Until Hirrus saw Nidra come in with the last group, he was convinced something would go wrong. Every time the warehouse door opened to admit the next fragment of their forces, he was certain that it would not be the expected squad, but instead one bloodied soul announcing that the enemy had found them before collapsing.

Instead, everything went smoothly. Eerily so.

Hirrus wasn’t sure if it was due to Nidra’s cunning leadership or dumb luck.

Or, perhaps, his instincts were dramatically overestimating their foes. They were up against adventurers, after all.

Half the reason Hirrus had been able to overpower Last of the Strong was because they had let him. Perhaps the Shadow Council was also bogged down by their own inefficient pride. If they thought they were untouchable, they wouldn’t be wary of oncoming foes until it was too late.

“Officers,” Nidra said as soon as the door closed behind her, shutting off the noise of the city’s riverside district, “to me. It’s time to begin.”

Hirrus wasn’t sure if that included him, but Nidra answered that question with a moment of eye contact and a beckoning gesture. He fell in line behind her as they moved towards the back of the warehouse, where a small room was separated from the larger storage space. It appeared to be a records office. It would serve just fine to let them have a quiet conversation where the noise of their assembled forces settling in wouldn’t disrupt them.

Deanna rushed into the room ahead of Nidra, and started cleaning up. She certainly didn’t look the part of an organized person, and the state of the office matched that expectation. Just the same, she was a deft hand at sorting what was scattered, and before the last of the officers entered the room, the loose papers had been filed, the trash had been swept away, and there was room enough for all of them to stand comfortably.

Before the meeting began, Hirrus was struck by the diversity of the group. Not only in appearances - from the large and gruff Deanna to the malnourished child Ten to the polished and poised Kamar - but in attitude. The trader, Sarit, was preparing a bunch of blank sheets onto clipboards she seemed to have produced from her inventory, handing them around the group. Moirna was here as well, and was distributing small paper cups of water to everyone. Ten seemed confused and perhaps even startled by these offerings, while Kamar took them perfectly in stride, as if he expected to be served thusly.

“Most of the information we need is already in my head,” Nidra began once the group was still and quiet. Most of them seemed to have no idea what to do with their clipboards, but as soon as Nidra started talking, Sarit started energetically taking notes, even though it didn’t seem like anything had been said yet.

“I know the members of the Shadow Council. I know the names of their guilds and what district their guildhalls should be in. And I know how to navigate the castle.” She gestured to Hirrus. “This one can tell you how hard it is to start without just that much information. The hard work is done already. We just need the legwork and this can all be over in a flash.”

When Nidra stopped talking, the scratch of Sarit’s pencil on paper was the only sound. Nidra seemed slightly disheartened by the lack of response, but she moved on without dwelling on it.

“There are five members of the Shadow Council,” she continued. She paused for a moment before nodding at Hirrus again. “There were five members. It’s four now. Fidelis of Last of the Strong has already been handled. More than that, the entire guild has been wiped out beneath him.”

Deanna let out a bark of laughter and gave Hirrus a congratulatory slap on the back.

“Wiping out the guilds will not be necessary at this phase,” Nidra said quickly. “Only the council members matter. Though any incidental damage to their support structure is welcome. Our first target will be Ontario of Intricacy. His guild is the largest by far, but not the strongest. What they lack in power, they make up for in numbers. Ontario is well past his prime, and once we find him, he should not be a problem.”

Having finally gotten to the part that seemed important, Hirrus wrote down the relevant details. Ontario. Intricacy. Numbers. Easy fight.

“The most technically challenging battle will be next,” she continued. Again she looked to Hirrus. “This is the fight I did not know how to do without you. Battle Orders has the most raw power of any guild in the world. Any assault against them would be suicide for anyone but the Merciless One himself. On any other week but this one, their leader is the most powerful single being on the planet. Her name is Cerberus, and she alone is more powerful than most guilds’ entire raid teams.”

Hirrus nodded along, taking his notes. Battle Orders. Strong. Very strong. Cerberus.

“The last guild is strictly the most dangerous,” Nidra went on. She looked over at Sarit and the woman visibly shuddered. “Keynes, the leader of Silent Partners, isn’t a strong fighter. But through his guild he controls the country’s entire economy. Any defense money can buy will be arrayed against us when we attack. Any information about us that can be bought, he will have. We must be extremely cautious in our approach, or the weight of his purse will crush us.”

Hirrus’s notes continued. Keynes. Silent Partners. Weak? Nidra is scared of their resources.

“The last guild?” Ten cut in to ask. “I thought there were four members.”

“The last has no guild affiliation,” Nidra said with a grimace. “I have only ever seen him in the castle. His name is JudoThrow, and I am unsure of what to expect from him. He appears every week to kick off the Shadow Council’s meeting, and then does not appear again until the following week. I suspect he will be difficult to draw out, but I’m not worried. Once the others fall, someone will need to hold the King’s reigns. It won’t serve their interests to have him sit idle.”

Hirrus wasn’t sure what to note about that, so he just wrote down what seemed most relevant. JudoThrow. No guild. Important? Hard to find.

“And all of them are here in Denstad?” Moirna asked. “You’re sure?”

Even before she finished asking, a few of the others were nodding, including Sarit, Kamar, and Deanna.

“All three have their guilds here,” Nidra confirmed. “Only Fidelis, of Last of the Strong, left the capital to establish the Council’s hold over Inoha, as it has the larger population. Intricacy has their hall to the north of here, in the Rock district. Battle Orders will be at the east end of Upper Town near the Timberrock Road gate. Silent Partners is in the Cloud Road district, but very close to the castle. Practically in the Upper Town as well.”

Hirrus took a moment to add that to his notes, writing the district names beside where he’d written out his notes on the individual targets. As an afterthought, he added the word “Castle” to his notes on JudoThrow.

“I know, I know,” Moirna said. “We went over that back in Shemil. But, I just mean…” She trailed off, as if doubting herself.

“The leaders,” Hirrus said, picking up what Moirna’s real question was. “Will they be here? What keeps them in Denstad?”

“Their seats of power are here,” Nidra said. She tapped her clipboard as if she’d written something down, even though her pages were blank. “They will not abandon their manors to be sacked and razed.”

“Even for their own survival?” Hirrus pressed. “I crushed Fidelis’s skull under my boot. They all know I did it. A global message informed them of his failure and death, and the destruction of everything he’d built.” He tapped his own clipboard, turning it to show her the names he’d written. “You think they will stand and wait for me to come, once they know they’re on my list?”

“Yes,” Nidra said. Hirrus could sense anger building in her, but she was forcing herself to stay calm. “They will stay. They will stand. They will fight, and they will die. And no destruction you can wreak will send them running.”

Hirrus waited for her to explain. When the pause went on for just long enough to make clear she was making him ask, he asked: “why?”

“Pride,” Nidra said simply. As soon as she said it, Hirrus felt a grimace crease his face, because that was all she needed to say for him to know she was right. Despite that, she continued: “they are adventurers. Their whole lifestyle is built on pride. They each are convinced that they can and will kill you when you come.

“You crushed Fidelis, yes, but they all think they’re stronger than he was.” She reached out and pointed to the names on his notes one after the other. “You will crush Ontario, and Cerberus will think she’s stronger than him as well. After you kill her, Keynes will think he will kill you easily when you come for him. After that, JudoThrow will just shake his head and laugh at how weak they all were compared to him, and wait for you to show up so that he can prove it.”

Hirrus saw why she had given the full explanation despite it being unnecessary to him. The others were nodding. Smiling, even. Her clear explanation, ringing true with each of them, was giving them hope. She was inspiring confidence in their mission.

“All we have to do is find their addresses,” Nidra concluded, “and find a way in through their exterior defenses. These guilds are just like the adventurers within them.” She tapped on the boiled leather of her cuirass. “Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. Once we penetrate their armor, we rip them apart.”

Hirrus had some doubts about her use of the word “we” in this context, but he let Nidra have her speech. Her followers needed it. And if he was going to get through this, he suspected he was going to need them ready and willing to help.