Page 174 of Gift from the Source
I shove the door wide, step in, then halt.
“What in the realm is going on?”
Everyone freezes and turns toward me.
Maps, papers, diagrams, you name it is laid out across the walls. Gaster, my dads Roye and Dyce, Keeper, Oakly, her Nexus, Aria, Lyker and his brothers, Trex, Codi, Xander, and Dec are all piled in here with Pran, Maxima, and Dillon.
“Oh my Elementra, Willow,” Oakly shrieks, breaking the silence as she plows through the men to get to my Primary, who just stepped up beside me. “Why are you covered in blood? What the fuck happened?” She growls at me like it’s my fault.
“I’m fine. Cleansing the Gods Binding was a little more difficult than we expected,” Willow says as she hugs her back and I huff.
A little more.
“Anyone going to answer me?”
“While you all were off ridding the realm of that thing, we started mapping out every Mastery location in Elementra,” Ry says smugly.
“What?” Tillman asks, stepping past me to cross the room.
Of course.
My gaze scans over the three reunited brothers and the change in them is obvious. No longer held down by the rune that was feeding on their souls, they’re new men.
With a fuck ton of information.
The worried look Roye gives Tillman as he approaches causes my fist to clench. This is a gold mine of information, but none of it is positive.
The rest of us join beside him and look over the parchment plastered against the walls. I walk around the room, collecting everything I can in my mind.
Tillman has his work cut out for him. We all do.
This just got ten times harder. Not easier.
We knew from Maxima’s mind the numbers were terrifying, but this is immensely worse than what we thought. He only knew a glimpse compared to the combined knowledge from his brothers.
My Primary’s face is blank as she processes everything she sees. There’s a darkness rising in the corner of her eye the more she listens and plays catch-up with Tillman and Corentin.
As Pran goes on about the elite families involved, the multitude of housings and concealed structures spread across the realm, and even beings not of Elementra that’ve been brought in to serve the Mastery, her worry grows.
As does mine.
We are not ready to face the entirety of their army.
Had the Summum-Master attacked based on his original plan, along with having the power of that God, we would’ve been annihilated before we even got dressed for the day.
A break in the conversation leaves the room in a tense silence as we all face the inevitable truth.
“What do we do?” Willow asks.
The breathy question is laced with desperation and fear.
Tillman’s hard eyes land on her paling face and his shoulders sag. There’re no pretty or romantic words to give her right now.
“Explain again what his plan was after he found out we destroyed his way to travel the realms.” He says to Pran and Dillon.
“He’s still going to attack the Central in one week’s time. As the heart of his forces attacks there, hitting Vito academy and the main towns, smaller teams will take major points around the realm. The Terravile Pack, theAlewood family and Tealwaters family strongholds. With the E.F. spread protecting those areas, they’ll converge on the palace. The vast majority of Pyrthia are already under control of the Everglows. The families that aren’t don’t stand a chance to stop anything they do.”
It’s a solid fucking plan.
