In the Origin Hall, everyone stood around the central projection table, staring at the hologram flickering above. The message from Gary was in the display.
For months, they had been trying to reach Gary and the others, sending countless messages through every channel, every relay, every node connection they could access.
But they did not get any reply.
It was not new to them, since this was a common thing that happened when someone went to the frontlines. Distorted space, galactic interference often broke links, so they were waiting till now, but also kept sending messages.
And now… a reply.
Septimus leaned forward, "Finally."
Adrian stood at the center of the hall, silent. His gaze stayed fixed on the projection, reading and rereading the message that had appeared after months of silence.
"We're trapped inside something strange. We can't leave unless we meet certain conditions. Time doesn't flow right here, it feels like thousands of years have passed, but my node says only months outside."
"Only I came out, the others are still stuck inside."
Selena's face paled. "Thousands of years…"
Thomas muttered, "That's not just spatial distortion. That's something else entirely."
Varik stepped closer, adjusting his node to pull up additional data. "He also sent coordinates."
The projection shifted, displaying a sector map marked with a single blinking point at the northern edge of the galaxy.
Adrian's gaze finally moved from the projection. "Send a message to Elder Gary to wait there. I'm going to get them out."
Everyone turned toward him instantly.
Septimus frowned. "Adrian, you can't just go to the frontlines. You're not a mercenary. You're a Patriarch, clans are assigned sectors by the empire."
Draven nodded. "He's right. I had to get approval even as a mercenary. The Aethelian war councils handle all deployments. You'd need to request, wait for screening, paperwork, approvals… it'll take months."
Lucian spoke quietly from the corner. "And the Aethelian Empire is already pointing their blade at us. It would not be easy to get their permission, especially mentioning a specific sector."
Adrian replied, "If time flows differently inside the place they are stuck, then every moment we waste here could be centuries for them."
That silenced them.
Varik asked, "But, my lord, how are you even going to get inside the frontlines?"
Cassian tilted his head slightly, "There are… unofficial routes. Smugglers, mercenaries who don't follow imperial law."
Elara shook her head. "We don't know where those routes are exactly located."
Aurelia hesitated, "Kaelith is still here, isn't she?"
Adrian nodded. "She'll know."
Without another word, he vanished, blinking out of the Origin Hall.
Thomas exhaled slowly. "He's not waiting for anyone's permission, is he?"
Elara shook her head. "No. He's grown now."
Varik turned toward the others, already pulling up transit logs. "I'll prepare a ship just in case."
...
In the Duskbane embassy hall, the attendants nearly stumbled as Adrian materialized in front of them.
"I need to see Kaelith," he said simply.
The guards didn't hesitate. One bowed, already turning toward the inner chambers. Within minutes, he was led through corridors into the private wing.
Kaelith was there, standing before a holo-projection of her fleet routes. Star systems and trade lanes flickered across the table.
When she turned, her expression softened.
"Adrian." She dismissed the projection with a wave. "You don't usually come unannounced. What's happened?"
He didn't waste a second. "Some of my elders, from my home planet, are trapped on the frontlines. One of them sent a message. I need to rescue them."
Kaelith blinked once, "Trapped? Which sector?"
Adrian held out his node. The coordinates flickered in the void between them.
Kaelith's brow furrowed as she studied the data. Her fingers moved through the projection, pulling up galactic maps. "That's… no ordinary battlefield."
Adrian stepped forward. "You know what this place is?"
She hesitated before answering, "I thought you meant they were caught in a battle with demons. But this…" Her eyes narrowed. "This is far worse."
"Why?"
Kaelith raised her hand, activating a large holographic projection of the galaxy. Stars bloomed across the chamber, filling the space with light.
From one end to another, a crimson line stretched, separating the empires from the dark territories of the Demon Empire.
That stretch was the frontlines.
"This," Kaelith said, gesturing toward the red boundary, "is the frontlines. Every empire holds sectors here, locked in endless battle with demons."
Adrian nodded. The war zones. The places where even Stellars died.
"That much I know."
Then Kaelith zoomed out. The hologram shifted to one end, the very edge of the galaxy, where light itself seemed to dim.
"But what you haven't seen… is this."
The view magnified, revealing an ocean of faint cracks, drifting fragments, swirling voids.
"The Northern Edge. The true frontier. The border where our galaxy meets… whatever lies beyond."
Adrian frowned, processing the image. Even Earth was located on the other side of the edge, far from the empires. "Beyond?"
He studied the fractured space. "What's different about this northern edge?"
Kaelith's tone lowered, "For thousands of years, fragments have drifted from that edge. Fragments of worlds, broken relics, and treasures."
"Even the treasure that contained fragments of the Language of Mana that Lexaria built their empire on came from one such discovery at the Edge."
Adrian's mind raced.
He knew other galaxies existed. Even with Earth's tech, they could detect the distant galaxies. But Earth's technology could not find life within their own galaxy, let alone beyond it.
He asked, "Fragments from beyond the galaxy? Then… other galaxies might have life too?"
Kaelith answered slowly, "No one knows. Some believe these fragments come from collapsed galaxies, echoes of civilizations long dead. Others say the void itself births them."
Her gaze hardened.
"But one thing is certain, the Northern Edge is beyond reason."
She gestured toward the projection again, pulling up ancient records. "A ruin drifted from that edge nearly a hundred thousand years ago. Lexaria claimed it, deciphered it, and it changed everything."
Adrian listened, watching the hologram shift.
"Their monopoly over inscriptions started with that one discovery."
Her eyes flicked toward his node again, toward the coordinates still hovering there. "And your coordinates… lie right inside the Edge."
Adrian stared at the projection. The realization hit him, his elders were trapped somewhere beyond comprehension.
"So whatever they're in… isn't of this galaxy," he murmured.
Kaelith nodded grimly. "And no empire controls that place. Not truly. The empires hold fortified sectors around the outer perimeter, but no one has ever mapped the Edge."
"Strange things exist there. Places where time distorts, space collapses, entire fleets vanish without trace."
Adrian's jaw tightened. Gary's message made sense now. Thousands of years inside, only months outside.
Kaelith looked at him for a long moment, reading his face. "You intend to go?"
He nodded without hesitation.
"Then you'll need access to a frontline sector. No one can enter the Edge without imperial clearance. The warlords there guard those zones like gods."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Your elders could have used the routes that smugglers use."
Adrian asked, "Do you know any way to get in there?"
Kaelith was silent for a long time.
Then, she said, "Smugglers, wanderers, and treasure-seekers find their own paths into the Edge all the time. Illegal routes, unstable, uncharted, and suicidal for most."
"But they exist. And I know one."
Adrian's gaze lifted, "Can you give me the coordinates?"
She sighed, the sound carrying centuries of experience. "You're walking into the unknown, Adrian. Many had vanished without a trace there."
Stellar beings, entire clans, lost to the void.
Adrian did not back down.
Kaelith studied him, then extended her node. Data streamed between them, coordinates burning into his display.
"These coordinates lead to a route between patrol grids. It's unstable, risky, and crawling with strange things."
"But if you follow it… It'll take you to the Northern Edge."
He replied, "Thank you."
She was risking her clan, giving him illegal intel.
Kaelith's voice softened slightly. "Adrian. The Edge is a graveyard. No one who goes there returns unchanged. Even demons avoid the deeper zones."
He met her gaze steadily, "Then I'll make sure my people don't stay there long enough to change."
She shook her head with a faint, rueful smile. "You really are insane."
He turned toward the exit, already planning his next move.
As he stepped through the doors, Kaelith called after him, her voice carrying across the chamber. "Don't forget, you owe me one for this."
Adrian paused, glancing back. He nodded once, acknowledging the debt.
And with that, he blinked out.