Chapter 7
The End of an Alliance

    The full carnage of the night before could not truly be seen until the shadows of dusk dissipated. Tymat’s eyes grew large as he stared out the window that had been completely shattered by the cannonball the night before. Amongst his own thoughts, he overheard a conversation between two of his shipmates vaguely in the background.
    “We’ve been ahearin’ rumors that the king is goin’ to be breakin’ the ties between Crescent Moon and Rilitoria.”
    “Aye, but how can he afford to lose the protection of Rilitoria? Crescent Moon has little defense without us!”
    “Maybe he figures that they won’t be bein’ attacked by our enemies anymore?”
    “I’m seein’ what you’re asayin,’ but what ‘bout their own enemies? Sure, that fleet last night bore the colors of the Dread Dwarves, but did ya see their faces? Twern’t the faces of the Dwarves, mark me words...”
    The king burst into the room, his merry complexion faded to reveal that of a veteran war captain, interrupting the sailor’s words.
    “Tymat, you and captain Griel will come with me.” Barked Xalamath.
    Tymat and Griel followed with no hesitation into a room down the corridor away from the dining hall. The room appeared to be the meeting room. A throne sat in the center of the room, surrounded by four transparent tables. Tymat watched curiously as the king walked toward the throne. His eyes grew large as Xalamath didn’t bend to go over, nor stretch his leg to go over, but walked right through the table and over to his throne where he sat.
    As soon as he sat, The council of High Elves and Rilitorian ambassadors made their ways to their seats, including Tymat and Griel.
    “Elves and Humankind,” Xalamath began, “after last night’s battle, it has become evident that the elves of Crescent Moon have been driven deep into a war that does not concern them. Furthermore, it is dawned on me that Rilitoria is in great debt to Crescent Moon for allowing their ships to harbor here at no cost to them whatsoever. Therefore, the Crescent Moon Supreme Council has decided that starting at dawn tomorrow, all alien ships that wish to harbor must purchase a voucher along with an additional tax to the Crescent Moon government. This tax will only exist until an undisclosed amount of money is paid through it.”
    “OUTRAGEOUS!” cried a Rilitorian officer as he briskly rose to his feet. “How do you expect to protect yourself without the military support of Rilitoria?”
    “You humans fail to realize that we are not feeble mindless elves. We too have weapons. We too have shields. We can defend ourselves.”
    “Then we at least deserve to know the amount of money that is so far undisclosed!” Another Rilitorian protested as he too rose.
    “You greedy humans… How do we know that you will not hold out on your part of the deal?!” Xalamath exclaimed.
    “How do we know that you have actually set an amount of money for us to pay? How do we know that you won’t just keep plundering our tax money until we die?!”
    “Are you calling me a liar?!” Xalamath roared as he joined the Rilitorians by standing.
    “Well what if I am?”
    “I’ll have your head!”
    “Not if I take yours first your highness!” the sarcastic voice said.
    Xalamath drew his cutlass from its sheath. As if it were a chain reaction, Rilitorian swords perked up around the room, as did swords of elven guards. Crossbowmen immediately positioned themselves on the floor above, ready to fire on command.
    Seeing that a battle was about to commence, Griel yelled to Tymat over threats being thrown back and forth.
    “Tymat! Let’s get out of here before the fight begins!”
    “Haven’t you noticed Griel? There are crossbowmen everywhere. If we leave we’ll be shot down inevitably!”
    “Aye, you have a point there, sprout…if only…” Griel raised his voice. “Stop it all now! Have you not been childish enough already?”
    A Rilitorian officer mistakenly took this as a threat and took a slash at Griel. However, Griel’s reflexes were far too fast for the man. Not only did he dodge the blow, but also kicked the blade out of his hand and disabled him by giving him a blow to the face which sent him crashing into the king’s throne, rendering him unconscious.
    “This situation does not look good.” Thought Griel. “Nobody is here to negotiate.     They’re all just here to see who has the most brute strength!”
    He looked up at Xalamath, who was now in what looked like a game of King of the Hill. The King stood on top of his throne with two blades, slashing desperately at all opponents. There were few opponents that could reach him, however, because of attacks being launched from the crossbowmen above and guards that charged with blades on the main floor.
    Griel was not the only one who refused to take part in the battle. Tymat also watched the action from under the cover of a transparent table. Not knowing whether or not the arrows would penetrate the table as they did the air, all he could do was sit and shield his vital spots.
    As the battle pressed on, the elves of Crescent Moon pushed back the now miniscule fighting force of Rilitorians into surrender.
    As chained humans passed him, Xalamath proclaimed, “I tried to negotiate with you. I tried to give you a second chance to harbor your ships here, but you would not cooperate. Therefore, let it be known that from this day forward, if any Rilitorian ship is seen harbored on this island, they will be dealt with as seen fit. Rilitoria, our ties with you are broken, as the chords on a prisoner’s wrists are broken when he is set free. So we are set free from our unnecessary bonds.

Main • Introduction • Chapter One (Struggling to Start) • Chapter Two (Mutineers)
Chapter Three (A New Life) • Chapter Four (In the Court of the King)
Chapter Five (Good Night…It Will Be Your Last) • Chapter Six (Holding the Fort)
Chapter Seven (The End of an Alliance) • Chapter Eight (Journey to the Pirate Islands)