Another Council meeting

Kyler breathed deeply, not truly ready to go before the Council. He hated speaking in front of people, but at least he was allowed to make his report in a private meeting instead of the public one. 

He wouldn't have liked at all being in a crowd.

The stares, the whispers, the comments. They bothered him to no end. His sabbatical in the wilderness with his brother was officially at its end. He had to face reality once more. It was not something he'd been looking forward to.

The meeting began, and it wound up being a relief that he already knew half the officials in the room fairly well. 

"Good Morning, Kyler," Roland greeted as he brought the meeting to order. "We have some other business to attend to, but first let me welcome you home on behalf of the Council and thank you for your service to the Allied Nations."

"The what?" Kyler blinked at him in confusion, and Roland smiled tolerantly. 

"Ah, yes, you've been away for years." The older man said with realization. "It has been a dream of mine for some time now that the nations of our world would unite. When it became clear that threats outside our world could decimate us all, as you well know, it became a goal to truly intertwine and join humankind together. 

"Before you left, as I recall, the nations of Rhone and Ceto had already crowned me as King and Commodore, respectively. Now that Klain is also partially under my caretaking, the three countries are collectively referred to as the Allied Nations." Roland had aged a little since Kyler had last seen him. 

He'd never known the man particularly well, despite growing up alongside his wife, Finn, in their small village. 

"And what title do you prefer, Sir? King, Commodore, Judge, Provider…?" He was unsure how to address his superior. 

"That is still a topic of some debate," Roland frowned, glancing around the room.

"I pitched 'sultan' and 'emperor,' but he didn't like those," Riley said, leaning back in his chair. "That left 'tsar', but he didn't like that either! Impossible to please, this man." 

"Thank you, General," Roland emphasized Riley's official title. 

"Here to help!" Riley gave his lopsided grin. "You could just pick one of the titles you already have. King Roland is well known enough." 

"It does seem to be catching on," The treasurer put in as he looked down at his papers. "Your wife is routinely referred to as Queen, so it would be easy enough to remember." 

"But I'm not a dictator–" Roland protested, then heaved a sigh. "If I have to, I'll settle for combining the Rhone and Ceto titles and be King Commodore Roland, but that seems a disservice to Klain." 

"You've saved us all twice from ruin and disaster," The Peacekeeper commented. "The people love you. You can call yourself what you like." 

"This is all far beside the point," Roland pulled the meeting back to its intended purpose and turned to Kyler. "You and your brother Shayn are the last of the mapping teams to return. I myself came back from Ceto just days ago with their reports of the sea. Combined, we hope to get a clearer picture of what is happening in the world." 

Kyler cleared his throat. A chair had been brought out so that he might sit, but he chose to remain upright, leaning on his crutches only as much as strictly necessary. 

"Shayn has the collected maps and notes from our work to compile into the library's existing resources. We carefully took note of the anomalies, recording the dates, times, durations, and descriptions of each. There were few in the most Northern regions we surveyed, and we worked our way Southeast through our assigned territory. The most recent location had the most portal appearances, and those lasted the longest compared to the ones we previously observed." 

Roland nodded, absorbing the information. "I will make a visit to the library soon to get an overview of your work. I'm sure it was thorough and well done." 

Kyler stood tall under the praise, hoping that it was genuine and not patronizing because of his disability. He nodded. 

"We also encountered an occasional anomaly on our journey back. We marked each on the maps but did not stay to observe them thoroughly as it was not within our assigned jurisdiction." 

"Thank you for your extra efforts, Kyler. They will be helpful in solving the mystery of the randomly appearing sparks." Roland smiled briefly at him. "The Cetoans are encountering them at sea approximately at the same rate as they seem to be manifesting on land, though obviously the land is more densely populated than the ocean." 

"Are there any clues as to the causes?" The Treasurer asked with interest.

"None so far as we have been able to discern." Roland frowned, and then glanced at Kyler as if to ask if he had any theories on the topic. 

Kyler had no answer. He knew from the information he'd received before his mission that one singular portal had appeared, of all places, in Finn's pantry during the Battle Between Worlds. Apparently just after Roland destroyed the portal-makers. It had dissipated before anyone beyond the household saw it, and the only evidence left behind was the destroyed remnants of a piece of jewelry owned by a Cetoan woman staying at the home. 

There was peace for five years after that before anything strange started happening. The first few reports of random points of sparkling or darkness were merely rumor, or dismissed as children seeing things in the forest. 

After a year, the Council began to take the reports seriously and formed the teams to go on surveying expeditions. The occurrences of the anomalies couldn't be accurately recorded without truly accurate maps of the world.

"I do need to bring up that the Cetoans recently had their first Leviathan sighting in ten years," Roland looked down at the papers in front of him. 

"Are they sure?" Riley sat up for the first time since the meeting began. 

"Yes. Caspian saw it himself. He gave the order to let it be and not rope it. The creature followed the ship for nearly an hour." 

"And they still didn't rope it? Sounds like the blasted thing was waiting for them to." Riley frowned. "Like your old cat buddy. Maybe it had something it wanted to show them!"

Roland sighed at Riley's cavalier attitude, but Kyler was used to it. His eldest brother always tried to keep the tension out of situations with jokes and sarcastic remarks. 

Shayn was prone to that himself, to a lesser degree.

"Judah was a good friend. I hope he's well, wherever he is." Roland waved his hand to move the discussion forward. 

Kyler remembered the enormous spotted feline that Roland had ridden into town years before. Terrifying thing, it had been. Most of the populace was incredibly relieved when it disappeared along with the otherworldly beings involved in the war. Shayn had only seen it briefly during battle.

"If the leviathans are back," The Treasurer interrupted, "What does that mean for the space between worlds? Is it thinning again?" 

"We have no direct evidence it ever changed," Roland replied. "Other than the fact that there has been silence from the Fae, no leviathan sightings, and the fact that all the portal makers and magic herbs disappeared at the end of the war, it's not terribly clear what happened." 

"But it's changing," Riley said. "The leviathan are back, which means travel between worlds is possible again. Soon enough we might all be feasting on a nice juicy gargoyle steak." 

The rest of the room recoiled from the joke. Kyler's nose wrinkled. He still remembered the terror of encountering the disgusting creatures. They didn't smell quite as bad as the goblins, but it was still a horrible thought. 

"An incredibly striking mental image, General. Thank you for that." Roland sniffed. "Caspian has asked whether to chance roping another leviathan, should they appear again. I have not yet come to a decision on the matter, and would welcome the Council's thoughts." 

Kyler studied the man. Though he was the ruler of Ceto, and Rhone, and part of Klain, he still treated the others around him like equals. It was a curious form of leadership. 

"I say rope them and find out what happens. Are the other worlds having the same sparkly phenomenon? Maybe we should find out." Riley shrugged. 

Roland considered Riley's words, nodding at the logic, but the General continued. 

"By the way, before I forget, my wife and mother are holding a 'Welcome home' party for Kyler and Shayn tonight at my home. She told me to invite you all." 

Kyler blanched. A get-together of the family was one thing. Just how big was this party going to be tonight? 

As the Council members gave their assent to come, Kyler kept a socially acceptable smile pasted on his face. This was going to be quite a party.