COTN House of Canaan Part 6

6. Rescue

Cedi met Medi at Pento Canyon, with himself on the Gryphon while she is riding her White Wolf.

"I got the information that you needed. The elves we seek are prisoners on an island on a large lake. There are about five thousand of the elves as slaves or prisoner in his dungeons." Medi dismounted from the wolf and faced me.

The journey was long by a week even with the Gryphon but she was late by another day on the wolf. They passed many valleys and rivers, and detour some large lakes to reach the land of Man. Both their kinds have lived far apart so that they would never meet or need to meet. Most times if they do meet, there would be conflicts and that's why they kept it to the minimal. The Councils forbid them to trade or venture there for anything but there are some that goes on in the darker corners. The two kinds do meet on occasions as their needs arise.

In the case of myself, I have ventured quite a few times to the land of Man under disguise sometimes to spy, and sometimes to carry out certain task asked by the Council. But this trip, I am doing it for my own reason. She came riding through our last stretch across a dark forest to stop at the edge of it. Cedi landed next to her and the mate.

"They are on that island in the lake and we need to get across. You could fly over but I would had find myself a boat to row over." She indicate to the lake water as Cedi looked across to the so called 'island'. Its actually a castle with high walls and multiple towers for their guards to stand vigilant on the so called lake. The castle 'island' has twelve high walls with equal number of towers on the outside. The castle is about a mile away from the forest edge yet the castle looked so big from here.

"That won't be necessary as the water is very shallow." Cedi stepped out to show her the depth of the lake reached not beyond the sole of my boots.

"The lake is an illusion of water when there is none." He offered her his hand to lead her across but she declined.

She proceeded to walk across the lake without his help. Each step they take on the illusionary lake is as tough as stepping into a pool of water waist high. Cedi had to raised his leg on each step and moved from there. After walking for some distance, he find the steps getting more difficult each time.

Cedi motioned to Medi to stop. He saw something in the water up ahead.

It was then the serpent beast rose out of the water and leap high to attack them.

"Sorcery indeed! Only a sorcerer can come up with a creature that can stay in a magical lake." Cedi laughed as he stared at the creature.

The serpent is larger than the Gryphon many times and its body neck is about twice the height of Man but its main body is not a snake form but that of a large hare with with hind legs of a lion held its counter weight with a long tail that has a sting like a scorpion at its tip. The beast serpent lunged at where Cedi was standing but he had jumped aside to evade it.

Cedi drew out his sword Excab as to fight sorcery, you need to have the magic to counteract it.

"Let me fight the serpent as Excab can kill mystical creature created by magic."

The Serpent on failing to get him, turned to face the other person with me; Medi but she had drawn her long spear and lunged at it. The sharp tip of the spear pierced the side of the thick scale body of the beast serpent causing it pain. The beast serpent on failing in it attack jumped back into the water and disappear beneath it.

The battle has alerted the guards in the castle 'island' and they are manning the palisades and towers. The guards fire loads of arrows toward the duo which Cedi blocked with his shield. He looked to Medi and saw that she has also a shield of her own.

Her' is a oblong one and its made of hard wood.

Its time to called in the reinforcement. He whistled in the Gryphon to attack the castle 'island' while Medi call forth her mate to rescue them. The Gryphon flew up to the walls and used its hidden power in the mouth. It blew out from the mouth a spurt of flames which can remove the flesh off a creature to its bone. The Gryphon flew to the towers and set them on fire while evading the arrows. The Gryphon is so swift that the bow men cannot get it with the arrows. The Wolf however came running by Medi and she jumped onto its back with Cedi following on. The wolf continue its run across the surface of the lake towards the castle 'island' with ease compared to them. Its paws skimming the surface as its on solid ground.

It was then the beast serpent came up again leaping from the water towards them, but Cedi have his sword ready this time. When the beast serpent was above him, he thrusted the sword to its neck body at where its pulsating heart is placed. Excab found its mark and the beast serpent went flaring back to the lake in its dying throes.

They reached the main gate of the castle 'island' and dismounted there. The Wolf went scaling up the wall and jumped onto the palisades to attack the guards there. The gigantic form of the Wolf with its ferocity in fighting was to overwhelm the guards motivation to attack it. The guards retreated on seeing the great while as it jumped from the palisade to another with ease.

Meanwhile Cedi had entered through the main gate which has been burnt opened by the Gryphon. He ran in and find his way blocked by some guards. They are armed with long handed pike and axe and numbered about a dozen of them. He still went in running and rolled towards them to slashed out the sword at their lower bodies. Three men went down in the first strike and then he rolled to the left to take another two more. He got up to leap at them from the side using the wall to pushed back in the jump, striking down two more before the rest retreated back to the inner castle.

"Medi, find the others while I searched for the sorcerer."

Soon Cedi found the target sitting at the high back throne seat in the Hall.

The figure is a bald looking old man with a frail looking body clothed in a long tunic of fine silk, At his feet sit two female elves clad in fighting leather armor and carrying swords. The two females elves are holding onto the chair leg of the high back while glaring at Cedi.

"Cedi of Canaan, I bid you welcome to my castle. Its very unusual for any to find it but only an Elf like you could. You are like your father; endowed with the magical powers of your family. I knew your father well. He may had mentioned my name to you; Lord Mikina of Judas."

Cedi knows that name as the Death Physician; he who works on the dead and revived the dead. He once seek the Oracle and Cedi' father defeated him in battle but at a price; he was blinded in one eye and almost lost his life in the battle. It was then later, he also lost his warrior instinct and allowed Medi to steal the Oracle under his guard then.

Lord Mikina is a sorcerer who also seek the Oracle to command the spirits. Now he can only command the weaker spirits, but with the Oracle, he can control even the most powerful ones like the ones Cedi summoned to move the table.

"Lord Mikina, why did you side Man to fight us? Are you not an Elf too? You should know the sins of betrayal." Cedi shouted at him and the two guards stood up from their sitting position. They drew out their swords and looked at him to take the next move.

"Cedi of Canaan. You dare to question me of my Elf beliefs? I did not betray the secrets and spells. I only use them when Man battles your people. They does not know how it works but I assisted them in showing your towers. They in return brought me the needed number of slaves to do my works. I can only work with Elves and no other species. I cannot work without the Elves. The House used to give me their discards or criminals, and some times captured ones from their raids. But without the House, I have to bargain with Man. They gave me more than I needed now, but I did not betray my honor as an Elf." Lord Mikina points at Cedi and continued.

"Your House did the betrayal as they refused to share the secrets of the Oracle to us. There is an honor for Elves to share secrets before the war, but you all have stopped doing it."

"The war was about the secrets which we used to share as Elves. Your House desired more than we can offered and yet you held back on the ones you have. We found out later that your House used those secrets to do darker magic. That was forbidden." Cedi shouted back in defiant. He glared at the older man and told him off.

"Your house blinded the others and war was declared. But we ended the war when we defeated your lies. The lies you told the house of Micha and Karen. Your House killed the Genoe for their secrets made us help them. Lord Mikina, now you assist Man for the same purpose."

Cedi in his anger drew out Excab to challenge the Lord.

"Fight me, Lord Mikina."

The two warriors of Lord Mikina jumped in and slashed their swords in unison, but Cedi had stepped back earlier to avoid the swords. In return, he slashed out with the sword at their heads and missing both of them within a distance. They stepped back from the attack and glared at me.

It was then Cedi noticed that they are not breathing at all.

"By the Gods, they are not breathing. Lord Mikina, what manner of warriors have you employed?" Lord Mikina laughed at his observation of his warriors.

"Dead warriors they are, but only to serve me. I have brought them to life to serve as my warriors. These are only two but there are more in my castle. I have learned the secret of the Oracle and I need not the Canaan to teach me."

The two warriors leap to attacked Cedi who had raised up his shield to protect myself. The two warriors on contacting the shield with their shield broke into pieces like glass on impact.

"The Challenge Shield! You are a powerful enemy, Cedi of Canaan."

The old man shouted and he pushes a lever on his high back chair elbow to open a doorway behind him. He got up to run but Cedi hurl the sword into the Sorcerer' back. The sword Excab cuts through magic fields and killed the sorcerer.

When the sorcerer died, the two guards also collapsed on the floor.

"Cedi, the castle is burning and I can't find the prisoners." Its Medi and her spear is bloodied from her battle.

Cedi motioned to her to follow him as they ran to the rear of the high back chair. The doorway is still open when they both went in. It led them to a small hall with a number of tables filled with scrolls and apparatus of magical uses. They walked into the hall and looked at the items laying around, and then Cedi saw the trap door at the side of the hall. He walked over it and pulled at the latch securing the trap door.

It opened to a set of steps going down which he took forth with the sword ready at hand. As my eyes adjust to the darkness here, he find himself on a long walkway bridge in a large hall with it flooring beneath the bridge. On the flooring, he could see countless of elves all in chains in close quarters and starving in looks. Some of them are chained to the dying or dead ones which is left there to rot.

Or being fed to the dwellers of these dungeons.

"No!" Cedi shouted out.

"I shall see you freed or die in the making."

He ran down the bridge looking for the way to go down and also looking for the holder of the shackles. Soon he found it at the middle of the bridge, a long upright stone slab with the many chains shackled to its post. But the stone is not of any stone but a living one.

"Who intrudes on the dungeon? I am its Warden and only the Lord can come forth to addressed me. Who are you?"

The face of an Elf appears on the wall of the stone post and what makes it more hideous is that this face is that of the man Cedi just killed at the main Hall.

"Cedi of Canaan answered to no magical creature."

He swung the sword on the stone post, chipping off a chunk of it from the middle.

"You hurt me." The stone post cried out. "Guards, removed this intruder now."

In front of him, sections of the stone post structure break off and formed into a stone warrior form. Its about his height and they carry stone clubs in their hands. There are four of them now and they are all in front of him approaching fast. The frame size of the four covers the width of the bridge and his only option was to fight or retreat.

"Allow me!" He heard her shout as Medi somersault over Cedi to land in between him and the stone men.

"Take care of the idiotic stone face."

Medi thrust her spear into the first stone man chest and then she pushed with all her strength the spear up to the head. The upper body of the stone man split into two on her move but it rejoined back once she had removed her spear.

"Damned, magic again." Medi jumped back to avoid the swinging club and stood by me. "Want to swap places?"

I pass her the sword and told her to use it.

She did the most strange thing; she kissed me on my lips before taking the sword. I then took up the Challenge Shield and charged the stone men. When the shield hit them, the bodies of the stone men get pushed back and break into chunks of rocks.

Its not his strength which did that but the power in the shield which forced them back. Medi followed on behind and jumped onto him using his back to somersault higher to land behind the stone men. She then ran towards the stone post and thrust the sword into the stone face left eye causing it to scream in pain. She then moved her arms to cut the sword across the face to the right eye and then downwards to the mouth. She did not stop then as she move it up back to the left eye to complete a triangle cut on the face.

The stone post screamed out in deep pain and its starts to vibrate like in a trance. Moments later the iron shackles on its post dropped off to the ground and dissolved into dust. The chain that binds the elves also dissolved and they are free.

Cedi can hear the imprisoned Elves cheering as their shackles came off.

Medi and Cedi ran back to the doorway which they came in. They stopped before entering the main Hall. Cedi asked for his sword. Medi passed him the sword and he placed it into the scabbard.

"Afraid I lose it?" Medi mocked me on the sword, but Cedi replied to her.

I was more afraid you not returning it." But she was gone back into the Main Hall.

Cedi used the shield to shatter the bridge so that its would crumble down to the flooring.

"Used the stone to create a ladder to climb out. I would find your weapons and food for you." He told the elves at the level below the bridge.

Cedi left the dungeon to go back into the Hall. He find Medi standing there with her Wolf. The Wolf si partially covered with blood but there are no injuries on the creature. Its mouth is covered with blood. Medi was patting her mate and checked on its condition.

"My pet is fine except for some minor cuts. The guards have fled the castle. Your pet is still flying up there guarding the place."

Cedi looked out the wall opening to see the Gryphon flying out there. He then turned to look at Medi but she was already mounting the back of the Wolf. He wanted to ask her to stay but she was already riding out on the back of the Wolf to the lake.

"I love you, Medi."

Cedi hope she heard him. He turned back to the dungeon. It was then Cedi remembered the kiss that Medi gave him. He licked at his lips and can still feel her taste on it.

The dungeon held about a thousand of the elves both from Canaan and Karen. Those are the lucky ones to survive as the death numbers was double fold. The elves armed themselves with the weapons of the previous guards and he told them to stay there in the castle to recuperate and rest, until he have raised enough of an army to fight the enemy.

Cedi appointed two leaders among the elves; Shive for Canaan and Mitis for Karen. They were both warriors leaders before they were captured.

Now his first task completed, Medi asked him to do one of her'. She wants to know the fate of her House.

According to some of the prisoners, they are taken by the Metric or better known as the Slavers.