Keeper of the Lost Cities: War

Chapter Sixteen

Wylie Endal couldn't help but blame himself for Jensi's current predicament.

If he had been a little bit faster- or paid closer attention to their surroundings, then he could've prevented Jensi's almost assasination.
The reasoning behind this was clear, as Jensi was a major key to supplies for the Lost Cities' defense and offense weapons construction.

But even though the attempt on Jensi's life failed- they were still out of commission until further notice.
As far as anyone knew, they would remain in a coma until someone figured out how the Neverseen had created the cure for soporodine.

They used to have a stockpile of the antidote that Elwin had slaved for months creating- but it had been burned to a crisp while all their backs were turned.

One stroke of luck that had happened was that Elwin always kept samples of everything he made, so he simply had to create more of the antidote.
The bad part about this was that the antidote took two months to brew, especially enough to eradicate what had contaminated Jensi's bloodstream.

And what had Wylie most on edge- was the fact that it had been a planned attack, and it would take months for Jensi to get back in action.   
So did that mean that the Neverseen had a plan for something to happen with Jensi out of commission?

If that was the case- what could it possibly be?

From what Wylie remembered of the initial attack before Jensi had passed out- it had been some sort of snipe shot. As if someone had been there specifically to shoot Jensi and then leave without getting caught.

Wylie hadn't even been able to see the attacker at all- which could point towards the person being a vanisher.
However, even if that was the case, then the ogres that had searched the area afterwards would've been able to find some sort of trace of a person- but they hadn't found anything at all.

"It seems to me that the Neverseen are targeting our main defenses, first with Jensi, then Tam." Sophie's voice brought Wylie back into his current reality.

What was left of the original elven council, Sophie, the Collective, Della, and a couple members of the Royal Guard- that being Linh, Marella, and Wylie- as well as general Maruca, Stina, and Daenerys all stood in the current room around the round table that was commonly known as the Council's former Tribunal hall.

Ever since the war it had been shifted into a sort of meeting area given it had a thicker security than almost all elven buildings at the time.

"You think Tam had been the target and not Keefe?" Councilor Alina raised one eyebrow, her hands folded underneath her chin.
Everyone knew she devalued numerous positions among the war effort- and to her- Tam's was a pointless one because of Dex and Tinker.
So the fact that she would be surprised at the assumption that the Neverseen actually targeted Tam and not Keefe was actually not that much of a shocker.

"Seeing as how he knows more about the Lost Cities defenses than everyone but maybe Dex- yes I think it would be safe to assume that." Della countered, her sharp cobalt blue eyes glistening dangerously as though she was annoyed. "Besides, we all know Fitz has grudges and after Tam took out his eye, then naturally Fitz would try to get payback."

Seeing as how Della knew more about Fitz than anyone else alive at the moment, nobody second questioned her judgement.

"Now then, noticing this pattern, the Neverseen targeting Tam and Jensi at the same time, both members being crucial in terms of support to the Lost Cities," Sophie continued as though there hadn't been an interruption at all. "With Tam knowing about the breaches in security and Jensi being the person we got supply support from- who would you say is the next pair the Neverseen would focus on to make us even weaker?"

Sophie's brown and gold eyes flicked across the round table, looking everyone in turn in the eye. It was obvious she already knew who- and was merely trying to see if anyone else could follow her train of thought.

"Dex and Tinker." Councilor Bronte said the two names everyone was thinking of, his normal ominous voice making the names sound more dramatic than it should have been.

As Dex and Tinker were the last two major heads in the Lost Cities' defenses, it only made sense that these two were the next targets.

"Linh I'm reassigning you to Dex." Sophie said abruptly without warning, which of course caused a major uproar among the council.

As Linh had been Sophie's personal bodyguard for the past three years, it seemed a little irrationally planned for her to suddenly change positions just because of a hunch.

"Shush." Sophie ordered, bringing the entire room to silence.

"If I may-" Wylie spoke for the first time, as a member of the royal guard it wasn't really his place to speak about such matters, but he still couldn't help but voice his thoughts if he was allowed.

Sophie nodded towards him to let him speak.

"I think most people's concern would be the fact that would leave you unguarded, and might I add the possibility that could be what the Neverseen wants you to do? By moving Linh to protect Dex- that would mean leaving you less protected, and that could be their plan so they can strike you at your weakest. After all, Fitz knows firsthand just how thorough Linh is with her security." Wylie summed up calmly before falling back into silence.

The room seemed to nod in agreement with Wylie's statement, yet for some reason, Sophie still shrugged.

"I realize this. But I for one am not willing to take any risks with any of my friends after Biana." She merely stated, her eyes still taking their bored expression. "Believe it or not, it would be according to what I want to happen if the Neverseen came after me." At this Sophie held up a finger to silence anyone who was about to interrupt her. "We know we can't let the Neverseen have Keefe for much longer given his mother's plans for him that we still have next to no clue what they are."
Again, Sophie paused here, assessing the room for a moment before continuing.

"My goal is for the Neverseen to come to me directly- I can then take out as many as I can before being taken captive. From there I can track down Tam with telepathy- where I'll be able to find Keefe theoretically- given I assume he still has the earrings in that block me from connecting to him." 

"There are so many things that could go wrong with that." Stina pointed out- which was obvious to everyone else but Stina happened to not be able to keep her words to herself, only naturally.

"I am aware, but I trust my ability to improvise, and if it means even killing Keefe to keep him from the Neverseen if I'm not able to retrieve him, then that's what I'll do. The Lost Cities cannot afford to loose this war- and Keefe being alive and with the Neverseen makes the chances of our loss too strong for me to sit back and do nothing about it." Sophie insisted, her voice sounded set, determined, and everyone else seemed to understand there was no arguing with her at this point.

Sophie Foster had made up her mind.

"Allow me to come with you." Marella asked, "if you're moving Linh then I either have to go with her or get reassigned myself. Let me come with you to help keep Keefe from becoming the Neverseen's puppet."

Sophie seemed to start to object, but Marella continued with- "it would seem odd to the Neverseen if you suddenly didn't have a guard by your side, I'll be your personal bodyguard, or that's what the Neverseen will think, and that way you have someone with you in case you time out your ability or get hurt along the way."

Nobody said it- but they all seemed to think that it was a good idea if Sophie was hellbent on doing this. After all, having Marella would increase Sophie's chance of success because she could counter Fintan if he tried to use Everblaze.

  "Fine. General Marella and I will go on a scouting mission around Tam's house first thing in the morning." Sophie relented, and then added. "Spread the word so the Neverseen will hear about it, but anything else that we discussed today is not to be breathed. I have suspicions about a traitor inside the Lost Cities and at all costs, this plan must not fail."

-Bay Logan