Once Emory had been completely updated, she kindly asked Betty and Galle to go contact their respective groups. In truth, this was a ploy to talk to Gwen and Tana alone because she could care less about Shepherd or the Council's opinion. The two remaining girls moved closer to Emory, intrigued by her strange actions. Before she told them the secret she had been keeping, she stood up and locked the door to make sure they wouldn't be interrupted or overheard. Then she told them about Perceval's transformation into a new race that resembled the Elandrian and the Fire Children. Like them, he had a fully formed magik core of his own and a special magical gift. She also explained how magik cores acted as power multipliers, which they knew to some extent already even if they didn't fully understand how.
Gwen took a breath before asking, "What does this mean for us? Can we transform our borrowed cores into fully independent cores?"
"More importantly, what does this mean for humanity overall?" Tana yelled before she covered her mouth and lowered her volume, "If humans can have magik cores, we'd be exponentially stronger."
"As I said, I don't know a lot about the process or what's required to get the same result Perceval did. Myrrh gave me the spell to transform a vessel into a core, but I haven't had time to study it which I should probably do before I try it on anyone else," Emory furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean?" Tana wrinkled her forehead, "What kind of spell do you have to study?"
Gwen giggled, "It's a specialized spell like the Teleportation spell. Arcane magik may allow one to skip transcribing the symbols, but that's only a shortcut because the magik itself makes the symbols as you cast it. The spellwork required to perform such a miracle must be enormous."
"Gwen is right," Emory explained, "When Perceval described it, he said his whole body was bound in chains of text. Even the Contract spell I cast on you two was several lines of text in the Arcane spellbook. Honestly, if I hadn't studied the diagrams in the spellbook and had Athos there watching me, I don't think I could have saved Innes."
"I guess that makes sense. At least when you compare it to Teleportation. It's just a pain that your dad didn't leave his journal behind. Maybe he would have a better explanation of it," Tana complained.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Gwen redirected the conversation, "You probably should stay relatively close if Shepherd is that close."
Emory huffed, "I suppose I'll train and work out how this transformation spell works. Though, I am worried about the Apleem. After taking out a facility, they're sure to retaliate."
"How pissed do you think they are?" Tana laughed, "I mean, you said they only had three of these sites, and even though this one was damaged, they still continued to use it instead of building a new one."
"I wish I would have had more time to study the creation chamber itself, but you're right. I imagine they're pretty angry which is why I'm worried. Combined with the fact that it's been almost two weeks since we got rid of their initial invaders, I'm concerned they might be amassing troops just outside our detection range. That means once we spotted them, we'd only have two or three days before they arrived," Emory rubbed her chin.
"At least two waves of troops have landed," Gwen clenched her jaw, "That means you could deal with a force two times bigger than the Apleem's last wave."
Emory grimaced, "Unless destroying the facility caused their ratios to change. If they sent more Uthid, we'd be in trouble."
"Eh, you can only control your reaction, not who they send," Tana shrugged. After a little more chatting, it had gotten quite late. As they started yawning, Emory said her goodbyes and hugged her friends. With a snap, she faded away into flashes of light and reappeared back in her cabin. Seeing her bed again brought a smile to her face; after all, sleeping in trees under the constant threat of being discovered for the last nine days had worn her down. She quickly changed into her pajamas and hopped into bed. It only took a few minutes before Emory had fallen fast asleep.
Jahn and Murdock were standing in a large throne room with black and red décor throughout. Torches hung along the walls and gave off an eerie red glow that even chilled Jahn and Murdock. Instead of a traditional throne chair, a massive onyx leather chaise was sprawled across the back of the room. Upon that leather couch sat none other than Petrine, who was angrily tapping one of her fingers against a red metal rivet.
Finally, she growled, "How do they keep pushing us back? Have you two really gotten so ineffective that a strike team was able to infiltrate one of our most secure locations?"
"Petrine, the Elandrian are fighting harder than they have in a long time," Jahn complained, "It's as if this girl has revitalized the entire race!"
"This child and these humans are distractions! They have a few powerful members; that's it!" Petrine screeched as she hurled a ball of black magik that whizzed past his head.
"Ma'am, you saw her power with your own eyes," Murdock pleaded, "The only person we thought was strong enough to destroy a chamber was you. Yet, she managed to do so too." With a flick of her hand, a wave of dark magik erupted from Petrine's hand and forcefully pinned Murdock against the far wall.
With all eight of her eyes glowing dark red, Petrine roared, "Don't you think I know that? I saw it with my own eyes, you wretch!" After Murdock struggled to breathe for a moment, she recalled her magik and let him drop to the floor. "We need to show these fools our true power," she hissed, "I mean a complete reevaluation of our entire battle plan. We are entering a turbulent phase of this war, one that could spell disaster for us if we don't play this right."
"What are your orders, Petrine?" Jahn bowed low to not incur any more of her wrath.
"Abandon the far section. Pull all our troops from the Third Ring and the surrounding areas back to the Second Ring," Petrine ordered decisively, "When you do, we'll move half of the Uthid army to crush the human outposts. In response, I'll deploy half of my forces to the Second Ring and move two motherships near the host star. Finally, you two will personally lead half of the army attacking the human outposts; Selena will lead the other half."
Murdock gulped and trembled, "Of course, my liege. This will take some time, but we will accomplish it."
"You have fifteen days," Petrine glared, "Do not disappoint me." Jahn and Murdock nodded quickly and bowed again before turning away and quickly exiting the throne room. Meanwhile, Petrine continued to sit and stew while the whole situation rolled around in her mind. After a few minutes, a light knock sounded from the door followed by a cloaked Laxtros entering the room and bowing at the foot of the throne. Selena removed her hood and waited patiently for Petrine to speak first. "The time has come, Selena," Petrine breathed, "Have you recovered enough to be of use to me?"
"Yes, milady. I am ready to serve you and fulfill your will. What would you like me to do?" Selena answered respectfully.
"Take half the Uthid army with Jahn and Murdock to destroy the humans' spirit," Petrine commanded, "There are two outposts in our way, correct? Then deal with one of them and allow Jahn and Murdock to deal with the other; I'll let you decide which to take for yourself and which to give to the pair. Before that, I have a different task for you: collect our people."
Selena brow furrowed, "Our people, milady? What would you like me to do once they've been gathered?"
"Send half of them to the Second Ring," Petrine grinned ruthlessly, "It's high time we remind these knife-ears why they fear us so much."
"Of course. I will do as you command," Selena nodded and started walking away.
Petrine cleared her throat, "Oh, Selena, don't forget what I told you last time. If you come back without the dragon, don't bother coming back at all."
"I won't fail you again, milady," Selena froze when she heard those words, "I am ready to recover her this time."
"We shall see," Petrine flashed a sinister grin as Selena continued out of the room. "I win either way," Petrine thought to herself, "If Selena brings the girl back, I may finally have what I am searching for as well as a competent leader for once. If Selena fails, I'll finally know the true measure of her power."