CHAPTER 196: DIMENSIONAL COUNCIL

OMNISCIENT POV

The golden door opened right in the middle of the Devourer attack.

Lily barely had time to duck as a creature made of stars stepped through, waving her hand to freeze every shadow monster in place. The being looked almost human, except for eyes that held the depth of entire worlds and skin that shimmered like liquid gold.

"Lily Carter of Silver Peak," the stranger said, her voice echoing with the sound of faraway music. "Caleb Silver, mate-bonded expert. You are both ordered to appear before the Dimensional Council immediately."

"Um, we’re kind of busy right now," Aiden said, looking at the frozen Devourers surrounding them. "You know, fighting for our lives and all that."

The golden being barely glanced at him. "Alpha Aiden Silver, your concerns are noticed but irrelevant. The Council’s business takes priority over local fights."

"Local conflicts?" Brock snarled. "Lady, in case you haven’t noticed, reality is falling apart!"

"Precisely why the Council requires Lily and Caleb’s immediate presence," she replied calmly. "The change of the seventh Architect affects all dimensions. This problem is far beyond your pack’s ability to handle."

Lily felt Caleb’s hand tighten around hers. Through their mate bond, she could feel his mind racing, trying to process this new information. A Dimensional Council? How many beings knew about what was happening to her?

"What if we refuse?" Lily asked, though part of her already knew the answer.

The golden being’s face didn’t change. "Refusal is not a choice. You have been picked to represent not just your reality, but your entire dimensional cluster in the emergency session. Billions of lives hang in the balance."

"Billions?" Luna whispered.

"The awakening of seven Architects simultaneously has never occurred before," the being explained. "Previous fights involved only two or three at most. With all seven active, the fundamental structure of life itself is at risk."

Elder Iris stepped forward, leaning heavily on her walking stick. "Child, I’ve lived long enough to know when forces beyond our understanding are at work. Perhaps it’s time to listen."

The frozen Devourers around them started to twitch, their temporary paralysis starting to weaken.

"The containment will not hold much longer," the golden being said quickly. "If you do not come now, your entire pack will be consumed, and the Council will lose its only chance to prevent universal collapse."

Lily looked around at her pack family - Aiden trying to project confidence while clearly scared, Brock ready to fight anything that threatened them, Luna struggling with her own guilt and fear. These people had become everything to her. The thought of leaving them, even temporarily, felt like ripping away part of her soul.

But she could also feel the thing growing inside the gaps where her soul used to be. The presence that wasn’t quite her, getting stronger with each passing minute. If she really was becoming this seventh Architect, maybe the Council could help her find a way to stop it.

"We’ll go," she said, ignoring Caleb’s sharp intake of breath. "But our pack comes too."

"Impossible. The Council chamber exists between worlds. Only those with dimensional powers can survive the transit."

"Then enhance them," Caleb said quickly. "You froze the Devourers with a motion. Surely you can give our pack members temporary dimensional safety."

The golden being looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected the quiet scholar to challenge her. "That would be... highly irregular."

"So is the situation," Lily pointed out. "You said yourself this has never happened before. Maybe it’s time to break some rules."

For a moment, the being studied them both with those galaxy-deep eyes. Then she nodded slowly. "Very well. But understand - if any of your pack members cannot handle the dimensional stress, they will be lost between worlds forever."

"We understand," Aiden said, stepping up beside Lily. "We’re family. We face this together."

The golden being raised both hands, and waves of sparkling energy washed over the pack. Lily felt the power settle into each of them, forming a protective shell around their consciousness. Little Jake giggled as his own dimensional powers suddenly amplified, while the adults looked nervously at their glowing hands.

"The enhancement will last exactly one hour," the being warned. "After that, any non-dimensional pack members will begin to dissolve. Do not waste time."

She gestured, and a huge portal opened - not the small golden doorway she’d arrived through, but a swirling vortex of colors that hurt to look at directly.

"What exactly is this Council?" Caleb asked as they approached the doorway.

"Representatives from every dimensional cluster in existence," she answered. "We mediate disputes that threaten the stability of reality itself. Usually, we deal with small fights - a rogue dimension trying to consume its neighbors, or a reality-shifter getting too ambitious."

"And now?" Lily asked.

"Now we face the possibility that all of existence might end," the being said grimly. "The seven Architects were separated eons ago because together, they have the power to unmake everything and start over. If they reunite..."

She didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t need to.

As they stepped through the portal, Lily felt the areas between worlds rushing past them. Through her dimensional sight, she caught glimpses of countless realities - some with civilizations so advanced they defied understanding, others where different laws of physics created impossible geometries.

They emerged in a huge chamber filled with beings from across the multiverse. Some looked humanoid, others were geometric shapes made of pure energy, and a few seemed to exist in more dimensions than Lily’s mind could understand.

At the center of the room sat seven empty thrones.

"The Architect Seats," their guide stated. "Reserved for when the seven aspects of life need to convene. They have been empty for ten thousand years."

But as Lily watched, one of the thrones started to glow with silver light. She felt a pulling feeling in her chest, as if something was trying to draw her toward it.

"The Balance throne recognizes you," the golden being said softly. "The transformation accelerates in the presence of the seats of power."

Panic shot through Lily as she felt her humanity slipping away faster. Around the chamber, other Council members were turning to stare at her with expressions ranging from awe to fear.

"How long do I have?" she whispered.

"In normal circumstances, you would have had three hours," came the comment. "Here, surrounded by dimensional energy, you have perhaps thirty minutes before the change becomes irreversible."

That’s when the chamber’s massive doors burst open, and six figures of great power strode in. The other Architects had arrived - and they were not alone.

Behind each one came armies from across the multiverse, ready for the war that would decide the fate of everything that had ever lived.

The final fight was about to begin, and Lily could feel her time as herself running out with every heartbeat.