Excerpt: Yggdraia: The Greying Tree

The first speaker stood up and slammed a hand on the oak surface of the massive table angrily. “You will doom us all with your stupidity and curiosity! We have no time to spare, and no-one to send to study them! Was it not you who proposed we close the borders in the first place? We should be concentrating on keeping the Tree safe.”

He nodded, acknowledged the speaker’s words despite their vehement tone. "I did recommend the borders be kept closed to them and, while I disagree with his choice of words, Tyr speaks the truth; we should channel all our efforts towards the health of our lands. However, there is someone we can spare, someone who may study these creatures at will.”

Tyr’s voice echoed in roaring laughter at his words and the massed council turned as one to stare at him. “Surely, you jest. You know as well as I do that he cannot be trusted with anything, much less a task as delicate as that which you describe. He would make a mockery of any such investigation.”

Woden nodded, conceding the point. “Be that as it may, we have no choice in the matter, for I believe our hand to be forced in this. If we do not reach out to them, they may eventually reach out to us, at a most inopportune time.”

Another murmur shook the group at his words, and he continued.
“In any case, it is now a moot point. I have already dispatched our friend.”