Karev’s boots made faint echoes against the cobbled paths of the Red Dome as he slipped back into the night. His thoughts were restless, turning over everything he had just seen.

  The Void Shard troubled him deeply. It was not simply a rare relic; it was a wound in the world made solid, a crystal that pulled magic from a forbidden place and forced it into this realm. With such a tool, the impossible became possible. Beast and man could be fused. Chaos could be shaped into flesh.

  Yet it was not only the method that unsettled him. It was the reason behind it.

  For some time, the Valiants had ruled through fear. They unleashed Ragelers, letting them tear through towns before arriving as saviours. The people of Sadnon feared the dark, and so they clung to the Red Dome for protection. That balance had served the order well. Why risk destroying it?

  Cloned beasts wearing human faces could walk freely through the streets. They could whisper lies, spark riots, without ever showing their true form. This was preparation for something greater, something that could break the fragile balance the Valiants themselves had built.

  Karev needed help. Or at the very least, answers.

  Trust was rare within the order. Every Valiant guarded secrets like treasure. Yet there was one man who might listen. Cedric.

  Cedric was younger, a summoner with skill but not blind loyalty. More than once he had spoken quietly of his doubts, confessing that the screams of Ragelers haunted his sleep. If anyone would question what was happening, it would be him.

  Karev turned toward the eastern quadrant of the Dome, where the lesser Valiants lived in narrow spires overshadowed by the great central tower. The air felt cooler there, less heavy with pride and power. He stopped before a plain wooden door marked with Cedric’s sigil: a thorned vine wrapped around a rift.

  He knocked softly and rested his hand on the hilt of his hidden dagger. Paranoia had become his shield.

  The door opened with a slow creak. Cedric stood there, thin and pale in the glow of a single candle. Surprise crossed his face before suspicion replaced it. “Karev? At this hour?”

  “It cannot wait,” Karev said quietly as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

  Cedric’s chamber was simple. A narrow bed, a desk covered in scrolls, and a small altar for personal summons filled the space. There were no rich tapestries or rare artefacts. Cedric had never cared for such things.

  “You look as though you’ve stared into the abyss,” Cedric said, folding his arms. His robe slipped slightly, revealing the faint scar that ran across his side, a reminder of a Rageler’s claws from years ago. “What have you found?”

  Karev began to pace, choosing his words with care. “Have you noticed anything strange among the elders? Experiments beyond our usual rites?”

  Cedric’s expression darkened. “Strange? They are all strange. But lately, yes. The experiment chambers have been sealed more often. Levin and Rufus claim they are refining the summoning rituals. Why?”

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  Karev stopped. “I do not know who those two are, but they are not refining anything. They are twisting it. I saw proof tonight. Ragelers cloned and shaped into human bodies. They plan to send them into the city.”

  Cedric let out a short laugh, but there was no humour in it. “Clone a Rageler? That would require an anchor. Something forbidden.”

  “A Void Shard,” Karev said quietly.

  Cedric’s face drained of colour. He stumbled back and knocked a scroll from his desk. “Those were destroyed after the Ancient Wars. If one still exists—”

  “It does,” Karev replied. “I saw it with my own eyes. And I heard them speak of batches of clones. Not one or two. Many.”

  Cedric sank onto the edge of his bed, pressing his fingers to his temples. “There have been whispers of disappearances,” he muttered. “I thought they were ordinary cover-ups. But this… if they are using shards as vessels for power…” He looked up. “Why tell me?”

  “Because I cannot uncover this alone,” Karev said. “And you have always questioned what we do. Help me trace the shard. There must be records in the vaults.”

  Cedric hesitated, glancing at the door as if he expected someone to be listening. “The higher archives are sealed tighter than a rift. But I have access to the lower vaults. Hamon placed me in charge of cataloguing relics last month. There may be ledgers that mention new acquisitions.”

  “Hamon,” Karev repeated, his voice hardening. “He was named tonight.”

  Cedric frowned. “Named? As what?”

  “As part of this.”

  Cedric stood again and began to pace. “Why would he risk that? Uncontrolled Ragelers would only bring chaos to the order.”

  “You are right,” Karev said. “But I do not yet understand his true goal.”

  After a moment of silence, Cedric asked quietly, “Does Thaddeus know?”

  Karev shook his head. “Not yet. I need certainty before I bring this to the council.”

  Cedric sat down once more, staring at the floor. When he spoke again, his voice was softer. “Perhaps this is our sign.”

  Karev knew what he meant without asking.

  “Perhaps we should leave,” Cedric continued. “There is a struggle for power within these walls. Members of the Arch-Valiant circle are reaching for forces beyond even the Lord Valiant’s command. If the order tears itself apart, we will be buried with it.”

  Karev sighed, but he shook his head firmly. “No, brother. Not after what they did to our parents. Not after Zuhran unleashed that beast upon our home. He knew you were only a child, and he sent it anyway.”

  Cedric’s jaw tightened as memory rose unbidden. The night their house burned. The Rageler’s claws. Their parents’ blood. Karev standing between him and death.

  “I am closer than ever to facing Zuhran,” Karev said. “If Hamon is tied to this, then the web is tightening. I will not run. I will see this through. And we will have our justice.”

  Cedric looked at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly.

  Karev turned to leave, but paused at the doorway and turned back to Cedric. “Do you remember the Truthers who hid in Meredith’s house?”

  Cedric nodded.

  “One of them fell into a trance during battle. He wielded a blade unlike any I have seen. It moved with him as though alive. Dark and hungry. And it pulsed with the same shadow I felt from the Void Shard.”

  Cedric’s eyes widened. “You think he draws from the same source?”

  “I suspect so,” Karev replied grimly. “And if that is true, then the cost will be terrible.”

  Cedric’s voice was steady, though heavy. “If he channels void power, then he walks a narrow path. He is a dead man. Such strength always demands payment.”

  Karev shook his head with pity. “Good night.” he said, stepping out into the corridor once more.