The air outside the ruins was sharp with cold. It was another cold morning
Nathan adjusted his cloak and kept walking, supporting Veyra with one arm. She hadn't woken since the battle, her breathing steady but shallow. Theo walked silently beside them, spear slung across his back.
The outpost came into view over the ridge. As they approached, the guards signaled for medics, and within minutes Veyra was taken inside.
Sirah met them in the courtyard, her expression dark. "What happened? Explain everything. Now."
Nathan exchanged a glance with Theo before giving a brief rundown, Surnok nest, the egg, the ambush. The Demonbound. How they fought them off. How they destroyed the nest.
Sirah didn't flinch. "And the girl?"
"I think she'll live," Nathan said. "She needs time."
Sirah nodded, then gestured behind her. "The Council's called a gathering. You're to attend."
Theo frowned. "The full Council?"
"Worse," Sirah muttered. "All seven factions. Including the demons."
Scene: The Council Chamber
The circular chamber buzzed with tension. Council members sat on high platforms, each marked with their faction's sigil: War, Trade, Faith, Shadows, Magic, Demons, and Flame.
At the center stood Nathan and Theo. Sirah stood off to the side, arms crossed.
Nathan's voice was steady. "The nest is gone. But the Surnok were organized, and weren't alone. The Demonbound were there. This wasn't random migration."
The Faith representative , a man draped in pale robes, rose. "You're saying they coordinated with the demon faction?"
Before Nathan could respond, a figure stepped forward from the demon faction's side. Cloaked in black and red, the woman's eyes glowed faintly violet.
"You speak of coordination like it's betrayal," she said, smiling thinly. "But perhaps it is the other factions who betrayed balance first."
Sirah's hand moved toward her sword.
The demon woman raised her voice. "You've hunted our kin. Driven us to the edge. We asked for peace, now we take it by force."
A murmur spread across the chamber.
The woman turned to the demon faction's seat. "The Accord is broken."
With a snap of her fingers, her form shimmered and vanished in flame.
Alarms rang. The Council chamber erupted in shouts.
War had been declared.
The 6 other leaders stood there, shocked at what have happened.
But within seconds,
A pulse rippled outward, the sky tore open.
The ceiling of the grand Council hall cracked like an eggshell as dark shapes hurtled down through a sudden storm of fire and shadow. Scarspawn—dozens of them, A pair of Surnoks burst through the far walls with thunderous roars, fangs bared and molten breath hissing in the air. Behind them, armored demonkin strode forward, blades drawn, faces marked by eldritch sigils.
Chaos erupted.
Theo shoved Nathan back just as a scarspawn leapt toward them, only to be cleaved clean in half by a sudden, blinding arc of energy. The Faith representative stood now, his robes ablaze with golden light. Wings of radiant energy spread behind him, and with a single gesture, a ring of light exploded outward, vaporizing a wave of attackers.
On the opposite side, the War representative, an enormous man clad in crimson plate, cracked his knuckles. He stepped into a charging Surnok's path and caught its entire weight with one hand. The floor shattered beneath him from the impact, but he didn't flinch. "You picked the wrong hall." He picked the Surnok up from it's head and crushed it's skull with no effort. It picked up another and threw it across the chamber like it weighed nothing, crushing half a dozen scarspawn in its path.
The Shadows representative vanished entirely, nothing left but a shimmer in the air. Wherever she moved, enemies screamed and fell, their blood freezing midair in twisted shapes before they even hit the ground.
Magic moved next. A woman cloaked in violet threads lifted a single hand, and reality twisted. Gravity inverted for the invaders, Scarspawn slammed into the ceiling, their limbs snapping as the enemies became nothing but piles of bones and flesh. Her eyes burned with runes that flickered between languages no one spoke anymore.
The representative of Trade, an unassuming man in a fine suit, simply sipped his wine. "So uncivilized," he murmured. With a flick of his wrist, gold coins erupted from his fingertips and spun outward, turning demonkin into gold statues where they stood. He adjusted his cuff. "So irresponsible."
And then came Flame.
The Flame representative didn't move at all. Her throne caught fire, and from it rose a being of pure ember and wrath. Her voice thundered through the hall in a forgotten tongue, and fire poured from the walls themselves, burning only the enemies. The temperature soared, stone cracked, glass liquefied, the scarspawn instantly burned around her.
Nathan stood frozen, stunned. He wasn't sure what amazed him more—the power tearing through their enemies like parchment, or the fact that these six had been sitting silently for so long.
Theo grabbed his shoulder. "We need to move."
Nathan blinked, heart pounding. "This is…"
"War," Theo said grimly. "And we're not ready for it."
High above them, a Surnok roared—but this time in pain. The Faith representative had speared it through the eye with a bolt of blinding judgment.
Sirah barked orders from the lower steps, rallying the Order knights and pulling wounded Council members out of the battle.
A second wave of Scarspawn poured in.
The council members rushed through them like a blade crossing water, slashing through Scarpsawn and Sunroks with ease.
"We'll get you, you traitor!" yelled the Flame council as she launched a massive fireball towards the demon representative.
The demon representative sneered, stepping back as his own shadow warped behind him into a monstrous shape. "Please. The only thing burning brighter than your rage is your delusion."
A crater smoldered in his place.
And with that, war has begun.