The message came at midnight, delivered by a crow that landed on the warehouse's windowsill and tapped insistently at the glass until Ronan let it in. Not a natural crow—its eyes glowed with faint runelight, and when it opened its beak, a woman's voice emerged.
"Ronan. Been a long time. Heard you retired, but also heard you've been making noise again. Shadow signatures all over the East Canal district, and whispers that you're harboring a Soulrender wielder. I'm willing to believe you have a good reason. If you want to prove it, meet me at the old Ironworks at dawn. Come alone—but bring the boy. It's time we had a conversation."
The crow's eyes dimmed, and it became just a bird again, looking confused about how it had ended up in a warehouse.
"Friend of yours?" Kaelen asked. He'd been up late studying Elena's books, trying to understand rune theory well enough to at least follow Lia's explanations.
"Selene Darkwater," Ronan said, his expression unreadable. "One of the best Shadow Hunters who ever lived. Also my former partner, before I retired." He let the crow fly back out the window. "If she's willing to meet, that means the Shadow Hunter network has noticed what's happening in Eredor. Could be good. Could be very bad."
"Which is more likely?" Lia asked, looking up from her own research.
"With Selene? Always hard to tell." Ronan moved to the weapons rack, selecting a few items. "She's practical above all else. If she thinks you're a threat, Kaelen, she'll try to neutralize you. If she thinks you're useful, she'll try to recruit you. Either way, it won't be boring."
"Should I bring Soulrender?" Kaelen asked.
"She already knows you have it. Hiding it would just insult her intelligence." Ronan checked the edge on a hunting knife. "But keep control of it. Shadow Hunters are trained to detect loss of control in artifact wielders. If that blade starts influencing you during the meeting, Selene will end you before you can blink."
"Encouraging," Kaelen muttered.
Lia stood. "I'm coming too."
"She said alone," Ronan pointed out.
"She said alone but bring the boy. That's not alone." Lia's expression was stubborn. "Besides, if this Selene is as good as you say, she'll have already scouted the warehouse. She knows I'm here. She knows what I am. If she wanted me to stay behind, she would have specified."
Ronan considered, then nodded. "Fair point. Alright. All three of us. But Lia, stay back unless things go wrong. If Selene decides Kaelen is too dangerous and I have to choose between old loyalties and new ones..."
"You'll do what you think is right," Lia finished. "I understand. For what it's worth, I think you make good choices."
"Kid, I'm hiding a cursed blade wielder from both the Cult and legitimate authorities while planning to hunt shadow corruption sites for magical power. My choice-making is questionable at best."
"But well-intentioned," Lia countered. "That has to count for something."
They slept for a few hours—or tried to—then set out before dawn. The old Ironworks was on the edge of Eredor's industrial district, a decommissioned facility that had once forged rune-inscribed steel for the city's military contracts. Now it was just a skeleton of rusted metal and broken machinery, popular with homeless squatters and people who didn't want to be found.
Perfect place for a clandestine meeting.
They approached carefully, Ronan in the lead with the experience of decades of dangerous encounters. The sky was just beginning to lighten, painting the industrial wasteland in shades of grey and rust-red. Somewhere in the distance, the morning shift bells began to ring.
A figure waited inside the Ironworks' main foundry—a woman, tall and lean, dressed in practical dark clothing that allowed for easy movement. Her hair was silver, though her face suggested she wasn't much older than forty. Two short swords hung at her hips, and Kaelen could see at least four other weapons concealed on her person.
What really caught his attention were her eyes. They were the same silver as her hair, and they saw everything. In the space of a heartbeat, Kaelen felt her assess him, categorize him, identify every weapon he carried and probably several weaknesses he didn't know he had.
"Ronan," she said, her voice the same one that had come from the crow. "You look old."
"You look exactly the same, which is vaguely unsettling," Ronan replied. "Still drinking potions to slow aging?"
"Still judging people for practical life choices?" Selene's lips quirked slightly. "We can trade barbs, or we can talk business. Which would you prefer?"
"Business," Ronan said. "Selene Darkwater, meet Kaelen Voss and Lia Thorne. Kaelen's the Soulrender wielder. Lia's the rune mage keeping him sane."
"Barely," Lia muttered.
Selene's attention fixed on Kaelen. "Let me see it. The blade."
Kaelen hesitated, then drew Soulrender. In the dim light of dawn, the sword seemed to pulse with darkness, shadows gathering around it like loyal pets. Selene studied it with professional detachment.
"Twenty-nine Shadow Scars," she said after a moment. "Recent combat, heavy usage, multiple purifications. You're burning through corruption fast and relying on external help to manage it." Her eyes shifted to Lia. "Which means you're burning through your own life force fast. I give you six months at this rate before permanent damage. A year before it kills you."
Lia paled slightly but said nothing.
"Thanks for the encouraging assessment," Kaelen said coldly. "Was there a point to this meeting, or did you just want to tell us we're all going to die?"
"The point," Selene said, "is to determine whether you're an asset or a threat. Ronan says you're fighting the Cult of the Shade. Marcus Blackwood's organization. That you disrupted a major ritual at the Old Academy ruins."
"We did," Kaelen confirmed.
"And then you vaporized an entire city block with stolen Star Core energy, killed two dozen cultists, and nearly lost yourself to the blade's corruption." Selene's expression didn't change. "Asset or threat, Kaelen Voss? Because from where I stand, you look like a walking apocalypse waiting to happen."
"Then why didn't you just kill me in my sleep?" Kaelen shot back. "If I'm so dangerous?"
"Because Ronan trusts you. And because despite the damage you've caused, you're fighting Marcus, which is more than I can say for most people." Selene turned to Ronan. "How much have you told him about the Shadow Hunter network?"
"Basics only," Ronan said. "That we exist, that we hunt corrupted artifacts, that we mostly operate in the shadows—pun intended."
"Then let me add context." Selene moved to lean against a rusted support pillar. "The Shadow Hunter network has been tracking Marcus Blackwood for twenty years. We know what he's trying to do—reunite the three Forbidden Blades, break the seal on the Netherveil, release the Shadow Lord. We know he believes this will 'restore balance' to the world's magic. And we know that he's been systematically corrupting Star Core nodes across Aethor to weaken the seals."
"How many nodes has he corrupted?" Lia asked.
"Seven that we know of," Selene said. "Three in Valorian territory, two in the neutral zones, one in the Morwen Marshlands, and now one here in Eredor—though you disrupted that one. His success rate is roughly seventy percent. And each corruption makes the Shadow Lord's seal a little weaker."
"How many nodes need to be corrupted before the seal breaks?" Kaelen asked.
"Minimum? Twelve. Maximum? Twenty. We're not sure of the exact threshold, but we're past the halfway point. Which means Marcus is closer to his goal than anyone in authority is willing to admit."
"Why don't the authorities do something?" Lia demanded. "Valorian, the Eredor Council, the mage guilds—they all have more resources than a handful of Shadow Hunters."
"Because they're paralyzed by politics and doctrine," Selene said bluntly. "Valorian refuses to admit that shadow magic has any legitimate use, which means they can't study it properly or counter it effectively. Eredor's Council is too busy maintaining their precious neutrality to take sides. And the mage guilds are fragmented, each one protecting their own territory and research. Meanwhile, Marcus moves freely because no one wants to coordinate."
She looked directly at Kaelen. "Which brings us to you. You're carrying one of the three Forbidden Blades. You're actively fighting the Cult. And according to Ronan, you're looking for ways to use Soulrender's power without accumulating fatal corruption. That makes you potentially valuable to the network."
"Let me guess," Kaelen said. "You want to recruit me."
"I want to offer you support," Selene corrected. "Intelligence on Cult operations. Access to corruption sites where you can safely absorb ambient shadow energy. Training in advanced combat techniques. In exchange, you disrupt Marcus's plans, stop his node corruptions, and generally make his life difficult."
"And if I say no?"
"Then you're on your own. No support, no intelligence, no backup. You can still fight the Cult, but you'll be doing it blind." Selene's silver eyes didn't blink. "Or I can designate you as a threat, and the network will hunt you down. We're very good at what we do."
"That's not much of a choice," Lia said.
"No," Selene agreed. "It's not. But it's the choice available. Welcome to the world of fighting existential threats—the options are never good."
Kaelen looked at Soulrender in his hand, at the sword that had already cost him so much. He thought about fighting alone, about stumbling from crisis to crisis with no plan and no support. He thought about Lia burning through her life force to save him, about eventually reaching fifty Scars and becoming the very monster he was trying to stop.
Then he thought about Marcus Blackwood, about the Shadow Lord waiting in his sealed prison, about innocent people being used as sacrifices because no one with power was willing to coordinate a response.
"I have conditions," he said finally.
Selene raised an eyebrow. "You're in no position to—"
"I have conditions," Kaelen interrupted, his voice firm. "One: Lia gets access to any research the network has on purification techniques and life-force preservation. She's burning herself out to help me, and I won't let her die because of my curse."
"Reasonable," Selene said after a moment.
"Two: I need transparency. I'm not doing black ops missions where I don't know the full picture. If you want me to hit a Cult site, I need to know why, what the risks are, and what the civilian exposure might be. I'm done with orders that don't explain themselves."
"More difficult, but manageable."
"Three: My primary goal is stopping Marcus, not accumulating power for myself or the network. If those objectives conflict, I follow my conscience. If that's a problem, tell me now."
Selene was quiet for a long moment, studying him. Then, surprisingly, she smiled. "Ronan, your boy has spine. I like him."
"He's not my boy," Ronan grumbled. "He's his own person. Which is part of why I trust him."
"Fair enough." Selene extended her hand to Kaelen. "You have a deal. Welcome to the Shadow Hunter network, Kaelen Voss. Try not to become a monster—we have enough of those to deal with already."
Kaelen sheathed Soulrender and shook her hand. Her grip was firm, professional, and somehow managed to convey both welcome and warning.
"When do we start?" he asked.
"Right now." Selene pulled out a map and spread it on a nearby workbench. "We have intelligence on a Cult operation happening tonight. Industrial district, about two miles from here. They're using a factory that produces runic components—corrupting the manufacturing process to create flawed products that will fail catastrophically when used. Dozens of death traps being shipped across Eredor, all so Marcus can create chaos and distrust in rune-forged goods."
"How many cultists?" Lia asked, studying the map.
"Estimate eight to twelve. Mix of shadow mages and converted workers—people the Cult has recruited or coerced. The ambient shadow energy should be significant from the corruption process, perfect for Kaelen to absorb without adding Scars."
"What about the workers?" Kaelen asked. "The converted ones. Are they salvageable?"
"Maybe. Depends on how deep the corruption goes." Selene's expression softened slightly. "That's why I'm sending you instead of a kill team. You want to save people. We need someone who'll try."
Ronan crossed his arms. "This feels like a test."
"It is," Selene admitted. "I need to see Kaelen in action. See if he can handle a controlled operation, absorb corruption without losing control, and make smart decisions under pressure. If he passes, we move to bigger operations. If he fails..."
"Then you kill me and take the sword," Kaelen finished.
"Then I try to kill you," Selene corrected. "Soulrender doesn't transfer easily. You'd put up a fight. But yes, essentially."
"At least you're honest."
"I've found it saves time." Selene rolled up the map. "You have eight hours to prepare. Study the factory layout, plan your approach, rest. I'll have eyes on the operation, but I won't intervene unless absolutely necessary. This is your chance to prove you're more than just a corrupted blade wielder waiting to snap."
She started to leave, then paused. "One more thing. Marcus knows about you now. Knows your face, your capabilities, your connection to Lia. He'll be planning countermeasures. So get better, get smarter, and get faster. Because the next time you face him, it won't be a brief encounter. It'll be a real fight."
"Looking forward to it," Kaelen said, though his stomach churned at the thought.
Selene departed as silently as she'd arrived, leaving Kaelen, Lia, and Ronan in the dawn-lit foundry.
"Well," Lia said eventually. "That could have gone worse."
"Could have gone better too," Ronan pointed out. "But we have resources now. Support. A chance to actually plan instead of just reacting."
"And a test tonight," Kaelen added. He looked at Soulrender, at the blade that would be his companion in the fight ahead. "No pressure or anything."
*Pressure is what makes diamonds*, Soulrender observed. *Or crushes coal into dust. Let us see which you become, wielder.*
"Encouraging as always," Kaelen muttered.
They had eight hours to prepare for the first real hunt.
Eight hours to prove that Kaelen Voss could be trusted with one of the world's most dangerous weapons.
Eight hours before everything changed again.