The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2

Part 13

The four governors looked like they were simply still, relaxed, and waiting. In reality, they were communicating psionicly, and they were a bit nervous.

"They look pretty enough, I suppose." Helemia mused as she considered the ranks of Sylvan. "I wish we'd had time to make up some uniforms though."

"Bah! I can't believe how much time and trouble it was just to retrieve the clothes and possessions they already own!" Valentia complained. "Who'd have thought that people living like fugitives in the forest could accumulate so much stuff?! I thought we'd never get it done in time."

"But you did." Reggie acknowledged. "And it's made a big difference. Now that they're all moved into their own rooms, they're a lot more accepting of the situation."

"The organization helped too." Helemia commented. "The lieutenants generally picked the packs they'd run with before as the core of their new platoons, so there's continuity of the social lives they had before. Forming squads and assigning sergeants seems to have helped a lot too."

"Yah, that was good thinking, letting the lieutenants pick the troops for their own platoons." Karzog added. "They're showing some real camaraderie and pride in their platoons and squads now." "I'm surprised you let them form platoons of such different sizes." Valentia noted.

"Yes, well we'd told them that the platoons would have up to a hundred soldiers each," Helemia explained, "And some of them wanted the full hundred. But with the two hundred and twenty-one lieutenants we ended up with, there's only enough soldiers for about sixty per lieutenant. We'd only set a limit of a hundred per platoon to accommodate future population growth. But then Shebiteve, our youngest lieutenant, said she only wanted thirty-seven. She was shrewd too, she picked all the most promising fourteen-year-old and youngers. So we let those who wanted less than sixty pick first, which gave them smaller but generally more talented platoons. Those who wanted the full hundred picked last, and after some bargaining and mediation, almost everyone was completely satisfied. We'll let the lieutenants make trades on Firstdays if they want to."

Reggie laughed. "A lot of Sylvan were upset that they hadn't been picked to be lieutenants. They argued that the best and most vicious warriors should've been made officers, and when we told them that we'd picked on the basis of intelligence, emotional stability, and pragmatism, they were disgusted. Their spokesman declared; 'Well that's just stupid!', and walked away in a huff."

They all got a silent chuckle from the thought.

Mandri appeared on the platform beside them. "Hi kids! Most of us are ready to come over now, and the rest'll be ready before noon, which is about eleven minutes from now. Alilia insists that Mark and Talia arrive last, and precisely at noon. Everyone's got the Tongues For Blezogeth spell that Povon made up, so you won't have to worry about translation.

"I'm surprised we were able to come up with a fancy feast for twenty thousand on such short notice, but we did. We can bring it over anytime you want."

"Thanks Mandri." Reggie nodded, and outlined an area of beach between the platform and the sea with a line of blue light. "Everyone can come by now; that area there is reserved for Homesteaders." "All right." Mandri acknowledged, and disappeared.

A moment later the Homesteaders began appearing on the beach in family groups. They called and waved their greetings to the four young governors as they chose places for themselves on the sand, and their greetings were cheerfully returned.

A minute later the first of the adult Sylvan and their dependent children emerged from the forest, and in seconds the trickle of them became a torrent. They'd obviously set out from their homes some two to four hours earlier, and hiked or ran the thirty kilometers or so. It was notable that those who'd run the distance were neither sweaty nor severely out of breath. About two hundred Sylvan arrived in canoes and small sailboats, a few arrived by Flight, and fewer still Translocated. They all wore their finest clothes and jewelry, which were simple in style but very well made, and they did indeed look impressive. Though none wore armor, many of them were equipped with swords and knives in beautifully decorated sheaths and scabbards. By the time the last of them arrived at one minute to noon over seven thousand of them had taken their places on the beach.

Povon, Kragorram, Quewanak, and the unicorns appeared then, on the edge of the beach near the water, which caused a stir and a wave of quiet exclamations from the assembled Sylvan. Many of the humans and elves were relieved by their arrival. Being surrounded by thousands of Sylvan was a somewhat unnerving experience. With an average height of two hundred and thirteen centimeters, and all nearly identical except for what they wore, with pale skin, long black hair, and glowing, slitted golden eyes, the Sylvan were an intimidating group, and the nearer ones reinforced this image with fierce expressions and arrogant stances. The arrival of the dragons and unicorns among the Homesteaders deterred most of the Sylvan's shows of aggression, and brought a sense of balance to the casual confrontation between the groups.

Mark and Talia appeared on one side of the platform precisely at noon, the fourteen elder Sylvan appeared on the other side a moment later, Helemia activated the great Revealing, and it began showing the scene on the platform.

Like all the Homesteaders there that day, Mark and Talia wore clothes that were finely made and a bit formal in style, but not ostentatiously luxurious. She wore a simple white dress with delicate white leather sandals, while he wore a black kilt and a white silk shirt with black riding boots. At Alilia's insistence, they had worn the crowns of Hilia. Mark thought he looked a little ridiculous in his, though they were fairly modest as far as royal crowns went. He compensated by wearing his at a jaunty angle, tilted forward a bit toward his left eyebrow.

Reggie spoke in Blezogeth, his voice augmented to be heard by all.

"Greetings and good day. I am Governor Longstrider. Every one of us who live on these islands of Hiliani, formerly known as The Evergreen Islands, are gathered here right now. We meet to form agreements between our peoples, in order to maximize our ability to defend ourselves from the impending invasion of the demons, and to ensure peace between us.

"I am now proud to present the ruling Prince and Princess of Hiliani; Prince Mark and Princess Talia; rulers of Hilia, Lords of Serminak, Keys to The Just Alliance, and keys to the nexus of the world of Kellaran." Mark and Talia smiled and waved as the Homesteaders all cheered, and Reggie turned to the Sylvan expectantly.

"Greetings and good day." the older woman who'd spoken for them before said as she stepped forward. "I am Plozofen Barifatan Dolimatbene, Most Senior of the Sylvan of The Evergreen Islands, which you name Hiliani."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Senior Dolimatbene." Mark said, using his formal speaking tone. "When we chose these islands as our retreat, we were convinced that they were uninhabited. Every spell and survey we used to check the islands failed to find you Sylvan. You're undoubtedly the most stealthy group of people in the world. If we'd have realized you were here, we wouldn't have bought the place and moved here. But here were are.

"A few months after we arrived, General Helemia here psionicly detected the presence of one Vanakit Lamitkeze. Vanakit realized he'd been detected. and psionicly attacked General Helemia, and he was severely injured in the exchange. We Healed him as well as we could in the short time he was with us before a few of his friends among you came and took him from our Healer's home.

"Then we knew you were here, but we took no action against you.

"However..."

"Vanakit was first injured almost six years ago!" Senior Dolimatbene angrily interrupted. "This person would have been no more than a babe in swaddling, if she was even born then!" she protested as she pointed at Helemia.

"Actually, she hadn't been born yet, but we'd already been in psionic contact with her for a while, and she already had enough psionic ability to crush Vanakit Lamitkeze." Mark told her with a small smile, and continued on in the face of her surprised disbelief.

"As I was going to say," he continued, "Vanakit held a grudge about it, and he convinced a bunch of you to help him try to get revenge. They failed in that attempt, and Vanakit's mind was destroyed. The rest of you were Healed completely and sent home.

"We still took no further action against any of you.