Heirs of the Gods

Ch 39: The light of truth

As famed as the Council of Oberon was, there wasn't much information on the ancient society.

The facts Ella had found were superficial at best. Founded sometime after the war between Faerie and humans as part of the peace negotiations, an institution made to negotiate between the two kinds. To avoid any conflict of interests, the mediators were half faeries. Trained to be impartial judges, ready to oversee matters between the Kingdoms and the humans.

That's about where the factual information stopped. From then on, every bit of knowledge was founded on rumours, speculations and the whisperings of people who claimed to have seen them. And the rumours were rife; faerie children sired by tricking human women into bearing them, rigorous training made to render them unemotional. Some even speculated that the members were experimented on, that they held unknown powers. Anything and everything was possible in such a secret environment.

The truth of the matter was that the Council was shrouded in an impenetrable wall of mysticism. A secret society--or a cult, as many called it--completely isolated from general civilisation. No matter how many speculations there were, the only ones who truly knew what went on inside the Council were its own members.

When they received the citation from the Council, Ella had known the best path of action was to testify for Gerrathea. This was their opportunity to straighten their reputation and avoid further punishment.

To the best of her extent, she'd attempted to study up on what was expected, but given that there wasn't much to go off, she'd been at loss for what to do. All there was left was to speculate and wonder.

And wonder she did. Especially when they received confirmation of a meeting from the Council, accompanied by a strange golden medallion.

It was a key, as explained by Callan. The location of the Council's quarters was unknown, befitting such a secretive organisation. Shrouded by an obscure charm, it was impossible to find it if not given a proper invitation. In this case, it came in the form of the medallion.

A large, golden token shaped like a coin, roughly the size of her palm. Engraved with the symbol of a strange creature; body of a lion, head of a man, wings of a bird. A fierce-looking specimen. Etched underneath the words, "We walk in the light of truth".

The words had replayed in her mind up until the time for the meeting came. There was a lot on the line. This could warrant punishment, or it could set Gerrathea on the right path. If Ella couldn't manage to convince the Council, getting the other Kingdoms to believe them would be the least of their concerns.

The meeting had been set for a certain time, upon which they would use the medallion to arrive at the Council's quarters. It functioned, as Callan explained, like a portable petrium. At the given time, they would need to grab ahold of it, and soon, they'd be transported to the otherwise unreachable location.

Ella thought it was very dramatic, quite frankly. All this mystery and sense of importance. Not even the Royal palaces had such a measure of security, they simply made do with a good old-fashioned ward around the premises. She was of the opinion that the council used these over-the-top methods as a way to intimidate.

Well, who was she to critique? It certainly worked its charm, hadn't it? By the time the day had come, Ella had already fallen back to her nasty, age-old habit of biting her nails, which were now piteously down to the quick.

In her mind, she knew no amount of studying, reassuring from Callan or primping from Katram would take away the fact that this meeting could make or break their situation.

By the time the medallion had activated, she'd been so nauseous to begin with, that the sensation didn't even make much of a difference.

There was a pull and a twist--similar to the sensation of using a petrium--and soon enough, they were stood in the middle of a forest clearing.