Screens flickered around the circular chamber, hastily conjured by a mix of Fae magic and human technology. They showed chaos. In London, the granite Guardian, now named "The Warder of the Stone" by a panicked media, stood knee-deep in the ruins of a financial district skyscraper, its head swiveling slowly as if searching for a threat it couldn't name. In Tokyo, the serpentine "Kami of the Root" had coiled around the Tokyo Tower, not crushing it, but holding it in a protective, yet terrifying, embrace, its wooden face a mask of ancient concern. But in other cities, the story was different. In a sprawling, densely populated metropolis in Asia, a Guardian of dark, oily stone and twisted rebar roared, its eyes burning with a corrosive purple energy, swatting at helicopters and smashing infrastructure.
The initial surge of empowerment had faded, replaced by a global crisis. The alliance was paralyzed, divided on how to respond to beings whose power seemed to rival their own.
