8: Darken, The Fall of The Great Dragon

Chapter sixteen: Prepare for war (James)

The room erupted into talk after Alexanders speech. most of those who knew Theo went to him first before a couple approached Althaeon asking to go home. it had been decided that we would leave in the morning for the battle we knew was to come.

Remaining were those who had already been here, the ones Alexander brought and Sixteen of the ones that Theo had brought.

So that left us with; Alana, Alexander, and their two grown children, Vivienne and Serenity. Then there was Thorne and his two grown children Catharine and Leo. 

Lunar, Oberon, Odessa, and Violet all wished to fight alongside us even though they were not related by blood and some with their own children.

Angel, Axle and Andrew all agreed to fight. Alexanders known siblings; Theo, Valenor, Thalira, Annora, Seraphina, Calista, and Sebastian.

Then the sixteen who agreed to stay and fight as well as take on some powers. There was Emmanuel's other children; Damian, Castiell, Helena, and Delphine. With their children Elena, Simion, Bayard, Christian, Milena, Ellisette, Liora, and Evelina. Then Elkadars other unknown children; Myra, Albion, Cosima and Arden.

Then my own remaining children Astraea, Althaeon, and Amethyst. Amelia-Celeste was to stay behind and care for the youngest of the children who could not fight.

That gave us forty-one with myself, i really hoped that that would be enough power to win this, to bring my wife home. 

I turned to Althaeon, who seemed exhausted from exerting his powers. "Are you okay, son?"

"I am," he answered, but I could tell he was lying. "Just some rest should help me for tomorrow."

"Are you able to teleport all of us?" I asked, feeling uneasy about it.

"I should be," he replied. "But I do think that will take me out of the fight; I wouldn't be able to get us out of there if the situation required it."

"So we will have to plan this out carefully," I said.

"I have gathered a list of their chosen powers," Alexander interjected as he joined us. "Let's go plan everything out and then we can inform the others."

"Althaeon needs to sit this talk out," I told Alexander. "He needs rest for tomorrow, or we won't be able to pull this off."

Alexander looked at my son. "I am sorry, I did not realize the toll that has been taken on you. Go get some rest; we will fill you in in the morning."

"Thank you." Althaeon bowed his head in respect to the two of us and left. 

"I wish to join your discussions," Astraea declared as she approached us. "Mother is in MY kingdom, and I am weary of sitting idly by and waiting. I am a queen with rights as legitimate as Althaeon's kingship, and I demand inclusion."

I gazed at my daughter. "I am sorry, I have been trying so hard to protect you that I forgot you are indeed a queen. Oberon should be included in these discussions as well, since he is a king."

"Thorne as well." Alexander said. "Alex is gone, we will need Thorne to stand in until we can chose a new king for the elves." 

"I will go get them." Astraea walked off. 

"Are we really going to let her fight?" i asked Alexander.

"Just as I am allowing my own daughters to fight," he replied. "They are all grown women who have been trained as well as the sons in our family. If they choose to fight, then we have no right to stop them."

I nodded, knowing that he was right. 

Astraea, Throne, and Oberon joined us. 

"Let's head up to the war room," I said, referring to the room designated for discussing war strategies, as it was soundproof. I glanced at the four rulers, all capable of seeing in the dark. "No torches or candles; we wouldn't want my wife eavesdropping."

We proceeded down the lengthy corridor and ascended a staircase to our destination. I opened the grand wooden doors, permitting the others to pass through before securing them shut.

We each took a seat on a chair surrounding the large stone table.

"So, what do we have for powers that can be used?" Oberon asked first. 

Alexander pulled the list out. "we have two who can use fire, two water, one ice, one heat, one who can control rocks, one with plants, one flowers, and one lightening. thats just the elemental powers we can use."

"then we have one who can turn invisible, one who can fly, one who is strong, one who can Astral project self and others." He continued. "one shapeshifter, one who can see through lies, one who can see through magic, one who can can transfer mind into golems and dolls, one who can make fluff, one who can can see far distance and two who can shield weapons."

"theres one who can pull weapons from a hat at will," Alexander kept going, "one who can freeze a single person in time for a predetermined amount of time, one whos drawings turn real, one who can restrain people, one who can make a hole to another dimension, one who neutralizes all magic, and telepath."

"Then there are those in this room." He looked to each of us. "i can control time and a few other powers, Astraea can break fairy law and control emotions, James and Oberon are fairies and can heal, Thorne is the best assassin in the kingdoms, and then Althaeon who can teleport us but is now resting. Then there's Thornes two children who are as skilled as their father, and Alana who cannot die except from old age and is part fairy. then there is also Lunar, another fairy." 

"That is alot." Astraea looked overwhelmed. 

"there are also a lot of useless powers there." I pointed out. "can they at least fight?"

"most of them have lived simple lives before going into hiding." Alexander said. "all they have is their powers. there are some, the combat based ones, who have been trained. there are a few knights among them."

"How could there be so many Darkens without us ever knowing?" i asked. 

"Alexandria knew." Throne spoked. "She had confided in me a while back, she wanted to be able to help them all. she even knew where some were."

"she never told me that." i said, feeling a bit sad that she kept another thing from me.

"She is my best friend," Thorne said. "She wanted to be certain she could do it before she spoke to you. Besides, you were away much more than I was. She could simply use her portals to reach me, but when you were in the fairy realm, she had no way to contact you, not even with her flames. She did what she could to keep busy."

"We should deploy the offensive ones to combat the undead we're facing," Oberon shifted the conversation. "The ones who neutralize all magic and restrains people should accompany us." He turned to me, Thorne, and Alexander. "The three of you know her best; you should be the ones to end this."

"if it comes down to having to kill her." Alexander spoke, "i will be the one to do it."

"i thought you could not kill her?" I looked to my friend, the man who had been by my side since childhood. 

"i cant kill her without killing myself." he looked me in the eyes, his own eyes full of sadness. "there is one way i can kill her, by sacrificing myself."

"And you didnt do it sooner!" i stood to my feet. "do you have any idea how many children i have lost during this? and you had to save yourself?"

"James." Alexander spoke softly, "you and i both know that we want to save her, and i have my own family who needs me. i had a lot to think about, i could not just jump to killing the sister i hold dear."

"We have other things to discuss." Oberon jumped in as Astraea placed a hand on my own to calm my emotions. "we do not have the time to be fighting among eachother."

"your right." i sat back down. "sorry, lets continue our plans."