The summons came at dawn.
Ethan was still wiping sleep from his eyes when a pale, sharp-nosed man in a deep green coat appeared at the inn's doorway. He said nothing beyond "The mayor requests your presence."
The streets were quiet as they followed, the air heavy with the scent of last night's smoke. People were already repairing the grain store—wood hammers tapping in a rhythm that felt too calm after what had happened.
Mayor Haldrin's office was inside a squat stone building near the center square. Its walls were thick enough to muffle the outside world, the windows too narrow to see much of it anyway.
Haldrin himself sat behind a desk piled with papers. His greying hair was combed back neatly, but his eyes were red-rimmed, as if he hadn't slept.
"Close the door," he said.
Marcus crossed his arms. "We were going to report anyway."
Haldrin ignored him, pulling out a map of the region. His finger traced from Norhollow to a shaded patch of wetlands. "This marsh you've been poking around in—it's not the first time strange things have crawled out of there."
Selene's gaze sharpened. "You knew."
"I suspected," Haldrin corrected. "And I've seen what happens when suspicions become public panic. Last time, we burned half the marshland and thought it was done. But if something's breeding again…" He trailed off, folding the map.
Ethan stepped forward. "Why keep that from us? From anyone?"
Haldrin's expression didn't change. "Because panic gets more people killed than claws and teeth. And because you're outsiders. The guild pays you to solve problems, not spread them."
Lily's voice was quiet but cutting. "You think last night was panic?"
Haldrin didn't answer.
Rowan leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "You've got more than a map. What else aren't you telling us?"
Haldrin's gaze flicked to him, then to Selene, then finally to Ethan. "I'll give you what I can. But you'll take it as a request, not an order: stay away from the marsh for the next week. I have… other measures in place."
Marcus frowned. "And if those 'measures' fail?"
"Then," Haldrin said quietly, "we'll all be having a very different conversation."
The meeting ended with no promises made.
As they stepped back into the morning light, Ethan's system pulsed once in his vision.
[Information Concealment Detected]
[Risk Level: Increasing]
He didn't need the system to tell him Haldrin was lying. The real question was—about what.