"Greenspire."Wolfe's voice cut through the silence with lethal precision.She stood at the head of the massive stone table, her scarred hands planted firmly on its surface, her silver-streaked hair pulled back in its customary severe knot."Explain this intrusion, or be removed."
Thalia stepped fully into the chamber, allowing the doors to swing closed behind her.Maps covered the walls—detailed renderings of the fjord, the surrounding mountains, potential evacuation routes marked in red ink that somehow resembled bloodstains in the torchlight.On the table itself, a three-dimensional model of Frostforge and its immediate surroundings dominated the center, surrounded by smaller representations of defensive structures.
"I can see the black waters from the Smith's Anvil," Thalia said, her voice carrying in the high-ceilinged room."They've reached the fjord's mouth."
No shock registered on the assembled faces.They already knew.
"Your point?"Virek asked, his thin frame appearing even more skeletal in the chamber's harsh lighting.Frost patterns decorated his hands—evidence of recent cryomantic work—and his eyes held the cold dismissal she remembered so well.
"My point is that news will spread," Thalia replied, stepping closer to the table."Panic will follow unless you offer a real plan.Not evacuation routes that lead nowhere.Not defenses that can't possibly hold."
"You presume to instruct the War Council on strategy?"Wolfe's voice remained level, but danger sharpened its edges."Remember your place, Greenspire.You were removed from this chamber once before.Do not force me to have you physically ejected."
Thalia met Wolfe's emerald gaze without flinching."I remember my place perfectly.It's here—fighting for Frostforge's survival, regardless of the personal cost."
She turned toward Virek, who had begun to speak again.
"We have a plan in development," he said, gesturing toward the model."A defensive barrier utilizing advanced cryomancy techniques.Three layers of reinforced ice-steel walls across the narrowest point of the fjord, with—"
"It won't work."Thalia's interruption hung in the air, brazen in its certainty.She read the anger that flashed across Virek's face, the indignation at being cut short by someone so far beneath his station.
An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, taut as a bowstring.Thalia could feel Ashe's gaze on her back, could sense the room's collective tension rising with each heartbeat.
"You seem very certain," Wolfe said finally, her voice dangerously soft."Perhaps you would care to elaborate on this expertise you've suddenly acquired?"
Thalia unhitched the hybrid blade from her belt, its weight familiar in her hand.With deliberate care, she placed it on the table beside the Frostforge model.
"I know better than anyone that conventional defenses will fail," she said, her fingers lingering on the weapon's hilt."The Deep Ones will cut through ice-steel like it's made of paper.They'll consume stone, metal, flesh—anything they touch.No wall will stop them.No ordinary weapon will harm them."
She tapped the hybrid blade."But this might."
The Council members stared at the sword, their expressions ranging from skepticism to outright hostility.Only Marr, the sole Southern instructor, leaned forward with something resembling interest, his brown eyes narrowing as he studied the weapon's unusual construction.
"What am I looking at, Greenspire?"he asked, his naval officer's training evident in the precise economy of his words.
"An experimental weapon," Thalia answered, grateful for the opening."Ice-glacenite infused with storm magic during the forging process.Designed specifically to combat the Deep Ones."
The reaction was immediate.Solberg, a burly Northern instructor with a beard like steel wool, slammed his fist on the table."Storm magic?You dare bring Warden sorcery into this chamber?"
"I was on Thrum'kith when the Deep Ones attacked," Thalia continued, her voice rising to match Solberg's volume but remaining steady."I watched the fortress-whale's captain, Cassia, hold them back long enough for us to escape.She used storm magic in the water—electricity.It drove them back.Temporarily, yes, but it bought us time we desperately needed."
"I care nothing for the struggles of stormspawn against a plague they themselves unleashed," Solberg spat, his face flushing with anger beneath his beard."If their dark magics have finally turned against—"
"Did you just hear what I said?"Thalia cut in, her patience fracturing."I said she used storm magic to hold back the Deep Ones.I'm saying the storm magic was effective against them, even if it was only temporary."
Solberg rose from his seat, towering over the table."You will address members of this Council with respect, girl, or—"
"Let her speak."Marr's voice carried the weight of decades commanding ships in storm-tossed seas.He raised one hand, a simple gesture that nonetheless silenced Solberg's brewing tirade."We face death, Solberg.I, for one, will hear any potential solution, regardless of its source."
Thalia nodded gratefully to Marr, then continued, her throat suddenly dry."The Deep Ones weren't hurt by the electricity, exactly.But they were affected by it—disrupted, driven back.I remembered that moment when I examined the black metal blades we confiscated from Warden raiders."
She hesitated, knowing the next words would ignite the powder keg she'd been carefully building."I met in secret with Isle Warden prisoners.They revealed that the black metal of recent attackers’ blades was sourced from deep-ocean vents near the trench where the Deep Ones originated."
The chamber erupted.Solberg shouted accusations of treason, his face purple with rage.The two senior officers rose from their seats, one reaching for the sword at his hip.Even Virek, normally so contained, hissed something that sounded like "treachery" through clenched teeth.
Only Marr and Wolfe remained silent, watching Thalia with unreadable expressions as chaos swirled around them.Ashe had pushed away from the wall, her posture suggesting she might intervene if the officers moved against Thalia.
Wolfe raised her hand, and silence fell gradually, like snow settling after a storm."Continue, Greenspire."Her voice revealed nothing of her thoughts, but the fact that she hadn't immediately ordered Thalia's arrest suggested at least a willingness to listen.
