The Great Council (Book 10)

Cover of The Great Council

Will our friends be able to unmask their leader and stop them before the conspiracy is completed?

An appeal has been made to convene The Great Council. The Ranger leaders will meet to study the threat of the dark secret faction and find a way to end the threat.

The Snow Panthers will be immersed in the conspiracy and will play a critical role in its resolution.

They will also continue their investigations to discover who is trying to end the lives of Lasgol and Egil, and the relationship between the attempts.

Will they manage to catch the leader of the Dark Rangers? Will they stop the conspiracy that threatens them and the throne? Will they find out who is behind the attempts on their lives?

## Plot

Viggo and Ingrid, who are on their way to the Shelter to escort the Mother Specialist and the Elder Elite Specialists to the capitol for the Great Council, stop to rescue a cloth trader from some bandits. Meanwhile Lasgol and Astrid are visiting Skad. Martha arranged a surprise party for them at Lasgol's house, because she got a note from Egil, who sent Milton to deliver it, saying that Lasgol would arrive that day. At the party, Gondar warns Lasgol that Malason's cousin, Osvald the Whip, still has a grudge against him for removing him from the Eklund estate. Limus also tells Lasgol that Count Malason has been selling iron, coal, and silver to Eastern traders. Lasgol sends this information to Egil by Milton, and then he and Astrid go to Count Malason's castle.

Meanwhile, Egil and Gerd are assigned to be part of the escort to take Eyra to Norghania. Angus sends Valeria with them, as well as several veteran Rangers; the escort is under the command of Gurkog Gormsson, a Specialist Ranger. Ingrid and Viggo arrive at the Shelter and meet four other Ranger Specialists sent as part of the escort: Aron Almensen, Ulrich Ulmonsen, Molak, and Luca. Then they meet Sigrid, Loke, Enduald, and the four Elders. Their group sets out, and reaches the bridge across the Rosteg river, where the Dark Rangers ambush them. Loke decides to split their group; Engla, Ivar, Gisli, Aron, and Ulrich go with him, while the others follow Ingrid.

A group of Dark Rangers follows Ingrid's group, and they have to stop and fight, since Engla collapses from exhaustion. Molak and Luca are wounded, and Viggo discovers that one of the Dark Rangers is Jacob, one of the Ranger candidates he knew back at the Camp, who failed to graduate. Jacob surrenders, knowing he is outmatched by Viggo, and Sigrid orders Viggo to tie him up and take him with them for interrogation. Loke's group had to fight a larger group of Dark Rangers; Aron and Ulrich are killed, and Gisli severely wounded.

Meanwhile, Lasgol and Astrid continue traveling to Count Malason's castle. While they are stopped for a rest, Lasgol activates his mother's pendant, and sees a memory of his father with King Uthar on a hunt. Sven is there also, and kills a boar to stop it from potentially wounding Uthar. Afterwards, Lasgol and Astrid continue on their mission. When they they reach the castle, Lasgol leaves Camu and Ona outside, since they would scare the people in the castle. They deliver Egil's message to Count Malason, and as they are leaving, they meet Count Olmossen, who has come to visit Malason. He gets into an argument about Valeria, and then Lasgol and Astrid leave; on the way, Astrid tells Lasgol that her father died on a Ranger mission when she was eight years old, and her mother died from the bite of a venomous snake when she was seven. Then Alvis invites them to the dining hall to have a meal before they leave. While they are eating, Osvald and six thugs attack Lasgol and Astrid, but they manage to defeat Osvald and his group.

Meanwhile Egil's group are continuing to escort Eyra to the capitol. The other Rangers in the group are Specialists Fulker Inservand and Enok Underson and veterans Ibsen and Musker Isterton, who was spying on Egil at the Camp. They are ambushed by a Forest Sniper along the way, and an arrow grazes Eyra's head, drawing blood. That night when the group stops, Eyra has a very high fever. Egil examines her wound and determines that she has been poisoned by the arrow. At dawn, Egil suggests that they fetch snow from the mountains to bring down Eyra's fever. Gurkog and most of the group leave to get the snow, while Val is sent to get a healer from the nearby city of Icelbag and Musker is left to help guard Egil and Eyra.

After the others leave, Egil interrogates Musker using Ginger and Fred after giving him tea laced with a paralyzing drug. Musker reveals the name of the person who told him to spy on Egil, and the fact that he is not a Dark Ranger. Later that day, a Dark Ranger Assassin attacks, kills Musker and wounds Egil, and frees Eyra, who has managed to fake her symptoms all along. Eyra orders the Assassin not to kill Egil and then leaves after warning Egil not to pursue her. Then Gurkog and the others come back. Gurkog is furious, and leaves to follow Eyra ordering Ibsen, Enok and Fulver to follow. Gerd stays with Egil to wait for Valeria to come back. When Valeria and the healer come back, the healer tells them that it is possible to fake the symptoms of a very high fever using venom.

Meanwhile, Lasgol and Astrid reach the capitol. They meet Nilsa, who takes them to Ingrid and Viggo. Two days later, Egil, Gerd, and Valeria arrive. They report to Gatik and Gondabar. Several days later, Dolbarar, Angus, and the Master Rangers arrive, and the initial stages of the Great Council begin. The Snow Panthers are invited to attend, since they will be questioned as witnesses. During the Council, Sigrid brings up her plan to create Superior Specialists. A Mage named Brenda Noita is also present at the Council. On the third day, the King comes to the Council to make decisions on how to proceed. Thoran removes Gondabar from the post of leadership, but allows him to remain as a counselor. He also removes Dolbarar from the position of Leader of the Camp and allows him to remain as a counselor. He appoints Angus as the new Leader of the Camp and Gatik as the new Leader of the Rangers. Thoran orders the Rangers to destroy the Dark Rangers, and Engla proposes to create a group of Rangers for special operations, which Sigrid agrees with since this group would partake in her experiments to create Superior Specialists. Thoran agrees to both proposals.

Then the Rangers travel to the Dark Rangers' camp. They attack, and during the battle the Snow Panthers manage to get to Eyra's tent and capture her. As she is about to tell them the name of the person who leads the Dark Rangers, a stray arrow hits her in the chest and kills her. As she is dying, she points at a group of Royal Rangers and says one of them is the leader. The rest of the Dark Rangers are killed or captured, and the force of Rangers returns to the capitol with their prisoners.

Then Thoran and Orten leave, Orten to raid in Masig territory and Thoran to visit Count Volgren, since he wants to marry his sister Ulrika. Egil then leaves, taking Gerd with him. He goes to meet Count Malason at midnight, to interrogate him about his loyalties. Malason denies any treachery, and then Count Olmossen arrives. He reveals that he was really the one who hired the Guild of the Blue Snake to kill Egil, and that he wants to become King of the West. A group of soldiers, including Osvald, Malason's cousin, arrive, and Olmossen orders them to kill Malason and Egil. Olmossen reveals that he has a partner, the Boar, who will rule the East when they take control of Norghana. At this time a plan to assassinate Thoran and Orten is already underway. Egil asks about the Bear, since it is obvious this plot has to deal with the Dark Rangers, and Olmossen tells him the Bear already has what he wants (leadership of the Rangers), although the Bear will also kill Lasgol. Then Egil waves wildly and the other Western nobles, with a force of soldiers, come out of a nearby forest. The warriors who had come with Osvald and Olmossen take the two traitors prisoner.

Olmossen is taken to a secure location near the capitol, and Egil and Gerd return to the capitol. Nilsa tells them the results of her questions to the captured Dark Rangers; they did not kill Eyra. Ingrid had also asked two Ranger Specialists, Thorir and Vidar, about the battle at the Dark Rangers' camp, and they said the arrow that killed Eyra definitely came from the Royal Rangers' side. Egil suddenly remembers a detail from Lasgol's vision, and takes him to talk to the Leader of the Hunt, Aren. Egil asks Aren who are the best hunters of bears and boars, and he tells them that Gatik and Sven are the champions in hunting these animals. Egil and Lasgol return to the Snow Panthers' room, and tell them what they discovered: that Sven, Gatik, and Olmossen are plotting to take over Norghana. Egil guesses that Gatik is the leader of the Dark Rangers.

Egil says they have to stop the coup, which will be difficult since Sven already left with Orten, and Gatik has left to go bear hunting in the Black Mountains. Ingrid and Nilsa go to warn King Thoran, Egil and Gerd go to fetch Olmossen and bring him to Thoran so he can confess, Viggo and Astrid go to stop Sven, and Lasgol goes to spy on Gatik. Valeria follows Lasgol, and despite his arguments that he has to complete this mission by himself, she joins him. Lasgol tells her that the mission is to spy on the leader of the Dark Rangers, though he doesn't tell her that their target is Gatik. They reach a valley where Gatik is hunting bears, and find a dead bear. Lasgol goes to investigate it and is caught in traps which Gatik had set. Camu and Ona are also caught in some ice traps. Lasgol tells Valeria to hide and shoot Gatik when he comes. Instead, when Gatik comes down, Valeria calmly walks up to him, and Gatik congratulates her on helping him to capture Lasgol.

Meanwhile, Orten and Sven are riding along when they are attacked by the Dark Rangers. Sven and the six Royal Guards he brought with him attack Orten and his thirty soldiers. All of Orten's soldiers are killed, but Viggo and Astrid arrive and kill the Dark Rangers and two of the Royal Guards, the rest having been killed by Orten. Sven tries to escape, but is killed by Viggo and Astrid. Meanwhile, Lasgol is still trapped and about to be killed by Gatik. Valeria tells him that she was sent to the Camp to become a Dark Ranger, that she actually gets along well with her father, and that she helped Eyra escape. Gatik reveals that he killed Eyra himself for letting Egil live, and that he will kill both Lasgol and Egil. Lasgol manages to stall for time by revealing that the other Snow Panthers are on their way to protect the King and Orten, and that Olmossen has been captured. Gatik orders Valeria to kill Lasgol; at the last second, she changes her mind and shoots at Gatik, but he shoots her and wounds her severely. Ona gets free from the traps and kills Gatik after Lasgol blinds him with his magical Dirt Throwing skill.

Meanwhile Ingrid and Nilsa reach Thoran's camp. They try to convince Uldritch, the commander of the Royal Guards there, to let them see the King, but he is under orders not to let anyone disturb Thoran; Nilsa convinces him to strengthen the watch around the camp. The Dark Rangers attack, and Frey also attacks the King and kills Hans, revealing himself as a Dark Ranger; he is about to kill Thoran when Nilsa kills him. Meanwhile, Egil and Gerd find Lasgol and Valeria huddled in a tent. Valeria is unconscious from loss of blood, and Lasgol is not able to walk well because of the trap wound in his leg. Egil treats their wounds, and then Lasgol tells Egil and Gerd what happened.

A week later, King Thoran holds a meeting in the capitol to inform the nobles about the conspiracy to take over the kingdom, and the deaths of Sven and Gatik; he announces that Olmossen will be hung once Orten finishes interrogating him. Thoran gives Nilsa, Ingrid, Astrid, and Viggo the Norghanian Star of Courage as a reward for saving his and Orten's lives. Then Thoran decides to appoint the Snow Panthers as the special group of Rangers that he had decided to create at the Great Council. They will only report to Thoran and the Leader of the Rangers. Thoran calls the group the Royal Eagles. At their request, Gondabar and Dolbarar are reappointed as Leader of the Rangers and Leader of the Camp.

Sigrid requests that the Royal Eagles report to the Shelter, so that Egil, Nilsa and Gerd can become Specialists and so she can continue her experiments to create Superior Specialists. She tells them that she has been working with Enduald to create a safer way to do the experiments. While they are not entirely convinced, Viggo and Ingrid are interested in the experiments, and the others (except Lasgol) are not completely opposed to them.

Afterwards Egil and the other Royal Eagles meet in the same place where Egil met with Count Malason before. Count Malason arrives with some soldiers and Valeria; Malason leaves her with the Royal Eagles and he withdraws with his soldiers. Egil proposes to exile Valeria from Norghana under pain of death. Egil, Gerd and Nilsa vote for this, while Ingrid, Viggo and Astrid vote against. Lasgol decides to support the idea, because Valeria didn't kill him in the end, and they send Valeria off.

Later Ingrid and Egil are in an inn when Eyra's Natural Assassin attacks them, first poisoning their food so that they lose consciousness and then coming into the room to kill them. He is stopped by Viggo, who manages to kill him by hitting him with two stools to stun him and then stabbing him in the heart. However, in the fight Viggo is wounded by a poisoned knife. He loses consciousness, and Ingrid is trying to revive him when he suddenly wakes up; then they kiss.