Devin Decart had been involved with the Council his whole life. His mother had been on it, his father had been on it, his sister was on it, and his son was trying to get on it as well. However, Devin never fancied a position there. He was a bartender and he liked it. Opening his own shop had been one of the most joyous events in his life. Only his marriage to his Wife Michelle and the birth of their Son Robert outshone it.

Yet, he knew the Council. He had known them since Childhood. The Council was made up of two Representatives of each grouping of demi-humans. Elves, Dwarves, Beastkin, Merfolk, Shapeshifters, Drakan, and two groups that were centered around insectoids and arachnids, and Special Cases. The last one was for those of extremely rare breed or unique mutations. For that reason, they didn’t have that much of a presence and were mostly concerned with being left alone.

While it was generally a democratic system, they had Overseers who made sure the individual groups didn’t do anything rash or damaging to the community here in Nord-Rhein Westfalen. Each state had its own Council and each worked a little differently, but in general, they all had the same job. Keep the magical society safe and hidden. There were also overarching meetings of each Council within the Country, and then one international one, but Devin was too far removed from those to know much of what happened there.

During his sixty years of life, Devin had seen many people come and go in the Council, many changes have been made, and many representatives have cycled through. The one constant that had always been the same was the Overseers.

Tika and Gerald Loltharim were by far one of the oldest demis he knew of. Nobody knew exactly how old they were and nobody dared to ask. The two siblings were definitely older than most could ever claim to be.

One thing that they had shown him was that with time came experience, but also strength and power. In their cases, they focused mainly on political power and steering the magical world on a safe path, but they were exceptionally strong individuals. Their presence alone could frighten a man and nobody would dare to go against them.

He had often been present when their overwhelming presence completely shook the room, either to instill quiet or to let their displeasure know. By this point, he had gotten used to it and wasn’t that affected by it anymore.

It didn’t help that both of them were rather unique specimens as well. Tika and Gerald were Arachnid Vampires. Each of those races were strong enough already, but with that pairing, they weren’t only cunning and incredibly intelligent, no they also had a magic prowess that outshone even some of the most well-known mages

With all that being said Devin didn’t fear many things. He wasn’t affected by a lot of the more brute force intimidation, and he was used to being the weakest one in the room.

However the girl, no, the woman that just left his office had been… terrifying. Her presence was overwhelming. Vuthe de Thal, a self-proclaimed dragon, mind you, he didn’t for a second doubt her words, had just utterly shattered his expectations of how much presence any one person could have.

Between Tika and Gerald, they wouldn’t have even half of Vuthes overwhelming presence, even together. And that frightened him. Especially considering the reveal of who Vuthe de Thal was. Or, as she put it, had been. He wasn’t sure why she doesn’t refer to herself by her old name anymore, but it wasn’t important and honestly, he didn’t care either way.

He had seen Rin Savart in the flesh exactly twice. Once was when he was with her mother on Scarlet‘s Birthday, and one was during a shopping trip on which his mother and Scarlet met. He hadn’t spoken a word to her back then. In general, he hadn’t interacted at all with the Savarts, outside occasional birthday greetings when he found himself present.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

But he had seen her. She was an unassuming girl, nothing special. She didn’t talk unless addressed, although he was quite similar, they had been only kids at the time. And if it weren’t for his mother‘s efforts in helping Scarlet, he probably would have forgotten about Rin altogether.

Which was why the woman who just left his office left him terrified. She was so unlike the little kid he had seen back then. Vuthe de Thal had an aura of elegance and majesty, even when she had been sitting at his counter it was clear she wasn’t just a normal girl.

But when she revealed herself, that quickly changed to cold, calculated, razor-sharp focus, like a Queen on an Icy throne.

There was also the issue of where she had been for the past fifty years. She had been very vague, pretty much not even hinting on where she had been. The weirdest part is that she seemed to know nothing at all about the magic world or anything else that happened since her disappearance.

And that just couldn’t be right. She was a dragon, obviously a magician of some sort, and had this air of power and wisdom that belied her young appearance. How come he didn’t hear of her before? And how come she didn’t know even the most well-known facts about modern society?

With a sigh he picked up his phone and dialed up Tika. He only did so in emergencies, and she knew that if he called her he had a very good reason. Although not even he knew just how much of a problem this could turn into.

After two rings Tika picked up, „Oh hello, little snack. Fancy to hear from you, you missed the last meeting“, she said in her disgustingly sweet voice. It alone was enough to wrap most people around her finger like a puppet.

„Good Evening, Overseer Tika. I bring news. News that could be… dangerous“, he said, ignoring her byplay. He was not in the mood for her little games and honestly, he doubted she would be once she heard what he had to say.

„Oh? Is that so? Then tell me, little snack, what are these news?“, she asked, still playfully although he could clearly hear the seriousness in her tone now. Tika was a very focused and grounded woman, she would listen to anyone when things were important.

„Yeah… I just had a dragon show up at my bar“, he started only to be interrupted by her. „A Dragon?!“, she asked, clearly dumbstruck. He nodded, even though she couldn’t see it, „Yes ma’am. And believe it or not, that was the normal part about this whole encounter. She had no idea about the Paranormal society nor our rules, she didn’t even know what the Overwatch agreement was“

He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, „And now comes the unbelievable part. This dragon, this girl… Is Rin Savart“

Silence.

For almost half a minute Tika didn’t respond. When she finally did all hints of playfulness had vanished into the void, her voice as calculated as he knew her to be.

„Are you sure? That is quite the claim. Especially since my sources told me that they found someone in Switzerland who claims to be Rin Savart as well. And coincidentally they also claim to be a dragon. Any chances of those two being connected? Maybe they traveled from Switzerland to Germany, considering Essen is Rin‘s home city?“

That news was surprising. It would make sense, truth be told, Rin, or rather Vuthe, had just arrived here, so maybe she had been in Switzerland? Although, it was obvious to him that where she had been she didn’t want to disclose. Therefore it wouldn’t make sense to reveal herself both here and there. What was her plan?

„I suppose that is possible, Rin, she goes by Vuthe these days apparently, had been very vague on where she had been since she vanished. And while she hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort, I guess she could have been there“, he said, thoughtfully, „She did just tell me they arrived here and asked for the rules of the magic society. It appears she didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes“

„Vuthe? The person I am talking about calls herself Scythe“, Tika sounded surprised. In all fairness, Devin was too, hearing those news.

He thought for a moment, „Maybe she has multiple names she uses? That wouldn’t endear me to her, truth be told… Maybe you should go talk to her? She is staying in the old industrial complex with what she called her friends and people“

There was a sigh audible on the other end, „It seems to be the best course of action. Although for the moment we are kind of flooded with the whole bomb scare incident, so it might take a while. Good work, I’ll see to it. Have a wonderful night, Devin“

With that Tika disconnected the call and Devin sighed deeply. This was getting more and more complicated…