Chapter Two

This is the second chapter of my book, "Lamerith" and continues the journey of Amborn who is now in the White Forest...home of the gargils.

Derek’s tree was small but well kept. Its rooms were well laid out and Amborn felt at home while eating dinner with him in his kitchen which was painted yellow. “I hope you don’t mind squirrel meat Amborn, I have not been able to hunt for quite some time now.” “Quite all right Derek, I used to love squirrel, haven’t had it in a while in fact.” He replied honestly. He used to hunt for squirrel in his past life every Friday with his son. This brought back sad memories again for Amborn, and he tried to change the subject to avoid looking unsatisfied. “This is some wonderful stew, what else is in it?” Derek smiled, “It was my mother’s recipe, it contains a dash of pepper and the usual spices…but the main ingredient” he said while reaching for a bottle, “is this. A small bit of banana juice makes it taste perfect.” Amborn scoffed at this, “But bananas have no juice…do they?” he asked remembering that all was not the same as Earth here. “Quite right, but my mother found that smashing bananas in a bowl of honey, created this flavor…good isn’t it?” Amborn smiled and shook his head as he took another bite.

  

The subject of magic had not been spoken of for most of the night to Amborn’s great pleasure but it was inevitable that that Derek would bring it up eventually. He asked the obvious questions of why Amborn had not told him, and why would he not know his own power. Amborn spent nearly an hour trying to describe the situation without speaking of Ortanu, or his great mission. He hated telling such lies when Derek had so far been a great help in his journey, but knew that he had no other choice. Finally they decided that sleep was what they needed and Amborn headed up the long winding stairs to the upstairs room which sat just below the main branch layer and shielded all sunlight from entering its windows. So much so, that Amborn would have slept late if not for the loud horn which blasted through the trees and awoke him with great surprise.

 

“What was that?” he asked as he stumbled down the stairs to see Derek scrambling his things. “There have been men spotted approaching our gates, they think it’s an attack!” he yelled softly as he grabbed his bow. “An attack? Why would the humans attack so suddenly?” Amborn asked in a state of panic. “You.” Derek replied with speed and sorrow as he head out the door leaving Amborn to decide a course of action alone. He could not attack the men with the Gargils for he was sent to protect the people, and he could not aid the men for he had grown close to Derek and wished them no harm. He thought of staying in the tree to let it pass without his aid either way, and even sat down for some time. Before long however, he knew what he must do. He had just decided to make a pot of tea when he heard the pain in his head whisper to him in a voice like a soft winter wind, “Stop them all.” It was a quick and complicated order from Ortanu, and it left Amborn wondering what he should do in order to fulfill it. A great length of time was spent thinking until the matter called immediate attention and so he left the tree for what laid outside.

 

  The great King of the White Wood was standing in front of nearly three hundred of the Gargils and the King of Palamoore, and he was standing in front of at least an equal number of men. Amborn came down from a ladder and to the front of the line of Gargils to which the King smiled, “Come to aid us in the battle to come?” Amborn frowned, “No.” he then began walking through the field but only made it half way before the angry wave of Gargils charged as well as the humans. They charged toward him intent on destroying each other. They were within ten yards of each other, with swords raised high before Amborn took action. Feeling a wave of air seemingly go straight through his body, he stamped his staff into the ground and yelled in a mighty voice, “EVERY ONE STOP!” and slowly, a yellow wave went through the crowds of soldiers sending them hurdling to the ground on each side leaving Amborn the only man standing while the Kings looked upon him in wonder.

  

“Uh…” he mumbled as he struggled a way to explain himself. “Look, I don’t know why you think I am so important,” he said looking at the human King. “And I don’t want you dying over me.” He said looking at the Gargil leader. “What I do want is to talk to everyone about an important aspect of this feud. You fight each other and hate each other…yet there is a power in the East that hates and kills both of you. I wish for a meeting…a conference of sorts to speak with all of you in a civilized matter.” Amborn was nervous and it showed greatly for his great intelligence seemed to not want to help him come up with his speech. “King Alec, and King Laos, I wish to speak with you if that is alright with the both of you.” he said again as the Kings looked on in astonishment. The human King could not get his mind of what arrogance this strange wizard had. “I will speak with you whenever you require” the Gargil King said kindly but King Laos did not act in such a kindly way. He stood up and walked strait to Amborn’s face and mumbled curse words under his breath. “Very well, but no guards!” he spat, “Good, there should be no need of them anyway.” Amborn smiled and walked away towards the gate.

   The armies were left to think about this while Amborn walked through the trees thinking to himself about what he could say at the meeting. Instead of going to the Kings tree however, he headed for Derek’s. He felt he needed time to think so that he could have all the words in order and not make a fool of himself. He walked in the door and sat on the nearest chair which was hard and made of some sort of stone that had been sanded and smoothed over. Even if they decide to not continue battle, what on Earth could I say? He thought to himself. The use of the word Earth made him chuckle, realizing the others wouldn’t know what he was talking about if he used it again.

  

Derek soon came walking through the door. “What are you doing sitting there? The Kings are waiting for you!” Amborn smiled and stood up, “They can wait a bit longer I think…wish me luck?” “Of course, this is very stupid you know…but if you do this right it could stop a long lasting rivalry. So, yes I wish you luck.” Derek replied with a smile and Amborn left the comfort of the tree to head for the angry leaders who awaited his arrival in the tallest, whitest tree. Here we go, he thought to himself as Derek waved goodbye.

   The path to the council room was long and full of doubt. Amborn was questioning his mission more than ever and wanted to kneel down and beg Ortanu for answers. The door was intimidating and he found it hard to reach for the handle. Amborn had never known such stress but handled it decently as far as his outer appearance; any passing person would never guess the trouble going through his mind. He walked into the council to see many people sitting in the chairs all staring at him. Some of them were men who looked very dignified and others were Gargils who looked old and wise. Amborn was standing there in his blue robe and with his red beard messy from the wind and felt slightly embarrassed by this. “Good evening, I see you have decided to take up my offer?”

  

Many of the men scowled and the Gargils did not look all too happy either but Amborn walked to the only empty chair and sat down with hope and optimism. A long silence fell over the crowd and Amborn finally began to feel uneasy again. He thought quietly while the others stared at him until he finally broke the tension. “Zaleth as we all know has killed many of both our armies. Gargils and men alike have been slain at his hand and he continues to seek reign over Lamerith. Yet despite this common enemy you continue to seek battle with each other and waste many a good soldier trying to take the other out. Are you blind? Or are you truly mad?” he asked in a sad tone and the King of Men took the situation to yell, “What would you know about it stranger? You come from a far off land and decide you can tell us what we are doing wrong? You weren’t here!” Amborn smiled a bit and calmly responded. “You fight these Gargils simply because of their looks. What does that say about you? Let us fight the ants for being too small, or perhaps the bears for being too big? Its madness and it has got to stop.” The King was both embarrassed by and angered by this.

   “You claim this war is because of the men? Do not forget how many of us have been killed by them as well!” Amborn stood up and his face was grave, “They have chosen the wrong path as well, that is not the point tonight. Tonight we make amends and move on with our lives. There are worse things in the world than a petty war that has been going on for far too long. Two wrongs do not make good. Now is the time to come together and see the light. Both of you have strayed from the path, both of you can turn around and come back.” Finally King Alec spoke, “Amborn is right. Now is the time for salvation, the threat in the East is far too grave to carry on fighting against each other. Only together can we survive.”

 

The room felt the silent cry of the wind again and Amborn smiled as he felt victory near. “My friends, I come here as the middle ground. You do not know who I am or where I come from, but I come as the peacemaker. Join me, and together Zaleth will fall. I cannot possibly achieve victory without the combined armies of both men and Gargils. Please…” This decision was not an easy one for both sides, the battle of men and Gargils had been going on for nearly all of Serapnoir’s existence. But as if suddenly seeing the light, King Laos stood up, “Let it be known, that the year 1125 was the year that peace was brought to the Gargils and Men by a mere stranger. I now am going to retire to bed.” After that the men all left the tree leaving King Alec and Amborn alone.

 

“Do you think he is telling the truth sir?” Amborn said quietly to avoid being heard. “I feel he is, but I fear that the common folk may not take to this alliance kindly. It will take time before we come to respect each other but only time will tell I suppose.” The giant creature stood up and bid Amborn farewell as he left the council room. He made it half way to Derek’s tree before he realized the luck he had just had and the mass importance of what had just occurred. For the first time Amborn felt confident in himself and his mission. Perhaps Ortanu had made a good choice after all.

Author's Note

This chapter was spaced out in the text poster on this site and so I dont know if the paragraphs are correct or not.