An older man interrupted, "Yes, even I am here, dear child of mine." The man was average height or at least he would have been if he wasn't hunched over and had long flowing white hair that reached the middle of his back. He hobbled towards Cassandra and Emory with a spiral staff that partially hid a gemstone of some kind on its top.
"Lord Merlin?" Emory bowed, "Are you really the famous Merlin Aurelias, the first Supreme Warlock?"
"As well as your several times great-grandfather. Yes, I am he," Merlin grinned as he patted Emory's head.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Emory huffed as she continued to bow again and again, "Thank you for all you've done and continue to do, sir."
Merlin laughed, "Please stand, my granddaughter. In truth, I have been waiting a long time to meet you."
"To meet me?" Emory stuttered, "What do you mean by that?"
"In my later years, I had many visions of the future, especially the future of my descendants. However, I saw one of them more than any others. A curly red-haired beauty whose hair was as wild as her magik. A young woman who bends the world into submission. And a warrior against the rising darkness. I've known you since seven hundred years before you were born," Merlin beamed.
"Wow, I don't know what to say," Emory breathed, "I'm not that special."
Merlin smirked as he patted her shoulder, "Don't be so modest. No one at your age has done half of the things you have done already. But I digress, now is not the time for a family reunion. You have many things to do, no doubt, so we must perform the ritual with haste. Come to the center here and cloak yourself in magik; we will do the rest."
Emory nodded before walking to the middle of the room and cloaking herself in magik as she was told. As the cloak touched the floor, symbols and runes began to light up all over. Soon, the inside of the entire tower was lit up in a dazzling array of light patterns and glyphs. A chorus of voices, led by Merlin, murmured some words in a melodic language Emory didn't understand. She felt a sliver of her magik pulled away from her, and the tower got brighter for a moment. Then, over the next few minutes, the glow receded until a faint ember was all that was left.
"The ritual is complete," Merlin smiled, "Now, a part of you will always live on in this house."
"Thank you, sir. I apologize, but as you said, I have a lot left to do. Do you have any tips about the future?" Emory asked as she bowed again.
"Be wary of the Laxtros," Merlin warned, "They are not a foe to underestimate. It would be best if you mastered the Arcane sphere before you faced them on the battlefield."
Emory thanked him, "I will take your advice to heart, Lord Merlin. Guard the house well." She bowed one final time before she and Cassandra exited the tower. When they arrived back at the library, the others were just finishing putting away the superfluous books. Still, there were at least a hundred journals on the table in addition to the eight spellbooks they had found. They all began loading the journals into a bag they found in the room, yet no matter how many books they put in, the bag didn't fill up. Cassandra explained that these bags were called infinite storage bags, special containers that had been enchanted to hold more storage than what appeared. The best part of the bag was that the weight never changed and always felt like an empty sack no matter what was put in them.
Once everything was packed up, the group exited the library and walked out the front door. Although Emory wanted to check out every nook and cranny, it wasn't the time to rifle through history for now. Cassandra followed them to the property gates but stopped Emory before they crossed the threshold. "Emory, wait a moment," she spoke softly.
"Yes ma'am," Emory paused, "What's on your mind?"
Cassandra replied apologetically, "Before your mom left, I got so wrapped up in my own things that I didn't see what she was going through. And then, when I became Supreme, I gave her freedom because I thought that's what she wanted. Even now, her last words to me echo in my head: to be a good Supreme, you have to be a good person. Anyway, it's my fault you grew up alone, and for that, I have a debt to you that cannot be repaid. I'm deeply sorry, and I hope you can forgive me one day." By the time she finished, tears were streaming down her face.
"Aunt Cassandra, I've never blamed you, or even my parents, for leaving me alone at a young age," Emory started, "As lonely as it was, I would have never grown this strong surrounded by other people. And as for blame, I only blame the Mantoan. One day, I will have my justice; until that day, all I can do is get stronger. Keep our home safe, and I'll be back someday." Emory bowed before turning away and joining the others who had made their way to the teleport pad. They all held hands before disappearing in a flash of white light.
Appearing back in front of Perceval's estate, they strode confidently into the house and straight to the meeting room. Carefully, each journal was taken from the bag and laid out on the table while the spellbooks were piled to the side. Perceval remarked, "It will take at least a week, maybe two, to go through all this material."
"That's fine," Emory commented, "In the meantime, we'll prepare the outposts for an influx of people and get everyone settled. I'll personally get them set up before going with the Elandrian. Whenever you have some information to share, give me a call."
"Some of these journals are written by Merlin himself. Imagine the knowledge stored within these pages," Shanna sighed as she glanced at the books covering the majority of the table.
"It might be helpful to find out more about other races as well," Sam mused, "The Apleem might be the biggest threat now, but what if there are other races out there as well?"
"That's an excellent point. Perceval and Shanna, please detail all non-human activity in addition to any information about the Void sphere. Maybe we can get a better understanding of the larger situation from these notes," Emory agreed.
When they had returned from the Aurelias estate, it was evening. So, when they finished laying out the journals, Perceval invited them all to the dining room. Servants came out with trays of food, more than enough to feed a gathering several times bigger than just the six of them. Like usual, there was no meat, but a plethora of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, nuts, and baked goods meant there were plenty of items to choose from. Over dinner, the group chatted about the mobilization, making sure to include personal details about the young leaders that would be joining Emory's forces. They estimated the thousand or so clan folk that would be joining the councilors would have two spheres and be between level five and eight. Furthermore, they would have full sets of armor with medium to heavy defensive stats. The real problem would be that the four supporting clans were primarily ranged fighters. Not that the Witches were incapable of melee combat, just most of those clans leaned towards attacking at a distance. On the other hand, Mantoan were only capable of melee combat, meaning the challenge of holding a defensive line would fall to the Collective. In the last war, Gwen and Sam's clans would have been the two heavy physical clans, but Emory didn't want Perceval or Zephiel to lead an army for various reasons.
Once they finished eating, it had gotten quite late, so they all decided to turn in for the night. Emory sat on her bed and meditated while a large cloak of magik covered her from head to toe. However, the cloak was blinding and opaque like a star because of how much magik she poured into its formation. The longer she focused, the bigger the cloak became, first dropping onto the floor and then spreading like water across it. Everything the cloak touched looked refreshed and purified, as if it had been restored to its original condition. Soon, the entire room was set aglow by the magik creeping into every crevice of the room. After two hours, she felt her consciousness slipping and fell back into her bed, causing the glow to disappear instantly as she closed her eyes for the night.
Dim red lights illuminated a dark stone library where three figures sat in black leather chairs around the fireplace. In one chair was a young man with bright red-orange hair and a hardened set of blue leather. In another was a middle-aged woman with long, flowing, purple hair and a dark set of hardened leather armor suit. And in the final chair, which was larger and wider than the others, sat a mountain of a man who appeared to be in his late fifties with a little bit of brown hair and blood red plate armor. Brunnya, Roy, and Zephiel were sitting in silence while the fireplace crackled calmly.
"Just meeting her in person was overwhelming, not unlike yourself, Lord Zephiel," Roy quietly remarked.
"She is quite powerful despite her youth," Brunnya agreed, "She's much stronger than any of the other Aurelias I've met. How does this factor into our plan?"
Zephiel grimly smiled, "In a way, her plans help ours. By pulling more forces off Earth, she's hampered their ability to keep us in check. And all the while, she'll most likely be even farther away. We can even lean on Gwen's new authority if necessary. Simply put, the only fly in the ointment is the Aurelias child herself."
"Still, we must remain cautious," Brunnya cautioned, "If she catches even a whiff of the plan, it will all be for naught."
"Should we move onto the next phase then?" Roy asked timidly.
"No, we should pause for now," Zephiel rubbed his chin, "With the Collective moving forces soon, it would be better to wait until afterwards. We should take this opportunity to refine our launch locations."
Brunnya nodded, "Very well. Then let's move onto the research. As you know, we've been progressing very slowly. With the child's return, we've almost certainly lost our opportunity to break into the Aurelias estate. Do either of you have any ideas?"
"I don't think she's going to stay at the estate," Roy frowned, "Or are you worried that she activated some sort of defense system? If it's a personnel issue, we can assist."
"I agree with Roy. Given how secretive they have always been, we can only imagine what kind of hidden research they would have done. Why are you so dismissive of the idea?" Zephiel grumpily asked.
"I've sent my first as well as some of my elite clan members, and the estate is unlike any of the other clans," Brunnya explained, "There is a magik array guarding the grounds from all directions, even underground. One of my elites who attempted to cross the array was nearly killed. Witnesses even said that they saw a woman matching Lady Cassandra's description inside the walls. Even with all three of our forces, I'm not sure we have a chance at breaking through."
Zephiel glared, "I should have expected as much. We're clearly onto something with this research. What are some other options?"
"Test subjects, if I'm being honest," Brunnya grimaced, "A big part of the next phase was moving into metropolitan area with large population base."
"Why don't you move to phase two then, Lady Brunnya? After all, your part was the least invasive. Roy and I will wait until the Collective makes their move, but you can proceed whenever you are ready. Does this sound agreeable?" Zephiel offered.
"Thank you, Lord Zephiel," Brunnya nodded her head, "This will work. We've moved onto the human trial phase, so the extra pool of people will help speed things up greatly. Most of the runes have been discovered; it's just down to the correct order and intensity."
Roy said lowly, "Lady Brunnya, since my clan was originally scheduled to be in the same general vicinity, where do you plan to go on Earth?"
"I plan to be in the Chicago area," Brunnya chided, "There's a large population, it's one of the smallest international ports in North America, and it sits on the edge of a large body of water, which will help with the cleanup."
"I'll send a small group of my elites to help you then. With Chicago as a starting point, you should have plenty of test subjects that are ripe for the picking and a diverse assortment of options," Roy quickly responded.
"So, we'll start with the Americas and move outwards from there," Zephiel smirked, "You know that Perceval and Lilina's bases are both located in North America, right? Are you sure you can be subtle enough to start this under their noses?"
Brunnya laughed wryly, "I believe so. Lilina's estate is in the mountains, hundreds of miles away, as is Perceval's. And Lilina, the closer of the two, has sent some of her clan to Mars, making it even easier to go undetected in her area. Still, we won't know until we either encounter them or don't."
"Have we at least established small, silent array formations?" Roy huffed, "Something that could hide extraction teams?"
"Yes, we have, though they haven't been tested for strength yet. It is possible strong witches can break the dome," Brunnya sighed.
"We'll just have to test them on the fly," Zephiel grumbled, "Besides, we should be able to overpower any who get in our way. No normal people should be able to withstand the might of the Witches."
"Yessir, I'll put a few squads together as soon as I return. Do you have any other topics to discuss, Lord Zephiel?" Roy questioned carefully.
Zephiel stood up slowly, swirling his glass of red liquid, and approached the fireplace. Each footstep he took echoed in the tiny room with the force of an elephant. His meaty hand tightly gripped the marble mantle until the piece snapped. He proceeded to grind the rock into tiny particulates before tossing the dust into the fire. Finally, his deep meticulous voice uttered, "Find out everything you can about our new Supreme. She dishonored me, in front of the entire Council. I will crush her into dust, if it's the last thing I do."