We had named it, described its pressure, and traced the shape of its emergence. But knowinghowsomething forms is not the same as knowingwhatit is. Or where it truly began. Whether it was born inside Nox Eternum… or whether the Abyss had merely given form to something that had always waited in the dark between things.
A presence.
A consequence.
Or a mirror.
None of the answers satisfied me. That alone was unsettling. And yet—beneath the unease—there was calm. Not the brittle stillness I had once mistaken for control, but something deeper. Something centered. My aura reflected it, the darkness thinning, the fractures smoothing into a steady, radiant gold. Not the harsh brilliance of conquest, but the glow I remembered from my father, back when balance had still been more than a word we used to justify survival.
Nadine was the reason.
The bond between us did not demand my attention. It did not burn or claw or distract. Itsettled. Wove itself into my awareness until I could not tell where my thoughts ended, and the quiet certainty began.
We had shared each other often in the hours since the storm, not out of hunger alone, though there was plenty of that, but out of something steadier. Grounding. Each time, I emerged clearer. Less fragmented. As if parts of me that had been braced for eons were finally being allowed to rest. I understood now why the old Arkhevari had always bonded in pairs. This was not indulgence. It was regulation.
The ship signaled a course correction, and the Cronack system appeared on the main display. A barren region, stripped clean by Cryon exploitation, its planets were little more than resource husks orbiting a dim, sickly star.
A place where things disappeared.
Fitting.
I straightened in the command chair, my focus sharpened at the sight of Cronack's still crowded orbit. Pandraxian ships formed a slow, methodical ring around the planet, their presence unmistakably imperial. Extraction vessels drifted in and out of low orbit, ensuring nothing of value—material or otherwise—remained unaccounted for. The planet below was a hollowed thing now. Stripped. Quiet. Finished.
I did not like inefficiency.
I liked redundancy even less.
My irritation deepened when my sensors resolved a familiar command signature among the fleet. Larger than the rest. Heavily shielded. Purpose-built for authority rather than combat.
I leaned forward slightly. "That's not a standard patrol vessel."
Nadine glanced up from her station. "Imperial?"
My mood darkened, "Yes, and not just any. It belongs to the Superior Commander of the Imperial Forces, Xandros Callicapos, and his mate, Commander Ashley."
The comm chimed. "Unidentified vessel," a deck officer's voice crackled through the channel, precise, disciplined, and carrying the faint edge of someone following protocol to the letter. "You have entered a restricted Imperial military perimeter. You are hereby ordered to retreat immediately or be treated as a hostile incursion."
Nadine sat up straighter beside me.
"Negative," I replied calmly. "Inform your superior that I am here on Cryon-related business." I paused before adding, "And that Emperor Daryus is aware of my presence." It was… not strictly untrue. Merely incomplete.
The silence that followed stretched longer than it should have. Long enough for background chatter to spike. Long enough for someone to pull records that did not exist.
"Unidentified vessel," the officer returned, the formality still intact but tension now threaded through it, "be advised that multiple parties have attempted to invoke Imperial authority within this sector. You will transmit credentials immediately, or?—"
"No," I interrupted.
Another pause. Shorter this time. Sharper.
"I'm not requesting access," I announced evenly. "I am stating purpose."
I felt Nadine glance at me. Amusement flickered through the bond.
"Stand by," the officer snapped, clearly muting the channel.
I exhaled slowly. Of course. Anyone could claim the emperor's approval. Anyone with sufficient audacity and a ship that didn't match known registries. This was exactly the sort of ambiguity Xandros would take personally. Seconds later, the channel reopened.
"Unknown vessel," the voice said again, carefully neutral now, "Superior Commander Xandros has reviewed your approach vector and ship profile. He requests that you come aboard his flagship for verification."
