As Dukker began to make his way back to the border where his faithful spiders were busy setting traps, an unseen giant moved for the first time since the appearance of the wicked high elf. He had sat in stony silence watching the horrific events unfold before his eyes. He had been sent by the chief to make sure that if something should happen to the others that he would at least be able to report back what happened. He wondered if the little warlock guessed right or if he knew that the giants were susceptible to mind control. Only the great guardian knew of this weakness, and he would never share that information with anyone else. The enormous creature sat stalk still until the little villain was well out of sight and ear shot. After he could no longer see Aellenas, he stood up and stared at the remains of his poor fellow tribesmen. They had all been good friends and had been relatively young. He turned about slowly and headed toward his home to report what happened to Chief Angus.
As he set his sights on home, he began to run at such a vigorous pace that he crossed the many miles from their campsite to his destination within minutes. He struggled to push out the dark images of death and destruction brought on by that little elf. The very thought made him so angry that he began smashing objects that he passed by. The giant continued his fervent pace until one of the sentries of the Wolf tribe caught sight of him.
“Galen!” shouted the sentry. “Galen!” The guard was trying to get the attention of the fast-approaching giant.
“Get Chief Angus; must speak to him right away,” said Galen as he panted for breath. His prolonged sprint had winded him terribly, and his lungs were burning from the effort.
“I will get him at once. Take a seat and catch your breath, Galen,” said the sentry soothingly. As soon as his massive friend had taken his seat, the guard had turned about and began to make his way into the camp.
As the guard ran toward the central tent in the camp, two unbelievably huge giants stepped into his path, blocking the entrance to the chief’s tent. They pushed him backwards gruffly and stared down at him imperiously. The sentry had forgotten that he was supposed to give a secret password to gain entry to the chief’s residence. His brain was racing so fast that he was having difficulty remembering what the word was. The entry guards began to laugh and point at his apparent dilemma. They were going to be no help to him, so he had to think of the secret word, and he must do it quickly. These idiots have no idea the urgency of my visit!
“You still can’t think of the password?” asked one of the chief’s guards, laughing raucously.
“Look at him; his little brain is trying so hard to remember what it is,” said the other guard while pointing at sentry. He was laughing so hard that the ground shook slightly around them.
“What is the meaning of this?” boomed a voice from behind the two pillar-like guards. The smiles disappeared, and the laughter died at once. The chief was right behind them.
“This sentry came running up here without bothering to stop and give us the password, Chief,” explained the guard who had been laughing hardest.
“Did you even bother to ask him what business he had with me?” asked Angus pointedly. His eyes were boring holes into his jovial guard.
“No, sir. I…I… He said nothing about why he was here and…” stammered the guard.
“Galen is back, isn’t he?” the chief spoke to the sentry solemnly.
“Yes, Chief, he came running faster than I have seen anyone run before, and he was tearing up the path as he ran. Something must have gone horribly wrong,” explained the sentry with great concern in his voice.
“You imbeciles go and retrieve Galen. Bring him here at once. If I hear so much as a giggle from either of you again, your heads will be placed on my wall!” Angus was so infuriated by the childish behavior of his guards. They were supposed to be the most fierce and powerful of his guard. These two morons had to be the dumbest among the ranks. Stay calm; if there is a war brewing, I will need these idiots to fill my ranks. If there is no war, rip their heads off then.
“What do you think happened to the scouts?” asked the sentry.
“Whatever it is, it can’t be good. Go back and inform all the sentries to be vigilant. We need to be prepared for anything,” ordered the chief. The soldier nodded affirmatively and took off at once.
The chief turned around and entered his tent. He would wait for Galen to arrive and report what happened. As he walked toward his massive throne, he could not shake the sense of foreboding that had come over him. He knew that something was wrong and that he would have to be decisive. This must have something to do with those wicked elves that left the Black Forest. If a war breaks out, we are going to need more troops. That means combining the strength of the five tribes. Has it really come to that? He shook his head to clear his thoughts so that he could be alert for his visitor. He could hear his two guards approaching his tent with the silent messenger in tow. The tent door parted, and Galen entered with a bow.
“Please take a seat, Galen. Idiot number one, fetch us some ale! Idiot number two, go and get us some meat. This poor fellow has been through quite an ordeal. Go!” he blasted at his intellectually challenged guards.
“Chief…they are dead. All of them,” stammered Galen. He was shaking violently from the rage that was still coursing through him.
“It is okay, Galen. It is not your fault,” began Chief Angus.
“No, it is not all right. I just watched them kill each other,” he replied quietly.
“What? Who killed each other?” queried the chief angrily. “Tell me exactly what happened back there.”
“A wicked elf came out of the darkness and caused the fire to explode into the group of giants you sent to find out what the deserters were up to. They attacked the little warlock right away, and at first it looked like they had killed him, but he survived a direct blow from a rock the size of his own head. As your soldiers continued to assault the intruder, it became clear that this fellow had powerful magic. All of their weapons were deflected somehow, and he did something that I cannot quite explain,” Galen explained calmly.
“What did he do to my soldiers?” asked Angus with suppressed rage.
“He used his mind, I think, to force them to attack one another. Only one survived the attack, and it appeared that he had shaken off the elf’s control over his mind because he rushed the wizard. The warlock sent a fireball into him that sent him flying through the air. As he approached again, the little elf shot a poisoned arrow right between his eyes. He was dead before he hit the ground. Then, that wicked creature smiled and left in the direction of the border between Renshaw and Burien,” finished the spy dejectedly.
“Take heart, my good fellow. These crimes will not go unpunished. I need you to help prepare for war. It is clear that the elves are fighting amongst each other at the very least. I hereby promote you to the rank of captain, and your first set of orders is to organize the troops and explain what has happened. Then, take the army to the borderlands and wait for me there. I am going to go and recruit the other tribes; we have been divided for too long. We are going to require their numbers if we are to put an end to our wicked neighbors,” the chief explained determinedly.
“Thank you, sir!” snapped the new captain. “We will be ready and in position by noon three days from now.”
“I will be back in no time at all. I sense that the time has come for the giants to rise to the occasion as one nation and not as five tribes. Be ready. We will push our enemy until they break or are wiped from the face of Tuwa! Go!” ordered the chief.
“May the gods be with you, Chief!” saluted Captain Galen.