Elephy the Great

     The workers pulled the rope to raise the head of the sculpture of their emperor into place. As they stepped back to observe their fine craftsmanship they heard a yell from the planner of the city. The Kougra ran right to the Elephante and said loud enough for the workers to hear, “Sir Elephy, the city’s west wall has been smashed and must be repaired, but the workers are all working on the other walls of the city! What can we do?”

     “Hmm... gather half of each of the groups of workers from each workstation and have them work on fixing the west wall. We must have everything in top shape when he arrives,” Sir Elephy stated, being one to think quickly on his feet. As the Kougra ran off he heard the rumble of cartwheels approaching the city. As he glanced down to see what he had heard he quickly lost his train of thought as he saw the Emperor's royal messenger cart coming. He knew this was not a good sign. What if the emperor had decided he would be coming sooner than planned?

      He quickly told the workers to get the ropes off and fasten the pieces of the statue together. There was not a moment to lose if this was, as he feared. As he ran to the gates, where the cart was approaching, he shouted to the guards to drop what they were doing to follow him. He neared the path as the gates swung open and the cart came to a stop. As tall Poogle dressed in purple linen stepped out of the cart.

      “Message to Sir Elephy from his royal excellence, Emperor Skeithio. His excellency has sent me to inform you that the Tyrannian army, is as he feared, headed to his part of Neopia. He greatly regrets trying to build the city before the rising of their army, but what’s done is done and he will be coming with an army of Neopia in but a few days. Upon his arrival he expects that the city will be strong enough to hold a sturdy defense against the approaching army as well as have supplies to last the inevitable war,” the Poogle read from a parchment he had pulled from the cart.

      “Tell him we shall be ready for his arrival,” Elephy replied as the guards nodded in agreement.

      “Very well,” the Poogle declared as he climbed back in the cart. Its door closed and the cart left through the now closing gates.

     “Sir, is it going to be enough time and do we have enough men?”

     “We best hope or else the reign of the emperor will soon come to an end.”

     Sir Elephy, now in distress, sent for the planner, and as he waited, he headed to the tent set up next to the statue, which the workers were now finishing fastening together.

     The Kougra walked in the tent and said, “You sent for me, Sir?”

     “Yes my friend, I’m sorry to tell you but we are now in grave danger and Emperor Skeithio will be arriving in a few days.”

     “Sir, why is he coming so soon and what is the grave danger you speak of?”

     “Kor, the Tyrannian army is approaching the city and is ready for war. The emperor is quickly gathering troops but he needs a city to have chance of defeating the enemy.”

     “But sir, we don’t have enough time or workers to complete the entire city in a matter of days. What you are asking is preposterous!”

     “Kor, I’m not asking! I’m telling you that this needs to be done now! Go to the docks outside the city and gather anyone you can. Go to any cities that surround us. Tell them it is time for them to be called to duty to serve their leader.”

     “As you wish, sir,” Kor stated grumblingly, as he walked from the tent to a worker whose cart sat near by.

     Elephy walked out of the tent and headed to the main square where some workers were resting and another knight was sitting in a bench.

     “Rufus, we need you to go around the whole city and inform the workers they need to double time as the war approaches,” he said to the Draik who was sitting on the bench.

     “What? The war approaches?” Rufus asked with a questioning face.

     “Do as I say. I have no time to explain. And as for you,” he turned to the workers, “you must all get back to work, but you must work on gathering food from everyone and anyone; go to the surrounding land to find food to feed the Neopian army that the emperor will be arriving with.”

     Elephy quickly walked away as Rufus got up and rushed towards some workers working on the eat wall behind him. The workers also got up slowly and began their way around the city to gather the food they were sent to get. As he walked towards the overlook of the city, he glanced back to see the city erupting with swiftness to complete what was set upon them. He knew that Kor and Rufus would do their job, but would the others?

     He climbed the outlook and saw the city growing before his eyes. The workers were laying bricks for the walls as others were laying the cement to hold it together, with some newfound swiftness. He also saw the workers he addressed in the square were going house to house with a now filling cart of food while others were out of the city gathering berries and other edible foods.

     He now saw Kor approaching after only a few hours with hundreds of people ready to build and fight. The crowd moved into the city, with the swiftness of a poogle racer, and set to work on different jobs Kor had established.

     In only a day the city’s west wall was completely repaired and was growing larger, as were the other walls. Many of the crowd folks that Kor had gathered were now grabbing armor from a cart passing by. The supply cart was making another trip to the storage house, where it was getting quite full. The surrounding area outside the city was now being dug out to create a moat, which was being surrounded on the outside with spikes to create a stronger defense against the Tyrannian army.

     Kor ran up to Elephy and said, “We’re on schedule, Sir. The city should soon be ready to at least protect us from their army for a while.”

     “Well, hopefully these workers are ready for the battle that nears. The emperor will need an army of hundreds to hope to take on the vast army of Tyrannia,” Elephy declared with a small bit of fear in his voice.

     Kor quickly ran off as a guard came to get him to check the now towering archery towers that had been built following the construction of the city but until now unfinished. They would need any upper hand they could get if they hoped to survive.

     Days passed and the same routine was repeated again and again until they heard the trumpets of the Neopian army approaching. On the horizon though they saw their enemy approaching with huge emotions of rage. The Neopian army gathered into the city as Elephy was amazed by the number of members in that stood below him awaiting orders from Emperor Skeithio who was approaching from behind them. He was wearing his armor that he had once defeated Kass in but the symbol of his empire still shining in the middle of his chest. Its gold and black colors were like nothing anyone had seen before. Elephy bowed down before Skeithio as he neared him.

     “You have done quite well. A worthy city indeed,” Skeithio declared loudly as he looked around the now towering city.

     “Yes, and we now are ready to fight for your honor.”

     Skeithio pulled a sword from his side and handed it to Elephy. Its silver-lined red hilt shimmered in the sunlight. Elephy glanced up at Skeithio and to his astonishment the emperor nodded.

     “Use this sword well. It was once mine when I became emperor.”

     Elephy could barely hold back his emotions but he knew that he had to be strong. Skeithio raised his hand and the chattering crowd grew quiet.

     “The time has come. We now must fight these Tyrannians that threaten to take us over. We fight now to protect not only our families but to keep the honor of our fathers.”

     They soon heard the drums of the Tyrannian army. The soldiers quickly lined the walls as the Tyrannian army approached. The splash of bodies falling into the moat and bodies getting hit by spikes and archers soon echoed through the city of darkness. They had hoped to take out as much of the army as they could with the moat, archers and spikes. Their plan had worked enough to gain them a bit of an upper hand. The Tyrannians soon found a way over the moat and began to pummel the walls of the city with rocks. Soon the eastern wall fell, surprising the army waiting inside. The war had begun and the armies clashed in a loud uproar of swords clanging together. The numbers began decreasing as the armies fought in the night.

     When the sun broke, only half of each of the armies remained. Skeithio and Elephy fighting side by side were moving in on the Tyrannian leader. The time had come to finish the war once and for all. Elephy made the first hit to one of the Grarrl guards surrounding their leader. Skeithio soon followed and in a matter of minutes the guards were down and the leader was now engaged in combat with the two brave fighters. Grarrlgarg, the leader, swiped at Elephy and smashed his armor with brute force. Elephy fell to his knees in the shock of the blow. Grarrlgarg raised his Bony Grarrl Club high above his head, but as it came down it was blocked by Skeithio’s sword, knocking Grarrlgarg back. Taking advantage of the situation, Elephy struck Grarrlgarg and he fell.

     With their leader gone, the rest of the Tyrannian army fled back to their home. What was left of the Neopian army gathered around Skeithio and Elephy and began to cheer for them as they crossed their swords above their heads in a sign of victory. The army slowly calmed down as they cleaned up the war area. Others had begun to work on giving out food to the army and treating the wounded.

     Skeithio walked over to Elephy, who was surround by several men, and said, “You fought gallantly out there, and I’d be honored if you would come and be my guard at the palace. You will protect me at all times as I know you deserve a place of high importance.”

     “I will,” Elephy said as he bowed before the Skeithio.

     Skeithio drew his sword and declared, “I now declare you Sir Elephy the Great,” and the crowd cheered.

     After a week, Skeithio along with Elephy returned to Meridell where he ruled. Elephy served Skeithio for many years and fought right beside him in many battles. Later on the empire became too power-hungry and collapsed. Skeithio lost his power and became a farmer while Elephy worked on a farm near Skeithio’s. But when passing Elephy, Skeithio still refers to him as, “Sir Elephy the Great.”

The End