The wind rolled low over the broken cliffs outside the empire's northern borders—an old stretch of ravine land warped by essence overflow decades ago. No academies or imperial outposts monitored this deep into the Greyspan Verge. That was why they chose it.

Linna Veydran approached the meeting site alone, boots coated in Hollow dust. Her cloak was torn at the edge, blood dried near her ribs—not hers. Her expression was tired but unbowed.

They were already there.

Four figures cloaked in varying shades of dusk waited beneath a warped canopy of spirit-scarred trees. A brazier hissed faintly in the center, its flames swirling unnaturally.

"You made it," said a tall man with a bonewood clasp at his shoulder.

"Barely," Linna replied, voice even. "They sent a full detachment. Empire fourth-years and tagged academy elites. Standard assault pattern."

"You were warned," said a woman draped in black-silk robes, her voice as light as mist.

Linna gave her a sharp look. "Exactly why I survived."

The group stood loosely ringed around the brazier. A fifth man leaned against a half-crumbled stone altar at the edge, his coat embroidered with fine sigils. He didn't speak, merely observed.

"I left the warehouse clean," Linna continued. "And the trafficking lines were purged. They'll find ghosts and residue. That's all."

"Good," the woman murmured. "We need them chasing shadows."

"It's a pity," said the bonewood man. "The Westridge line was stable."

"We've lost bigger," said the man by the altar at last. His voice was quiet but firm. "And this time, we gained something in return."

The others turned as he pulled a small cloth bundle from inside his coat. He unwrapped it slowly.

Inside rested a jagged black fragment, threaded faintly with violet veins that pulsed in and out of view.

"A Voidheart Fragment," the man said. "Acquired from an auction house in the southern fringe. One of my outer-circle subordinates bought it for a mere thousand dragon gold."

Linna raised an eyebrow. "A Voidheart Fragment?"

He nodded, the faintest trace of amusement in his voice. "They misidentified it as an enigmatic relic. No surprise. I doubt anyone outside the deep vaults of the Empire even remembers the Voidheart by name."

The woman's gaze sharpened slightly. "And you remember?"

"Enough to treat it with respect," he replied, carefully unwrapping the shard within its warded cloth. The air dimmed a fraction, the ambient essence around them thinning like breath pulled from the room. "This is just a fragment—no more than a splinter of the original core. But even that much carries weight."

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

He held it between two fingers, letting the violet veins pulse faintly in the light.

"Its presence distorts internal flow—interferes with essence regulation, but not chaotically. It's selective. Measured."

"A disruptor?" she asked.

He shook his head. "A stabilizer. Or a catalyst. That's what I'm narrowing down." He turned it slightly, watching the light twist through it. "It resonates strongest near layered cores—particularly those nearing critical states. It doesn't just suppress energy... it listens to it."

"And if you isolate what part of the Voidheart this came from—?"

His voice dropped. "Then I'll know what aspect of its function this fragment still remembers. Devouring, folding, nullifying… or binding. One of them remains."

He wrapped the shard again, gently, as if it might whisper too loudly if left exposed.

The group fell quiet.

He looked to Linna now. "The warning we sent reached you in time?"

Linna nodded. "The timing was exact. I had two hours to break lines, mask the warehouse, and reroute the last stock."

"Good," the woman said. "Our moles in the Academy and the capital haven't been compromised, then."

"For now," the bonewood man muttered. "I still say it was too close."

"That's war," the man with the Voidheart fragment said quietly.

The others fell silent.

Eventually, Linna turned. "What's next?"

"You recover," said the woman. "Then relocate. We'll send instructions."

Linna hesitated, then gave a slight bow. "Understood."

She vanished into the trees a moment later, light-footed despite the exhaustion.

Only after her departure did the quiet man speak again.

"She was compromised."

The others looked toward him. The bonewood-masked figure tilted his head. "We fed her the strike timing ourselves. No mistake there."

"Just as you said earlier, the Westridge line was stable," the man continued, fingers resting lightly on the wrapped shard within his robes. "Yet there wasn't a whisper from the Empire until now? No scouts. No pressure. Then suddenly, a full fourth-year team and two IWB handlers, on a registered route?"

A long silence settled over the clearing. The woman crossed her arms, her expression unreadable beneath the gauze veil she wore.

"You're saying someone leaked her location?"

"I'm saying someone else did," he said. "Probably not from us. Someone tipped the Empire. Someone playing both sides."

The bonewood figure let out a low breath. "We've rooted half a dozen eyes into the imperial courts. If there's a leak—"

"There's always a leak," the man interrupted. "Just because a ship sails doesn't mean it isn't taking on water."

He turned the fragment over once in his palm, watching it pulse faintly beneath the cloth.

"We aren't the only ones with infiltrators. If the Empire sent a team that quickly, it means someone's feeding them just enough to act without looking blind."

"So one of ours is compromised?"

"Not necessarily ours," he said. "But someone is trading favors. Or information. Either way, Linna's position wasn't as hidden as we thought."

"Then what do we do?"

"We shift our hands. Pull back those too exposed. Let the Empire think they've earned a win."

His gaze darkened. "Then we see what else they're willing to chase."

He turned, letting the fragment slide back into its warded wrap.

"And next time, we don't wait for the leak. We purge it."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.