All faces turned unsightly upon hearing the warrior's words. Elder Astrid and Fal Mora exchanged a glance, which no one paid attention to.
"What did you say?" asked Elder Mahkith, with a very loud, angry voice.
The warrior was now afraid. At first, he had decided to go straight to the hall out of impulse. The effect wore off the moment Elder Mahkith shouted at him to repeat what he had said. He began to think he had made the wrong decision.
"T-the S-sout… Southern Earth tribe h-has summoned a-a zombie which cursed shaman Azera to the abyss", he stammered.
Elder Mahkith chuckled, which made the warrior confused. He continued to say, "Fal Mora, do you still think we should let that good-for-nothing tribe go unpunished? Think carefully! This will cause all the other small tribes to rebel too."
Fal Mora was silent. He had to admit, what his counterpart had said made sense. In fact, it seemed to be the only way forward. The only problem was, he wasn't sure if those greedy officials would agree to them wiping off one tribe from the face of the earth. It didn't help that the tribe was one of the Southern Earth tribes.
"Fine! You win! What do you all suggest we do? Once the decision has been made, there's no going back!" he replied, with a stern face.
"This decision is an easy one! Let's just destroy them! This way, we'll also recover their secrets. If they're really hiding a foundation stone, it'll fall into our hands", replied Elder Mahkith.
Elder Astrid seemed to be thinking about something, before saying, "Generally speaking, there are only four types of magic. Each type of magic comes from the natural elements. This is one of the reasons why our type of magic is Water magic, and that small tribe uses Earth magic. Now, if we're to think about this clearly, how did a small good-for-nothing tribe in the middle of nowhere get summoning magic? Considering summoning magic is not a part of the natural elements, where do you think they obtained the summoning spell?"
The hall turned silent. One had to admit, this was a convincing argument. As far as they knew, there were only four types of magic. There was Wind magic, Earth magic, Fire magic and Water magic. Of course, spells could be created from these four kinds of magics that made it seem like they were more than four types of magic. However, from what they knew, magic which defied the natural elements didn't exist, at least not in these small tribes at the ends of the continent.
So, the question which remained now, forever etched deep in their minds, was, Where did the Southern Earth tribe get summoning magic which isn't supposed to exist?
No one dared to say anything that would turn out wrong. At least not in this instance.
"Okay, let's assume that it doesn't matter where they got the spell. Azera's magic was powerful enough to fight against the Southern Earth tribe's shaman and come out victorious. This summoned creature managed to curse someone that powerful and kill them? Isn't this creature just plainly overpowered? If we were to send our forces to fight against it, would we win?" continued Elder Astrid.
More silence ensued. If this was a court and there were judging someone, then that person would have been declared guilty. With these kinds of facts, no one could retort against her at all. And right now, no one wanted to even try.
"So, what do you suggest we do, Astrid?" asked Elder Peryite.
"This is simple. We simply send our spies to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of this creature. And then afterwards, we come up with a strategy of how to defeat it. Once we have more information, we can attack in full confidence", replied the old woman.
There was a reason why she didn't speak too much. Among the elders, she was the most intelligent one. The problem was that her male counterparts didn't like to be argued against. When they made a decision, even the wrong one, they didn't like it when she spoke up against it. And this was especially considering she was always right. Well, not right per se, but logical. Her arguments were always strictly logical, which pissed the others off.
Fal Mora wanted to say something, but he was cut off by Elder Mahkith. "As usual, Astrid is right", he spoke, while clapping his hands. He continued, "However, how long will that take? Do you think that the other tribes will wait until that time to rebel? No! The moment we show a sign of weakness, they'll strike!"
"Wait, you're not saying--"
"Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying Astrid. We'll still strike and destroy that good-for-nothing tribe! We just need to strike fear into all the other vassal tribes. If we don't, then we'll no longer have much to show for our troubles."
Fal Mora sighed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, they were both right. If he waited, then the other tribes would rebel. If he didn't wait, then they might lose the battle. It was quite a risky venture. "Peryite, what's your opinion?"
"As much as I'd hate to agree with Mahkith, we don't have time", replied Elder Peryite.
"Then it's decided, let's pay a visit to the officials tomorrow morning. For now, let's start preparing for war! Until that good-for-nothing rebellious tribe is wiped from the face of the continent, we'll not rest!" declared Fal Mora, with firm determination.
Elder Astrid only frowned, but she remained silent, while Elder Mahkith had a wide smile.
After the others left hall, Elder Astrid was left with the warrior. She asked for more information about what had happened, and the more she heard, the more suspicious she became. However, there was nothing she could do now. Her counterparts had made it clear that they didn't want to listen to her. After hearing a few more words, she left the hall as well.