Monday: November 5, 2007
Who: Dylan, Theora, and Constance
When: 8:00 AM
Where: The Wellspring, located in Town Hall.
What: Dreadful news has reached the Head Council regarding the havens in The Bahamas and Norfolk Island . . .

After discussing the harpy attack yesterday, the council all agreed upon the reason for it lying within the trespassing youths a few days ago. Harpies were not known for their pleasantness, and Theora would go to the harpies and speak with him in hopes to calm the animals not to trespass the dwellings outside of their mountains if it was promised no more of their kind would trespass in the harpies' territory. They were territorial creatures and reason was not much within their capabilities. However, the High Priestess would hopefully be able to speak reason to them.

Now, they all stood before the Wellspring. It was an elaborate fountain made of ten basins, an Elven construction of communication between the havens. In the largest basin, the water would capture the image and voices of Elysium's Head Council and allow other havens to see them and hear them speak. Surrounding the largest basin were nine smaller basins, though all were large enough to reflect the faces of the council members from all around the world. Two of the smaller basins, however, were empty and had no faces to reflect.

"So," Dylan concluded out loud as all of the discussion came to a sudden silence over the councils, "The Bahamanian haven is not here tonight, and Norfolk Island has been silent for almost a month — and we have no idea what has happened to either one of them."

"We have not heard from The Bahamanian haven for two weeks," a councilman of Sri Lanka announced anxiously. "All communications have been silent across the board. This we have already discussed," he said urgently.

"We should send scouts, each haven," a councilwoman of Mai-Ndombe suggested. "We may find out what happened."

Theora listened to the council members from the other havens. She too was worried about the lack of contact with Norfolk Island and the Bahamian haven. It was unlike them, especially since they knew these meetings were important. It was the only form of contact that was instantaneous between them, anything else would take weeks, even months. "I agree," the priestess said finally. "Scouts should be sent. Elysium will set one up immediately." She immediately thought of Loki, knowing that he would make the trip to the Bahamas and that he would be a good candidate for an ambassador.

"Who will send a scouting mission to Norfolk Island?"

"We will," volunteered the council from the Andaman Islands in India. "We have reliable men who are skilled at sea travel."

Constance didn't like the sound of this at all. Week by week had passed, and nothing — not a sign — came to them from Norfolk Island in Australia. Now, the island nation south of Florida had gone silent, too. Being the most pessimistic of the two council members of Elysium, she suspected the worst. She didn't even know what the worst was supposed to be. "I don't like the sound of this," Constance said out loud, her displeasure obvious. "Not the scouts," she added with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The silence."

She looked to the council members of Kenai in Alaska, the one that held the rest of her family and many people from America, and then turned to look at those in Galapagos. "Kenai, Galapagos . . . those are the final havens in the Western Hemisphere. Keep yourselves on guard. We have no idea what's causing all this. For all we know, it's going to get worse."

Dylan frowned as he turned to look at Constance. He did not want her alarming the other councils, but it was said and she could not take it back. "Yes, it very well may be," he said, "but that does not mean it is." He faced the rest of the councils, even as chatter erupted amongst them. Panic would not be the way to come to terms with this ordeal or figure out what was causing it in the first place. He knew they all needed to be of sound mind and body in order to accomplish their goals of discovering why. "We must keep hope and not degrade ourselves into panic. It is important that we keep our heads clear during this time. Still, we must also remain on guard and keep a watchful eye on the horizon."

Slowly, Dylan found himself shaking his head. "We do not know what is causing this," he said. "I am not going to let that weaken my resolve, nor should it weaken any of yours." A gentle inhalation filled his lungs with air. He breathed it out steadily through his nose, his chest rising and falling with the motion. "We will get contact with the havens. Our scouts will see to that."

Theora, too, did not wish to alarm the other havens, but there was something that tugged at her intuition. Something was not right, and the silence was unnatural. The priestess ignored the ill feelings that were growing, focusing on the meeting at hand. "We will secure scouts here for the journey to the Bahamas. I also feel we should increase our communication to at least once a week, so that we may keep abreast of the situation." The other havens agreed, and when all was said and done the meeting was brought to a close. It was the first meeting that brought with it worrisome news, and for the first time since Euryale's prediction there was a sense of foreboding that filled the air.