supplies. Mico and his men can hold or reinforced us in the case of any attack."
Cedi looked at Grant's proposal and decided that would be what we planned for the march tomorrow. He also send word to Medi to scout ahead with some of the warrior before they marched in.
It all went well initially, with the plan. The smaller column of warrior took two hours to cross the canyon, before they see the end. They were careful and slow in checking every cracks before giving the signal to move in. Cedi estimated it would take them longer by three hours to cross due to the numbers and the transport for supplies are slower.
The battle came when they were about to exit the canyon with the column stuck in the canyon.
An avalanche of boulders came down to block the exit and then the rear was also blocked. Two thousand more men are stuck in the canyon which is now raining arrows on their heads. Cedi rushed forth to looked at the boulders while holding his shield above. They done a good job with the boulders that they can't move unless they can climb over the rocks.
If they attempt that, they need to lower their shield and that would be fatal to anyone. Cedi ran back to the rear to see the same and he saw the men trying to find shelter from the raining arrows.
Its a trap and they are in it.
"Camlash, how fare your men?" Cedi grabbed at Camlash arms as he runs past to get the men to move.
"Its as Mico feared. I wondered what happened to our other tribes. And our scout........" His last words was silenced by an arrow which thrusted itself into his left shoulder into his beating heart.
Then the arrows stopped and they were barraged by pots of oil followed by fire arrows. The flame spread and soon more men are dead or dying from burns or arrows. Cedi ran forth and everywhere but there are only dying or dead men among the many he can see.
It was then Cedi saw Medi. She called him to join her on the giant wolf.
"Let me get you to safety. The Shiven and Dina tribes are being attacked by an army twice their size and so is Mico. We are losing this battle. Get on the back, and we can escape." She held out her hand but Cedi refused it.
"No! I would stay with my men."
That was what Cedi remembered telling her before the arrow struck his chest. He fell down and his sight went dark.
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