The Blood Wolves | Vol.3, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

9.

Jorgen Vestergaard's surprise conference was being held in the War Room.

In all of Sebastian's visits to the Eldenarian Council hall, he had never been inside that room. But he had heard stories about what went on in there. During the world's most perilous events, the commander of the Eldai, the seven councilmembers, and other influential magicians convened to provide a course of action for the magic community.

The Crusades, the two world conflicts, and various wars that threatened the safety of magicians were discussed in that room. While the Ordinaires didn't teach it in their history books, magicians had helped alter the course of history on numerous occasions.

Apart from the council room, the War Room was the most important place in the world.

Upon arriving outside the doors of the revered and fabled meeting place, he was met by two Eldai standing guard. He had been let through, but Imogen was forced to stay outside and wait.

As the guards had closed the doors behind him, he could hear her cursing up a storm at them. He did not even them. Not in the slightest.

He never knew such a small girl could be so...frightening.

Tightening his hoodie around his bare skin, he looked around the room. Curved walls gave the conference hall a circular shape. Antique weapons, maps, and archaic scrolls decorated the wallpaper. Lamps with alabaster shades were placed in every corner of the room. maps, scrolls, and weapons schematics were tacked to them.

An oval-shaped table sat in the room's center. Blue and green checkered squares, akin to an earth-themed chessboard, had been built into its surface. A glowing atlas of the world hovered above the tiles. A red dot over Brazil pulsed violently.

All but one of the ten chairs around the table were occupied. Jorgen—wearing a long coat with a thick, furred collar—stood at the head of the table, huge hands gripping the polished wood. He jabbed a thick finger at the hovering map as his deep voice boomed throughout the room.

Sebastian approached the meeting with caution, his eyebrows raised. An Eldai cleared their throat and gestured at the boy with their chin. Jorgen spun around mid-sentence.

"There you are." He grunted and pointed at an empty chair. "Sit. We have a lot to talk about."

Nodding, Sebastian took his seat. He took his opportunity to realize just who exactly had been called in for the meeting. Next to him were Ajax and Remy. Across from them sat Olivier.

Siren was also present. Her sisters and mother were not.

Sebastian didn't expect to see the youngest princess of House Aegeon there. With her father dead, that meant her mother was the head of their house. At the same time, he didn't take the woman as the leader type. Her sisters didn't fit that mold either. Perhaps Siren was the one serving as the ambassador of their house.

The others sitting around the table were people Sebastian didn't recognize. He figured they were high-ranked Eldai or other important magicians. He glanced at Ajax, who had his gaze trained on the man at the head of the table. He rolled his eyes at the admiration bleeding through the ginger's face.

"As I was saying before," Jorgen began, "I received reports of three Shades breaking out three high-level prisoners from Nyghtmir. My men have identified two Nightlings and a Redfang as the escaped inmates."

Sebastian squinted. Nightlings?

"Do we know what Shades he sent in?" he asked. "Because none of my father's regular Shades would have been able to execute an operation like that."