The Darkness Within

32 - War Council

Ciara stood in the war council room halfway listening to their planning. She was at Lucienne's side, the female's power thick in the room, and she knew that Lila, and the ever-vigilant Tala, were guarding her back. Evelyn, as a Domina herself, was engaging in the conversation on behalf of the werewolves, the female's voice sounding from a few feet away. Overall, the room was loud and tensions were high, and no one seemed inclined to agree on anything, cramped around a too-small table in a too-hot room who knows where in the vampire's castle.

"How many troops do you have that are prepared to fight?" Lucienne asked King Raynard.

"I have my royal guard here at the palace, along with two hundred soldiers that ensure my kind follow our laws," he responded.

"That's all?" Lucienne asked, "Your people are some of the largest in population, you don't have more soldiers?"

"My people follow the laws, Light One, we don't need more soldiers," the King responded.

"Domina," Lucienne said, her nerves flowing into Ciara, "please tell me that the werewolves have more than that."

"Ultimately, we do have more since every pack trains warriors," Evelyn said but Ciara knew her tone wasn't one to accompany hope, "however, the majority of those warriors are necessary to protect their packs and aren't able to join in a war. I would estimate around the two hundred number as well, maybe less depending on if some of the smaller packs need more proper warriors to protect themselves from the increasing demon attacks."

Ciara blinked, even though the action served no real purpose, and then called on her power, letting it grant her its strange sight-but-not-sight ability. When she could see, she found that the room was almost of decent size but the small table and the mix-matched chairs indicated that there hadn't been a true war-room and they had put together whatever worked. Some of the room's occupants were sitting, most of the royal family included, but a select few remained standing. It was cramped even with the small chairs, and only Lucienne- and in turn Ciara- claimed a decent amount of space around the table. There was a fireplace along one wall that was producing the annoying heat within the room, the flames flickered but Ciara's version of sight no longer relied on light to see and therefore she couldn't see the shadows it cast. She could, however, feel the shadows around the room it made and she knew if she wanted to, she could weave them into weapons or various shapes.

"What is being done about these demon attacks?" Ciara asked, finally having something to add.

The entire room looked her way and she saw some of the occupant's faces twist into confusion at her actually speaking. Lucienne tensed beside her and Ciara felt the room's temperature rise a bit. She sent reassuring emotions back to her power-bound as Evelyn turned to respond to her. Ciara noted the respect the Domina gave her- eyes averted, neck slightly exposed- and she noted the looks of complete bafflement at the actions from the other occupants.

"Domina Raisa has sent warriors from her own guard to protect the smaller packs but there's not much that can be done beyond that," Evelyn said. "The demons pop in like they did that day when you were there at my pack, they kill many, especially the children, and then they disappear. No scent trails either. We managed to fight them off that day, but the smaller packs usually aren't so lucky."

Ciara nodded, her hand resting on her witch-forged sword sheathed at her side. "I understand. Make sure your packs get the warriors they need, we don't want such a deep loss of life within your species. Have the stronger packs train warriors just like Grey Forest did while I was there." Evelyn sounded her understanding, and Ciara's mind began to plan out a strategy. She had always been a good leader and now that instinct kicked in.