Ian sat at his desk, digging through the stacks of reports he still had to decode. He loved his job, but sometimes the paperwork became tedious. There were several reports of monsters on the outskirts of the realm, and from other kingdoms as well. This was concerning. The likelihood of seeing a monster in their day was as likely as finding a 4-leaf clover. Not impossible, but a rare situation indeed. Most had been eliminated even before Kora's time. Wyverns, werewolves like the Fenrir and basilisks seem to be the biggest sightings, and they were causing issues to villages who were far away from help. With the royal wedding only a week away, it quickly started looking like the king wouldn't get the honeymoon with his queen that he so desperately wanted. He sighed, and grabbing a stack of parchment, he headed off to Malik's study.
Malik, too, had the reports Ian did, and they began marking spaces on the map while he sent a runner for the others. They needed more information on monsters and how to handle them. There are always stories, one's used to scare your children from sneaking into the woods at night, but what is truth and what isn't? How do you fight an animal so big?
"Ian, I don't know how to approach this really, other than if we were hunting animals. We don't know enough about them to really track them or how to defeat them." Malik was frustrated, his people were being picked off one by one, and the sightings were growing. A quick knock, and Ludis popped her head in.
"I think we should take this meeting to my work room; you'll thank me later." She grinned. Ludis was a short woman, with coal black hair down her back and big amethyst-colored eyes. She was slim in build, and as elegant as a dancer in her movements. She wore a long-sleeved grey shirt and black breeches, with brown soft soled boots. The men looked at each other, then motioned for Ludis to lead the way. Upon entering her work room, they saw mountains and mountains of books, with their friends standing among the small towers, a look of bemusement on their faces.
"Ludis wouldn't it have been easier at this point to just take over the library? It is YOUR library." Royce said, and he delicately maneuvered his large frame around one large stack of books. He was 7ft, with long pitch-black hair and golden skin, with hazel eyes. One scar ran from the corner of his mouth all the way down his neck and chest to his ribcage. Technically he was Prince Royce now that he had married Stella in the spring, but he hated the title. Kora and Ben laughed, and Stella – who couldn't see over the books at all, she was so short, began to sift through the ones piled on the table. Her sandy blonde hair was in a loose braid down her back, her cornflower blue eyes searching all the titles. Royce made it to her and placed his hands on her curvy hips, smiling down at his beautiful shapely wife.
"These … all of these are about monsters?" Stella asked, as she quietly thanks Royce for moving a stack of books off the bench so she could sit. Ludis pushed her way into the room, and using magic, began to move the stacks into a more organized pattern. Making more room at the table, the others sat as well, dodging flying books. Ludis didn't even seem to notice. She had a few old scrolls on the table already, spreading them open carefully. Kora leaned over and started to read, Stella the same. Ian snatched one book out of the air, the title catching his attention. Monsters and their breeding Habits the title read; Ian began to flip through the pages. Malik stood behind his fiancé, looking over her shoulder.
"This scroll is what I wanted to show you guys. It details the monsters that have been sighted the most." Ludis explained. They could see detailed drawings of the monsters, and approximate measurements. Details of their hunting habits and where they liked to make their nests or dens. The scroll had to have been over 3000 years old. Through a spell Stella could see the extent of preservation spells cast on this scroll through the years and whistled.
"Well, it definitely fits the time period, and gives us something to work with." Stella commented softly. Royce was already taking notes, planning training for the regimens he had set up to assist the villages. He nodded and looked over at Ian.
Just as he was about to speak another knock sounded, and Ikalla entered. She glanced at Ian quickly, before apologizing for being late. She had been training some specialty teams for monster hunts, and still wore her practice armor.
"The 5th and 26th regiment are ready for deployment, pending your orders, Royce." She said, as she sat next to Kora, giving her friend a quick hug. He nodded and turned back to Ian. It didn't go unnoticed that Ikalla didn't greet Ian, and vice versa. Royce decided now wasn't the time.
"Ian, what's that book got, anything else we can add to what's here on this scroll?" He said, and Ian nodded, handing the book over to show a certain page.
"This is depicting the start of their mating season. That's why the attacks are so random, they are too busy… well getting busy to make any full-scale plans. But winter is when the nests are laid, and they enter their brumation period. Spring will give us a whole new problem…" The others became grim. If they didn't wipe this problem out now, they wouldn't get it under control – then this would become widespread.
"Winter may be the time to attack in force. If they are sluggish and slower to respond, wiping out nests and dens will be much safer." Malik snorted at Kora's idea of safer.
"I don't think anything about this is safe love." Ben said, kissing the top of Kora's head as he stood behind her.
"If anything, their sluggishness will make them more unpredictable. We need to gather more information and get a team out to start surveying these creatures to make sure the intel matches the information we are finding here. Ian, Ludis- do you have some people in mind who could work well together for this?" Ben turned, and seeing Malik nod his head in agreement, continued.
"After the wedding, Kora and I can head out for recon as well. With her ability to work with the earth, we can track these creatures better, and start forming a more solid plan for winter." Malik straddled the bench next to Ludis, who was already conferring with Ian on which mages and informants would be good matches.
"Let us hope we can get a handle on this. After the wedding, I am leaving Stella Royce and Kora in charge, with the rest of you as solid back up. If Kora and Ben are going into the field, then I need Royce and Stella here at the castle, at least until the nobility filter out, then Rickard can manage defenses and the Head Steward can maintain the household." Everyone nodded their agreement to the plan, and Malik went to the doorway, summoning a maidservant.
"Please make sure to get the ladies dinner and serve them here. Bring plenty of candles, parchment, and coal sticks. Keep 2 maidservants always close by so if they need anything, you will be ready to assist. I don't think they will be going to bed anytime soon." The maidservant nodded and hurried off to complete her tasks. He turned and already saw the woman dividing the books and scrolls again, while Royce, Ben and Ikalla went over the defense plans. Ian walked over to him, his face dark. Malik gave him a quizzical look, and Ian showed him a page from another book titled Monsters, the Origin. The book depicted a large tree, the largest tree from the scale of things, with a doorway carved deep in the roots. It seemed to be inside a cave of some sort. Malik didn't understand.
"It's the door from the gods haven. Where the first of the Fae entered the earth. Its where the first people came from." Ian said softly. Malik froze. The gods? Sending monsters? They looked over to Kora, who was smiling with Ludis and Stella as they poured over the books. The gods where just a much a myth as the monsters were. If Malik had learned anything since Kora's arrival, is that there was more truth to myths and legends then anyone would care to admit. Was there anything that wasn't real anymore?