by Mark Omodia
Chapter 15
Reunions
The Morr soldiers made camp just after the rubble that once was a Morflon tribe. In one of the tents, King Sett sat trying to catch his breath. He was disgruntled as he massaged his neck whilst he sat down on a stool. Oldric was with him, consoling him. They were both clad in armour.
'Take heart your highness', Oldric said. 'I am so sorry for what just happened.'
'If Trinidos wants me dead he should get on with it', King Sett said. 'Scolding me for the short comings of my soldiers... what was the shortcoming? Some Morflon ran away unscathed. He wants us to kill everything that moves.'
'Trinidos is a tyrant', Oldric said.
'Be quiet', King Sett immediately warned. 'You know the walls have ears, and they are all loyal to him now.'
Just then, Egon walked in. He too looked depressed.
'I am sorry father', Egon said. 'I never meant for any of this... if I had known...'
'It is not your fault', King Sett said. 'I would not have woken him up if I did not want to... I should have known better than to heed the advice of a child... He brought us here - you and I to witness the war. He said it is our responsibility... it is my responsibility, not yours! I am the king. I should lead my soldiers in battle, not you. He didn't have to bring you here. He didn't.'
'I am more than delighted to be here father', Egon said. 'Any worthy leader would be.'
'At the expense of your lineage', King Sett retorted. 'You stay here and risk your life whist Lord Buron acts in my stead? What if something were to happen to the both of us? Who will carry on my name?'
'I am old enough to fight father', Egon said. 'I am no longer a child. Stop treating me as such!'
'The prince does have a point your highness...' Oldric said. 'You pamper him too much. After all you were much younger than he is now when you first went to battle.'
'I can speak for myself!' Egon said.
'You are my only child', King Sett said to Egon. 'You are all I have left. I do not want to lose you like I did your mother and Boas. I will never forgive myself should anything happen to you.'
'Are you afraid we won't win?' Egon asked. 'Perhaps you have not observed what has been going on. Three tribes have been brought down, razed completely to dust and not one, not a single soldier has been hurt. The odds are in our favour. We have Trinidos on our side. Don't fret about me. I will be fine... Cheer up father. Instead, think about the spoils of war, the loot that we shall divide.'
King Sett became cheerful. He and Egon laughed as they talked about the loot they had gathered. But Oldric did not share in their fun.
'Why worry about loot when you have treasure chests stacked in your bed chambers?' Oldric complained.
'We are insatiable creatures', King Sett replied. 'Nothing is ever enough.'
'What is his problem?' Egon asked.
'Are you not bothered that several innocent creatures are going to be massacred?' Oldric asked. '...an entire race is being wiped out, erased from the annals of time... and all for what? The amoral conviction of one evil immortal... I pray we find forgiveness.'
'You would do well to kill that compassion before it kills you', Egon said.
'So that is it?' Oldric asked. 'We just continue with this senseless slaughter? Soldiers fight for the good of posterity. We fight so we can make things better, for a just cause. Not to annihilate an entire race. This is just plain evil.'
'What will you have me do?' King Sett asked. 'Trinidos holds the power now and you know he has a short fuse. You would do well to remember to stay in his good books.'
'There is nothing good in Trinidos', Oldric said. 'Such a creature cannot have good books.'
'Perhaps you should relay your message to Trinidos', Egon said scathingly.
'Maybe I just might', Oldric replied.
'That is enough!' King Sett ordered. 'No need to be indignant... You must be tired Oldric. Go get some rest.'
Oldric bowed before his king, then he walked out, very disappointed.
Meanwhile, back at the Alpha tribe, preparations were being made to raise the immortal Radok. I was watering my corn stalks when Morriah came. He watched as I watered the plants with a smile on my face as I eagerly awaited the cobs to ripen.
'You do know we would be leaving here soon', Morriah said. 'What happens to your plant then?'
The news was hard to take. After weeks of toiling and seeing my corn grow, I was not going to have the chance to eat it. I was heartbroken.
'Ai! Why that look?' Morriah asked me as he noticed I had a sad face. 'Don't tell me it's because of your plant.'
Morriah gave a smirk.
'There is more of this scattered all over the forest', Morriah said. 'You don't need to fret about this one... Gaiel could even get some for you. He will be going to fetch some rubincense. You could accompany him if you like.'
My countenance immediately changed.
'What are you using it for anyway, this...' Morriah asked. He did not know what it was.
'Corn', I replied. 'It is called corn... I eat it.'
'You eat it?'Morriah asked. He found it very strange.
'You should try it sometime', I said. 'You might like it.'
'I doubt that', Morriah said.
'Well you will never find out if you never try it', I said. '... King Sett told me all about you. I never knew you were related. There should be a collective name for you both... maybe I'll call you moorrolfen... mor...'
Morriah laughed as I mumbled words that sounded pretty ridiculous.
'Muuurfs!' I finally said. 'Murfs! That sounds alright.'
'Murfs?'Morriah asked, trying to make sense of the word.
'I would call you Murfs', I said with a grin.
'Ai!'Morriah said. 'We may have a common ancestry, but we are nothing alike... What did he tell you about us?'
'He said one of you tried to usurp the throne', I said. 'He said it led to the death of Trinidos' wife. He said that was what made Trinidos cold towards your kind.'
'It was a set up', Morriah said. 'Ai! Such calumny! We know that story a little differently from what King Sett told you. The Morflon were pawns in the scheme plotted by a sinister group called the order. They work on a principle that Morrs are the most superior race in the forest and they would do anything in their power to enforce that. You may wonder how that has anything to do with what happened to the Morflon... As part of their "superiority campaign", Morrs are not allowed to mingle with other races in such a way that would produce offspring. Thus, Morflon appear to contradict every conviction they have, given our history. Thus, they did not like the fact that we were equals. They always tried to persuade Trinidos into enslaving us, but he somewhat refused. Thus they set up an attack and killed Trinidos' wife and the unsuspecting Morflon who had ignorantly joined in their attack on the palace were held responsible for everything... That was what happened. It was not as if all the Morflon ganged up against Trinidos. What else did he tell you?'
We dialogued some more as I told him everything I could remember from King Sett's tale.
'At least he is not a total liar', Morriah said, acknowledging that King Sett's tale was surprisingly true for the most part.
I found a ripe corn cob much to my delight. I plucked it and prepared to boil it.
'Of late I have been hearing you talk about immortals', I said. 'Even King Sett referred to Trinidos as an immortal. Who is an immortal?'
'Ai! Every now and then' Morriah said. 'A creature does something special or develops an amazing skill or characteristic. Nature rewards this creature by giving him or her immortality. This is because this trait the creature has developed is considered so great and unique to just lose in death... good or bad, from a murderer or thief to a healer or king; provided you impress nature by being outstanding, you would become an immortal... It is not your natural abilities like strength or speed that make you immortal. It is the skills you develop or the feats you achieve... There is no yardstick mind you for becoming an immortal.
You may be outstanding and still not become an immortal... it is nature that decides.'
'So why was Trinidos made an immortal?' I asked.
'I don't know', Morriah said. 'These things are never that straight forward... However, I believe he was made an immortal because of his ability to scheme. Many say he is a schemer, a very malicious one.'
'I guess Radok is an immortal because he was a great warrior', I said.
'Ai! You can say so', Morriah said. 'But no one is sure that he is immortal.'
'How can you tell when one is immortal?' I asked.
'When an immortal dies, his body begins to glow', Morriah explained. 'Once you see the body, you will know that the creature is immortal. Immediately, the body is greased with olive oil from head to toe. Then rubincense would be burnt and the immortalisation spell would be cast. Only then will the immortal's soul get to the other side. Only then would he be certified as an immortal. Otherwise, the soul will become an unknown... the immortalisation process is through, the creature's corpse can no longer perish.'
'Who is an unknown?' I asked.
'An unknown is...' Morriah tried to explain before Azadus walked in, twirling his moustache.
We were both silent as we waited to hear what he had to say. I was uncomfortable. Just then, Gaiel was about to go out to fetch the rubincense with a group of friends. I put down my corn and gladly tagged along, leaving Azadus with Morriah.
'I have not had the chance to meet with you since you returned', Azadus said. 'I didn't know how to face you after I failed... I came to say I am sorry. I am sorry for what went on while you were away. But you have to understand that I did it for you, for your own good.'
'You do not need to apologise to me', Morriah said. 'I am not the one you wronged. You need to apologise to Eric, not me. He is our brother and you traded him off like a yard of kenaf.'
'I did it for you', Azadus said.
'Eric saved my life', Morriah said. 'Ai! He saved us all in that dungeon... He used the transporter again you know. Many would never even see the transporter, but he has used it twice. Can you not see that he is special...? Even if you do not like him, be grateful that he saved me, your nephew.'
Whilst Azadus and Morriah were having some family time, I was on my way to get some rubincense with Gaiel and his peers. They were discussing amongst themselves.
'I hear an immortal is fast and super strong', they said. 'It is said that even magic cannot affect him. He is quite super... Trinidos must be unstoppable then.'
'No one is unstoppable', Gaiel said. 'We would smoke him out of his immortal body with this rubincense.'
'You really think the rubincense can stop him?' they asked.
'You just wait and see', Gaiel said.
'The immortal Radok...?' I asked. '...why does he not have a body?'
'His body was burnt in a battle', they explained to me. 'He fought an evil ruler called the Rhine king. Their battle was so heated; they went farther away from the other soldiers. Next thing the soldiers saw was a fire. The fire engulfed everything where they were. By the time the soldiers searched, neither Radok nor the Rhine king was seen. It is believed that they were both burnt to rubble. But Radok's soldiers believed he was worthy to be an immortal judging from his conduct while alive. So they immortalised him without his body. They burnt the rubincense around the area and chanted the words of immortalisation.'
'That means you are not sure if he is really immortal', I said.
'It is a shot in the dark', Gaiel said.
'We believe so, but we do not know so', his peers answered. 'Radok was a great warrior, the greatest in several cycles; selfless warrior of good conduct, with good combat skills to match. Thus we believe he must have been blessed with that privilege.'
'If he has no body, how will he be woken up?' I asked.
'We do not know', they replied. 'But the elders say a vessel could volunteer for him to use his body.'
'What is a vessel?' I asked.
'A vessel is one who can accommodate more than one soul in his or her body', Gaiel said.
'We have not seen one in a long while', they said. 'However, some Morflon have volunteered.'
As we walked on, Gaiel showed me several corn stalks. I was amazed to see just how rampant corn grew in the forest. We walked a distance before we saw a Quercus tree. Quercus trees grew in clusters. They were large and had twisted trunks and green leaves with yellow edges. They drew the sap out of the tree's shoots which were very succulent. The sap raced through the channel they used to draw it out, filling their gourds rather quickly. The Morflon took as much as they could carry and headed home.
Back at Morriah's house, Azadus was still having a heart to heart conversation with his nephew when Cylas walked in.
'Look who just walked in', Azadus said. 'If it isn't good old Cylas Silverton'
'Ai! How did you find here?' Morriah asked Cylas.
'You are Morriah Bigheart', Cylas replied. 'You are hard to miss. Besides, Ozin directed me here. He would have come with me, but he is quite indisposed at the moment.'
'What do you want?' Azadus asked.
'It has been several cycles now', Cylas said. 'Give it a rest.'
'Give it a rest you say', Azadus retorted.
'Uncle!' Morriah begged Azadus, prompting him to keep quiet.
'After all these cycles', he said to Cylas. 'We finally meet again... it is so good to see you.'
They embraced themselves to the surprise of Azadus, who expected Morriah to be angry at Cylas.
'It is true what they say about you', Cylas said. 'You are a changed creature.'
Both creatures sat down.
'My rascally days are far behind me now', Morriah said.
'That is good to know', Cylas said. 'You know, after I wed Lya, word around the tribe was that you were coming for my head.'
'I considered it several times', Morriah said. 'I felt I should just go with my gang and kill you both. I was heartbroken. For days I would punish myself for I thought the fault was with me. I thought I was the reason she left me, there must have been something I did wrong. Ai! But over time I realised that it was not worth it. She had found true love in you. Then I met Euphina who would later become my wife. It was after that it finally hit me. Lya wanted a ready-made Morflon, one who fit the description of her dream husband; but Euphina, she made me into her dream husband. She made me quit my gang life and become the responsible Morflon I am today... where are my manners? What would you like to take?'
'Wine would be alright', Cylas replied.
Morriah went and got the wine. He brought three cups and poured the wine out from the jar into the cups which he gave to each Morflon.
'I am immensely grateful for the role you played in my rescue', Morriah said. 'I am also sorry about Lya. Ai! It must be really hard to deal with. Please accept my sympathy.'
'Nature gives and it takes', Cylas said. 'Who are we to judge nature? What about your wife and children?'
'They are out at the moment', Morriah said. 'You know, everyone is preparing for the great exodus.'
'I hear you have a daughter', Azadus said.
'Yes', Cylas replied. 'She is currently staying with one of Ozin's grandchildren. Her name is Lya.'
'How sweet', Morriah said. 'She bears the same name as her mother. Ai! I hope we do not fight for this one's attention.'
They all laughed.
'I think I have already won that contest', Cylas replied as they continued to laugh.
'What about the creature that stays with you', Cylas asked when the laughter subsided. '... The... human...'
'Eric just left with my son Gaiel', Morriah said. 'They went to fetch some rubincense. You just missed them. They left not long ago.'
'I heard he has used the transporter', Cylas said.
'Ai! He has', Morriah replied. '...Twice!'
'Imagine how that could ease transportation', Cylas said. 'One could save a lot from travelling with the transporter.'
'Cylas Silverton'
, Azadus said. 'Always thinking profit and loss'
They laughed. For a while, they sat, chatting about different things, old and new.