Alisariah the sorceress trod over to a still mirror of water at the center of the glade, she wove her magic over it and invoked a scrying sensor that cast its unseen gaze over the intruders.
They numbered twelve in all, the county sheriff George MacLeod and three deputies Trent , Adam, and Kait, judging by their badges. Waiting at the edge of the yellow police tape were volunteer fire fighters manning their truck, Frederick Blake, noted pillar of the community, his son Thomas and associate Walter. Beside that was a parked ambulance hosting two female paramedics, neither woman had any id immediately apparent on their clothes, but Kenzia smiled in recognition. “Looks like Sam got promoted. Good for her. And us, as it turns out.” Rounding out the crowd was a news van, Charlotte Callier reporter for channel 4 local news and her two cameramen were setting up from a distance.
“This could be good for us. There are a lot of important people here, people with a lot of reach in the community.” Astania pointed out.
“They could spread our gifts far and wide. With all of them, and us, we could cast a glamour over the whole town. Everyone in a ten mile radius will become an elf, and the humans outside the bubble will be none the wiser.” Alisariah suggested.
Maraya chuckled full of mirth. “Absolutely devious Ali, I always knew you were the right choice. But what if we wanted to really get this party started? We could transform Charlotte live on camera. It’ll hit the waves on a lot of channels, and we’ll cast a much wider net like that.”
Alisariah handmaiden Terrania, who’d been sharpening an axe during the conversation, perked up. “If we do that then we’re throwing caution to the wind, might as well try to get the footage online, not just through cable.”
“Then maybe we shouldn’t try to make such a big move at all yet, we should modify their memories and send them home. That way we can protect our secrecy and get some proper defenses over this place. Plus- once they’re all home, we can break the spell and meet them in their dreams, change them all remotely.” Kenzia smiled, reminiscing on where this all started.
“And set up a bunch of glades just like this one.” Jannavie finished the thought.
Astania looked to her fellow queens and put her hands on her hips. “Sounds like we’re at a deadlock. If I can offer my own input, I think we should…”