The creatures gazed at the four members of the council. Each of them was recognizable from the element they represented.
The creature of rock and ice gazed at them, "H-how?" He didn't understand why they were there.
He received no answer on how. His question was completely ignored.
One had a muscular body made of red flame, with yellow eyes shining through it and wore a fireproof white loincloth. He had his arms crossed and never left his eyes from the monster made of rock and ice, "You have failed your duty. You let them enter the city," his voice was strangely calm for a creature made of fire.
The one made of water felt a little similar to M'arrillians whose bodies were made of fluid. This one had a sapphire color while the eyes were purple and wore a red loincloth, "You have betrayed our tribe by letting them enter here!" The creature yelled.
The one of the wind element looked like a pale green gas creature with amber eyes, wearing a blue tunic with a white belt, "What is the reason for such actions?"
The last one was a creature made of brown rock. It had white eyes gazing at the one they had branded a traitor, "We will determine your punishment based on your answer."
The one they labeled as a traitor nodded, "I followed my belief in the current situation. I believe they speak the truth. As for the reason," he began to explain everything that led up to his decision.
The creatures had only one hope. Those four believed him, or their journey would take a lot more time.
Chapter 105: The Elemental Council
The council finished listening to him. The one made of water grunted, "And you believed such lies? They are obviously playing with you."
Gal'drad asked, "How is that so? We didn't know you looked that fondly on the humans. We just let the word out and went from there. There wasn't any manipulation from Maxxor."
The earth creature shook his head, "Your tribes are always at war against each other. We know this since the time you all met. There is no way the reason you are here is legitimate. You met the humans and you think we will believe you want to save them? That is such a joke. I don't understand how you believe them."
"I heard their explanations and the words for some of the humans: Tom, Kaz and Peyton were true. It came from their heart, not what lies in their mind."
"And the M'arrillians are taking control of the Cothica, so we can't lose time with this!" Chaor grunted furiously, "You think it is a good idea to let the Cothica fall under their hands?"
"The Cothica won't fall under such pitiful grasp," the fire creature countered.
Vix'ben bit his tongue before he replied. Despite defecting to the rebellion, he struggled not to respond to such an insult. He wasn't pitiful.
"They already took control of one city and all they can do is retreat for now," Tiaane replied to the council. He took a step forward, "Humans aren't immune to their mind control power."
The wind creature countered, "But their ability has it's limit. I'm sure they won't be able to control everything, as if humans were their little puppets," he pointed his fingers at them, "And each of you has another intention in reaching the Cothica. It might be for power, prosperity, or more vile intentions. I'm certain you Underworlders like to spread havoc on the other tribes. The Overworlders liked to play the moral high ground, even when they had been as wicked as the Underworlders. You Mipedians probably want to gain something that you are lacking in your desert. Such as stealing all the water from the Cothica. And you Danians, you want to infect them and turn them into Danians for yourselves," once he finished the accusations, he noticed they all turned their heads.
"And why spare us, if such is true?" Gal'drad asked. He already had an idea.
"Just what the others said about them. For power and desire to control everything under their grasp. Mind and body," he answered calmly.
"So, there wasn't anything else to say about us," Vix'ben asked as he clenched his hands. He felt like the insult was worse than that to the other tribes somehow. They weren't spared such words, there wasn't anything else to say.
"And none of you shall leave this island!" The water creature declared.
The tension increased between the two groups. Their muscles tensed and all were ready to fight for their life. Still, they needed something to fix the portal.
Maxxor and Tiaane searched for ways to avoid a battle. They had no chance and no miracles would save them. They also knew that putting them in communication with the Codemasters wouldn't help.
The ruler of the Overworld knew they would push anything they heard from them aside. He gazed at the two M'arrillians. The four in front of them would believe one of them put a trick in their mind. That option was out of the question.
"And why did you even build those portals anyway?" Tassanil asked after further thinking of his own, "I have the impression you tried to do the same," he crossed his arms.
"How dare you?" The water creature growled.
The rock and ice creature turned towards the five tribes. He was taken aback by such accusations. Still, it was their best counter attack so far in the verbal argument.
Mudeenu quickly followed-up, "You are creatures too. You might have had the intention of reaching the Cothica long ago, but then something happened to change your mind," he raised his chest a little, "And you are only talking about being better than us."
The fire creature flame increased in intensity, "You don't even know what you are talking about. You know nothing about our tribe. Anyway, we know you have ill intentions for the Cothica."
Maxxor mentally smirked. He followed in the arguments brought by the Mipedian, "And why are you so convinced the humans wouldn't come back? That is probably because of something you did in the past. Why would you be that convinced otherwise?"
The four of the council grunted as they tried to find a comeback. There was a long and awkward silence between the two groups. The tension was still in the air, but seemed to have diminished a little. What the creatures brought up was lingering in the mind of the four elemental creatures.
The creature of rock and ice sighed, "Those creatures are right, in a way. Anyway, you didn't hear their explanation from themselves when they first came here," he let out a small cough, "And I rather believe the humans came back from the Cothica once again. I want to see and believe in what they said," he put his hand on his chest.
The wind creature gazed at him and at the four tribes, "It doesn't matter. They are lying with every bit of their breath. What we did in the past doesn't matter. Because even if it's true, we won't repeat it. You, however, do have such intentions."
Chaor growled and let out his frustrations and anger, "We are losing enough time in pointless words! Kazzy is in danger and I'll hold you responsible if he dies! You want a war?"
The other creatures, except Nauthilax, knew the ruler of the Underworld just caused a massive problem. It was a direct threat to the four creatures in front of them and whatever army was outside of the room.
Gal'drad gazed at Chaor and Nauthilax for a second before he turned back to the four creatures. He focused his mind towards them. The two barely reacted. Still, a small smirk appeared on their faces.
The four elemental creatures glared at them.
Maxxor quickly tried to diffuse the situation, "Chaor. It's a terrible idea to threaten them with anything."
Tiaane nodded and went on, "We are not here to end up in a war with any other tribes. We have no time for that, and wasting it will only cost the Cothica."
The earth creature grumbled, "There is no chance they will get to the Cothica. Do not try to believe we are fools."
The water creature yelled, "And do not try to say anything about humans in the Cothica and that they can't defeat them!"
"Enough," Maxxor calmly said. He took a deep breath. The moment of silence was for everyone to calm down. He gazed at Chaor.
The ruler of the Underworld took a deep breath, "We cannot fail our mission. We don't care if you believe us or not. We will take this cable to fix the portal and save the humans from the M'arrillians. We will not let them get control of the Cothica. I don't care if you believe this is a lie! I will not let them get control of it! You think they won't figure out a way to control the humans?"
"You are still underestimating the power of the Cothica. The humans came from the Cothica. They have more power than any creature can imagine. You just never faced it," the fire creature replied.
The wind creature nodded, "You are wasting our breath making us repeat this over and over again. You came here and tried to temper with a relic of the past. You are trying to manipulate us with lies, just to try and control the Cothica," he raised his hand and, somehow, snapped it.
The soldiers outside came in. They were elemental creatures. They wore different armors adapted to their elements and were armed with battlegear. They were ready to fight the creatures.
Maxxor and the others knew they were outnumbered. They knew nothing of those battlegear or any of the abilities of the creatures. They gazed at each other. They were nervous.
Gal'drad, Chaor and Nauthilax were the only ones who were calm. They ignored their predicament.
Chaor gazed at his battlegear. He had the Telebracer. He turned towards Maxxor and approached him, "Maxxor. I'm going to leave you in this mess. I'll only make it worse."
"C-Chaor? What are you doing?" Maxxor quietly asked.
Chaor raised his tail, "You saw how I pissed them off. We still need to save the humans and we need to get to the Cothica."
Nauthilax took his chance and threw the wire on the tail of his ruler.
Chaor made sure to held it.
The council noticed it. The water creature yelled, "What are you thinking Underworlder?"
Maxxor understood and smirked, "We'll handle things here."
Chaor crossed his arms, "I don't care if you believe or not. We are going to save the humans! I know they are after Kazzy," he activated his Telebracer and teleported away.
The others watched as the Underworlder was gone. Nauthilax chuckled, "You didn't see that one coming."
Gal'drad raised his arms.
Maxxor knew a battle was pointless, "We surrender," he raised his arms.
The fire creature ordered, "Arrest those creatures and the traitor!"
The rock and ice creature lightly jumped at that, "T-traitor?"
He got no answer as the soldiers surrounded them.
"Sorry we brought you into this situation," Tiaane told him.
"I… I've wished to see them," the creature admitted. He added, "I am Terra Motus."
Mudeenu grumbled, "I hope Chaor doesn't break that wire."
The creatures were restrained and put on the ground.
"We will bring them to the old prison. We will decide their fate later," the earth creature declared.
They pulled the creatures to their jail, after taking away their battlegear.
Maxxor was a little nervous, as he knew they now had the other two Telebracers. His own and the ones Mudeenu brought with him.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Tom vs Aval'par.
A few days passed at the base. No one managed to make Aval'par talk and eventually, Tom decided to confront the creature.