Thalia drew a deep breath, acutely aware that her next words might determine not just her own fate, but that of everyone within Frostforge's walls.
"I theorized that a hybrid weapon might be effective against the Deep Ones," she said, her voice steadier now."A blade forged from ice-glacenite—like those that resisted the black metal's corruption—but infused with storm magic during creation.Something that combined both traditions, both forms of power."
She placed her hand on the hybrid blade."I've been working in secret with Isle Wardens to create these weapons."
Another wave of outrage swept through the chamber, but it lacked the raw force of the first.Shock had begun to temper anger, uncertainty bleeding into the gaps between certainties.
"The Isle Wardens are people, just like us," Thalia continued, raising her voice to be heard over the commotion."People trying to survive.Unlike many here, they recognize the genuine threat we're facing—a threat that will come for all of us.Yes, they've done terrible things on the continent.I don't deny that.But these ones are different, and if we're going to survive, we need to be open to alliance."
Virek's thin face contorted with contempt."You don't know what you're doing, Greenspire.You have no proof these weapons will do anything against the Deep Tide beyond your own misguided conjecture.You've committed high treason based on nothing but desperate hope and the lies of our enemies."
Thalia faltered, the truth of his words striking home with unexpected force.She didn't know if the weapons would work.Couldn't know without facing the Deep Ones directly.All she had was theory, observation, and desperate hope—
The chamber doors swung open with enough force to strike the walls on either side.Every head turned, conversations halted mid-syllable.
Roran stood in the doorway, his travel-worn figure silhouetted against the corridor's torchlight.His wild black curls were matted with what might have been dried blood, his clothing torn and stained, his face gaunt with exhaustion.But his eyes—dark, intense—found Thalia immediately across the crowded chamber.
For a heartbeat, all thought of the Council, of consequences, of the Deep Tide itself vanished from Thalia's mind.She moved without conscious decision, crossing the room in quick strides to throw her arms around him.He was solid beneath her touch, real despite his haggard appearance, his arms encircling her with equal need.
"You're alive," she whispered against his shoulder, the words meant for him alone.
His embrace tightened briefly before he pulled back, his hands remaining on her shoulders as he searched her face.The look in his eyes—a mixture of relief at seeing her and tension at whatever knowledge he carried—told her everything she needed to know before he spoke.
Then he turned to face the Council.When he spoke, his voice was rough, strained; the words were simple, but the weight of his tone suggested dire consequence.“I’m here to deliver my report from the North.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Silence claimed the War Council chamber as every eye fixed on Roran's battered form.The air between them seemed to crystallize with unspoken questions, with the weight of whatever knowledge he carried from the Reaches.
Thalia felt his fingers tighten briefly around her shoulders before he released her, his gaze shifting to the assembled Council members with an intensity that suggested he'd traveled through hell itself to deliver his message.
"The Northern coastline has fallen," Roran said, his voice rough with exhaustion yet carrying the unmistakable clarity of certainty."Not just outposts.Entire cities are abandoned.Everything."He moved past Thalia toward the table, his movements stiff with what might have been injury or simple fatigue."Elkhollow is empty.Eastwatch Fortress.Stonehaven.Northern Haven.All gone."
"Gone?"Virek's thin face contorted with skepticism."What precisely do you mean by 'gone'?"
"I mean gone," Roran repeated, his dark eyes flashing."Consumed.Erased.The structures, the foundations, the very cliff faces they were built upon—all of it swallowed by the black waters."He gestured toward the map on the wall where red marks indicated fallen outposts."Your map is wrong.It's all wrong.Those aren't fallen outposts—they're simply...nonexistent now."
A murmur swept through the chamber, but Wolfe silenced it with a raised hand."Continue your report," she commanded, her emerald eyes narrowing.
Roran drew a deep breath."The black waters reach halfway up the cliffs along the northern coast.Where they touch stone, the rock simply ceases to be—not crumbled or eroded, but dissolved, as if it never existed."His gaze swept across the assembled faces."But that's not the worst of it."
Thalia felt a chill settle beneath her skin as she recognized the haunted look in Roran's eyes—the same expression she'd seen in Cassia's face before the Warden captain sacrificed herself to the darkness.
"The Deep Ones," Roran continued, his voice dropping lower, forcing everyone to lean forward to hear him."The things that live within the black waters.They can leave the sea."
Another wave of whispers, sharper now.Wolfe's fingers tightened on the edge of the table.
"I witnessed it myself at Eastwatch," Roran said."They emerged from the darkness, climbing the cliff face."He paused, searching for words."They dissolved the rock as they moved across it.They pursued me across land, through forest.They're not confined to water.They can hunt on dry ground."
"And how did you escape these...entities?"Marr asked, his weathered face grave.
Roran hesitated, his gaze flickering toward Thalia before returning to the Council."Storm magic," he admitted."I called lightning from the sky.It didn't destroy them, but it disrupted their forms—drove them back long enough for me to escape."
Solberg made a sound of disgust, but Wolfe held up her hand again, silencing him.
"The electricity affected them?"she asked, her voice sharp with sudden interest.
Roran nodded."They're weaker on land than in water, less...cohesive.The lightning seemed to fragment them temporarily.They reformed, but I was able to hold them back long enough to escape them."
