A ripple of alarm passed through the council members. Thornmaker pushed forward, his spear ready. "The heir to House de la Sang? Cornelius's son?" His voice carried decades of justified hatred. "And you brought him here? Into our village?"
"I brought what the vision showed me," Ochrehand countered, the magical glow around her hands changing from a healing green to a defensive red. "What should I have done? Left our only hope to die in the forest?"
"Yes," Thornmaker spat. "That would have been exactly the right choice." He turned to Boarstaff. "Warchief, surely you see the danger. If they discover their heir in our territory..."
"They'll burn the forest between here and their citadel," Rockbreaker added, moving to flank Thornmaker. "Slaughter every orc they find."
"His father is their most powerful noble," Moonsinger’s aged voice cut through growing arguments. "The consequences of his death in our territory would be catastrophic."
Sebastian's body arched against the floor. Dark fluid sprayed from his collar, splattering the healing house and those within with corruption. The crystals embedded in the walls responded, their light shifting to alarming crimson hues that signaled immediate danger.
"He dies anyway if we don't act." Ochrehand wove green healing patterns over his chest. "His heart is fighting a losing battle against mechanisms that poison him with each failure." She met Boarstaff's gaze, urgency replacing her usual measured tone. "The healing house doesn't have enough power to stabilize him. Only the Heart Tree's magic is strong enough."
The council erupted at her words.
"The Heart Tree?" Thornmaker's voice rose in outrage. "You would bring vampire corruption to our most sacred space?"
"Impossible," Rockbreaker agreed. "The Tree's magic would tear his brass apart entirely."
"Maybe that's what's needed." Ochrehand forced her magic into Sebastian's failing systems. "The Heart Tree doesn't just destroy synthetic components, it could help the metals remember what they could be again."
"This is madness," Thornmaker turned to Boarstaff. "Warchief, you cannot allow this."
Boarstaff hadn't moved, his gaze still on Sebastian's face. "What happens," he asked quietly, "if we just let him die here?"
"War," Moonsinger answered without hesitation. "Devastating war against our people. They would assume we killed him deliberately."
"And if we return his body?" Rockbreaker suggested. "Leave it where they might find it?"
"They would see my magic's mark," Ochrehand said. "Know we tried to change him. The result would be the same."
Sebastian's body convulsed more violently. Steam erupted from his collar, from his spine, from everywhere metal met flesh. The crystals in the walls flared in answer, their light taking on deep, dark colors none of them had seen before.
"His system is failing," Doechaser reported, her own probingmagic confirming Ochrehand's assessment. "The brass in him is tearing at living tissue as it dies."
"Then let it tear," Thornmaker said, though his voice held less conviction than it had moments earlier. "Let vampire corruption destroy itself."
"And start a war that could destroy all our people?" Moonsinger challenged. She turned to Boarstaff. "Warchief, the decision is yours. But consider what hangs in the balance. Not just one vampire's life, but potentially all of ours."
Boarstaff knelt beside Sebastian, studying the places where brass had burrowed into flesh. The seams bled dark fluid that seemed both synthetic and organic, neither fully blood nor oil, but something caught between. His hand hovered over the vampire's collar, where dead metal pressed against fever-hot skin.
"The council will debate this properly," he said finally. "But first we stabilize him." He looked at Ochrehand. "Not in the Heart Tree. Not yet. That decision needs full council approval."
"Then he dies," she said flatly. "The healing house doesn't have enough power to-"
"You will do what you can here," Boarstaff's voice left no room for argument. "Buy us time to decide his fate through proper channels." He rose in one fluid motion. "Post guards. Four at all times. No one enters alone."
Thornmaker looked ready to protest but held his tongue as Boarstaff's hard gaze passed over them. The warchief turned to the council members crowding the doorway.
"We gather in fifteen minutes. Full formal assembly. This affects all our people, it will be decided with all voices heard." His gaze moved between them. "Until then, this is a matter for the shamans. Let them work without interference."
After the council members withdrew, Boarstaff lingered. His gaze met Ochrehand's across Sebastian's still form.
"If your vision proves false," he said quietly, "if this brings destruction to our people..."
"Then my life is forfeit," she finished. "As is proper for a shaman who misreads the signs."
He nodded once, then left her to her desperate work.
