Belise: Granddruid of Cedar (Part 1)

Prologue

The sky boomed with thunder and the lightning rolled across the sky. Rain poured down as it had been for the last week or so. Rour stared across the roofless room that served as the gathering place. "We must take action!" someone said from the shadows. Traditionally seated in shadow, no one knew who was who. Such was the way of the Druid High Council. Even amongst the Keepers of Balance, corruption could be found. Murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the hall. Rain soaked everything around them but they themselves were not a drop wet. They were the High Council. They were the most powerful druids from the five clans of Druids. They had power over nature. More lightning crackled against the sky, illuminating the roofless room for a brief second. Rour looked around, trying to study the area. It was considerably large, was of a rectangular shape and the stone it was made of was on the verge of crumbling. The five druids were sitting in a star shape in the exact center of the room. Close enough to hear but the shadows covered their faces. "They can not allowed to do such!" another voice said. Rour sighed. War was in the air. Not one good thing would come from this even if they would or could win this war. Rour would not support this. He would not drag the Celtic into disruption. Apparently the strongest supporter of this war was sitting in front of him. That combatant druid had to be of Celeste. Rour opened his mouth to speak but he was quickly cut off. "There is no point for war. They have not harmed us in any way. We are in a time of prosperity! Our numbers are almost full! That has never happened in the history of our clans! Why risk life for something that may not even hurt us?" Rour couldn’t help smiling. At least someone thought peacefully as he did. Rour was not going to lead his clan to death. Nothing could change that. More lightning flashed, illuminating the hall more. The rain intensified. "You know how much they hate druids! They will not stop until we are all obliterated. They want chaos! They feed on it!" Rour frowned. The fact was true. They did want the druids dead. He rubbed his face and spoke aloud. "True, they want us gone, dead forever, and we all know they will keep fighting for eternity until they achieve that goal. But to our ways, we cannot fight something that has not even made a notion of war to us. Therefore I will NOT vote for war. My clan will not fall before their hands." Stunning silence fell over the gathering. Rour grinned. They never suspected those words. The moment was short-lived though. The druid that was from Celeste spoke up again. "Yes. They have not touched us but others have. I am afraid that you have missed something. We are required by true order, to assist any nation that may need help. The forces that are trying to destroy the Uopn are at least double their strength. Do not forget we are the extra balance. We must help them to give a fair chance. We have to because that is how we keep order. I move for war." The vote was one to one. Soon after, three others for it, seemingly to ignore what Rour and his ally had said. All that was left was the one that had spoken with Rour.