Chapter 53: Update Meeting


    The group left the dining room quickly once they’d finished their breakfast. Once they found


    their meeting’s conference room, inside, they found only the back of the room avable. Ynda


    looked at the people already there. Ambassadors and staff, military, and someone from almost every


    branch of the pack’smand structure.


    “What’s going on? I don’t see Edith or Allen. That mage dude isn’t here either.” Ian leaned over


    and quietly asked Ynda.


    “I don’t know, but the Dragon ambassador isn’t here either. The bears are. Maybe they’re just


    cast several images there. Images of several people, including those they’d just discussed. Gregory


    stepped forward and appeared to be taking a mental note in attendance of who should be here. “Not


    “Hm… it’s still weird how mages do that. Why don’t they just portal people where they’re


    needed?”


    “Power consumption. It’s traceable and portals are power hogs. They’re afraid the Fae will


    track that consumption to us.”


    “Well, that makes a weird form of sense. Portals are emergency only.”


    “I’m sure there’s a time limit to how long portals can be open and who can open them.


    Seriously, I don’t understand magic, but the Fae change the entire ying field, and power structure.


    The less the Fae know about us, the better if you ask me.” Someone sitting ahead of them grunted in


    agreement with her words.


    “If that’s the case, why don’t they use technology tomunicate, then? Facetime and Zoom


    and such?”


    “Simple. The reverse may alert humans to us. We’ll try to keep things like this to a minimum.


    They dropped unnecessary things. They will monitor allmunications and possibly record them


    when possible. It’s just one of those things most people don’t think about. Maybe, if we have enough


    heads put together, they will take enough things into consideration.”


    “You sound so cynical.”


    “No, realistic. Oh, I think they are starting.” Ynda pointed towards Gregory.


    “Good morning, everyone. As many have noticed, we’ve sent out our first teams to a non-


    disclosed location. I’m sorry, but we need to keep information like this quiet. A discovery of something


    came to us recently. It took several days to verify the information. After that, a physical discovery of


    something else within the area came to our attention. Because of the nature of these discoveries, we


    felt the need for secrecy and a need to move on to secure them. We didn’t want to lose the chance to


    im the information or endanger anyone because we hesitated. Now that we’ve investigated both


    situations, we decided it is time to inform you. As you can see, we have ambassadors from all factions


    represented here or linked to us for this. I’ll pass this briefing over to the Mage and Wolf Shifter


    Ambassadors, they will exin further.” Gregory stepped back away from the screen, where several


    images of strangers Ian didn’t know appeared.


    “Thank you, Gregory. Good morning, everyone and thank you for giving us your time. I’ll start


    for everyone and exin my part in the investigation and then I will let the Mage Ambassador exin


    his findings and their nned actions pertaining to these discoveries.” An stood in the foreground,


    with Edith in the background on part of the screen. “We apologize about not involving everyone in the


    beginning, but once we’ve exined, you can understand that we did not see this as something


    important until we could confirm and gather all the information. I don’t bring this news forward easily


    and it’s far fromplete. We are still open to further investigation by other factions.” An paused and


    took a sip of water before he continued to speak.


    “A wolf shifter pack, Alpha contacted us with a twin experience with his mate. Actually, they


    appear to have experienced two different visions that have parallel information. Information that holds a


    darker meaning than anyone else could anticipate. I’ll exin the information we gleaned from the pair


    before I exin the discoveries the wolf shifter, dragon, druid, and mage ambassadors made when


    they looked further at the information willingly offered to them by the pair.” Another sip of water.


    Ynda watched the man and knew he wasn’t thirsty. He drank to let people keep up and react. “Now,


    we could discount the first vision as a dream. Because we couldn’t pinpoint it to a location or time of a


    real-time event, even with the extreme detail of it. But if you consider the vision of his mate, changes


    this assumption. They experienced these visions at the same time. Now, she believes a being who is


    the Goddess, or a being pretending to be the Goddess, forced her into the Dream Realm to speak with


    her.” That received a loud response from most of the group.


    “We have not verified who or why this person did this. But the power of the person is not in


    question. The mate was not asleep at the time she found herself pulled into the Dream Realm. She


    doesn’t believe her body went there, but she felt pulled into unconsciousness and drawn to where this


    being spoke to her. The concerning part is this person referenced abstractly the Alpha’s vision. The


    being also mentioned that she wasn’t ‘allowed to speak about certain things directly. However, she


    didn’t refer to who restricted them. As you can see, there are many holes still within this investigation.


    This being also imed all creatures created by the Fae as hers. The Fae created them because of her


    influence. She inferred it wasn’t her intention that the new races continue enved to the Fae. She


    imed she offered to help with her ability. The Alpha’s vision was her help.” He paused again so that


    those listening and recording notes could catch up.


    “Now, the vision the Alpha reported to us was like a rtively unknown incident that gave the


    Fae the ability to return. However, the actual incident and the vision appear very different in many


    aspects. This leads us to the belief that if it’s real, it’s a vision of a second location. We don’t know


    whether this second incident is in the past, present, or future. The location is search for now. This


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    report isn’t over at this point. Please bear with me for a little more. This pack recently absorbed the


    failing pack of the Luna’s, which included thends. On thosends is a mine, while surveying it for the


    possibility to reopen it. They found a sealed chamber containing the third portal. A portal oozing wild


    magic, not something we want anywhere near anyone. For now, I will hand over this presentation to my


    esteemed Mage Ambassador, followed by my esteemed Dragon Ambassador, and finally my esteemed


    Druid Ambassador. Dean, if you would like to take over.”


    “Thank you. Now we’ve ced several on examining the possible information received through


    these visions, with the express purpose of locating the third portal. We’ve also sent the information to


    all other councils worldwide to ensure they look for any portals within their territory. This is an invasion


    by the Fae. This is not spective. We have visual sightings now within the Dream Realm and on this


    ne.”


    “Within thest packet of information distributed is a list of locations where they’ve attacked.


    One of the more interesting features of these attacks, they were all once ces of power. Meaning


    ces where they could tap into wild magic. Wells, or batteries they can pull wild magic from. Sadly,


    when they left this realm thest time, those wells dried up and the native poption has abandoned


    those locations. No one ever found a way to activate them, and apparently, neither has the Fae.” Dean


    paused here as An did before him for dramatic effect.


    “We know they are hiding within this very region, and we know their estimated numbers.


    However, the search is still finding out whether there are more locations they are hiding within. The Fae


    are attacking ces within Europe currently with random attacks here. The current belief is they will


    continue to attack old ces of power while they search for a source of wild magic. This is where the


    portal we’ve acquired will help attract them into a trap once we figure out what that will look like.


    Currently, the pack who discovered the portal has learnt about their protective detail, just in case the


    Faee after them looking for the portal. The Fae haven’t looked closely at the human poption,


    yet, and the few incidents have reliable cover stories.” Ian couldn’t believe how these people appeared


    topete on who could ramble more within their speeches.


    “The packets within the most current briefing report should help exin our ns from now on


    with these issues. That includes, but is not limited to, sneak attacks on locations they linger in, and


    using the portal to attract them away from human and supernatural poptions. We ask that any race


    or creature that can cast any type of magic restrict their use of it currently, as this will send out a


    beacon to the Fae. Starving them out is currently the only way to make the other side of these portals


    more attractive to them, and this portal tells us that there is another ce where they are better off.”


    Now Ian knew these people desperately needed a speechwriter, or at least an editor for their speeches.


    “We are researching other options currently, but they are not ready for discussion. I’ll turn this


    over to my esteemed colleague, the Ambassador for the Druids, so that they can share their insights.”


    “They really need to find a different word for esteemed,” Ian whispered to Ynda.


    “Yeah, and the worst part is this is them being informal. Now, shh.” She smiled even as her


    eyes stayed on the images of people on the screen.


    A woman took the main section of the screen next. Ynda knew Aricka, her Luna, and


    Gregory’s mate was a rtion of this woman. Though she couldn’t remember if it was Grandmother,


    Aunt, or Great Aunt. She only knew they''re rted. Because there’d been quite a fuss before


    Christmas about them visiting, and Ynda sessfully missed it.


    “Thank you. We''re quite concerned with the Luna’s experience. This is not something


    historically the Goddess does to people. Forcing people to meet with her. Informing them of vague


    threats, and inferring that she’s not in control, or being controlled by another entity she can’t mention.


    Lore does point to one or two gods that may have some control over her, but they’ve not heard from


    them in a long time. The concept that she influenced our creation by the Fae, lends credence to the


    concept that she herself may be a Fae of some sort. This said, we can’t assume that everything she


    ims is the truth. We know the Fae are extremely high strung and confrontational among themselves.


    So, that alone calls her loyalty to us into question. As a Fae, she may have the backstabbing trait. I


    care to differ on one thing with my esteemed colleague of the Mage Faction. I don’t believe she ever


    imed explicitly that she took one side over another, or that she is loyal to us. What I read into this is


    that she finds their return inconvenient, and that she sees us as her pets.”


    “I can’t speak on the portal, but after looking at the effects the portal has on the local area, I am


    d the mage’s removed it. That portal would attract magic starved Fae. I believe one attack urred


    there already before they moved the portal. That means at least one Fae group is aware of the area


    and the presence of this portal battery. They must keep it from them at all costs. I implore you to


    provide assistance on this in defence and research as we look for a n that will deal with this mess.


    Thank you.”


    The screen switched rather rudely to the Dragon Ambassador’s face as the focal point. “Thank


    you, Ambassador, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but this isgging, and I would like to get back to some


    pressing business here before I return to themand center. As someone who has conferred with


    several people who have memories of these things, I’vee across several concerning mentions of


    these portals that admit wild magic. I’ve added much of this information into thetest pack of


    information that will be delivered to everyone once it’s fully assembled. We thought at the time that


    we’d destroyed these portals. I am currently attempting to find out two things. How we missed this one,


    and how to destroy it. The brief exnation for their existence is created by someone to attract


    straggler Fae for ughter. However, the Fae can use that magic. I hope my Mage counterpart has


    dampened the power emanating from the portal for now to give some more time.” Dean nodded from


    the corner of the screen his face was on. That made Ynda sigh in relief.


    “This is a trap, and we can only hope they aren’t aware of that ahead of time and avoid it.” This


    sent a rumble through the crowded room. “I doubt a magic starved Fae will avoid it in their desperate


    state. But we don’t know if it’s the only one left or whether there’s more out there. We need more clear


    information. I am searching now to find out who created these portals, to begin with. I also remind


    everyone we must find the group of humans opening these portals and stop them once and for all.


    Thank you for your time and patience.” If nothing else, the Dragon Ambassador was short and to the


    point. This meeting appeared to begging, and it might be just the intermission.


    Gregory stepped forward then. He thanked the Ambassadors and wished them luck and a safe


    journey back to them. “We’ll take a break now and return to hear more updates. Then we’ll cover the


    next steps we will take.”