Chaotic. That was the only to describe the current atmosphere.

The members of the fanatical cult, the one that Nathaniel had been roped into, were all very confused. Outraged, indignant, ectera ectera. Pure cacophony.

“I don’t--”

“How did--”

“How dare--!”

“--what do we do?”

“This isn’t--”

“Everyone, calm down!”

“I can’t believe…”

“Nathaniel was--”

“How could--”

“Who--”

“Quiet!”

“Why did this--”

The voice, belonging to the woman desperately trying to silence her peers, boomed once more, “I said, silence!” Slowly, one by one, the other voices quieted. The woman known as Lyra folded her hands together, shaking her head. “Now, does anyone have anything that they want to say?”

More silence, uncomfortable shifting.

Lyra’s dark eyes rolled over each and every member seated at the table, an unspoken threat lurking in their depths. “Good, then let’s continue,” the stern-faced woman said, giving them an unfriendly smile. “Now that the king has met his untimely demise, we are faced with multiple issues.”

Murmurs of agreement spread through the attendees of the meeting.

“The first, and most obvious being that we have lost a very important pawn. We were using Nathaniel’s authority to keep ourselves hidden while still amassing power--now we’ve lost that shield. We need to move fast. The castle will be in uproar for a few days, but that will settle down when Nathaniel’s uncle arrives from his expedition. We need to get to him on our side immediately.”

Lyra shook her head. “I have already sent out some men to intercept Reynold and get him on our side… Hopefully, it will be handled with ease. We will learn of the results later today.”

“And what of the ones who activated the spell?”

“We need to find them. Eliminate them--quickly. There’s no telling what they have already gotten from Nathaniel or what they had found out. Our men that had been watching were also taken out--whether it be a direct result of the malfunction or because someone chased them down, we don’t know.” She continued on, “There are far too many unknowns.”

Another chorus of murmured agreements.

At that time, the door creaked open, and a man with a shock of red hair and bird-like face stepped through.

“Luca,” Lyra stated dryly, “brother. What brings you here?” She didn’t seem to be pleased by his appearance.

He scoffed. “Why am I here? Think on it.”

“Regarding Nathaniel, I assume.”

He nodded his head, a deep frown forming on his thin lips. “This wouldn’t have happened if you had planned everything better, Lyra,” he stated stated boldly, not wasting any time with introductions or greetings.

“You rarely come to these meetings, I didn't assume that today would be any different.”

“Yes, because you typically have everything under the semblance of control. But today, everything that you had so delicately balanced has finally fallen apart. I figured I could help my dear, elder sister out somehow. So I came to take this mess out of your hands and handle it myself.”

Lyra’s jaw tightened. “There’s no need.”

“I think there is,” Luca responded, moving over to take the seat next to Lyra. “They contacted me.”

“They?” Lyra echoed, voice equally as tight as her jaw. It wasn’t good for her if Luca had the upperhand. Ever. And Luca was playing the pronoun game so that she’d have to ask, because nobody else could.

Luca ran a hand through his coppery hair and stated, “The ones who killed Nathaniel. As you know, I’m the one who installed the defensive spell in the boy. Somehow, they managed to track me down from it...”

“And?” Lyra urged when Luca had stopped speaking.

“A young beastman and a child confronted me, and no I didn’t get a name. They said they wanted to meet with us. The leaders. To talk.”

Lyra resisted the urge to laugh in her brother’s face. A meeting? That sounded like the definition of a trap. “And you believed these boys?” She knew that Luca liked to act like a fool, but her brother was far more cunning than he appeared. There was no way he had allowed them to come here without some form of ulterior motive.

“Yes, Lyra, because unlike you I am well-versed in how to communicate effectively. Any other questions, dearest sister?”

The redheaded woman ground her teeth together. She couldn’t argue in front of him, she couldn’t fall for his bait in front of the others. “I just don’t believe it is as simple as that.”

“I knew you wouldn’t, so I did what I believed was right.”

“Wha--”

“I’ll let them in,” Luca stated, a smug expression settling on his face.

“Luca, what have you done?” Lyra whispered urgently. To give their secret location away to strangers who couldn’t be trusted? What was he thinking? Even if she “Luca!”

Luca stood then, and Lyra jumped up at the same time. He informed her coldly, wearing a smile, “I told you that I would handle it, didn’t I?”

The others seated at the table began to shuffle nervously, some whispering to each other in urgent tones. What was going on? What was going to happen? Was Luca trying to overthrow his sister?

“What do you mean?” Lyra felt her heart racing, something was very off. She couldn’t explain it in words, but she felt it.

Luca shook his head at his elder sister and opened the door.

Before her eyes could even blink, Lyra felt immense pressure being exerted on her body. “What…” she managed to gasp out as three people walked into the room.

First were the two that Luca had probably referenced in his story: a large beastman and a small boy with magenta hair. The last was a tall, beautiful woman who bore a fearsome expression on her face. Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides and the sound of her teeth grounding seemed to be echoing. In contrast to her anger, the young boy wore a bright and cheery smile.

“Hello! A pleasure to meet you all.” The child bowed to those seated at the table. It didn’t seem sincere, though. He was certainly mocking them, that’s what it felt like. “My name is Weryn, and these are my comrades…”

“Wolf,” the beastman grunted, not offering anything else. He had been the one they used to track down Luca, anyone else could have done it, but Erebus had decided he wanted to test the boy.

The elegant woman’s scowl deepened. “Mae.”

“What do you want?” Lyra demanded, not caring for their introductions in the slightest. “Are you here to fight? I have no problem doing so.” She glared down at Mae, whose attitude was the worst.

“Eh, who said anything about that?” Weryn questioned, his warm smile growing. “We are representatives of Erebus, the Fifth Dragon.”

The entire room drew in a sharp breath, then the murmurs started again.

Lyra slammed her fist down on the table. “What kind of nonsense are you spouting?” She felt her anger growing more and more. “Who do you think would believe what you’re saying!” Lyra grabbed the sword at her side. “It seems that Luca only brought us a group of idiots that needs to be taken care of.”

She launched herself forward, preparing to cut down the enemies in front of her.

Weryn muttered, “This is why I hate muscle-bound idiots.” His eyes flashed for a moment, displaying potent irritation.

Clearly wanting a fight, Mae stepped forward and stopped Lyra’s in her tracks. The collision of the two meeting caused a loud clap to echo through the room, their energies shaking the foundation of the building.

Mae had simply stretched out her arm and Lyra had kindly placed her head into Mae’s palm.

Her nails dug into Lyra’s face, drawing blood. She looked down at Lyra, shadows falling over her disgust-filled eyes. It was like she was looking at a bug.

An unphased Lyra roared, swinging her sword where it connected with Mae’s unguarded side. Much to her surprise, the blade cut through Mae’s clothing but her skin was unharmed.

“A weakling like you should just kneel over and die.” Mae threw Lyra to the side like a ragdoll, the woman crashing into the wall and leaving a large dent in her wake. She examined her now bloodied nails. She pouted her lips a little, sad that her manicure was ruined because of a fool. “Sadly, I’ve been prohibited from killing any of you.” Mae walked over to Lyra, slamming her foot down on the half-unconscious woman’s head. “Any other of you idiots want to have a go, huh? I don’t have to kill you to make you regret every decision you’ve made up till now.”

She sounded like a thug.

The men and woman seated at the table furiously shook their heads. No one dared opening their mouths either. As easily as Mae had just subdued Lyra, the woman was a Demon Emperor who had once even challenged Yvick and almost won. No one here was as strong as her… save for Luca--maybe, but none of them had ever seen him fight.

“All’s well that ends well!” Luca clapped his hands together in happiness. He seemed to be way too joyful despite the fact that his sister’s face was being used as a stool. “Now that’s taken care of, do you care explaining everything else, Weryn?”

The dragon glanced at the man, his strange jubilance slightly offsetting. “Well, not my problem,” he muttered. Weryn placed his hands on his hips. “As I was saying, we were sent here to be representatives between you idi--lot and the great dragon, Erebus. He has kindly invited you all to his home for a… talk.”

The mood shifted into even deeper uneasiness. The boy’s words were still quite unbelievable--there was no way that one of the original dragons would’ve ever gotten involved with them. They had great influence in the underworld, but they weren’t that important. But no one was going to go down the path that Lyra had. Most of them were simple knowledge seekers, not warriors!

“You’re welcome to decline but,” Weryn paused, his smile turning somewhat sinister, “I wouldn’t advise it.”

Wolf nodded his head silently. He was trying his best to hold himself together but… what the hell was happening! Was he supposed to keep his cool during all of this? Erebus had only told them to bring the culprits to him, he had never mentioned anything about not killing them. Also, the invite had definitely been a lot stricter than what Weryn was making it sound like! It had been a demand. Why were they twisting Erebus’ words like this?

He looked down at Weryn, trying to read the child’s expression. It was too well-put together for him to see through. No… there was something hidden in his eyes. And it was a lot darker than what Wolf could ever imagine.

He looked over in the direction of Mae, no longer listening to what was going on. The woman still had her foot pressing down on Lyra’s head. She looked like she still wanted to kill somebody.

Once again, Luca chose to speak up for everyone. “Then it’s decided. We gratefully accept the invitation.”

“I’m glad, then.” The small boy’s smile stretched across his face. More than relaxing and warming of the hearts of everyone, it caused them to grow stiffer.