Gathered in the throne room, the various Kings and Elders gathered for the meeting. Zegris returned with Willow and Fallen Sky's Elders appeared as well.
With King Alexander on Rising Tides throne, King Ulmor standing beside him, and the group of Elders standing beneath the steps leading to the throne the meeting continued.
"I trust it's become apparent where King Victor and Rising Tide stand in all of this." Alexander opened with.
"A betrayer!"
"Disgusting!"
"He should be executed for his deeds!" The Fallen Sky Elder's erupted in response to Alexander like a group of leeches at a nudist beach, they couldn't help but suckle on his every word.
"What do you plan on doing now that Rising Tide is out of the picture? They won't be able to provide supplies to the Black Gates refugees anymore." Zegris asked.
Alexander looked up at Ulmor, passing the question onto him.
"The people we brought with us are most likely with the rest of Rising Tide's people—buried beneath the mud in the forest. We will do a final sweep of Rising Tide before we depart, but this is not the time for extravagant rescue operations. We are weak. We are little. We must regroup in Fallen Sky before we pursue Victor."
"And pursue Victor we will, that's something I will personally guarantee as King of Fallen Sky." Alexander added.
"But what was Victor's purpose?!" A foreign Elder shouted.
"We're not sure—" Alexander admitted, "we know of a few forbidden potions that require human sacrifice, but none of them come close to needing an entire kingdom's population. We assume it has something to do with the Dead Tree."
"What is the Dead Tree exactly?" Another Elder asked.
"I'm wondering the same." Alexander rubbed his chin in thought, "We know it's a King Class creature based on the report we received from the Forerunners. We also know part of its Gift is to control living things, but we don't know the extent or limitation to this ability, just that it's responsible for the recent strange movements of the beasts."
"And now that Victor's publicly declared war against humankind, we can also assume the next part of his plan is in motion." Willow commented.
"Yes, that's another major concern. If anything were lacking information. We need to know what Victor is after and how he's utilizing the Dead Tree." Alexander continued.
"How are we supposed to scout it when even the Forerunners failed?" Emile pointed out.
"Well—" Alexander paused momentarily and gathered his thoughts, "since the Dead Tree is responsible for the corrupted miasma in the forest, we can test invulnerabilities at the edge of the forest. We can send alchemists to study it and develop potions to counter it."
"Kings are unaffected by the miasma." King Ulmor interrupted.
"They are?" Alexander asked, "Are you positive?"
"Zegris and I have roamed the forest before without difficulty, but the deeper you go the thicker the miasma becomes, you'll lose your line of sight by the time you reach the labyrinth itself." Ulmor informed the meeting.
"Hmm—as great as that may be we can't blindly send in all of our Kings. The risk of losing a single King is not something to take lightly, a team of them should be our last resort."
"I agree. I simply mentioned it to offer the information." Ulmor said.
"Spright can probably survive the miasma." Willow commented.
"Excuse me?" Emile blurted out.
The instant Willow finished her comment, the many eyes in the throne room turned towards Emile. Many of the Elder's from Fallen Sky looked at him with resentment and contempt.
"How could this boy possibly contend with a King Class creature? As a matter of fact, why is a child an Elder to begin with? He has no right to be here!" An old and decaying member of Fallen Sky's Elders lashed out.
"Spright's Gift constantly regulates his body and keeps it in perfect condition. His Gift will most likely expel the miasma before it affects him." Willow argued.
"Now hold on—"
"That does sound plausible." Alexander interrupted Emile, "And since he's already an Elder there wouldn't be any problems with him leading an expedition either. He has the authority."
"Authority?!" One of the foreign Elder's exclaimed, "He is a child! We can't trust him to lead anyone! What experience does he have? What qualifications?!"
"I can assure you we do not choose our Elders lightly." Willow reinforced.
Standing off to the side, watching as if it were a movie, Emile was at a loss.
'What is she talking about?!'
'Why did she even bring me up!'
'They choose their Elder's very very lightly!'
'I have to say something'
'I have to get out of this'
"Excuse me?" Emile meekly said.
"I personally vouch for Spright, he spent all his time searching for survivors during the attack. He is a man who focuses on the lives of his people more than anything. I'd say that's exactly who we need going into the forest." King Alexander contested with the Elder.
'No!'
'No no no no no'
"If our highness is willing to place his trust in this boy than so am I." A different Elder added.
"As am I."
"I have something to say!" Emile grit his teeth and shouted throughout the throne room.
Once again the eyes traveled across the room and landed on him.
"I was told the Dead Tree's miasma drains a person's essence. It seems unlikely I'll be able to expel it in that case." Emile added.
"I suppose it depends on what the miasma itself infects. Regardless of your involvement, we need to conduct a thorough investigation on the Dead Tree and its miasma. We'll assign you with the research team and you can test your Gift's limitations along with our alchemists. Any objections?" Alexander asked, but the throne room remained silent.
"Then that concludes the meeting. Gather all the survivors. We're departing for Fallen Sky in four hours, if you're late you get to walk. Dismissed."