Wucaii

Chapter Twelve

Aelana lay on the pile of furs, staring out the slat in the stone tower that passed for a window. She'd just finished her watch and climbed the west tower to get some rest, but sleep didn't come. A breeze touched her face, and sunlight sliced through the small opening. Her stomach fluttered. Was it because of excitement or nervousness? Anticipation radiated through the earth. Voices echoed up the staircase. It was hard to hear exactly what they said, but she didn't need to. She knew what was going on.

"They've arrived," she whispered into the air.

Thoran stirred next to her, grunting under his breath. She stared at him over her shoulder. He settled back into sleep.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Aelana directed her attention to the opening in the floor. Leld's head emerged, his face somber.

"They've called a meeting in the War Room." His voice should have been laced with concern or worry, but it was matter of fact.

Aelana threw off the covers, and so did Thoran. They both stood and grabbed their weapons, following downstairs behind Leld. Thoran wiped at his face, trying to rid his eyes of the lingering sleep. None of the three were tense—they were expecting this day—but the rest of the castle buzzed with questions and nervous energy. Servants ran through the halls, waking Protectors and attempting to figure out what they should do. It wasn't a normal day, and their schedules were disrupted. Leld, Aelana, and Thoran walked by them like they weren't there, focused on their destination. They proceeded into the War Room.

The three of them weren't the first to arrive, nor were they the last. The room was crowded, and body heat and anticipation permeated the air. In the center of the room sat a table, and on it lay a large map. The three masters who taught Aelana weaponry stood on three different sides of the table, each examining the parchment. None of the Protectors spoke, waiting for the masters to speak. Many of the Protectors shifted from one foot to the other, some chewing on their nails. Others gripped their weapons with white knuckles. Aelana, Leld, and Thoran pushed through the crowd to get as close to the table as possible, receiving dirty looks for their rudeness. Eventually, the masters looked up.

"It looks like the majority of us are here," one spoke. "Good. Let's get started."

"We've received word from the south," another said. "A strange weather anomaly has occurred. A bank of dark clouds littered with lightning has appeared. No rain fell from it, but a witness did see dark creatures emerge, disappearing into darkness."

Gasps filled the room. Protectors glanced at one another, eyes wide, curiosity on their faces. Questions needed to be asked, but no one said a word. They waited.

The final master spoke. "We can only assume this cloud brought the dragons to our world. That the attack will soon start. We must prepare to fight."

The three of them leaned back over the map.

"The anomaly was seen here." The first one pointed to a spot on the map. Aelana rose onto her tiptoes and tried to look over the others. She couldn't see over their heads. "There's no point sending a unit there. We know the creatures are gone. We will send four units in the four directions, hopefully intersecting and finding the four creatures that left the cloud."

"We know they probably won't be the only ones who land here," the second said. "We have to assume more are on the way. Still, we can't plan an offensive if we don't know where the enemy is located."

"It's going to be dangerous," the third interjected, "and we don't even know if we'll be able to make a difference. Still, we must take a chance. We must take a stand. The commanders have been given orders. Please see them for further information."