As promised earlier in the week, Ruby made contact with Farf and it went as expected. She wanted to meet and go over everything she'd been briefed about, everything she'd done since arriving in town three years ago and what the mission entailed.

Ruby didn't mind sitting and listening but often had to bring Farf back on track as she tended to wander off topic and tried to get into every day conversation. She knew that Farf missed talking to other mythical folk and could do with a trip home to Mirithia, now that there were more people in town and Farf had delivered her three years of notes she could afford to venture home.

"Farf, this is really good stuff. Why don't you go home for a few weeks? We'll cover for you, you've been alone out here for too long and I know how draining that can be. Go home and see your children, go and see if you have any more grandchildren and love them while you can." Farf protested at the beginning but the more Ruby spoke the less she protested. Ruby knew that family didn't stay around forever, their lives were a dot in your timeline and Ruby's timeline stretched out for many years.

She had tried to keep track of her siblings and where they ended up but once her sister's grandchildren had left England she'd had a hard time tracking the various branches of a family until she eventually gave up altogether.

"You're right Ruby, thank you. I'm going to leave tonight and hopefully will be in Mirithia by the morning, oh there was a bit of information I need to update in the journal. A human woman has gone missing overnight, no sign whatsoever and the local authorities are having a hard time finding a place to start with the case as she wasn't well known in town and didn't have many associates." Ruby swore, she couldn't be certain but this had the potential to be the beginning of the end of this prophecy.

People missing without cause to be missing was often the sign of a sacrifice, usually, it was someone who wouldn't be missed. Someone who had no relations and had no friends, often living alone and who wouldn't be missed if they vanished without a trace.

Ruby could only hope that the woman had skipped town but would need her name and other details to track her down, then again she might be able to ask Topher to time-walk around the time that she'd gone missing. Maybe it was a good thing that Topher had offered her a ride home last night, a chill ran down her spine at the thought that she could have been kidnapped.

Or an attempt made.

"Thank you Farf, go have your rest. Let me know when you reach Mirithia safely." Ruby took all the information that Farf had handed over and went home, she had made contact with the council soon after Topher's visit to see about using her own birth look when meeting with Topher and her pack.

They had come back soon after agreeing to the idea, she was to use a different name to the one she was born with, however. So once Ruby settled on a new name she could make contact with Topher and arrange a meeting time to go over everything that needed doing and monitoring within and just outside of his packs territory.

Going home, Ruby went straight to their small office and locked the documents away in their secure safe before heading to her room where she removed her necklace that kept her disguise in place.

She watched her reflection in the mirror as her appearance reverted back to what she'd been born with, her long brown hair and dark brown eyes were the same. She loved that she looked so normal, no one would guess what country she was born in. Sure six hundred years ago someone would easily have pegged her birthplace through her accent but she'd lived in so many countries and spoke so many languages that she could speak in most accents.

Benedict had handed over Topher's phone number earlier, she had already called ahead to say she would be over soon enough.

Keeping things casual, Ruby threw on a pair of jeans, her usual pair of tattered sneakers, a plain white t-shirt and grabbed a jersey before heading down to the kitchen to grab something to eat. It wasn't until she was nearly out the door that she realized she was in a bit of a pickle.

She couldn't show up to Topher's home in her own car, all the students at the school also knew well what Oliver's car looked like which left Ben's Outlander that he rarely ever let others use.

But he wasn't around, the keys were inside and she needed to get out to the meeting before Topher and his warriors thought she wasn't going to show up. Deciding to deal with Benedict later Ruby went and grabbed the keys, left him a note and drove over to Topher's home.

She wasn't expecting to see many people but when she knocked on the door and was ushered into Topher's office she was surprised to see a dozen or so men. So it was apparent that Topher's pack was larger than anyone though, Farf hadn't even been able to get an understanding of just how large it was.

But if these men and several women were the best warriors in his pack then it spoke even more about its prosperity.

Ruby tried to keep her nerves at bay, several people kept their eye on her as they waited for Topher to come into the room. She didn't understand what was keeping him so long until he came through the door with another man, Topher did a double take when he saw her standing there and stopped altogether when he realized who she was.

"Hello, I'm Elsie-Rose. We spoke on the phone earlier." Ruby was having a hard time keeping a straight face as she held her hand out towards Topher, he shook it and gave her a knowing smile before nodding his approval.

"Nice to finally meet you, Elsie, can I call you Elsie? This is my second in command, Hollis Daniels. Hollis, you remember the conversation I was telling you about? This is her, she's going to help us protect the pack. Everyone I'd like you all to welcome Elsie into the pack, she's not a shifter but she brings more knowledge about our own kind than even our elders." There were grumbles in the room as Topher gave the order, she was expecting something like this as pack members weren't overly trusting of strangers who weren't connected to directly to the pack but they'd have to get used to it and Ruby knew she would need to prove herself.

"Nice to meet you all..." Ruby began but was cut off by someone holding their hand up to ask her a question, well, at least they were polite.

"No offence, but what's a teenager doing planning all of this? I'd rather follow my alpha into battle than someone your age." Again Ruby tried to keep the smile from her face as she addressed everyone standing in the room, they all wore expressions similar to what Topher had worn the other day.

"I may look young but I'm older than everyone in this room, I'm likely just older than all ages combined too. I know I have to prove myself but I'll do it if need be, I'm not going to lead you either. That's what Topher is for, I'm only working with him to ensure your pack survives whatever is coming. The last thing we need is a death toll higher than it should be because none of you wanted to listen to me." As expected several people took offence to her statement, she'd have to prove it and she really didn't want to use the only thing she knew would convince them but it was inevitable.

"How do we know you're not lying? You could say anything and we'd have to believe you." This question came from Hollis, Topher looked at him with as much surprise as he'd had last night. Had he given any of his pack members a rundown of what had been discussed?

"Why would I lie about something like this? I'm not here to mess around with anyone, I also can't lie. The magic I wield prevents me from lying to anyone," Ruby also didn't expect anyone to believe her, Topher was growing frustrated by his pack members but they had a right to know what they were getting themselves into.

"Topher, there's only one way to put questions to rest. But I need to show you outside, this room is too small and I might break something." Topher looked at her in surprise, she supposed he was as lost as the others. She'd only mentioned that she was a Lycan, she never mentioned that she was one of THE original lycans.

Topher showed her outside to a clearing behind his home. The fences were high and there was quite a lot of space for her to stretch out, she'd need all the space she could get and began stripping out of her clothing as soon as everyone had gathered.

There were a few wolf whistles followed by a few chuckles, Ruby was comfortable in her nakedness.

Walking out to the middle of the lawn she turned to the group and gave a smug smile, they wouldn't be amused soon enough and let her transformation take hold.

Ruby remembered the first time her limbs broke and reshaped themselves, she had passed out under that first full moon. The pain had been excruciating, the transformation had been slow and when she woke several days later she had been covered in bruises of an unknown nature.

The older she grew and the more she transformed the more likely she was to stay conscious throughout the transformation. Now it took seconds for her to transform and when it was done she stretched and tested her muscles and limbs, it had been several months since her last transformation and her creature wanted to run and cause havoc.

There were a few looks of horror on several faces, some of the warriors made noises.

Ruby didn't blame them, it had been many many years since the last lycan had died out. Lycans these days had been somewhat domesticated with the evolution of humans, technology and societies. The more structured a society the less likely a true lycan was to exist, instead, they were wolves not much bigger than house dogs.

When she transformed back into her human form she stumbled and fell to the ground, she caught herself just as she hit the ground. Transformations always took a toll on her, it was why she left it until the very last minute to transform. Her creature could stay out as long as needed but when she transformed back into her human form she was often starved and weak.

"Any more questions or doubts?" Ruby asked and she caught Topher's eye as he approached and returned his smile.

She'd seen his expression during her transformation, he'd be freaked out but seemed to recover quicker than most of the others.

Hollis appeared at her other side and draped a blanket over her before helping her to her feet.

Ruby wrapped the blanket around her and walked on weakened legs back inside, someone had already gathered her clothes and was carrying them inside for her. Once recovered she would have to remember to put them back on, she was sure Ben wouldn't appreciate her bare bum sitting on his nice seats.

"So...you're Obsidian? The legend?" One of the warriors finally asked, there was more than just a hint of amazement in his tone and posture. Ruby tried to hide the cringe, she hated that nickname. She wasn't even sure how she'd earned it but over the years whispers of Obsidian had spread across the world.

Now there was barely a country or a people that didn't whisper her name out of fear.

"Yes. Like I said, I'm older than I look. If you all accept who I am we can move forward with the planning, I've recently collected the information gathered by one of our scouts. She's also informed me that a human has gone missing this morning," Ruby looked at Topher, who nodded his head to confirm what she'd said.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with us?" One of the warriors piped up from behind her.

Ruby made sure she had everyone's attention before she began to recite the Prophecy of Two.

'Upon the shortest day, when lightning strikes twice.

A confession shall bring forth the rise of the night.

As sisters unite, a sacrifice with shattered glass frees the warrior to bring forth light.'

"It's called the Prophecy of the Two, there's another verse that mentions the Cavendish swamp so we at least know we're in the relative area of where this prophecy will happen. In my experience a missing person is the beginning, they're taken and used as a sacrifice to whomever the evil-doer is worshipping. Right now we're monitoring the situation, we don't know who is behind it or what the purpose is but it's happening." Ruby let that sink in, it was never easy for anyone to accept that their home and possible livelihood was being threatened by some unknown person or being.

"So we're going to plan, we're going to set up a perimeter that we can fall back to and defend if things get too bad. What I need from you all is escape routes that can't be blocked off, the more routes out we have however the more routes that need to be monitored. We have a warlock in town currently, all he needs is a few places and he can ward them. We'll need patrols every so often but the thing that really needs to happen is for life to continue, as usual, we can't alter anything before it happens as it might lead to more sh*t down the road." Ruby had a feeling Jonah was going to have to use his magic to wipe a few memories from peoples minds, the warriors seemed to be less hardened than she'd hoped.

The lack of war had led to softer people, that much she could understand but it was going to do nothing for them in the future if they had warriors that fled their posts because a shadow fell over their light.

"I know it sounds impossible but it can be done, we have resources and we have numbers. We just need to prepare those that are willing to fight for their pack and their homes. Those of you not willing to fight, that's okay and there will be no judgment from us if you decide now that you would rather be with your families." There were several people who appeared to want to leave already, Ruby was more than willing to let them go but Topher seemed to take it as a challenge.

"Will you not protect your pack as your alpha has protected you through these years?" The question came from Hollis, he seemed more offended than anything else.

"Don't pressure anyone into staying, the last thing we need is a coward standing watch. We don't need that sort of weakness in the team if they wish to leave now then let them and there will be no repercussions for it." Ruby stood in front of Hollis trying to catch his eye, when she did she noted that his nostrils flared at her challenge.

"Are you challenging me?" Hollis asked through clenched teeth as he looked down at her.

Ruby blinked several times before looking away, she felt her cheeks redden as she looked towards Topher. He had an odd look on his face but her frown prompted him into action.

"Stand down Hollis, R...Elsie is right. We can't force anyone to stay and fight and weakness now is better than weakness later. So, if anyone feels that they cannot perform this duty then you may return to your families now. But under the alphas oath, you will not breath a word of this to anyone, if you do you know what the punishment is." Ruby had a fair idea of what that punishment was, banishment from the pack. But many seemed to heed his warning well, by the time everyone settled in the room there were five warriors left.

"Okay, that leaves seven shifters for patrol duty." They needed more people as this wasn't going to be enough.

Ruby glanced at Topher again, there was still a lot of work to do.

"Let's get started?" Ruby asked as she shifted back to her chair and looked up at Topher expectantly.