I'm taken aback when I appear on the beach along with Gene, Fury, Bones, and Nette — all of which are in full detail. Really, I shouldn't be surprised at the extent of power Nette holds within her realm. More so, I should be terrified. And perhaps I am. I'm still not sure.
"What happened to the others?" Bones asks. "Did they not get an exclusive invite?" His bony face flashes an eager smile as he blows an impressed whistle. "This is a nice beach."
"Dibs," I quickly claim the private cove sheltered by cliffs.
"You can't dibs the whole cove. Besides, this isn't even real."
"It seems like I just did. If this turns out to be a real place on this island, it's now doubly mine because I've placed two uncontested dibs on it.
"The first one doesn't count. You were alone."
"No. Sil was there. She'd verify my claim."
"Last time you saw Sil, she tried to kill you," says Gene. "I don't think you can count her as a friend or a source."
"Technically, the last time I saw her was when I rescued her from a cell. So if our pattern of relationship can be trusted — which I think it can — she owes me one." Now I'm flashing a satisfied grin. Gene and Bones are breathlessly appalled by my relationship-building skills and the new cove that belongs to me. "I think I'm going to have a part of my house here."
"The cove is real, but I doubt Genevieve will tell you the location without you relinquishing your claim," says Nette. She looks down at the sand and smooths the uneven ground with her foot. "However, I did not pause our group meeting and set up another mental meeting while still holding the original in place to discuss personal housing. I think we should decide on this guild idea. We wanted to give it a day to think about, but I don't think that will help us much."
"It seems this is weighing on you heavily," says Gene, eyeing Nette. What is your take on all of this?" Nette expands her sand-smoothing operation, stretching out her spider leg to reach past her current border. Her actions have unknowingly drawn our attention as small dunes and valleys become even ground.
"I think we all agree that we need more help, right? As perilous as this may be, I think it is our quickest path to establishing a secure home for the children and others looking for a respite from wars and life's typical challenges. The Guild Society can be our access point to the outside world while providing the crucial resources needed to grow."
"And what if the Society decides to take our land for themselves. What if they are not as altruistic as Scotty says, or what if Scotty is acting on their behalf to further their power? We would be playing right into their trap. Does that not scare you?" Our bold dragon now presents some reservations. "They suggest we build the portal right in our central city. We are opening our gates wide for any invader to attack us at will. And at our heart.
"Yeah, but who can we trust?" The spider is no longer flattening the sand. Instead, she looks at each of us. "We plan to connect our island with the mainland. Who can we trust there to not betray us? We do not have the luxury of tested relationships. All we have is skepticism. With the portal at the city's heart, we can closely watch it. And like Nico suggested, we can limit the hours our teleport is open."
"If we do this, I want a more intense and secretive security detail." Bones points his fingers at Fury and Nette. "That means you two will work together for some time to get this hammered out. Our security will be top-notch if we get more loyal mind lancers. I also want Scotty interviewed thoroughly. Maybe we can entice him with a promotion and ensure he's on our side. The same goes for Gavin and Lana,"
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"Does that mean we're OK with scanning each individual?" I ask.
"What they don't know…" says Nette with a shoulder shrug.
"Do you have enough control to scan for only threats?" I know I don't. I can only grab surface-level thoughts.
"I'm close. I need more practice. I suggest we add that to your growing training sessions. Do you have any more time in the morning?"
"Sure do. Consider yourself added."
"The thought of leaving ourselves so exposed sends a crawl down my back," says Gene, studying the smooth sand intently. "The thing is, my gut tells me to go with it. We nearly were destroyed last time because we were so shut off. Attaching ourselves to the guild gives us resources, potential allies, and a convenient cover. We will be less in the shadows and more in the open. The children will not have to live in secrecy and might even get a hint of a normal life. I think this is our best course of action."
"I do not like this. I know we wanted our home to be more open, but this feels like we are letting our enemies sleep on our doorsteps." Fury folds his massive arms. His body sways from side to side as he shifts his weight from foot to foot.
"I suppose that means we can slay our enemies while they sleep. We play nice and innocent until we need to get our hands dirty," says Bones.
"That... there is... no." Fury scrambles through his thoughts and hesitation. His eyes are distant, and I can practically see his mental calculations. His hand moves in the air like he's moving game pieces. He looks up with a steely smile that isn't not directed at me. "I can get on board with that."
"So that leaves you, Cap. What are your thoughts?"
"This Guild Society feels too good to be true. I'm sure all of you have thought the same thing. I like the idea of double securing Scotty as our asset if possible. Maybe we send a few others to scout out this organization when we can.
"What draws me to this plan is that it gives us some legitimacy. Dungeon management and organization that would have to be done in secret can now be done in broad daylight without drawing suspicion. For that reason alone, it might be worth the risk. The worst thing that happens is that you all die, and I have to flee for some time." Heads nod with my logic. "So that settles it. The Rising Fist becomes a guild, and this is my private cove. Done."
"Done," Fury, Nette, and Gene agree.
"Wait… no —" Bones tries to object. It is too late. Our exclusive meeting has collapsed, and we are again back at the main meeting in the dull white space around us. I already miss my private cove. The views and waves there are stellar. Finding its location is now at the top of my list.
The rest of the meeting is a spectacle of mana and creativity. Our town, now called Ourtown for the remainder of the meeting, needs work. A lot of work. Initially, we had no idea what we were doing when we built up our base. A few buildings went up, like the academy, cafeteria, and barracks, and then a ton of towers that were supposed to act as housing units, defensive structures, and a wall lined with trees. It was an inelegant affair. We looked nothing like a town and more like a prison, and none of us had confidence that our settlement was safe.
The severe lack of confidence and ingenuity of Apper led us to trap our town and use its destruction to our advantage in a defensive battle. That was all good until a possessed Fury tried to burn the rest of our village, the academy, and the lycans, hunkering inside to a crisp. Luckily, Annette reached deep into her bag of tricks, learned to manifest her mind mana into being, and fought fire with sand. The sand repelled the flames, but the heat was so hot that our academy is now shrined in a glass case, which has drawn much attention.
According to the people in the know-how, dragon glass is a precious construction resource. It's favored highly in upscale housing for its heat resistance, ability to hold mana, durability, and elegant look. Our glass dome academy has been functional as our housing, cafeteria, and meeting hall so well that we are abandoning it as an academy and calling it the guild hall. As the guild hall, it will serve as housing, feeding, and meeting for our guild. The building will be renovated to better fulfill our guild hall's needs.
It takes some time, but smarter people come to an agreement on how the town should be built. From the looks of the illusion being presented to us via Nette transferring information to Lana, who creates a scaled-down version for us all to see, our town is going to take a lot of work.
When the meeting ends, we all work together to set up temporary shelters outside the guild hall and raise some walls. Our earth lancers, who number around a dozen, do most of the heavy lifting. Though they do most of the work, we all work late into the night until we are safe and everyone has a place to sleep.