Tempest

28 : It All Adds Up

The journey to the Lycan kingdom was taxing. Between worrying about what her mother had said to her and facing the fact that she had not yet told Galan about her change of heart, Tempest was more subdued than usual. They arrived at Tristan's palace fourteen hours after they left their cabins in the woods. It was a hard run and all four had been exhausted when it was over.

Aida was already there with Sam when they arrived. Dean had also returned with Otis and Reed. King Tristan and Queen Rainey welcomed them back and they all met in the king's private office after they had freshened up. The others were still gathering their troops and had reported back that they had been successful in their assignments, for the most part.

As they sat around the table, they all looked exhausted. Tempest had shared with them the message from her mother and they were all brooding over it.

"Do we have any idea just how big Noah's army is?" Rainey asked and the group looked questioningly at each other. 

"No," Aida finally answered. "But from all the disappearances that have taken place over time, we can assume very large numbers. Not just of weres but other supernaturals as well."

"My kin had ninety three members when they were taken. If we assume three quarters of them were taken alive, then we are looking at close to seventy of the strongest weres there are out there," Tempest said softly. 

Tristan nodded, reflecting on what she had said. "If we use your logic, Tempest, then we can come up with a rough number."

He moved over to some charts that he had on his table. Rainey joined him and they started flipping through some documents.

"These are records that we have kept following the first sets of disappearances close to a hundred years ago. Keep in mind, however, that these are the ones we know about. There will be others that we would have missed completely. We didn't have the numbers for your kin, Tempest, and yours would not be the only ones." Tristan looked at her as he finished speaking.

Tempest nodded and looked at Rainey who was watching her closely. Rainey nodded and went back to looking at the records. "Reed, please keep track of the numbers as I go through them."

Reed nodded and he went over to grab some paper and a couple of pens from the desk. He handed some to Otis and Dean to help him keep track of the numbers.

"We have guesstimated the Weresabers at seventy," Rainey started. "I will give the numbers and you can note them down as well as the seventy-five percent assumptions."  The three men noted the numbers as Rainey read them off.

"Lycans, a hundred and nineteen. Werewolves, three hundred and twelve. Werebears, sixty. Werefoxes, ninety-two. Sylphs, seventy three."

Rainey went over all the records they had, going through all the reported losses from the supernatural creatures. As she did so, the mood in the room got more and more grim. When she was done and she shut the books, there was a heavy silence in the room.

"One thousand nine hundred and sixteen," Reed told the quiet room.

This was a big number. Again, they were reminded that it did not include the disappearances which had not been reported. Who knew what other supernatural creatures had been taken. How many Rogues. Not including the actual numbers of the Dark Druids themselves.

The armies had trained as best they could in preparation for this and there was not much more they could do.

"How about we change the rules of this upcoming war?" Dean asked. All eyes turned to him. He faced the people in the room and frowned as he thought it through. "We know that they have been experimenting on supers to make them more powerful. We have an expected attack date, thanks to Adria, and know that they plan to attack in three weeks. So let's take the fight to them."

"Antidote!" Marc and Leon  spoke at the same time and their goofy grins said "Jinx" as they looked at each other. Leon continued as his brother kept nodding in support of what he was saying. "They injected their army with a serum, right. We need an antidote. We can't kill them. They are our people. Our families. We need to turn them back from whatever he has turned them into."

Tristan looked at the three boys with a glint of admiration in his eyes. "That is some great thinking, indeed. We had actually started on the serum. Faleya was able to 'see' bits and pieces of information following our discussion, Tempest. We have something we could possibly use but we need a key ingredient."

Tempest looked at him and immediately understood. "They used my father's blood, didn't they." It wasn't a question. Tristan nodded. She took a deep breath and nodded as well. "I will give what I can."

She caught Galan's worried look and smiled at him. "We all have a role to play in this, and if this one of mine, I will willingly play it," she said to him.

"Company's coming," Faleya said suddenly. Her eyes had taken on a glossy sheen and it appeared as though she was looking into another realm. When her eyes cleared she chuckled as she looked at Aida. "One of our own has answered the call already," she said.

"Damien?" Aida asked with a raised brow.

"Who else?" Faleya said. Her eyes closed for a moment as she communicated with someone and then she looked at Tristan. "He will be with us shortly."

Tristan nodded and then turned to Tempest.

"Otis will lead you to the infirmary when you are ready," he said to her. While he did not want to hurry her, she was aware of the urgency of the situation. She  stood up, as did Galan.

"No time like the present," she said. She and Galan headed towards the door with Otis walking beside them. Galan opened the door for her and she walked through it, with the two men behind her.

As she left the room, she walked straight into a tall figure who was holding out his hand to open the door. His hand grabbed hers and at the same time, Galan reached for her, holding his hand in hers. A zap of electricity seemed to go through the three people who were now connected. It happened so fast that no one could react until the man suddenly released her.

Her heart popped in her chest and she gasped. "What the hell!" she squeaked as her breath came back following the shot of power that had invaded her system. She heard Galan grunt beside her and turned towards him. His hair was standing up straight from his head and she suspected hers might be as well.

"That was different," the man said as he looked at his hand, a gleam of electricity seeming to travel up his arm. He looked between Galan and Tempest, looking as confused as they were.

"Who are you?" Tempest asked, her eyes wide open, body still tingling.

The man took a deep bow, his curly, brown hair and brown eyes filling with mischief.

"Damian, at your service, milady. While dragons have often been portrayed as the villains in the story, maybe this one will save the day somehow. I would kiss your hand but that spark that just went through us might cause a bit of problems between me and your mate. I wouldn't want to be the cause of that."

Bewildered, Tempest cleared her throat but couldn't help but laugh at the man who stood before her. He was almost as tall as Galan, but he was broader across the chest.

"I saw you that night in the cave," she  said.

"Yes, you did. And now here I am. Ready for whatever will come my way. I have one target, and one target only, and when I get to her, then this will all come to an end."

"Her? Don't you mean, him? Noah?" Tempest asked.

Damien watched her for a moment, the teasing look gone from his face as it was replaced by a grimness she had not expected. A look that felt misplaced on his handsome face.

"You have something you need to do. It is more urgent right now than what I have to tell you. I will call upon both of you soon. It seems there are things I need to explain. Aida needs to be there as well,"

With that Damien walked into Tristan's office and shut the door behind him leaving Galan, Tempest and Otis wondering what the hell had just happened.

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14 November 2020

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