Here is the second chapter of this fic, technically the ninth chapter from the actual book. Please let me know what you think, I always do my best to respond to reviews! Although this week I'll be at camp, so responses might be delayed.

-owl

The four children had been training with Lucette together for almost a full week when Conor was dragged into Olvan's office by Lenori after having a chat about his recent dreams. The office itself was not extravagant, but was ornate in a dignified, yet subtle, way. It was even bigger than the Earl of Trunswick's study.

The other three children, Tarik, and Nicolai were there as well. Jhi was nowhere to be seen, but Uraza seemed to be having a staring contest with Essix. Lumeo was darting around the room in bursts of energy, showing the difference between his playfulness and Tarik's seriousness and making Conor wonder how the two had ever bonded. Nicolai's spirit animal was also nowhere to be seen, but Olvan's moose stood by the fireplace, looking ever so majestic.

Olvan stood from the chair behind his desk and cleared his throat. "It is time to act. Rollan," he turned to the boy, "I know you have often wondered why we wanted you here, even more so when you were so rarely sent along on missions. That is on me." He stopped and turned back to the room as a whole. "Now that we have all four of you here together, and a direction to go, courtesy of Conor, it is time to act."

The commander let out a heavy sigh before continuing to speak. "Long ago, when the first Devourer and his Conquerors ravaged the world, they were aided by two of the Great Beasts. Kovo the Ape and Gerathon the Serpent. They were opposed by the Four Fallen."

There was another lengthy pause. Conor leaned into Briggan, who was sitting next to him. How did the Great Wolf ever decide him to be worthy?

"Before they joined the fight, the Greencloaks, new to the world at the time, and most of the world had lost hope. They won, of course, and everyone took a step back to rebuild. After the Four died, Kovo and Gerathon were captured, courtesy of Tellun the Elk."

"What happened to the other nine?" Rollan asked. "There were fifteen total, right?"

Lenori nodded, but didn't speak, letting Olvan continue.

"They had seen what happened, and chose to stay hidden, aloof as they often are. They probably felt that protecting their talisman was more important than the war itself, in any case."

Conor looked over to Lenori, a question clear in his eyes; whatever was a talisman?

"Each of the Great Beasts protects a talisman," she explained, "a totem housing great power."

"Kovo, Gerathon, and the Fallen, though," Meilin put in, "their talismans vanished. Some think that Tellun had Halawir the Eagle hide them away."

Olvan nodded, a faint look of satisfaction on his face. "You know your history. Many people now dismiss the Great Beasts as mere legends. However, Erdas can not bear to do that anymore. We are rushing headfirst into a catastrophe that only with the Great Beasts will we be able to save ourselves."

"You think the Devourer is back?" Abeke asked, shock and a hint of fear in her voice.

At the same time, Meilin also exploded. "Is that who attacked Zhong? Why weren't we warned?"

"We get new information every day. While we had our suspicions about the Devourer returning, I do not have quite enough pull among the world leaders to convince them of such a thing. In any case, what's done is done. All we can do is focus on going forward. And, going forward, we need to find the talismans of the Great Beasts before the Devourer can."

Rollan looked panicked, which was odd for Conor, as he had only ever seen the boy with that faintly cocky expression. "You want us, a group of children who are eleven and twelve to go traipsing across the world for the talismans?"

"You won't be going alone. Tarik and Nicolai are both the Greencloak's finest warriors. I also know that Lucette would fight tooth and nail to protect you alongside her brother. I hate that you're all so young, but the Fallen will be the key, I think, to finding the talismans. We need you. Erdas needs you."

There was silence after Olvan's speech, as if the enormity of the situation was being realized by all parties involved. To go up against a Great Beast, and ask them for their talisman that they had guarded since long before written history? It was practically a death mission. And Conor knew a lot about those, as Devin liked to threaten to send either of Conor's brothers on such a mission.

Conor looked again at Briggan, curling his fingers into the wolf's thick neck fur. Without him, Conor would still be a serving boy for a stuck up rich kid. Without Briggan, the Greencloaks would have no direction in which to start looking for the talismans. As much as the idea terrified him, Conor knew that Olvan was right, they had to get them before the Conquerors could.

"We're in," he said, his voice breaking slightly.

Rollan sighed. "I'm not a Greencloak. However—"

"Jhi and I will fight for the Greencloaks and Erdas," Meilin cut in, breaking off Rollan's half-baked train of thought. "I want to make a difference, to fix things. I know what's coming, I was smuggled out of my home as we were attacked. We need to stop the Conquerors. I will do whatever it takes."

Abeke nodded. "Uraza and I are ready."

And with that, all eyes turned to Rollan, who seemed to be having a very serious internal debate with Essix, who was perched on his shoulder.

"A year ago," he finally said, "I would have been very unlikely to even hear you out. Although, now that I can better trust the Greencloaks, I can say with certainty that while I have not taken the vows, and still may never do so, I promised my help to the Greencloaks. I will help find the talismans."

Essix screeched her agreement, then flew out the window as Rollan left the room, followed by most everyone else. Conor walked with his hand in Briggan's pelt, drawing strength from the animal. How did he ever get himself into this mess?