"H-How could this be? This is not the summer season for the water channels to dry up." One of the Grand elders shouted in agitation. Water was a resource they heavily relied upon for their daily needs.
Their bodies didn't require any food for their survival. They only needed air, sunlight, and water for sustenance. Freshwater, therefore, was a must for them. They could survive by drinking seawater but, the greater the amount of seawater they consumed, the more sluggish their bodies would become, something that would decrease their survival rates drastically.
The location where their village was established had only been finalized after various factors had been extensively considered with camouflage and a source of freshwater being a significant factor in their consideration.
Water, it was their source of nourishment and also their miracle healing elixir. Now, their underground water channel's flow has been steadily decreasing due to unnatural causes. That can only mean one thing, the Gods had managed to finally grasp onto their lifeline.
"Do we have any more issues that have to be addressed other than these four?" Prakash said as he massaged his aching temples. These issues were quite disturbing if they weren't dealt with properly.
"Yes, there is," An elder stood up immediately as he addressed the next issue, his facial expression seemed to say that he had even more unfortunate news to tell them. He was the 4th elder who was in charge of scouting their perimeters and gathering all necessary intelligence.
"Grand elders, 10 kilometres to the west of our village, one of my scout teams saw a vast expanse of Black-wood trees that had abruptly appeared a day ago. Our scouts had only managed to scale its vastness by today and it's….."
"Wait, by Black-wood trees, do you mean that the Gods had created another new species? In such a short interval?" Anita interjected with her question.
"I don't know about that grand elder," The 4th elder shook his head as he continued, "The appearance of this tree matches with the one termed as the Black-wood tree in the encyclopaedia Grand elder Prakash had given us."
"Yes, I remember compiling such a book about a month ago. It was a list of whatever crap the Gods had created that roamed about in our vicinity." Prakash nodded in response as he calmly replied to the incredulous look of Anita that implied, 'You had the time to compile such a list?'
"Where's this book you speak of?" Anita inquired towards the 4th elder who in turn disappeared from his seat and then reappeared back with a book that was twice bigger than his body in both length and breadth. Its thickness was about 5 times his height; A seriously unbalanced book.
"Show me the page with the Black-wood tree you mentioned," Anita said as all the grand elders excluding Prakash huddled over the book. They had to actually climb up on the stone tables to barely reach a quarter height of the book.
The 4th elder flipped open the book, tilted it forward so that the open pages would be placed perpendicular to the floor and ensure that all the grand elders could easily view the content of the book and turn the pages if necessary.
"Here it is," The 4th elder said as he flipped hundreds of pages and pointed at one particular page. The entire book seemed to be made up of finely interwoven silk and each page happened to be sturdier than paper. This also resulted in each page being thin while also having a glossy look on its surface. Created with such intricate materials, the book was water and fire resistant to a certain extent and also had a long shelf life.
The painting happened to be of a large tree that had a black trunk that swelled at the bottom and elongated to the top as it became thin like a needle. It looked as if a balloon that was filled with water to the point of bursting was gently placed on the ground until a quarter of its height; there would be a wide conical bottom due to the water pressure as the water balloon rested on the floor while the top would be thin when it is held by an anchor.
The appearance of the Black-wood tree was similar to the analogy of the water-filled balloon except that it was pitch black in colour and also had a metallic sheen on its bark. At the topmost point of the trunk, there were two wide green leaves that swayed on either side of the trunk, looking as if the thin segment of the top of the trunk would break with a gentle wind due to the big size and wide span of the two leaves.
What was interesting were the two lines that were written below the picture of the Black-wood tree. The first line indicated the name of the tree that had been depicted in the picture whereas the other line stated, "A tree with a voracious appetite for water and with an iron-like trunk."
"Care to explain?" One of the grand elders who was once a herbalist and a person of little words promptly inquired Prakash, the person who drew the picture.
"It's as what the book says," Prakash said with a sigh, "I'm no expert in plants. I just compiled this book in a hurry and didn't have much time to observe all the weird things that the Gods had created in the past few months."
"Then prepare me a list of all the unusual plants that you have discovered. I'll personally investigate about their properties after this meeting concludes." The grand elder said.
"I'll accompany you with my personal team of scouts. We'll ensure that the trip is swift and stealthy." The 4th elder said as he gazed at the grand elder in astonishment. The way she talked and acted spoke volumes about her expertise in this field, something the elder's council could only barely graze the tip of such a vast field even after extensively studying about them for the past one full month.
"Sure," The grand elder nodded as she sat back in her seat along with the others after they took a good look at the picture once again.
"Is there anyone else who wishes to speak next?" Anita spoke out loud as she awaited a reply from the elders.
"I do," It was the 2nd elder who stood up this time; as someone in charge of their village's defence, her every action exuded charm and might. Her aura as she spoke was no weaker than the 1st elder, "Just a few minutes before this meeting began, 21 subordinates of mine had zombified."
Her words were short, but it sent a ripple through everyone in the Elder's Dome, including Prakash and Anita; their gazes turned solemn once again.
"I remember venturing out today before recounting one of my stories to the children but there weren't any unusual climatic conditions that I had to worry about. And just before this meeting began, when I checked upon the warriors fighting in the outposts, they all looked healthy with their bodies having absorbed sufficient sunlight," Prakash said; feeling confused.
"There are a few blankets encompassing thousands of birds that are circulating above the territory of our village and below them, another thick blanket of flying insects are hovering a couple of metres above the ground ensuring that not a single ray of sunlight can pass through. Except for a few outposts that have been prepared for our escape and located quite a few kilometres away from our village, all the other outposts are blanketed from receiving sunlight. The phenomenon began when I was on my way to the Elder's Dome for this meeting. Now, it looks almost as if it is the night during a no-Moon day on the surface." The 2nd elder said; her expression distraught. She wanted to head to the battlefield right away even though she knew the importance of this meeting.
Their transformation powers came at a severe cost, i.e. if they don't absorb sufficient sunlight to curb the side-effects then they would no longer be able to battle. And if the side-effects accumulated to a certain degree, their bodies would undergo zombification, something that no proud warrior intended to witness.
The zombification was a process where one lost control of his transformation ability and turned into a deranged monster that only sought to consume the flesh of the living. What was even worse about the zombification process was that the resulting zombie spreads an aura of death in its surroundings due to which any warrior within the region of effect wouldn't be able to transform.
Before the grand elders could completely process their thoughts about this matter, the 1st elder, the one in charge of raids and the one with the highest battle strength interrupted their discussions with a loud shout as he gazed at the nervous figure of the 2nd elder.
"I am sorry if this makes me sound disrespectful, but currently my soldiers are dying in the hands of a new terrifying enemy that had appeared today and I want to be present in the battlefield and reduce our losses. I have trust in your wise judgement of these pressing issues, so please excuse me." The 1st elder said as he dashed towards the exit of the Elder's Dome. He had long since lost his patience because for every second he delayed here, one of his soldiers would die.
He could only sit through the meeting till now because the matters that had to be addressed were pressing enough and as the 1st elder, he should be actively finding a solution for all the issues that befell their village. As the warrior with the highest battle strength excluding the grand elders, the first elder ought to face their threat in battle.
And moreover, except for the existence of Prakash, the common people and warriors of their village didn't even know about the existence of grand elders including Anita. They only thought Prakash as an old mysterious man whose strength was unfathomable since they never saw him in battle. Only the elders' council were privy to greater details. So, in the eyes of the warriors who were currently in battle, only the 1st elder was their pillar of strength and support.
"My oh my, don't be in such a rush lad. You have endured till now, what's the harm in enduring for a few more minutes. Let us first know about this new threat that has appeared." The burly man lazily spoke as he stood in front of the exit to the elders Dome as if he had always been there.
The first elder was shocked to find the burly man standing in front of him and at 5 other grand elders who had apparently surrounded him without him even noticing their approach. They were incomparably faster than even him.
"If some soldiers die, it's their fault for not being strong enough."
"If they survive, they would surely grow stronger."
"Worrying about their lives as if you were the person who birthed them, you should have more control over your emotions."
"If this is your reaction to the supposed death of a few people, maybe the village had been peaceful for a long time."
"Y-You madmen!...." The body of the 1st elder trembled in rage as he heard the dissuading remarks from each grand elder that surrounded him.
The other elders including the usually calm and collected 2nd elder were shocked at the cold remarks from the grand elders that surrounded the first elder.
"Haste makes waste, careful preparation guarantees victory. Let this uphill battle temper your soldiers; this would make them into warriors capable of truly protecting this village from actual harm and not needlessly throw their lives for small skirmishes." Prakash coldly commanded the 1st elder to restrain himself from making any unwise decisions. If he still disobeyed their warnings and tried to charge out, the Grand elders would definitely destroy him into pieces within a second.
Who among them hadn't witnessed a few deaths? The grand elders were each battle-hardened warriors who had survived through countless deaths, battles, betrayals and calamities where they lost both friend and foe. Their impression of the 1st elder dropped by a few points as they saw his weak mindset that got flustered over the loss of a few soldiers, a quality that was an absolute NO for one who stood at the peak of their village barring the Grand elders who were at the end of their lifespan.
"You left the battle in the hands of your subordinates before this meeting began. Unless no emergency report comes in, you are obligated to see through to the end of this meeting. This village wouldn't have stood tall till now if you are required to intervene in every battle. Now, describe the appearance of the new creature that you have deemed as a threat." Prakash said as he seeped out a little of his killing intent. For one, it was to shut up the 1st elder while on the other hand, it was to warn the grand elders to not go overboard against a young talented person even if he was an elder.
The face of the 1st elder turned red in anger and his legs shivered in shock to Prakash's dense killing intent even though he knew it was only a tip of the iceberg of Prakash's true strength. Even the 2nd elder barely managed to rein in her anger and avoid a conflict with the grand elders while the other elders also expressed similar emotions.
The 1st elder grit his teeth, took a few deep breaths to control himself from flipping out and began, "Each creature that had appeared today on various battlefields situated next to our outposts were about our size but had numerous bizarrely shaped dragonfly-like wings on their backs….."