Chapter 30: Call to action

  The council chamber inside Knighthelms Frostwall Keep was unusually quiet. The thick stone walls always absorbed sound, but tonight the silence felt heavier, almost deliberate, as if the entire mountain had paused to listen. Cold lantern light shimmered across the long table carved from glacier crystal, illuminating anxious faces and casting sharp shadows against the carved pillars.

  Lars Loren stood at the table’s far end with the posture of a man who wished he could be anywhere else. Politics irritated him more than almost any battlefield wound, but even he understood the necessity of calling the council tonight. Lafiel stood at his side, hands folded neatly, her expression calm in a way that offered comfort to some and intimidation to others. Her stillness often unsettled people more than Lars’s blunt manner.

  At the center of the table, Sir Darvish rested a thick satchel of documents and reports. Normally his presence alone was enough to settle a room, but even he carried tension in the line of his shoulders.

  “We confirmed the tracks,” Darvish said. His voice echoed through the chamber in a way that made several council members straighten. “Three sets. Two belonging to minor corrupted beasts. One belonging to something larger. All recent. All traveling west. Towards the Cavern our scouts noticed the ”

  Silence took shape again, and this time it carried fear.

  Representative Halden rubbed at the corner of his eye. He was the oldest of the council members, gray beard braided, though age had made the braid thin. “Corrupted beasts in these mountains have not been spotted in ages, Where in the frozen heavens did they crawl from”

  Darvish withdrew a folded parchment from the satchel and slid it across the table. “From what our scouts found, all signs point toward a central source. The corruption hasnt seeped to the surface yet, but the more active these beasts get, and the longer they live it will surely start to affect the area.”

  Lars inhaled slowly, then exhaled through his nose. “We believe its a possible dungeon, possibly a few years old… maybe older we aren't sure.”

  The word brought a shiver to the room that had nothing to do with the cold.

  Not a normal dungeon. Not one of the living mana caverns that adventurers risked life and limb to clear for treasure and resources. Everyone in the room understood what Darvish truly meant.

  A corrupted dungeon. One that had not appeared in generations.

  Lafiel lifted her gaze toward the map mounted on the far wall. “The last recorded corrupted dungeon on this continent appeared two hundred and twelve years ago. It took a tier six, two tier fives, and many others to face it. Lafiel looked back down at the documents, “These are the oldest records we can find. When Duke Nox arrives he may have more information.”

  despair entered the eyes of everyone present.

  “The only positive I can find is that this was a much older, and less occupied area two hundred years ago. The Dungeon grew unchecked. We caught our problem early, it seems.”

  Representative Elira, the youngest among them, ran her fingers through her tied-back hair. “If a corrupted dungeon has awakened, the monsters may only be the beginning. Corruption spreads. It does not stop until it consumes.”

  Lars braced his palms against the table. “Which is why we deal with it early.” His voice held the steady certainty of someone who had never once hesitated in a crisis. “A dungeon is forming near our territory. That alone puts our people at risk. I will not allow another inch of corruption to advance.”

  Halden frowned. “We cannot confirm its exact location yet.”

  “No,” Darvish agreed. “But we know the direction of the spreading mana rot. It originates near the lower basin of Frostwall’s eastern western.” He hesitated. “Too close to us.”

  A faint current of fear tightened Lars’s shoulders, but he forced it down. His people came first. His son came second. Even so, a small part of him stirred with concern for Lance.

  He would not voice it. The council already saw him as too stubborn. They did not need to think him soft as well.

  Elira leaned forward. “If the beasts moved west, does that not suggest the dungeon lies east of the Loren valley”

  “In theory,” Darvish answered. “But corrupted dungeons do not always sit exactly where decay begins. The earliest symptoms can manifest miles away. If the core has already formed, we must find it before the creatures multiply.”

  Lafiel tilted her head thoughtfully. “Reports mention three corrupted creatures. Three is already alarming. Corruption does not create in small numbers. Three suggests scouting behavior.”

  “Or something shepherding them,” Darvish murmured.

  His implication struck the room with the weight of a falling glacier.

  Halden swallowed. “Shepherding…”

  Lars’s jaw tightened. “Speak plainly.”

  Darvish met his eyes. “A Broodmother.”

  No one spoke after that. It was as if the very mention of such a creature smothered breath and sound together.

  Corrupted Broodmothers existed in nightmares more than reality. They were rare, terrible creatures that nested near corrupted dungeons, producing waves of lesser monstrosities to defend the source. Their presence alone could turn a region into a wasteland.

  Elira whispered the name again as if afraid the air might carry it beyond the chamber. “A Broodmother…”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Lafiel closed her eyes briefly. “There has not been a confirmed Broodmother sighting in centuries. Most scholars believe they only manifest around fully matured corrupted dungeons.”

  “Which is exactly why we must investigate,” Darvish replied. “If a Broodmother is present, even in a juvenile form, we cannot afford to ignore it.”

  Lars straightened, his expression unreadable. “How large was the biggest track.”

  Darvish held up his hand in measurement. “Roughly the size of a fully grown frostbear’s paw.”

  “That is not a minor beast,” Halden whispered.

  “No,” Lars agreed. “It is something worse.”

  His voice had none of the panic others felt. Instead it carried a colder, quieter kind of resolve. Lafiel recognized it immediately. It was the same tone he used when he decided the risk to his people had crossed an unacceptable line.

  “We will send scouting parties at first light,” Lars said.

  “Scouts may not return,” Elira warned.

  “As it stands now, we believe the broodmother is birthing. She isn't currently active, just her scouting parties.,” Lars replied. “This is something our men can handle with the right team. We have sent out a few so far.. I will be going with the scouts to confirm for myself as well. If all goes as planned, we should be back around the time Duke Nox should arrive.”

  Darvish did not look surprised. Lafiel did not either.

  Scar lowered his gaze. “Lars, you are the lord of this region. You cannot risk yourself in an uncharted corrupted zone.”

  “I cannot sit safely behind these walls while my lands decay beneath me,” Lars replied with mild irritation. “My duty is clear.”

  The old village head knew better than to argue further.

  Darvish nodded slowly. “Then I volunteer to accompany you. My squad is already prepared for harsh terrain and potential monster encounters.”

  Lafiel shifted her attention to him. “I am the only person in our Town that can heal. By priest standards am good, even without a designated healing class thanks to my class, but we do not have the resources to cleanse you should you get corrupted.”

  Darvish inclined his head. “I will be going with him as well, this is simply to confirm the general area we believe in the entrance to their little cavern in the dirt.”

  Halden looked up, anxiety still clouding his eyes. “We have not faced a corrupted dungeon in centuries. How do we even approach strategy for something like this”

  Lafiel answered before Darvish could. Her voice was soft yet firm, as cold and clear as winter water. “We begin by treating it as if the worst is already true. The corruption has awakened. The dungeon exists. And the Broodmother is nearby. If proven otherwise, we will be grateful to be wrong.”

  Lars finally stepped around the table. The lantern light caught the silver streaks in his dark hair as he approached the large map pinned on the wall. Frostwall’s valleys and ridges sprawled across it, etched meticulously in ink and color.

  He traced a line from the eastern pass down toward the Loren valley. “The decay begins here. If the dungeon formed along this ridge, the beasts would have come through this narrow section. It is thin enough that a stronger creature could break the rock to widen it.”

  “Which matches the collapsed stone we found,” Darvish said.

  Lars nodded. “Then our search begins tomorrow with the lower ridge.”

  Elira leaned back and bit her lip, considering the possibilities. “If we find the dungeon early enough, what then. Do we attempt to seal it”

  “We attempt to assess its stage,” Lafiel said. “If it is still forming, we can destroy the core before it solidifies. If it is fully matured…” She paused, her eyes drifting to Lars for a heartbeat. “Then we will need help from outside our town, at least depending on who Duke Nox is bringing. He himself is a Tier 5 as well.”

  That idea unsettled Lars more than the Broodmother itself. He did not like relying on other regions. Frostwall had always survived on its own strength.

  But he did not disagree with her.

  A sudden knock on the chamber door broke the silence.

  A guard entered and bowed. “Forgive the interruption. A messenger from Eastern Spires arrived an hour ago. He brings news from Duke Nox. The letter was addressed to you directly, Lord Lars.”

  Lars exchanged a brief look with Lafiel. Nox was not known for casual correspondence.

  “Bring it to me,” Lars said.

  The guard stepped forward and offered the sealed letter. Lars broke the wax and unfolded the parchment. His expression barely shifted as he read, though Lafiel saw the flicker of something unreadable behind his eyes.

  Halden leaning forward was bold enough to ask. “What does the Duke say”

  Lars read the final line, then lowered the letter. “He will arrive soon. He is brining men from Ironkeep with him. Along with his own scouting party.”

  Elira raised a brow. “That cannot be all.”

  Lars held up the letter. “It is entirely earnest. No veiled offers. No political coyness.” He paused. “Which means he must see this as a real threat as well..”

  Halden blinked. “A little more detail would’ve been nice.”

  “Nox only writes letters when he wants someone to wonder why.”

  Darvish stepped closer. “Do you believe Nox will help truly? Or simply act as if he is helping but really hoping we do all the heavy lifting, take losses, and himself reap the benefits.”

  “He will watch,” Lars said. “As for helping, I believe he may. Also, my friend. You should really watch what you say.”

  Lafiel softened her voice. “He is not our enemy, Lars.”

  “No. But he is never harmless.”

  The council fell back into uncomfortable silence.

  Lafiel moved to stand beside her husband, her presence easing the rigidity of his posture. She touched the map lightly. “We have until dawn to prepare. Let us end the meeting here. The more rested we are, the better our decisions will be.”

  Andrei sighed with visible relief. “Agreed.”

  Darvish bowed toward Lars. “I will gather the scouting gear. My squad will be ready before sunrise.”

  Elira collected her notes. “I will prepare medical supplies and distribute them to the volunteers. We will need every protective measure we can muster.”

  Lars dismissed them with a quiet nod.

  One by one, the council members filed out, leaving only Lars and Lafiel standing before the map in the dim lantern glow.

  For a long moment neither spoke.

  Lafiel eventually rested a hand over his. “You are thinking about Lance.”

  He did not deny it. “He is training hard. But he is still a boy.”

  “He is a prime, and classed legendary now,” Lafiel reminded gently. “His path will be dangerous no matter what we do. He will not grow being coddled all the time.”

  “That does not mean I must like it,” Lars muttered.

  She smiled faintly. “Your worry honors him. But it does not change the fact that this threat stands at our doorstep. You were born to face it. And he was born to see what kind of man his father truly is.”

  Lars stared at the map a moment longer, then closed his eyes briefly, a slow steady breath escaping him.

  “I will find this dungeon,” he said. “And I will end whatever crawled from it.”

  Lafiel squeezed his hand. “Then let us prepare for tomorrow.”

  They stood together as the lanterns flickered, the wind outside brushing frost across the windows, the mountain quietly shifting in the night.

  And somewhere beyond the valley, hidden beneath dying trees and rotting snow, something ancient began to stir.