Free Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) by David Leadbeater

our history.
     
    *****
     
    The meeting room was full to bursting. I sat with a bedraggled looking Lucy as unobtrusively as possible. A high row of windows marched away to my left, loo king out onto a n ordinary York street. People walked there- mothers pushed prams, little girls held their fathers ’ hands, a postman delivered letters- completely unaware that on the other side of those opaque windows the fate o f the world was being decided . I recognized few people to be honest, Myleene, Belinda, the lo vely Lycan, Ceriden the vampire and the oriental guy, Kisami, sitting a few rows in front .
    And God how I wished for my trusty old Nikon. The camera is the physical extension of the mind , and my mind captured grainy studies in tension, fear and anticipation.
    Myleene br ought the meeting to order by indicat ing the quad bank of video screens mounted on the wall, facing us. “ Soon we will see Tristran, Master of Vampires. Cheyne- the Witch Queen. And Eldritch- King of the Elves. Their representatives in the room are Ceriden, whom you all know, and-” Myleene paused as if in awe.
    “Eleanor, the wife of Eldritch. Queen of the Elves.”
    M y jaw dropped. I knew enough to be stunned by the presence of a being even vampires said were rare and reverential.
    Elves? I thought. Am I dreaming?
    I saw a diminutive figure give a slight nod from the front row. I craned my neck to get a better view, then noticed Lucy doing a complicated neck-wrenching manoeuvre beside me. I patted her knee. “We’ll catch her later,” I winked.
       Myleene had recovered her poise . She flicked a switch and the screens flickered to life.
    And so this momentous meeting of the true leaders of the world began.
    Giles, the world leader of Aegis , said nothing. Myleene stayed on her feet, taking the spotlight. They’d p robably worked out a routine between them where she took the limelight , whilst he kept to the background, taking time to think. The idea was sound.
    Myleene spoke up. “First the good news. Devon Summers, of Maui, has been successfully extracted. Our enemy got to her first but made a mistake," she smiled. “ Devon is our healer.”
    There were a few positive expletives around the room.
    “Devon is on her way to York. And Ken Hamilton, another of the Eight, has been found, though he is proving hard to convince.”
    “ Just put me in line for a crack at that,” Belinda said .
    Ceriden cooed. “ Belinda!”
    I guessed they knew something about Ken Hamilton that I didn’t.
    “ All the Eight have been located,” Myleene said with obvious pride. “And all are alive. We will do our best to keep them that way. But we h ave not yet made contact with the majority of them.”
    “How long do you anticipate?”  Eldritch asked.
    “Twenty four hours,” Myleene said. “That’s all we need.”
    “Make it quicker, please,” Eldritch said, somehow making his order sound like a reasonable request. “The Eight are all that stand between us and oblivion.”
    Tristran spoke up next. For a master vampire he didn’t sound good. His voice shook as he spoke. “ Any luck with triggering their latent . . . powers . . . yet? ” Tristran’s words ended in a series of wracking coughs.
    “ We haven’t started yet, Tristran.”
    “Then what happened with Devon Summers?”
    “We believe her powers surfaced in response to a near-death situation,” Myleene sighed. “Let’s hope it’s not the only way.”
    “We can at least start their training,” Eldritch said “ P erhaps Eleanor could help? N one are better at training than the elves . If anyone can coax their powers out it is Eleanor, our finest.”
    A voice answered from the front row . “I am grateful for the opportunity, husband.”
    I noticed Myleene relax. I realized there was more diplomacy going on here than it seemed .
    “I ’m sure we can still lear n more from this text,” Cheyne said. “This text of Arcadia. I’m sure I don’t need to mention that nobody has