"Come in," Perceval signaled, and Franz led two women into the room. One was middle aged while the other looked as old as Perceval.
Sam screeched, "Auntie! I knew you were a good witch!"
"Samantha!" Lilina yelled back, "I didn't expect you! Oh, look at how much you've grown." Lilina sat close to Sam as the older woman slowly approached Emory.
"You must be Lady Aurelias. Pleased to meet you; my name is Shanna Romanovs. I had hoped to meet you before I passed into the next life," she kindly patted Emory's hand and bowed her head.
"The pleasure is all mine," Emory put her hand on top of Shanna's hand, "Please call me Emory. Anyone Perceval trusts, I trust as well."
Shanna wryly grinned, "Then you may call me Shanna. Tell me, do you have any gifts?"
"I am lucky enough to have two: Limitless and Projection," Emory nodded as Shanna made her way to a seat, "Projection is similar to Foresight while Limitless allows me to cast spells without consequences."
"The mythical gift! How extraordinary, sweet girl. You have a gift from the gods themselves," Shanna sighed.
Emory elaborated, "Well, that is one name I wasn't expecting to be called again today. Pour yourselves some juice; this will be a long tale." She started by explaining who her parents were, at least what she knew about them both. Then she told them about Ninian and everything she had said about what kind of being she was. Since Perceval and Shanna could tell Emory was different than a regular Hexblood, it wasn't too shocking that she was a different race altogether than human or Hexblood. Still, it was beyond imagination that such creatures existed in the first place.
After giving everyone a history lesson about herself, she told them all about the Fae and the Apleem, detailing the different races that each made up these groups. While she hadn't seen any Laxtros in combat, she and her friends had dealt with an Uthid. Moreover, Athos had confirmed that the Laxtros had the Void sphere, the darkest sphere that rivaled the power of the Arcane. Additionally, she warned them that the Apleem were far more numerous than originally thought. Emory finished by telling them about the outposts and what they had uncovered at each of the sites as well as the goal of those sites. Once she was done, the room grew silent enough for someone to hear the plants growing as everyone took in the gravity of the situation.
Sam's voice cracked as she spoke, "So the Apleem were the threat that the reason the Fae, sorry Elandrian, left after all, huh?"
"Yeah, it was," Emory sighed, "Anyway, now we have a chance to help. So, Lilina, Perceval, and Shanna, do you think the Council of Witches will be onboard to help with this threat?"
"I think because this concerns the Fae, the Council will be much more likely to help. But there will still be holdouts, and I suspect a certain person will use this to their advantage to request a vote for the Supremacy," Lilina huffed.
"Ah yes, as for that issue, I believe I have already found a suitable solution," Perceval smirked, "Isn't that right, Emory?"
Shanna gently smacked Perceval's wrist with her wrist, "You sneaky old fox. That's what you really called us for, isn't it? Well, after meeting this fine young woman in person, how can I disagree?"
"Wait, what's going on here?" Lilina asked in confusion, "What's this plan you already have to solve Zephiel?"
"I plan to nominate Emory for Supreme Witch when the vote is called, and she has graciously accepted, with some good ideas to get the ball rolling as well," Perceval chuckled.
"Are you sure you're up to it, Emory?" Lilina checked, "There is a lot of tension over the war right now, and the information you present to the Council tomorrow will only make matters worse. Are you ready to lead an army across half a dozen worlds?"
Emory stood up and her eyes glowed golden as she spoke, "I will do whatever it takes to defend my friends and my home. Athos has made it clear that the Laxtros won't stop unless they control everything or are wiped from existence. We can't afford to allow them to succeed, so even if I have to go alone, I will finish this."
"Well said, Emory. Don't worry, I'll be right by your side," Sam responded, "Friends to the end."
"Count me in too. With our friends, they don't stand a chance," Gwen cheered.
"If you bring that same energy to the meeting tomorrow, I'm sure the rest of the Council will fall in line," Perceval agreed, "Now let us eat and rest. Tomorrow will be a big day." With that comment, he tapped the floor three times, causing Franz to come running in the room. He directed, "Franz, we are ready for dinner. Will you show our guests to the dining room?"
Franz bowed and motioned with his hand to the ladies to follow him as he led them into the dining room. It was a large room that could comfortably seat fifty, so Franz led them to one end. Soon, servants brought tray after tray of every sort of fruit, vegetable, and fungus one could think of eating as well as an assortment of vegan baked goods. It had been some time since the young girls were able to enjoy real food instead of the food pills the military had. Over dinner, Perceval explained the current membership of the Council and the groups within it. The elders, those over one hundred fifty years old, only consisted of Perceval and Shanna as four other elders had given their lives during the first war with the Mantoan. In the middle between fifty and one hundred fifty years old were the masters and were named Zephiel Grado, Brunnya Orson, Lilina, and Clarine Violet. Then, the four youngsters, each of which was younger than fifty years old, consisted of Galle Knoll, Roy Grey, Cath Knoll, and Elffin Riev. However, Emory would be the youngest member by over ten years.
Politically, the groups were divided a little differently. Brunnya, Elffin, Roy, and Zephiel all supported seclusion and isolationism, so they were against helping the rest of humanity unless the Mantoan reached Earth. Lilina, Perceval, and Shanna were on the opposite side of the spectrum, believing that the Council should partner with the Collective in any objective. That left Cath, Clarine, and Galle in the middle, not favoring the Collective but seeing the benefits of defending any human settlements.
Finally, in terms of strength, only three witches or warlocks were a level ten: Perceval, Shanna, and Zephiel, though Emory would be able to go toe-to-toe with them due to the way the Arcane sphere worked. Most of the rest of the Council were level nine including Brunnya, Cath, Clarine, Lilina, and Roy. Elffin and Galle were only level eight but were considered prodigies because they were only twenty-nine and thirty-three respectively. Surprisingly, witches preferred to enchant clothing, rather than armor as the military did, but was far superior due to the large number of skilled forgers that were Council witches. Overall, the fighting strength of the Council was roughly five times stronger than the Collective since the average combined sphere level among the witches was six while the Collective's was four. The only strength they had was in sheer numbers.
Once they had finished dinner and chatting, it was past 11:00pm, so Franz showed the ladies to their rooms. Emory hopped on her bed and felt the weight of the day coming crashing down on her. She didn't even get off the bed as she threw most of her clothes on the floor and crawled under the thick blankets. Even though she tried to relax, her magik ran wild inside her body, causing her to be restless. She decided to sit up and try mediating to focus her magik. Slowly but surely, she slowed the rushing flow of a raging river to a gentle meadow creek and peacefully drifted off to sleep without even moving from her pose. But as she began to dream, she saw a familiar foe, the spider woman.
Jahn, Murdock, and Petrine stood around a dark stone table under a dim red light. Murdock had a half smirk as he looked at Jahn, whose countenance was both grim and terrified, while Petrine aggressively tapped a couple of her fingers against the table.
Petrine glared at Jahn, "Didn't you say that you were send your own men the last time we spoke? I guess I assumed you meant more than just one?"
"These were closer. Besides, we should have overwhelmed them with sheer numbers," Jahn mumbled, "I don't understand what could have gone wrong."
"By your own report, he didn't even bring armor. Perhaps these humans are growing stronger than we thought," Petrine mused.
"What would you like to do?" Murdock sheepishly asked, "We've got reports of at least three human outposts being built at various points throughout the Local Bubble. Based on the arrangement of the sites, they're most likely attempting to create an early warning net around their home system."
Jahn laughed, "Just how primitive are these primates? They're sending out scouting before alarm systems. Murdock, I thought you said they were barely a type one civilization went you encountered them."
"Clearly, they are curious, just like their cousins," Petrine cackled before turning serious, "Speaking of which, what are the latest reports about the real threat?"
"The situation remains the same, except this outpost throws a wrench into our main attack plan. We were initially hoping to go through that system to attack the Fae from the flank. Without leaving the galactic plane, there's no other good way to force them back," Murdock complained.
"Petrine, last time, I was too foolish to accept your help," Jahn admitted, "Please help me take out this chokepoint. Let them pay for ever crossing the Apleem."
Petrine grinned slightly, revealing large fangs, "You were smart to request my assistance, and I accept your admittance of fault. Lucky for you two, I have spent many days pouring over the war plans and believe I have come up with solutions to both our problems. Murdock, I want you to turn on Site Three, just to fifty percent production and send those troops to reinforce our forces on the main battlefield. Then, I will put together a strike team of elite troops to deal with this outpost."
"Are you sure you want me to start Site Three? It still hasn't functioned correctly since their attack," Murdock questioned, "Even running it at fifty percent could cause issues with the other facilities."
"And a strike team only? I'm sorry but we were supposed to outnumber them nearly ten-to-one. We should send at least a platoon," Jahn disagreed.
"May I remind you that both of your decisions last time are the very reason we are in this situation?" Petrine growled, "Even if only one of these objectives succeeds, we'll turn the tide and be in a better position than we are now. I'll only say this once more: we are going with my plan."
Jahn and Murdock saluted simultaneously, "Yes, Petrine. We will do as you ordered!"
"Good. Both of you, send me a list of your top twenty officers by the end of the day," Petrine commanded, "No matter how far they are, send them to me today, even if I don't end up choosing them. Murdock, the facility needs to be up and running by the end of tomorrow." They both nodded and bowed before turning away and leaving Petrine alone in the room by herself. "I better send my second, just in case that pulse I felt was what I've been looking for. After all, if they're young, Selena shouldn't have a problem bringing them back to me in one piece. Maybe then, no, I can't get ahead of myself. One step at a time," Petrine whispered with glee.