“And now Polema does the same?” asked Marak.
“Exactly,” nodded Fisher. “After Rhoda was kidnapped, the information flow was turned off. I returned to Raven’s Point and spoke to Rhoda’s replacement. I explained to her what Rhoda had been doing and asked her to do the same. A week later the first message came in. She has been receiving them ever since.”
“Any idea as to the identity of the spy on the Island of Darkness?” asked Emperor Marak.
“None,” frowned Fisher, “and that bothers me. I am always skeptical of free gifts. If I become too dependent on this one source of information, I could be tricked at a crucial time. That is precisely why I am willing to divulge this source to you. It has been exceedingly accurate so far, but who knows about the future.”
“You are wise beyond your years,” smiled the Torak. “Can Polema contact the spy?”
“No,” Fisher shook his head. “The air tunnel pressure is maintained to make it one way. She can only listen. I thought about sending air tunnel messages towards the island, but that would risk destroying the one source that we have. It is not a wise idea at this time.”
“I was afraid that you would say that,” frowned the Emperor. “The one piece of information that you have not obtained is the timing of the attack. I would like to know that.”
“I will see what I can do,” frowned Fisher, “but do not expect it any time soon.”
Chapter 20
Council of Elders
The Council of Elders met in the city of Morada in Elvangar. The twelve wise men of the elves discussed the information gleaned from Eltor and Caldal.
“At last we have what I feel is full disclosure of the travels of Eltor and Caldal,” declared Malid, the Head Elder. “The testimony highlights the dangers still existing in the world beyond the Barrier Islands. There is a war brewing in the human world. That war may find its way to Elvangar. What will this council suggest to the queen regarding our security?”
“What is there to suggest?” asked Amber. “Humans are constantly warring. Caldal spoke of the many different armies in Khadora alone. This is not something the elves need to be involved in. We should suggest nothing.”
“I disagree,” declared Volox. “We are not just talking about a war that the humans will be engaging in. We are talking about a war to end the world, as we know it. From what I have read, this Vand has over one million men in his army. The best estimates that Caldal could supply on the number of Khadoran troops are abysmal. Vand will sweep right over Khadora and into Elvangar. Is it not in our best interests to at least make contact with the humans to determine the level of threat to Elvangar? Surely that can be done without divulging the whereabouts of our homeland.”
“The humans already know where Elvangar is,” pointed out Vitalora. “Perhaps many of you missed it in the transcripts, but Caldal mentions that the Qubari gave him directions to the Gates of Elvangar.”
“Where is this?” demanded Malid. “I do not remember reading any such thing.”
Vitalora leaned closer to Malid and shuffled through his papers. He found the transcript of the interrogation and pointed to it. Malid read it out loud.
“The Qubari warrior handed Eltor a chart to the Gates of Elvangar,” read Malid. “When questioned how he had known the location of the elves, the warrior responded that they had always been friends of the elves. Why shouldn’t they know where their friends lived?”
“All the more reason to make contact with the humans,” stressed Volox. “Now that they know where we live, there is no risk in determining the danger to our homeland.”
“Negotiations are a waste of time,” Malid shook his head. “Queen Alycia has already declared that the elves will not aid the humans in their war against Vand. She considers the subject closed.”
“What the queen considers closed is not the topic of discussion before this council,” stated Vitalora. “We are assembled here to determine what our advice should be to the queen.”
“You are out of order,” scowled Malid. “How dare you say that the queen’s wishes are not to be considered in this council? She has the authority to remove any elder who is unfit for the job.”
“Would an elder be unfit if he informed the queen of her obligations?” Vitalora asked brusquely.
“The only obligation of the queen is to lead the people of Elvangar,” interjected Amber. “Do you declare that you know more about this situation than Queen Alycia herself knows?”
”That is exactly what I declare,” stated Vitalora, “and if the Head Elder will allow me to speak, I will enlighten the rest of you.”
“You are standing on the edge of a precipice, Vitalora,” frowned Malid. “Speak what is on your mind, but be aware that your statements will be heard by the queen.”
“Excellent,” Vitalora nodded curtly. “I was afraid that my statements would not be recorded so that the queen could feign ignorance of them.”
“Enough!” shouted Malid. “I will not stand for such talk in this chamber. Speak your piece and then sit down.”
“There is another section of the interrogation that members of this council have passed over,” began Vitalora. “Or perhaps it was not passed over, but the significance of the event did not penetrate our thick skulls. You will notice towards the end of the interrogations that Caldal describes the earthquake that rocked the world, but in the transcripts from Eltor, it was clearly not an earthquake. He mentions that it was said that Angragar was reborn.”
“So what?” asked Amber. “We felt the earthquake here in Elvangar. It obviously was a large one. The words they use to describe it are of little importance to us.”
“I agree,” nodded Malid. “The humans are so immersed in finally restoring Angragar that they think everything that happens is somehow connected to it. I do not see where you are leading.”
“Then allow me to continue,” said Vitalora. “The phrasing used gnawed at me. I was sure that it meant something specific, but it has been many years since any us of studied ancient history. So I went to library and researched Angragar. There are many references to it throughout our literature, poems about the death of civilization and such. Most of us remember Angragar as the human civilization that attacked the elves.”
“We remember,” nodded Amber. “It was a barbaric attack from our closest friends. That is the very reason that we now know that humans are not to be trusted. Our whole civilization is built on avoiding humans precisely because of Angragar. You did not need to go to the library to rediscover that. You only had to ask any school child.”
“If my desire was to know as much as a school child,” retorted Vitalora, “I assure you that I would have stopped looking at that point. I next went to the royal vaults for further research. This is where I found out how far our society has allowed itself to be deceived.”
“Deceived? Echoed Volox. “What do you mean? Is what we were taught about Angragar not the truth?”
“It is not the whole truth,” answered Vitalora. “Elvangar was indeed attacked by humans flying the flag of Angragar.”
“That is enough research for me,” interrupted Malid. “You just admitted that our human friends attacked us. There is nothing else that matters to this discussion.”
“I admitted no such thing,” retorted Vitalora. “The vessels that attacked us were not from Angragar. That mattered little at the time. The elves immediately set out to take revenge on the humans. We sent our armies to attack Angragar. We besieged the city and began destroying it with our siege engines. The human monarch, King Regis, surrendered to our forces. Only then did we discover that we had attacked an innocent people.”
“Innocent people?” asked Volox, the pained expression on his face was clearly evident. “What do you mean?”
“The ships that attacked us were flying false colors,” continued Vitalora. “The attacks on Elvangar were a deliberate attempt to foment war between Angragar and us. We obliged Angragar’s enemy. When the error was discovered, we made a pact with the humans of Angragar.”