The Council Hall loomed like a black wedge against the pale afternoon sky. Its tall, narrow windows caught the light in fractured shards, and the great bronze doors were already ajar. People milled outside — not just guild guards, but scribes, merchants, and curious citizens craning their necks for a glimpse of what was happening inside.
Kael's boots rang against the marble steps as he climbed. Ryn was at his side, eyes sweeping the crowd, crossbow slung but loaded. Captain Dorrin followed behind with two of his B-Rank guards.
At the top of the stairs, a Guild herald in a green tabard stepped forward, raising his voice."Kael, C-Rank hunter — summoned before the Council under emergency motion nineteen."
Kael paused on the threshold. The air inside was cooler, scented with parchment, wax, and the faint bitterness of ink. It felt… still. Too still.
The Council chamber was a long, vaulted space, lit by high clerestory windows. At the far end, the six Councilors sat behind a crescent table of dark wood. Their guild colors gleamed under the filtered light.
Councilor Mara — Merchant Guild representative; B-Rank (Mid), ~1,250 GP. Sharp eyes, sharp voice.
Councilor Varric — Hunting Guild; B-Rank (High), ~1,450 GP. Heavyset, with the build of a man who still hunted in the field.
Councilor Therun — Military Liaison; A-Rank (Low), ~2,200 GP. Clean-shaven, posture like a drawn blade.
Councilor Saren — Scribes' Guild; C-Rank (High), ~620 GP. Thin, pale, hands always moving over invisible lines of text.
Councilor Indra — Herbalists' Guild; B-Rank (Low), ~1,050 GP. Clothes smell faintly of dried roots and oils.
Councilor Hesh — Mason's Guild; C-Rank (Mid), ~420 GP. Thick arms, gravel in his voice.
Mara leaned forward. "Kael. You were found in the Registrar's offices during a violent altercation that resulted in the destruction of state records. Do you deny this?"
"No," Kael said. "I destroyed a node. One of the Shaper's."
A murmur went around the chamber. Therun's eyes narrowed. "A node. Inside the Registrar's office."
"Yes. It was using the ledgers as anchors. Feeding from them. Hiding in them."
Saren, the scribe, smiled faintly. "An interesting claim. And what proof do you offer?"
Kael's voice was flat. "The corpse of Leto Solen, stripped of human skin and dripping with moss. Ask Captain Dorrin."
Dorrin stepped forward, helm tucked under his arm. "I saw it. My men saw it. It wasn't human by the time Kael cut it down."
Mara's expression didn't soften. "And yet the Registry's ledgers are gone — burned — and with them, months of trade records. Do you understand the damage you've caused?"
"Yes," Kael said. "I stopped worse damage."
Therun drummed his fingers on the table. "We have already received word from the outer watch that the hive is stirring again. Kael, how many of these nodes do you think are inside our walls?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "Enough to matter. More than you want to admit."
Mara's eyes glittered. "And what would you have us do? Turn over every merchant, every scribe, every Council member to your knife?"
"If they're a node, yes."
The chamber went very quiet.
That was when Kael felt it — the faint humidity, the moss-green scent, buried under the candlewax and paper. His eyes went to Councilor Saren. The man's fingers were tracing patterns in the wood of the table, movements too rhythmic, too deliberate.
Kael said nothing. He wanted confirmation first.
Ryn, standing near the wall, caught his eye. She glanced at Saren, then down to the satchel at her hip. Inside was a fragment of root they'd taken from Solen's body, wrapped in cloth. She could use it to test.
Mara cleared her throat. "Motion nineteen grants the Council authority to place a hunter under direct oversight if their actions threaten the city's stability. I propose we vote now."
"Seconded," Saren said smoothly.
Kael stepped forward. "You want to leash me while the hive is sitting in this room."
Gasps from the audience. Hesh muttered something under his breath.
Therun's gaze sharpened. "Explain."
Kael pointed to Saren. "He's one of them."
The scribe's pale lips curved. "Accusations without proof. Dangerous habit, hunter."
Ryn moved before anyone could stop her. She pulled the root fragment from her satchel, held it up — and the thing twitched in her hand, faintly, as if pulled toward Saren.
That was enough for Kael.
He moved, fast. Stonehide surged across his arms. The chamber erupted in shouts.
Saren rose, skin rippling, veins darkening to root-veined black. Bark spread across his jaw.
Node-Host Revealed: Councilor Saren — C-Rank (High), GP signature flaring around 650 as the hive stopped hiding it.
Therun was already drawing his sword. "Contain him!"
The guards moved — but the node moved faster. Papers on the table flew like knives, slicing at eyes and throats. Moss shot up between the marble tiles, forcing chairs back. The crescent table split along a seam, roots ripping through the wood.
Kael vaulted onto the table and drove his blade down toward the gland pulsing under Saren's collarbone. The node caught his wrist, strength surprising for its size, and twisted.
Ryn's bolt took it in the thigh. It staggered. Kael ripped free and slashed again.
[C-Rank (High) | GP: 605 + 15 = 620]
Mara's voice was sharp over the chaos. "Kill it! Forget the chamber!"
Dorrin's B-Rank guards closed in, swords biting at the root armor. One guard went down as a moss whip caught his leg and yanked him into the air.
Kael felt the node's intent — not to win, but to escape. It leapt backward toward the side door, scattering ink across the floor. Wherever the drops landed, thin tendrils sprouted instantly.
Kael lunged after it, cutting through the shoots.
They burst into the side hall — narrow, dimly lit, lined with shelves of old decrees. Perfect for hiding.
Saren's form warped further, fingers lengthening into clawed roots. He slashed at a support beam, and part of the ceiling groaned, dropping dust and plaster.
Kael didn't slow. He slammed into the node, shoulder-first, knocking it into the shelves. Scrolls tumbled down around them.
Ryn's boots thudded behind him. "Move!" she shouted, firing again. The bolt caught the node in the ribs.
Kael's blade followed, biting deep.
[C-Rank (High) | GP: 620 + 20 = 640]
The node shrieked — not in fear, but in something like triumph. Kael realized why a moment too late: the roots had spread under the floor. Even as Saren's body sagged, the wood under Kael's boots cracked.
Ryn grabbed his arm and yanked him back as the floor gave way.
They landed hard on the marble of the lower corridor. Above them, Saren's ruined body slumped into the hole — then dissolved into a slurry of ink and moss, draining between the cracks.
Gone.
Kael stood, chest heaving. "It'll regrow."
Therun appeared in the doorway above, sword still in hand. "Not if we burn the whole chamber."
Mara's face was pale. "Do it."
Within minutes, torches were brought. The chamber floor was blackened, the roots burned back to damp ash.
Kael watched the smoke curl upward and thought of the hive's calm voice: In every street. In every wall.
When it was done, Therun faced the Council — those still breathing — and the audience. "Motion nineteen is dead. So is any talk of putting this hunter under leash. The hive is among us. That's all the oversight we need."
Kael didn't thank him. He didn't feel victorious. The GP gains felt hollow, like eating in a famine. C-Rank (High), GP: 640 — stronger, yes, but the hive had shown it could get into the Council itself.
As they left the smoking chamber, Ryn glanced at him. "If they're in here, Kael… they could be anywhere."
He nodded. "Then we start looking everywhere."