There were a lot of serious and determined people in the Divine Temple's war council chamber. Rick was sitting at the long oak table with Carmilla on his right and Natasha on his left.
Liora was sitting across from him, and her calm face hid the worry he could feel through their bond. Fredrich was at the head of the table with a detailed map in front of him while holding his head that started to hurt, and Guildmaster Roderick was going over intelligence reports with a worried look on his face.
But the most shocking person there was Sylvia Flameheart herself, who had just come from the Northern Peaks an hour before through an emergency portal.
The Dragon Queen sat at the end of the table in a human form. Her red and gold hair caught the morning light coming in through the windows.
Even while sitting down, she exuded power and authority that made the Academy mages standing guard along the walls move around nervously.
