The briefing room was a smaller chamber off the main hall, dominated by a large, scarred oak table. A detailed map of Veridia was spread across it, weighted down at the corners by what looked like petrified lumps of coal. Kaelen stood at the head of the table, his broad shoulders tense. Lysette and a few other senior Guards—including the burly smith, introduced as Rourke—were gathered around.
Kaelen didn't acknowledge Aris's entrance. His focus was entirely on the map. "The attacks are clustering," he said, his voice a low growl. He pointed to several areas marked with red wax. "The Docks. The Ironworks. The Old Quarter. They're getting bolder. More frequent."
"Something's drawing them," Lysette murmured, tracing a pattern on the map. "Or someone."
Rourke grunted. "Or they're just getting hungrier."
Kaelen's glowing eyes finally lifted and pinned Aris where she stood by the door. "You. Theorist. You said they're energy. Coherent energy. What draws energy?"
All eyes turned to her. This was it. Her first real test. She approached the table slowly, her mind racing. She looked at the map, at the clusters of red.
"Energy is drawn to... a sink. A lower energy state. Or a source it can feed from." She thought of the chilling cold they emitted. "They project cold, so they're likely entropy-driven. They consume heat, life force... to sustain their own coherent state." She looked at Kaelen. "Your fire. It's a high-energy source. You don't just fight them; you're a beacon to them."
A grim silence fell over the room.
"So every time we go out, we're ringing the dinner bell?" Rourke asked, his face dark.
"Not exactly," Aris said, her confidence growing as she fell into the logic of it. "Your fire is also destructive to them. It's like... it's like a poison that's also their favorite food. They're drawn to its power, but it annihilates them on contact." She looked at Kaelen's axe. "The energy signature of your weapons must be uniquely tuned to disrupt their core frequency."
Kaelen was watching her intently, his earlier contempt replaced by that sharp, calculating look. "So how do we stop the clusters? The... entropic sinks?"
Aris studied the map again. The locations were all industrial, or densely populated. Places of heat, life, and industry. But there had to be a pattern, a reason for these specific spots.
"May I?" she asked, gesturing to the map.
Kaelen gave a short, sharp nod.
She leaned over, ignoring the stares of the others. She looked at the geography, the infrastructure. Her eyes caught on something. A faint, spiderweb-like network of lines underlying the city map. "What are these?"
"Old steam vents. From the first forges," Lysette supplied. "Most are sealed."
Aris's heart beat faster. "And the water table? Are there any areas with unusual geological activity? Magnetic fields?"
The Pyre Guard members exchanged confused glances. This was not their area of expertise.
"We have city surveys," Lysette said slowly. "In the archives."
"Get them," Kaelen commanded, his gaze never leaving Aris. "You think there's a physical source? A... a wellspring for these things?"
"I think they don't just appear from nowhere," Aris said, meeting his fiery gaze. The intensity of it was almost physically overwhelming. "There's a reason. A scientific reason, even if it's dressed in magic. If we can find the source, maybe we can cap it."
For a long moment, Kaelen just stared at her, as if trying to see the gears turning in her head. The air in the room was thick with unspoken questions. She was an unknown variable, a potential key, or a catastrophic mistake.
"Lysette, you and Rourke, take the maps. Cross-reference the attack sites with the old steam vents and the water tables." He finally broke his gaze from Aris, looking at his second. "Theorist, you're with me."
"Where are we going?" Aris asked, a knot of apprehension tightening in her stomach.
"To the site of last night's most powerful attack," he said, already striding towards the door. "The Ironworks. You can observe your 'energy fields' firsthand."
The thought of facing another Wraith, even with him, sent a chill down her spine. But it was also an opportunity. It was data. It was a step towards understanding, and perhaps, a step towards finding a way to control her own destiny in this terrifying new world.