Chapter 31 The Crux of What is Happening

— Eveline —

Lorcan came back with whom I assumed was Fergal. He was a lithe man of average features.

The men sat at the table with us.

“Well,” said Killian looking at them, then me. “It’s Fair Folks first, I suppose.”

“What do ye need to know?” asked Fergal.

“Something has been happening with the Faes that has influenced at least one werewolf pack to attempt a power overtake of multiple small packs, and has motivated them into getting in trafficking of werewolves by kidnapping from vulnerable packs or rogues,” I said.

He nodded, evidently knowing what I was talking about, or at least he understood.

“It’s been nearly a decade now, but hostilities coming from the Gwyllions—who are a faction of the Tylwyth Teg—have occurred. There have been a few peace treaties, and backstabbing and everything has been mostly kept within Fairyland, but two years ago they went a little too far against the Gwragedd Annws, which they have obviously never been known to be massive troublemakers,” he said as if this was obvious knowledge. “So—.”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupted him. “I don’t want to be rude but I’m not sure I’m keeping up.” Unsure? Man, I was not keeping up at all.

“Okay,” he said. “Some nasty Faeries were mean to other Faeries that’s never been known to be relatively mean, after years of annoying their race as a whole. So a bunch of them banded together and decided to end this once and for all. The Gwyllions, at least as we knew them, are now no more.”

“What do you mean, no more?”

“Their faction is officially gone. They haven’t been completely eradicated—that is nigh impossible to do—but no one is worrying about them now.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, thinking out loud. “So there’s been a Faerie war, and one of them lost and are gone.”

“Correct,” Fergal told me.

“So—, how exactly does that fit into this pack acting up now?” I asked confused.

“What happens when power falls?” he asked me.

“I don’t know,” I said frankly.

“Power doesn’t poof into existence to return to dust whenever it’s not needed. Nothing works like that. Not even magic.”

“Okay?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Power vacuum,” he said dramatically.

Killian took over seeing as I was still not clear on how all this fell in together.

“When there is a vacuum in the universe, matter tries to fill in naturally. This is what is happening. There is a power vacuum, and others are trying to fill in. Whenever an empire as fallen in the past, other nations and empires have taken the remnants to add to their own power, or new ones has sprung up from the ashes.”

“So you mean that some werewolf packs are using it to move into those Faes territory?”

“It’s a lot more complex than this,” Fergal said. “Nations are not made only of land. They have resources, people, trading routes, business deals, cultural exchanges, the list goes on, they have both internal things, like the land they live on, and external things, like allies, and trade.”

“Plus,” said Killian. “It’s not just one pack that would want in the action. Plenty of things from plenty of different supernatural background would want a piece of the action, fighting among themselves. Some of them could lose those fights, leaving behind a smaller power vacuum or just a power shift. Any who wants in must make sure to gain in strength to be able to do this, which can be done in all sorts of ways. Not everyone wants the whole pie, some are looking for crumbs, other for whatever those who are eating the pie aren’t eating anymore. It’s a massive reshuffling of power. It will probably last for years until the dust settles. It could take a few years if it’s done through collaboration between nations, especially if some of them overpowers the others radically. Or it could lead to centuries of instability. It could only be the opening for some bigger conflict. Only time will tell us how this will play out.”

I stood there with my eyes a little huge. This is way beyond my pay-grade.

“You know, back in the days, people called World War I the war to end all wars, in the end it simply set the stage and future allies for World War II. But after World War II everyone wanted out, and splitting the pie didn’t end in World War III. This situation, it will depend on how things will go. It could escalate into something ridiculously large in scale, or die within a year or two and be a minor blimp in history,” Killian said.

“Do you realize ye’ve just depicted in yer analogy, World War I as a minor war?” said Aisling to her husband.

“Well, I could have used a scale appropriated example, but youth these days don’t study those as much, and the lass might not have gotten the picture.”

Him and Aisling had a light conversation about some clan squabbles of the past, but I didn’t bother listening too much. I wouldn’t know what they were talking about to begin with.

This was information I believe Kaden had to get quickly. And accurately. I wasn’t sure if I could relay this properly.

“I’m sorry,” I said turning to Fergal. “Do you think it would be possible for me to get the crux of what is happening in this power shift or vacuum on paper? I want to get the information to my brother as accurately as possible. And the details might matter later.”

“Sure,” he told me. “But tomorrow. It’s a little late to do an essay on Fae politics and warfare at the moment.”

“Of course,” I told him. “Just not too late. I might not stay very long.”

He agreed.

I looked at the time, and it was getting late, but I wanted to deal with all the important stuff as soon as possible. In an hour or two, Kaden would probably get up, so I could talk to him.

“Could you tell me about this thing you need protected?” I asked Alpha Killian.

He stopped abruptly his conversation with his wife, which had turned into if one of their nephews was turning into a useless bum or not.

Killian sighed at me, and refilled his wine glass, then his wife’s and mine. The others took care of theirs.

“We are in possession of a powerful historical artifact. Given the present political climate, stealing powerful artifacts, as been one quick way for one to gain some power, and gaining power like this is perfect to prepare to face new foes. There have been others all over Europe who have been attacked because they were custodians of such things. I don’t intend to wait until this happens. I want to take measures now. And I think helping each other out, right now, would be a good option. Fortifying alliances is always good in times of chaos.”

“Sure,” I said. “What type of artifact is it?”

“A shield.”

“You will have to be more precise than this.”

He squirmed a little. Kaden said all the details, so I will get all the details. I was about to tell him that, but he caved.

“It’s Dubán, the shield of Cú Chulainn.”

“Okay,” I said. “I suppose this is important.”

“It’s not the holy grail,” he admitted. “But Cú Chulainn is a significant Irish historical figure who has single-handedly saved Ireland against the armies of Queen Medb of Connacht. A powerful being in Irish mythology,” he added seeing I didn’t knew her. “They say Cú Chulainn was a demigod himself, and the reincarnation of his father god Lugh.”

“Okay,” I said. “Powerful demigod, with powerful mythical shield who defeated another powerful mythological being, and saved a lot of people.”

“Correct.”

“You don’t know who wants it, just that there’s been a pattern of stolen artifacts lately, and the present Fae politics could be the trigger, but no one is sure of anything.”

“Correct.”

“And you want to use this opportunity to strengthen the bond between our packs, in these dire times.”

“Also correct.”

“Okay. I got that right I think. Kaden will get into more details with you.”

“Thank you,” he told me.

“If you don’t mind. I’d like to prepare for the night. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day.”

“Of course.”