As the morning wore on, the home guard was having difficulties seeing anything through the deluge of rain. They sent a messenger to General Yukio to give him a warning about the terrible weather and the feeling they were having about a possible surprise attack. Yukio had the messenger return with the instructions to be on their guard and to watch for any suspicious behavior. He also said to make sure that no one approached the hall once the council meeting had begun. He believed that additional assassination attempts would be directed at members of the High Council, so the council chambers must be protected at all costs. He thought that this message would open some gaps in the inner wall's defenses, but he was sadly mistaken. While the guards did not know of the plan thus far, they had taken extra steps to ensure the meeting would not be interrupted. Yukio did not know about the archers stationed on the mountainside above the city. This would be the undoing of the general's hope that none of his men would be lost.
As the time neared for the meeting to commence, General Yukio got dressed in his kingly armor and armed himself to the teeth. No one would question what he was doing considering his beloved wife's recent demise. He smiled grimly at his reflection in a mirror as he surveyed his armor to make sure there were no weak points. I will be remembered as the right hand of thegods. There will be none who will dare question our deeds! All the peoples ofTuwa will all fall down and worship us as the true advocates of the guardians.
He continued to contemplate exactly what he would say and do once in the chambers. He needed to make sure that all of the members were there before starting the meeting. He wanted to ensure that they would be leaderless before the assault began on the inner wall. He would have to be quick in his execution; otherwise a warning would be sent to the home guard. The plan had appeared to work perfectly thus far, so it was up to him now to make sure it ended according to their designs. His men had not let him down, so he would do his best not to disappoint them.
He was at the back entrance to the council chambers before he knew it. If he had not been lost in his thoughts, he would have noticed the archers stationed on the mountainside. He would have also noticed a vanguard heading toward Queen Kishi's domain. Many of the high elves had actually escaped before the assault had taken place. A third of the main body had left before the nighttime slaughter began because of their misgivings they had toward Yukio. The general walked through the entrance full of confidence and with a smile on his face. The entire council had already taken their seats and was waiting for him to get the meeting started. The general walked purposefully to his seat but did not sit down. He had a wicked gleam in his eye that made the council shudder at his gaze.
"I have discovered who the culprit was that killed the queen and Chairman Merindiel," he began coldly. "It was the work of an entire council. It was all of you!" At this bold declaration, Yukio sent several daggers flying across the round table into several of the council members' heads. Chaos erupted in the chambers as hidden guards attacked General Yukio. Many of the council members escaped out the front door, and they immediately warned the home guard.
Yukio was being assaulted by six of the finest swordsmen that the high elves had. First, he reached out with his magic to infiltrate their minds of those around him. He felt their mental barriers and saw the animalistic thoughts they used to shield their thoughts. He chuckled to himself at the basic defense measures they employed. He exerted his force of will like a battering ram against these barriers and they splintered like a wooden door. He forced the high elves to turn on each other, and within seconds four of them lay dead on the floor, and the remaining pair were fighting one another with such ferocity that the general had to get out of the way. Their blades were a blur of precision and years of training. They fought as though the thought of stopping was unconscionable. He immediately left the hall in pursuit of the council members who had escaped. As soon as he left the chamber the two guards fighting one another came to their senses. Apparently the general was conserving his energy for the battle so he did not force the pair to kill one another.
As he stepped out into the open, he was blinded by the sun. The rain had not only stopped; the clouds were gone. As his mind caught up with reality, he heard the sounds of a heated battle taking place. He then heard several whooshing sounds as objects flew past his head. Before he could turn around, he had been struck twice in the back with arrows from the hidden archers on the mountainside. His effort to conserve energy had left him open to this surprise attack.
He dropped to his knees and reached back to remove the arrows that were lodged in his lower back. Amazingly, each hit had missed anything vital, so he was able to remove the arrows without doing further damage. Raged burned through him as he stood erect and saw that his plans had been foiled. His eyes literally burned red like fire, and he quickly began to use his mind-controlling ability to turn the home guard on one another. He directed his silent assault on the archers stationed on the mountainside first. He had them attack the high elves protecting the wall. He continued to survey the battle around him and was shocked to see many of his men were dead or dying. This only fueled his thirst for revenge. His break in focus allowed the bowmen to come back to their senses and redirect their assault at Yukio's men.
He whistled for his stallion to come to him and then made a different noise that called his faithful war hawk. His horse appeared suddenly from behind the castle and ran at top speed to aid his master. Yukio did a running jump to get on his steed without the beast breaking stride. Shortly after mounting his horse, the hawk appeared out of the clear sky. The bird landed roughly on the general's outstretched arm. Yukio quickly spoke to his hawk words of command, and the bird took off immediately. The fowl flew west out over the wall where there was no fighting and then turned north. Yukio had sent his messenger to report to Queen Daria of what had transpired. He knew that the high elves would unify under Queen Kishi and that they would want revenge for what they would perceive to be an unwarranted attack. He needed help as soon as possible. He knew that he would win this day, but he did not know how he would survive an attack from Queen Kishi.
The battle continued to rage on around him, but the tide was steadily shifting in the general's favor. Yukio returned his attention to the archers on the mountainside. They had thinned out the numbers on the wall enough to allow for the army outside the wall to finally gain the edge they needed to capture the inner wall. The general focused his power on them again and forced them to face one another. Many of the archers resisted his commands to shoot one. After several moments of mental conflict, which drained the general of a significant amount of energy, the archers let fly their arrows. Within minutes all the archers lay dead or dying at one another's hands. Now he had the advantage, and his battle cry inspired his men to finish the bloody conflict.
As the men under Commander Favian swept across the courtyard, Master Aiden was cleaning the walls off by himself. His blade, Keahi, flashed in the light of the noonday sun as he tore through the heavily armored high elves. The blade burned red and sent massive fireballs into crowds of guards. He cleared the entire wall alone while his men stood there and watched the finest swordsmen in the world annihilate at least fifty soldiers.
Within minutes, the remaining high elves had been killed and the battle came to abrupt end. A third of Yukio's men had fallen in the confrontation, but they had won the day. As the general stood panting from the physical and mental exertion, it dawned on him that Mistress Kana had not kept her end of the bargain. He had the feeling that the other guardians were involved somehow and they were fighting against her and her allies. He was overwhelmed with feelings of betrayal and loss. He did not think this day would cost so much in blood. He walked slowly to the wall to speak with his men and his faithful commander. Everyone had gathered together at the wall to discuss what had happened and were trying to figure out what went wrong. They all came to attention when they saw the general approaching.