Amalgamate

Chapter 58

In Willa's time, they called the factions that stood with her the Reiki, the healers and the light. Opposite them stood the Dorchadas, those dark factions that believed in taking whatever it was they wanted at any cost. But, when Willa was abducted and murdered, many of the factions who followed her separated from the Reiki believing their cause unworthy of the gods who had let Willa, their guide, their matriarch, die at the hands of the Dorchadas. The Reiki couldn't understand why any god would allow such a tragedy to fall upon them, unless their gods were no longer watching over them, or there were no gods at all? Many lore found themselves questioning the mere existence of their gods and their beliefs about where lore creatures originated from.

After thousands of years, the gods were non-existent. No longer were they even mentioned amongst the people of the lore community. After the breakdown many alliances fell to the wayside. While some friendships remained between and across factions, most lore lived with their own kind, compartmentalized.

Reiki alliances disappeared long ago, no longer banding together to fight or defend the less powerful as a united front which allowed the most powerful of the Dorchadas to rise up and establish themselves first among the weaker species' or the species' who lacked the numbers to fight back.

The Dorchadas were more segregated, even in the beginning. Their alliances had been looser because there were many beings vying for control and power amongst them, and thus allies were hard to find and nearly impossible to keep. Alliances between the dark factions were only created out of need, like when one of them became too powerful. Vertigen had been powerful enough to shake the tree.

Chaos ensued following Willa's death. There were people on both sides who no longer wanted to fight, but there were also those who wanted everything and began readying their alliances, waiting for an opportunity to capitalize on any weakness. It was at that time that Vertigen began trying to build the most dangerously powerful lore creatures by altering their DNA. He wanted to breed out all of the inherent weaknesses within a species and insert the dominant characteristics of another in their place, a genetically engineered super hybrid.

Kester had heard the stories, but it'd been so long ago that the details were fuzzy to him now. Vertigen and Declan weren't just powerful though. They were smart and calculating. They'd be watching him soon if they weren't already. Calling the faction leaders to set up a meeting would definitely get their attention, because while he'd heard the stories about the Reiki and the Dorchadas, Vertigen and Declan had actually been there.

There were still those lore who remembered the history and the stories about the Reiki and the Dorchadas, but Declan and Vertigen had been a part of the Dorchadas. And with the recent surfacing of Willa's great grand daughter and Vertigen coming out of hiding on the heels of the prophecy coming to light, someone might jump to the conclusion that Kester was trying to reinstate the Reiki.

Being smart wouldn't be enough, Kester had to be covert and damn near omniscient if we was going to try and slide one by them. The meetings needed to take place in pieces and information would need to be disseminated accordingly. Kester started a mental tally of the people with whom he'd be working closely. Deisha- Sorceresses, Boone- Sorcerers, Niada- Fay, and because Rowan would never work with her parents, Maeve would be the contact for the witches, and Cuan would be the contact for the demons.

Clearly Deisha was on board after that conversation. Kester was hopeful the others would be as easily aligned. She would relay his information to Olian and Etain as they were far too powerful to involve at this juncture. Hell that'd be like waving a red flag at a friggin' bull, she would be alerting the dark factions to their mobilization. Boone was Deisha's brother, so she would speak to him as well, ensuring the triplets, Dorian, Hirum and Silas, would be in their court, too. Those three were a trifecta of pure unadulterated magical power when they were together. They didn't do too shabby on their own either.