Chapter 23 - Llewel at the Council of Blaenoraid.
The council met in closed session and secret. All were there, even Brangwen Binnion was there despite her ordeal over the last few days and Asmodeus as well.
After the usual preamble by the clerk to the Elder of Elders, the earnest discussion began, "Today we are here to discuss a dreadful and terrible threat, that of the Master.”
There was then some general discussion about points of order, whether they should refer to him by such an exalted title as the Master; and all the other things the council always did to try to put off discussing what they needed to talk about for as long as possible.
“Llewel has thrown his lot in with a wizard who calls himself the Master," High Elder Brangwen Binnion said nervously starting the conversation. She was getting tired of the continual procrastination of the others, “We don’t know where he has come from, all he would reveal was that he was from a land far away and that he would destroy us all and lay our land barren if we did not bow the knee to him.”
Brangwen continued to tell all she knew. Telling the story of Llewel, of the boys, of their imprisonment and escape, of her imprisonment and rescue, her recapture, and all that had happened in the cave. It was both informative to the others and cathartic to her. Telling it all through again seemed to settle her nerves a little and the more detail she gave, the better she felt.
“Tell us again what happened in the cave when you encountered the Master there," asked High Elder Govannon Stealey of the Elven community, “it is important we hear every detail you can remember.”
Bangers went through it again, "....and then they engaged in battle. The Master, as he calls himself does not use a wand or staff, the power comes from his hands, and it was an awesome power, Llewellyn the Brave fought back with equal power, with the ball of energy moving back and forth between them. The Master seemed shocked that anyone had the power to withstand him. They battled for only about two minutes, maybe slightly less, but it seemed an eternity. The power had lifted them from the ground where they spun round in a circle, then suddenly they both disappeared. A few seconds later, Llewellyn reappeared in exactly the space he had gone from and fell to the ground. He was burned on his hands and face, probably elsewhere as well, but his cloak hid any other injuries. Tom, his son, then stepped forward and used his amazing healing and restorative powers to revive his father so we could all get out as quickly as possible.”
“The Master did not reappear at the same time; can we assume that Llewellyn the Brave defeated him?” Aneta Stepanek asked.
The Elder of Elders then rose and for the first time in years, addressed the council. They had to listen very carefully as he spoke in just a whisper as was his custom.
“My esteemed friends and colleagues, High Elders of the Six cities. I have spoken at length with the sadly injured Llewellyn the Brave about his battle with the Master. No, he did not defeat him, but more importantly, the Master did not defeat Llewellyn. It would seem strange to pick our former colleague Llewel as his partner or gateway into Trymyll, there are possibly others of more power, importance, and even a bent for evil, to whom he could have turned.”
He did not mention Asmodeus by name or even nod in his direction, but they all knew who he meant. Asmodeus knew too, but instead of being offended by the suggestion, he felt a small glimmer of pride.
“I believe Llewel summoned him here to Trymyll and opened a gateway for him to enter. Unfortunately, now that gateway is open, the Master may come and go as he pleases. Our priority, therefore, is to find the portal and close it. So, I suggest we bring Llewel before the council and question him closely.”
The clerk went to adjourn the meeting but before he could the Elder spoke again, "No,” he said gently, "we will see him now, not at some future meeting or date....and while I’m in the mood to speak, may we please cut out all the stupid points of order, procrastination, delaying tactics and all the other ploys some of you engage in to avoid what may be an unpleasant discussion. From now on, no more of it. We need some urgent action not a long-winded debate about procedures, policy and practice.”
They all sat down again and right on cue the round table at the centre of the council chamber folded to the sides and an iron cage rose into the room. Llewel was led from the cage by the over eight foot tall guard in black, the cage then disappeared below and the table folded and moved together, again like the solid looking table that had been there previously.
The Elder, who normally spoke through his clerk took to the floor, wand in hand, "Llewel Mathias Gaynor you are here today charged with high treason, a charge punishable by sudden death.”
As he did it, he poked Llewel with the pointed end of his wand. Llewel winced and whined at the same time.
“I really don’t know what you are talking about. I have done nothing wrong, ask Binnion.”
“She is High Elder Brangwen Binnion, mind your manners or you’ll feel more than the pointed end of my wand.”
“Oh, I doubt it, no one can use magic in here,” he said smugly and stupidly.
A small flash of energy flashed out of the Elder's wand and gave a real sting to Llewel’s chest and burnt a small hole in his cloak. Llewel looked shocked and scared, he turned as white as a sheet, whimpered a little more and nearly fainted. They had never seen the Elder do such a thing or even thought it was possible. Most of the assembled High Elders also looked stunned, they too believed that no magic was possible in the chamber. They had never seen the Elder do anything that might hurt or harm anyone. They exchanged glances and mumbled to each other. Aneta Stepanek smiled to herself. She was, as usual, loving it!
“Point of order!” Traveon Baughan said standing up as he did.
“I did say to cut out all the stupid point of order rubbish. If you don’t like what you see or if I scare you, please feel free to leave and resign your position on the council.”
Traveon Baughan sat down again, sheepishly.
“Now Llewel Mathias Gaynor. Tell me what you know of the Master. How did he get here, how did you let him gain access to our world and why?”
“I don’t know much, honestly, I received a letter a few days ago, signed simply The Master asking me if I wanted to avenge myself of the wrongdoing of the council and of others.”
“And to whom was he referring when he said ‘others’?”
“Well, Llewellyn the Coal Miner, and his sons, the phobl, Jonathan and that scheming vile and phoney child Thomas,” he said with venom in his tone.
“What else did the letter say?”
“I was to go to a particular cave in The Blue Mountains of The Dragonlands and there, deep in the cave there was a door or portal which I had to open by reciting a spell in a language strange to my eyes.”
“Can you show us the letter?”
“Well, no, as soon as I had read it and memorised the spell the letter burst into flames.”
“And how long was this spell? It could not have been that long for you to memorise it,” he said sarcastically,
“Just three words," he then opened his mouth to say the spell, another spark flew from the Elder’s wand, this time hitting him in the shoulder.
“Don’t be so stupid, if you say it, you may summon the Master again. Utter a single word of it and I’ll take your head off right here and now.”
Traveon Baughan stirred in his seat again but decided against it.
“You have another point of order High Elder Traveon Baughan?”
“No. No. No. No. Well no. No. I was just adjusting my seating position Elder of Elders. These seats can be quite hard.”
“Then might I suggest you bring a cushion next time. Right, Llewel Mathias Gaynor. Explain the happenings at Dolydd. Explain the abduction of two minors, explain the so-called trial and the imprisonment, of said minors.”
“Well, it started in the town square, I was innocently going about my business when they attacked me.”
Another spark shot from the Elder’s wand, but this one was hotter, it caught him on the other shoulder and blew a big hole on his cloak. Llewel let out a scream.
“Try again.”
“They shouted at me in the town square asking why I was spreading stories about them and their father, so I shot a bolt of energy at them, they deflected the spell but then laid down their wands so no one else in the crowd might be hurt, so I took them into custody to save them from the mob.” he almost shouted the answer, and so quickly there was no discernible punctuation, it was as if he was trying to get the truth out before he received another bolt.
“The mob which you had turned against them in the first place.”
“Yes,” he said quietly hanging his head low, “I didn’t mean to hurt them, I knew they would deflect the spell, I knew they’d be all right.”
“And how did you know they would deflect the spell, these were, according to you, these two young acolytes, phobls and frauds had no magic of their own?”
“Well, well,” Llewel stuttered, “I knew it wasn’t true really, I could sense their true power, I just said that to turn the crowd against them.”
“Did you not goad them into a fight which they refused to enter because of possible harm that would come to the crowd around them, and did you not say that if someone was killed or injured it would be on their heads, not yours?”
“Yes,” he said, even quieter, head now in his hands.
“And did you not then organise a sham trial using High Elder Brangwen Binnion as your stooge, somehow under your control? Please tell us, what would have happened to these two minors had they not escaped you, and the incompetent fools you called guards so soon?”
“Yes, yes, yes, I did all those things. I didn’t know what would have happened to the boys afterwards, I hadn’t thought it through that far. Before I could think about what to do with them, they had escaped. I’m sorry and ashamed, I don’t know why I did it. Maybe I was jealous.”
“Did you know that it was they who locked you in the dungeon and then returned to rescue Brangwen Binnion later that night?”
“No!” he said, head now up and hate in his eyes, looking directly at the two boys, "The little rats. I blame their father and I notice he’s not here. Scared to face me in case I embarrassed him in front of you all. They’re nothing more than a couple of trouble making delinquents just like their father was at their age.”
“Oh good, now we see your true nature, so all the snivelling look of remorse and the tears we have seen up to now was just an act?”
“Yes, and one day I will get even with him and his revolting offspring.”
“Enough! Now tell us what the Master offered you in return for you unlocking the portal into Trymyll?”
“He offered me power, all the power I wanted and needed to get my revenge on you, your sycophantic council, Llewellyn the Bully and the obnoxious vermin he calls sons. As a taster, he gave me the power to manipulate the feeble mind of Binnion and her pathetic guards.”
“He’s said enough. Take him down. I never wish to set eyes on him again. Take him to the deepest dungeon in the castle put him in cold irons, hand and foot and tell the guards to stop being so nice and to put the rat infestation back in his cell and stop cleaning it every five minutes!”
Again, the round table at the centre of the council chamber folded to the sides and a cold iron cage rose into the room Llewel was led to the cage by the Nephilim of a guard, the cage then disappeared below, down to the very deepest dungeon in the castle. The table refolded and moved together, looking again like the solid table that had always been there.
“What do we do now?” Aneta Stepanek asked.
“We will do nothing at the moment," the Elder said softly.
The council had heard more words today from the Elder than they normally would hear in a hundred meetings.
“Llewellyn the Brave, Flintock the Elder and the two young wizards Jonathan and Thomas together with Tryg the trygall will return to the cave and attempt to close the portal.”
They noted that Jon and Tom were no longer referred to as acolytes. For two boys so young to be given the title ‘Wizard’ was an honour indeed. Some of the council were quite shocked. Normally it would take seven years, seven months, and seven days from the time of entering service as an acolyte to be known as ‘wizard’ Jon had taken a long time, over ten years in fact, but it was only the last few months that he had really blossomed. It was Tom they were amazed about; he had only been an acolyte here in Trymyll for just seven months and seven days.