ELRETH

The building where the elders met had never felt too small to Elreth before. But that day it seemed like every shadow, every wall was closing in. She brimmed with tension, her knee bouncing for the past hour until she'd noticed it and forced herself to stop.

She kept focusing on the discussion, getting irritated, and letting her mind drift back to Aaryn. But she knew that wasn't helping anyone. She had to focus.

Elreth sat back in her chair and shook her hair off her face as one of the younger Elders outlined everything they'd decided about how Aaryn's position would be honored in the hierarchy. It had been a frustrating and lengthy discussion, but at least it was done and Elreth felt like she could breathe again.

Aaryn would not be a figurehead. He would not be patronized. He would remain her Cohort and primary Advisor. And hopefully, closely connected with the disformed to help her figure out how to navigate that particular current.

There had been stern discussion on that point, again. Elreth had almost snarled at the elders—their hesitations about Aaryn seemed to come in waves. They'd been supportive of him until the revelation the day before that his people were following him, rather than the hierarchy. Now it seemed all their initial suspicions around the danger of putting a disformed in power had returned—and this time with aggression about Aaryn personally. Elreth prayed that the elders wouldn't block her plans to give the disformed their own tribe. All this upheaval could have pushed her in the opposite direction. But she'd always been a believer that putting people in a place of responsibility could be the making or breaking of them.

The question was, which would it be for the disformed? Would she undermine her own rule by pushing for it if the Elders didn't agree?

Discussion of Aaryn's lines of power and the consideration of the disformed as a formal tribe had naturally evolved into an analysis of the risks from their apparent human intruder. Everyone agreed there was no further progress to be made on that particular trail until Tarkyn reported back. But Elreth wasn't ready to just wait.

When it was proposed that they break until Tarkyn was finished with Hholdyn, Elreth shook her head, ignoring the mutters of complaint.

"Whether there is a human here right now or not, whether they are dangerous or not, we have to consider how they came to be here, how they avoided notice until now—especially if the signs indicate that they've been here for some time. And how they could possibly just disappear.

"

"We won't know if the disappearance is even real until we have other Anima out there,

" one of the grizzled males insisted.

"Speculation will get us nowhere without hard evidence!

"

"I agree,

" Elreth said tightly.

"But I am not comfortable leaving Anima in the hands of chance until we find out. So I propose that we not only set formal, twenty-four-hour guards on the Portal, but scouts for the trail as well—scouts on the ground. The birds are wonderful for scanning large areas quickly, but we need a more detailed review of the lands around the Portal now. And continued patrols to guard against further intrusion. However this human—or any other—got in and out, we will find out only by putting Anima on the ground where it's possible.

"And for that matter, I'd like to see patrols increased across the entire region. On all sides of the City. This human's activity was in an area we would not have associated with the Portal. What if there are others and we have simply not discovered them yet?

"

We are hemmed by the mountains and the desert. Anima has always enjoyed the security of Creation,

" Lhern said.

"Surely the guards at the Portal itself are enough? The human that is here—or any others that might attempt the traverse—have to come from there. I agree that it's good to have other eyes and bodies in the area. We cannot risk an actual invasion. But we must also balance the use of too many of our warriors, too spread out in the event that there is a rush of humans.

"

Elreth's heart pounded at those words.

A rush of humans.

Surely that couldn't be their future? Surely this was just an adventurous human who had figured out the Portal?

But then, why hadn't the Guardians warned them? And could it really be a coincidence that this occurred at the same time they learned the disformed were bringing humans through.

It couldn't be.

Elreth growled and rubbed her temples.

"I understand your concern, Lhern, and I will listen to the security council in depth. But I'd ask you to prepare them to increase patrols throughout the WildWood. Even just until we've located this human and understood their intentions. Perhaps after that… perhaps then we can be more certain that we remain alone.

"

The males grumbled, but the agreement was made to inform Tarkyn and call the Security Council again first thing in the morning, even if Tarkyn hadn't finished with Hholdyn.

The idea that Tarkyn might be actually interrogating one of their own left Elreth's blood running cold. But she knew Tarkyn wouldn't take that action without good reason to believe the male was hostile. She just prayed Hholdyn wasn't creating more issues for his disformed brothers and sisters out of pride.

When the meeting concluded, Elreth stretched, then walked out without stopping anyone for a private chat. Her brain felt full. She needed to move—and she was desperate to find Aaryn and make sure he was okay.

The question was, would he have stayed this long with the disformed, or returned to the cave by now?

Elreth sighed, but started for the cave first. She would shift and run, give her body some freedom to move for a while. Then head to the disformed cave if he wasn't there.

An image of the expression on his face that morning—dark and pensive—flashed through her head right before she shifted, and she winced.

Please, Creator, let him be okay. Please…