15. Red Dawn
"Where did they come from? There was only twenty of them who came with the Elder." Medi is helping him to barricade the door. Cedi moved anything that can be moved onto the door. The Hall is circular in shape as what they saw earlier in the illusion but now he can see the real hall. The ceiling is higher than the illusion, but one thing puzzled me.
How did they move the flooring without them knowing and how can they held our balance. What is worse is they are back to normal elevation and the door is leveled with the floor. Those were his thoughts then.
Cedi remembered seeing the tower as high but he do not see anything that resemble a stairs to climbed up. He was looking around and yet he could not see the unit which control the flooring nor the stairs. He saw then the chest that he could not move. He went back to it and looked inside it. It has a some levers beneath the cover. He moved the levers and he see not the floor moving but the walls.
They were moving away from the flooring upwards, or downwards depending on where you are looking. Cedi keep on moving the walls until it stopped at a certain angle.The doorway is missing but they saw one other doorway that resemble a tunnel hole.
Cedi ran to it and saw it lead to another room. Its a short tunnel and he signaled Medi to follow him. They crawled in past the tunnel to come to a narrow passage that run along the wall. They followed the passage until he saw the stairs that climbed up. Its narrow but its run spiral along the wall.
It was not a long climb when they find ourselves in the upper level of the tower. Its another round hall without a window but this one has a flat ceiling height of twice his height. There is another set of stairs which seems to lead upstairs. They took that too and saw the Man sitting there.
He is dressed as in priest clothing and he holds a cane similar to the one that Medi threw to me.
"Hello Elder Kane." The Man stared at him and smiled.
"Dark Elf, we meet again. If you are here then you have killed my twin brother down stairs. He likes to dressed like me when I am here. I would exchange clothes with him so that I could wear this simple frock. He is the head of this place as he took over the faith while I took on the diplomat works. Every year I come here to advice him on the secrets of the court, and he help me cleanse out my sins. It also the time for me to shed my new skin and re-emerge the new self. That is why I come here every year." The Man walked forth to Cedi.
"Now that you kill them, there would be no one to assist me in my new skin. Such a pity." The Man dressed in the priest frock then walked to the stairs and then mount up the stairs.
"Stop him, Medi' but the priest is already up the stairs and on the upper level.
They followed suit up the stairs but there is no one up there. The upper level is also empty but its larger than the one they were in before. The place is empty, and the other Elder Kane is not to be seen. Medi ran into the hall and swing her spear around as Cedi stood by the stairs to avoid the Man escaping. She keep on swinging her spear but she came into no contact with the Elder.
"He is not here.I cannot feel his presence anywhere."
Then she screamed out in pain. Her left forearm is bleeding from a cut that was not there before.
"The elder just cut me. He is here but he cannot be seen with our eyes. We are blind to him."
She screamed again and this time its is her right leg was cut. She jumped away and joined with her shoulder next to Cedi.
"He is here and we need to searched him out."
Cedi told her and then he reached to his belt and removed it. He tied an end of his belt to the sword and used it to swing the sword above his head. Cedi learned this from the Elite Guards.
"Excab would cut anything including magical shield."
He move forward and swing the sword on his belt like stone, but this stone cuts into any flesh it can come in contact.
It did not take long for me to hit the Elder in his disguise but he was not prepared for the sight. The sight that unveiled before his sight is a half man and snake. The upper body is Man but his body from below his torso is that of a large snake that trails behind him twice his height.
But that was not the sight Cedi was shocked at but the Elder Kane has two heads; one of Man and the other of a serpent.
"You are surprised at our looks. Meet my mate, Set Toh; he is a High priest of the Serpent People. He saved me once from dead by the Orcs and since then we have been friends."
The Elder Kane has a set of swords in each hand.
"We merged together when we took the oath to conquer all including my own people." The twin headed evil speaks out.
"Its the only way we can gain power over the followers of the Serpent Clans. There are two types; the real serpents and the believers of these serpents. We are the only dual in the Council and we command both."
Cedi have heard of the Serpent Clans but they were destroyed before they could be all too powerful by an alliance with Man and Elves.
The Serpent Man Clan were earlier a obscure clan of serpent worshiper who lived isolation but one being led them to war against the rest. Its name was not known but it known as the Serpent King. The new crowned King attacked Man and the Elves. Their idol followed suit but the war was short because of the strength of both in the alliance. The alliance defeated the Serpent worshipers and their idol, while the King is dead from wounds inflicted by Man. They were not seen for many decades although there been rumors of them re-emerging again.
"One of the powers of our joining is the ability not to be seen by Man or Elfling. Your sword broke our magic. Now we would fight you on equal terms."
The half Man Serpent lunged forward on its long body and swing away with the swords. I blocked the swing with the shield while trying to find an opening with my sword, but the half man serpent is very strong as he pushes me back. That is not all as his tail strike at Medi causing her to somersault in the opposite direction. The tail end has a sting like that of a scorpion.
"Both of you may run but we are strong and agile too." The man serpent spoke out again before it strike at us again.
Cedi find standing next to Medi and he whispered his plan to her. She nodded on his plan and leap out to challenge the creature.
Meantime, he also attacked the creature at its front; blocking and slashing away at the creature. He heard the crashing sound and saw the snake tail sting has hit a hole in the wall. Medi also thrust its spear into the creature tail but the spear could only cut a small wound.
It was enough for it to recoiled back and Medi stood at where the wall was breached. The tail strike again with a more powerful swing and again Medi jumped cleared. This time the strike broke open a hole large enough for Medi to put her head out.
"Cedi, its open." She hollered out to him when he was exchanging slashes with the Man hands'. Cedi ran towards her and stood by the hole. He whistled out loud into the coming dawn light for the Gryphon.
Then he took hold of his sword and swing at the weakened wall to create a bigger opening while Medi holds the creature at bay. He saw the Gryphon flying at the hole created.
"Leoni, blow your fire in here." Cedi then pulled Medi to jumped aside.
The Gryphon on hearing the request, blew in a long flow of flame into the hall here. The flame hit the man serpent creature on its body as it slitter further away but the flame is spreading out fast. Cedi told Medi to joined him in breaking the wall wider. Soon they have the wall wide enough for them to climb out.
"Jump onto the Gryphon."
Cedi told Medi and she did, while he looked back at the half man serpent creature.
The stairs to the bottom levels is burning today and the half man serpent is coiled at the other end. Its afraid of burning flames of fire. Cedi took out the arrows and placed them on the open fire at the floor. He heated up the arrow head and fire them at the half man serpent into its head.
"Cedi, they are shooting at us." Medi cautioned him on the danger below with the Red Guards.
"Fly around until I call you back." Cedi shouted back to her while shooting another arrow at the half man serpent. The creature is in pain and now coiled up to attack him.
Cedi taunt it with another arrow at the Serpent head and this time it did.
The Serpent lunged at blindly striking several times while Cedi stepped back to avoid them. The last strike was as per Cedi' expectation; it missed him and went towards the hole that have widen up. The half man serpent upper body was partially out of the hole in full display to the guards below. Cedi raised up the shield and bring its edge on the man serpent body and then pushed it out towards the hole. The cut and the push by Cedi caused the Man serpent body to lurched out and over the edge.
It fell down among the Red Guards.
Cedi whistled to the Gryphon who came flying over.
Medi is not on the Gryphon but on the ground level with the Red Guards. She is facing them and the newly arrived Man Serpent. The Red Guards are surrounding the creature as they tried to understand what is happening. Cedi landed next to Medi and shout out to the guards.
"There is the Man you have sworn to guard; a serpent in disguise under the Man. See him for your own eyes. You are all fools. Do you remember the last war with the Serpents? It was called the Death of Man. Thousands died then, and all for what? So that you and I can lived in freedom from these serpents." Cedi looked around him and can see the Man' Guards are starting to question their judgment and loyalty now.
The half man serpent named Kane made that conclusive.
"Fools! You are all fools to deny their kind. They are more superior to all of you." The half man serpent raised its hands and shout out. "Come forth, the army of the Serpent. Show yourselves to these fools."
Cedi turned around him to see from the ground and the forest edge; there comes the slithering reptiles they knew as serpents. They come in all colors and sizes but they are all slithering on the ground with their fangs bared to attack the guards. There is a few which are as large as the half man serpent but these ones are all serpent in looks.
He could recognise some of the kinds as these are seen in the Dark Valley but they are ignore unless it has bitten someone in the Dark Valley.
The guards retreated out of fear on seeing so many of these serpents, and their commanders are stump for decision to react. Cedi whistled for the Gryphon and it came flying above them.
"Burn those serpents." He shout to the Gryphon.
The Gryphon flew up and then swoop down in an arc towards the serpents. When it nears the ground, the Gryphon let off a long streaming flame onto the serpents; setting them on fire and burning at their scales into their flesh.
"Red Guards, for Man. Kill those serpents." Cedi shouted out aloud and charged at the serpents.
Cedi find himself not alone as the Red Guards now out of their dazed looks took up their arms and followed him. He blocked himself from a striking venomous serpent who was wounded by the fire. The fangs of the serpent hit the shield when his sword cut it in the body.
Its body cut into two writhe on the ground before it was stepped on by an advancing guard. Cedi then remembered the half man serpent who was Elder Kane. He seek out the creature and soon find it in the near distance confronted by some Red Guards alongside with Medi.
It has been wounded but it still fights.
"Archers, to me." Cedi saw six archers who was grouped nearby. They are shooting at the serpents and hearing him call them, they came forward to his side. He nocked in an arrow and then said; "aim for the upper torso."
They fired off six successive arrows before one of them had the fatal shot into the left eye of the serpent head.
The creature shot up it body upright in pain and Cedi took his shot at the creature with an aim at the throat of the Man Serpent. The arrow pierced the soft flesh there and went up to its brain. The Man Serpent died and the upper torso stopped by itself.
Another Red Guard on seeing the opening, rushed forward to thrust his pike into the creature torso and then twist the pike to exit at the side of the creature body.
"No!" Medi shouted out before rushing to thrust her spear into the dying half man serpent in the shoulder between the two heads.
"Die, Elder Kane." She shouted out as she turned her spear head side ways and removed the Man head of the creature. The creature fell down on its front dead and Medi fell down to her knees crying out in tears.
After they flew off the hill, Cedi could see below them a sea of blood and dead bodies with many more serpents pieces lying around. Medi held onto his back as he pat the Gryphon. If he is without the Gryphon, they would had been dead by now.
The morning sun now shines higher than the tree tops gave the place a coat of red below.
"Cedi, what now? We know who is the real enemy, so do we pursue Man still or looked for the Serpents?"
"The Serpents would pay one day, but the enemies also include the traitors in Judas, and also the Man who led the attack. We would make all of them pay."
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