“The Children were here, but no longer”, a shadowy shape spoke from the darkness.

“They will return. Their people will not stay together for long, new Integrations never do. They all become fractured in the end”, spoke another.

A third swivelled to look at the two, “This is not going to be as easy as other worlds. The Children are the ones we need to worry about. The rest do not matter. We only have a month before the first portals open, we need to work quickly”

***********************

Meanwhile, in a distant world, a howl broke out into the night.

The form of a Great Wolf rolled out of the fog, its fur darker than midnight, its eyes crimson and seeming to burn.

Yet in an instant, a man stood in its place.

The man looked out over the basin of water at his feet and blew, silver light coming from his mouth and spreading out across the water.

A symbol appeared, utterly alien to any who were watching.

The man leant over and listened to the water as it steadily became clear once more.

“The Lost One is in a world called Gaea. It is a triumvirate world. We can get there in a little over six weeks. We ride out now. The Lost shall be returned to us”, the man growled, his flesh shifting and changing as once more, the Great Wolf bounded back into the night.

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A bald monk opened his eyes for the first time in nearly a thousand years.

“So my brother has called me to collect his son? Why does he not go himself?”

“We do not know, Patriarch, only the request was sent with us, not the reasons for it”

“Fine. I shall fetch his misplaced son. But go back and tell him”

“We cannot go back, Wise One, we are to come with you and ensure the boy is trained in the Path”

“Hmph. That’ll add weeks onto the journey. Fine”

The monk stood up, centuries of dust sloughing off his body as his form became visible. Golden radiance spread out from him and his body grew until he was as tall as the tallest building on Earth.

Lifting the other monks with his hand, he flexed his knees and shot up into the void of space, shattering the asteroid beneath him.

*************************************

A wall of darkness splintered, and a woman with eyes and hair of pure white emerged from the crack. She looked out over the writhing darkness below her and saw a single strand of white, waving in a non-existent breeze.

“There you are, Youngling. We are coming for you”, she whispered, her hand caressing the strand as she snipped a small part off the end, walking back into the darkness, her eyes glowing with a power that seemed to cut apart the very space before her.

*******************************************************

A man stepped out of a twisted portion of space, locking eyes with the woman, clothed in battle armour, with a raven sat atop her helmet, sat at the end of a long hall.

“It is time. Gaea is being Integrated as we speak. We have a single year until the Tides have built up enough to enact our plan. If our son is not ready by then, we will lose the Tournament. Do you have anything you can do to help?”

“I’ve already sent everything I can. Fate will be the one to decide if he is successful”