Aalon, E’sphara, Olterian, and Gl’nsiel met for the first time a week after Gl’nsiel joined with the other three.

They chose to meet in Old City, at a quaint little restaurant Aalon loved. Knowing the owner of the establishment, he arranged for a very quiet booth well away from where most patrons would pass by.

Since they gathered after dark, the restaurant was lit solely by artificial light. The lighting was diffuse so as not to overwhelm patrons, and kept intentionally subdued for both ambiance and relative anonymity.

Aalon had arrived first, intentionally so, as he wished to visit with old friend Sjre Jlrasre, who had opened the restaurant 4 decades before. Sjre rarely missed a day at work, for he loved to be hands on in food preparation, in greeting guests, and to make certain each guest left feeling like their experience was better than their expectations.

Arriving before the restaurant opened, Aalon found the door to the establishment unlocked. Stealthily entering, he headed for the back right, where the kitchen and office were located. Passing the office, it was naturally empty. Moving into the kitchen, he found Sjre busily engaged in making one of the two soups he would offer on this night.

Sjre caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning toward the movement, he dropped his knife onto the cutting surface and rushed to embrace his old friend. “Aalon, why didn’t you call and let me know you were coming, I would have prepared something special!” Sjre beamed. An amusing statement, for everything he prepared was generally ‘special.’ Something meant to outdo the usual would be special, indeed.

“Come, come” Sjre motioned to Aalon, leading him to a booth in the restaurant proper, stopping to ask a member of the waitstaff to bring a 2 wine glasses, a bottle of a special reserve wine Aalon had stored off to the right of his wine cellar, wines which were to be accessed only with his express authorisation. Within moments, the wine was served, along with fresh bread straight out of Sjre’s baking oven.

Aalon swished the wine around in his glass, then slowly sipped the burgundy coloured liquid, savouring every last molecule before swallowing. Setting the glass down, he thanked his friend and host. “You are most gracious, as always, Sjre. In a half hour or so, 3 friends will be joining me for dinner. You are welcome to join with us as we discuss our intentions.” Aalon extended an invite for one more to be part of their unfolding plan. He then launched into details, ending with the identities of the remaining three diners.

No stranger to celebrity visits, Sjre was nonetheless impressed that E’sphara and Gl’nsiel would be together in his restaurant. With Olterian, while he had heard of him before, really knew little about the man.

A bit more than a half hour after the expected time, the remaining 3 walked in together. Since Sjre was busy with Aalon, another of the waitstaff assumed maitré d’ duties. Alerted to their imminent arrival, the host guided the three new diners to the rear of the restaurant, where a narrow crook of space extended further back. The space allowed for only one row of booths, and they were well spaced. There was little likelihood any of their conversation would be overheard, but just to be safe; Sjre gave instructions not to seat anyone at the booth closest to theirs.

Greetings and introductions began anew, cross sharing amongst what was now The Five, five from an older generation, five with something left to give to their world. Their express purpose was to protect llhaesa, and on that they would fail. Little did they know in this first gathering that the missing pieces to their jigsaw puzzle goal of societal change were coming together, even if it would take over two decades to achieve.

The coming loss of llhaesa would be a huge blow to those working for change. Some – most – would consider it a fatal blow; but the influence of those a world looks to for leadership has a funny way of cheating death, their beliefs and their inspiration living on long after they last walked among us.