Tobias kept up a gentle patter of nonsense all the way to the guard headquarters, talking about various endeavours of his that were doing well.

It was useful in some ways, and Verdan appreciated hearing some of the gossip about what was going on in the city. Still, by the time they walked inside the headquarters, he had a knot of tension in his gut that wasn’t going away anytime soon.

A pair of familiar faces were waiting for them in the waiting area at the front of the building and Verdan exchanged a quick greeting with Lieutenant Jenkins and Auger, who was now wearing a sergeant’s patch.

Auger was one of the Sorcerers that Verdan had helped reveal with his testing device. If memory served, the hawkish man was an Enhancer of the light aspect.

“Follow me please, gentlemen,” Jenkins said, leading the way deeper into the building, with Auger following along behind them. “The others are already present.”

Verdan kept his questions to himself, sensing that they would be answered soon enough anyway, and followed Jenkins to a meeting room where a pair of guards were stood flanking the door.

In fact, Verdan was fairly sure this was the one where they’d done the testing for the guard Sorcerers.

Jenkins opened the door without knocking and stepped inside, motioning for Verdan to head for an empty seat.

Brent stayed outside, but Tobias and Auger joined him, with Jenkins closing the door and taking the last empty seat at the table.

A somewhat eclectic mix of people was present for the meeting, but Verdan recognised most of them.

To his right was sat a trio of armoured Steel Custodians, two of which he recognised, Macannan and Ferd.

Macannan was a tall, powerfully built man with a prominent square jaw and a short beard. Verdan had first met him after the Vespa attack on the city, when Macannan had initially refused to get involved with their problems with the Weeping Death.

It was in part thanks to Macannan’s firm adherence to his Sect’s morals that Verdan had shared the Essence tester with them.

Ferd, Macannan’s direct superior in the city, was an old friend of Kai’s and though he was greying at the temples, he still cut an imposing figure in his armour.

The third Steel Custodian was a slender woman with bright green eyes and long blonde hair that was pinned up in a bun. Where Ferd had a kind gaze, she instead had a cold expression that seemed somewhat distant.

Opposite from Verdan was Commander Silver, the two Cork brothers and Varen Thord, one of the city councillors. Finally, off to Verdan’s left sat Gwen, Val and Branwen.

Val was a Sorcerer that had initially tried to kill Verdan before working alongside him and the city guard. As usual, she was sprawled in her chair with her boots up on the edge of the table and a mischevious look in her eyes.

In contrast, Branwen was sat silently on a stool she’d been provided, watching the rest of the room with interest. Branwen was the calmest and most reasonable of the three Idrisyr that were currently in the city, shortly followed by Elliot.

Cullan was another thing entirely, and Verdan was entirely unsurprised that he wasn’t present for this meeting.

“Very well, we’re all present,” Varen said, clapping his hands together to gather everyone’s attention. “Apologies for the subterfuge in bringing us all together, but the situation calls for the utmost discretion.”

“And what situation is that exactly?” Verdan asked in the quiet that followed Varen’s statement.

“I think we should begin from the start. Tobias, if you would?” Varen gestured to the merchant, who cleared his throat and began to speak.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Slightly over a month ago, I picked up on a change in activity by the Stormlord Sect, based in Ramoria, as well as from the city itself. Namely, they were seeking enchanted weapons from Wizard Blacke and large numbers of mundane weaponry from our blacksmiths.”

Verdan nodded as Tobias paused, he remembered a conversation with Tobias about this before he’d gone north.

“Now, such a change in itself is not an issue, but it warranted further investigation. I dispatched a factor of mine with supplies and weapons to sell in Ramoria. They have since returned with a report that I’ve shared with the city council.”

Tobias sat back in his chair and the focus of the room returned to Varen, who regarded them all with a grim expression. “That report details that a Host of Cyth has arisen in the east, specifically around Ramoria. The Stormlord Sect has kept this as quiet as possible as they tried to deal with it, but they have failed to contain the issue.”

“Gods protect us,” someone murmured, a sentiment that Verdan could fully get behind. A Host of Cyth meant multiple Cyth Scerrd, maybe even a few Horrors or Wyrchwrought.

The Cyth Scerrd he’d fought outside of Hobson’s Point had escaped, though most of its forces had been destroyed. It had been powerful, if inexperienced with its power.

It seemed that the monster had made its way east to find easier pickings. Verdan had no proof of that, but he knew in his heart that it was the truth.

“Unfortunately, matters are worse than that,” Ferd said in a melodic baritone. “The Steel Custodian Sect keeps watch for exactly these reasons, and this is one of the worst situations we’ve seen in years. There are three passes through the Grey Peaks, one at Hobson’s Point, one at Dresk and one at Ramoria. Of the three, Ramoria is the only one that doesn’t sit on the pass itself, as it is as much a port as anything else.”

“As Disciple Ferd has pointed out,” Varen said, taking over the explanation once more. “That means this Host has full access to both sides of the mountain without needing to conquer the city. Our reports show that multiple towns and smaller settlements have been lost on both sides of the mountains.”

“I thought that there weren’t any settlements north of the mountains until the lands of the Clans?” Verdan asked, drawing some confused looks.

“Not on the western side, but the east has a peninsula just north of Ramoria,” Tobias said, Varen nodding along in agreement. “The city of Macba sits there, which does a strong trade with the Kranjir in minerals and ores. It also trades with Ramoria and the Hooded Eyes, a group of three islands a short distance off the coast.”

Verdan resisted the urge to rub his temples as he tried to process the new knowledge, and how it conflicted with what he knew of the past.

The islands he knew about, though they’d been called something different in the Imperium, but the peninsula was new.

“Thank you, Tobias,” Verdan said before turning back to Varen. “Apologies, Councillor. Please continue.”

Varen nodded and cleared his throat before picking up again. “Yes, so the situation as it stands is that the Stormlords are unable to deal with the issue. That leaves Ramoria and Macba in danger, and it will only be a matter of time until they fall. Furthermore, the Host is growing in size and will soon spread out from that area.”

A heavy silence fell on them all as they contemplated what that would mean. The loss of even one city would mean countless innocents being sacrificed or corrupted into becoming Cyth.

“Our Sect is moving to contain the Cyth, however, through the negligence of the Stormlords, the Host is too large for us to do so alone,” Ferd said evenly, as though containing the Cyth didn’t doom both those cities. “As such, we are invoking every alliance, agreement and treaty that we can. Allowing this Host to grow would have catastrophic consequences, and we must act before then. Consider this a warning that you should all prepare for the worst.”

“Which brings us to the real reason for this meeting,” Varen said, giving them a tight smile. “Let’s discuss how we can keep the city safe if the Cyth are not contained.”

-**-

It was late afternoon when Verdan finally returned home, weary from hours of talking.

The upshot of it all was that the city would be creating watchtowers in the local area and increasing the number of patrols.

Thankfully, the steady influx of new people into the city and their previous recruitment drive meant that they had a surplus of both labour and guards to make it all work.

Of course, watchtowers and patrols would do less than nothing against a Host, but it would help keep those outside the city safe if they started to see the edge of it.

Silver had decided to start pushing a recruitment drive in the meantime. If they were lucky, they’d just about have chance to teach anyone who joined the basics before it all went to the abyss.

Verdan rubbed at his tired eyes as he focused on the map that he’d brought home with him. He’d finally been able to get a proper one of the region as a whole, and it did highlight the problem.

Hobson’s Point was two weeks away from Ramoria, with Dresk right in the middle of them. That gave them a shield against the Cyth in the short term, but it also meant there was a veritable line of towns, villages and farming communities stretching all the way across.

If the Cyth followed them, they’d be at their gates in no time at all.

The best case scenario for them was that the Steel Custodians managed to contain the threat and deal with it before Dresk or Macba fell.

Even if they did, however, that only looked at the southern side of the mountains.

He needed to talk to the Kranjir.