Emergency meetings became daily.
Klaus wanted to go on the offensive—find the source of the rifts and destroy it. Elijah counseled patience, more defenses, better preparation. Marcel argued for evacuation of non-combatants. Hayley demanded protection for the pack's territory.
I listened to all of them, weighing options against probabilities.
"They're herding us," I said finally. "Every attack forces us to react, to spread our forces thinner, to reveal our weaknesses. That's the pattern."
"Then what do we do?" Klaus's frustration was palpable. "Sit here and wait to be overwhelmed?"
"No. We find their command node. The entity guiding the attacks. It's not here—not in this reality—but it's connected to the rifts. If we can trace that connection..."
"You can kill it," Elijah finished.
"I can try."
[QUEST GENERATED: FIND THE COMMAND NODE]
[Objective: Trace dimensional rifts to their source]
[Reward: Evolution progress +5%, Intelligence on enemy command]
[Time limit: Before next major wave (estimated 48 hours)]
[Risk: EXTREME]
[Recommendation: Proceed with caution]
I spent the next two days in meditation, reaching through the rifts with my dimensional awareness, following threads of power that led into darkness. The entity at the other end was vast—not a single mind but a collective, ancient beyond measure, hungry in ways I recognized.
[COMMAND NODE LOCATED]
[Entity classification: The Collective]
[Origin: Pre-multiversal]
[Purpose: Consumption of young realities]
[Target: Hope Mikaelson's power]
[Threat level: APOCALYPTIC]
[Time until full invasion: 2-3 weeks]
I withdrew from the meditation with a gasp, cold sweat on my skin.
"What did you see?" Davina was beside me, her hand on my arm.
"Something old. Something hungry." I met her eyes. "And something that's going to take everything we have to stop."
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