Chapter 734: What Must Be Done
Madam Tyler leaned forward, her hands clasped on the table before her.
"When exactly will the healer placent test be held?" she asked.
Lysander straightened in his seat. "Three days from now," he replied. "We need as many hands ready as possible before the war reaches us. The trainees have been studying. Now they need to prove what they’ve learned."
Orion nodded from the head of the table, his expression unreadable. But before he could speak, Sophia shifted beside him.
She leaned forward, her elbows resting on the oak table, her blue eyes sweeping across the council mbers gathered before her.
"Before we go any further," Sophia said, her voice steady, "there’s sothing I need to say."
"Orion and I were speaking before we ca here," Sophia continued. "And we both agree on one thing."
She paused, letting the words settle.
"We’ve been too relaxed."
Caspian’s brow furrowed. Daniel nodded.
"Don’t misunderstand ," Sophia said quickly. "I know everyone has been working. I know the warriors have been sent into Nirvana. I know preparations are being made. But it’s not enough."
She looked around the table, eting each pair of eyes in turn.
"Orion had an idea," she said. "We need to write everything down. Everything that needs answers before the war starts. And we need to write down everything we’re doing to prepare."
She nodded toward Garrett, who sat with his ink pot and fresh parchnt ready.
"This isn’t just about the warriors training in Nirvana," Sophia continued. "What about those who are still here? The ones guarding the walls, the ones who will be fighting on the front lines when the Enclave arrives?"
She turned to Brynhild.
"Training sessions should be scheduled for everyone. And more than that—everyone should get accustod to fighting alongside each other. We need to know how to move together, or we’ll fall apart when it matters."
Brynhild nodded slowly, her silver eyes fixed in Sophia’s direction. "That’s already in motion," she said. "But I’ll make sure the schedule is expanded. Everyone will train. Including you."
Sophia t her gaze. "I know."
She turned back to Garrett.
"Write this down," she said. "Fresh parchnt."
Garrett dipped his pen and nodded, his hand already moving across the page.
"First," Sophia said, "we need to find out what my mother did to my hair. What that black magic is, and what connection it gives her to . Madam Tyler is already helping with that, but we need to know more. And Josiah—he has traces of black magic too. Can we get rid of it? If it’s left alone, will it hurt us?"
She looked at Madam Tyler, who pressed her lips together in thought.
"I will do everything I can," Madam Tyler said. "But these things take ti. And ti is not sothing we have in abundance."
"That is true," she said.
She continued before anyone could argue.
"That device Josiah used to try to kill himself. The one hidden in his teeth." She turned to Brynhild. "What was that? It’s sothing we’ve never seen before, right?"
Brynhild shook her head slowly. "No one in the pack has seen anything like it. I’ve already given the device to the required departnt. They’re examining it now, trying to understand how it works."
Sophia nodded. "And if it can be adjusted? If we can figure out how it works, could we turn it around and use it to hurt our enemies instead?"
Brynhild’s lips curved into a slow smile. "That’s exactly what I asked them to find out."
"Good." Sophia turned back to Garrett, who was writing furiously. "Make sure that’s on the list. The device. How it works. Whether we can replicate it."
The pen scratched against the parchnt.
Lysander spoke up then, his voice cutting through the quiet.
"Kairen is practicing cultivating the corpse plant with beasts from Nirvana," he said. "Since we don’t have dead bodies just lying around, he’s using what we can provide. But I cannot guarantee it will work."
He paused, his brow furrowing.
"And though we already know about the corpse plant—at least when it cos to black magic—I want to know if it can be used differently. For sothing else. Especially as a weapon for us and not against us."
Madam Tyler’s eyes widened slightly. "That’s... an interesting thought."
Lysander shrugged. "We have the plant. We have soone who knows how to cultivate it. It would be foolish not to explore every possible use."
Orion nodded slowly. "Agreed. Add it to the list."
Garrett’s pen moved again.
Eldric adjusted his glasses, the green feather in his ear swaying with the motion.
"There is also the matter of the writings," he said.
Sophia turned to him.
"The shrine," Eldric continued. "And the heart of Nirvana. The translations you’ve been working on—we still haven’t understood everything. Not fully. There are gaps. Missing pieces."
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"And there is also the Trine of Ash and Vein. It was said that if we interfered with what was placed within it—if we disturbed the seal—there would be consequences. Effects we could not predict."
Tobias nodded from where he sat, his dark eyes serious.
"That’s true," he said. "I’ve been thinking about that. We killed Dolion. We broke the seal. But we don’t know what else we might have released. Or what else might have been disturbed."
"What we released... shouldn’t that be Victoria?" Ronan asked.
All heads turned to him.
"Well..." Mary said. "That’s not far off."
The others nodded because it really made sense for Victoria to be what had been released when Dolion was killed.
Silence fell over the hall for a mont, and Orion looked around the table.
"Is that all?" he asked.
Daniel shifted in his seat. One hand rested on the table.
"Our main focus should be the war," Daniel said. "Most of what we’ve spoken about today—the writings, the black magic, the device, the corpse plant—those are unforeseen circumstances. Things that must be resolved before the battle, in case anything happens."
He let out a long breath.
"And honestly? I’m itching for a fight now. But I know better than to rush into one unprepared."
A few people chuckled at that, the tension in the room loosening just slightly.
Daniel continued. "If anyone rembers anything else—anything we’ve missed—now is the ti to speak. Better we address it here than discover it on the battlefield."
The council mbers exchanged glances.
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