With Kiera's integration, the Sanctuary Network shifted from a whispered question to a functioning, hidden web. Her contacts were wary at first, but her personal endorsement—and the promise of sanctuary from the designs of both Order and Corruption—was a potent lure.
First to arrive were the Whisper-Moths, a species of telepathic insectoids who carried messages across the Gloom. They nested in the Sanctuary's upper spires, becoming their living communication relay.
Next came a ragged band of Forgotten, soldiers from dozens of armies who had been left behind in the Gloom after battles, their minds shattered by the thin reality. Mira and Echo worked together—Mira stabilizing their spatial perception, Echo mending the frayed threads of their psyches with Life-Weaving. They became the Sanctuary's first defensive militia, their loyalty fierce and simple.
Information began to flow. Kiera decoded it, cross-referencing Shadow Court movements with Order fleet deployments and Corrupted incursions. A pattern emerged.
"They're herding you," she told Echo one day, pointing at a star map glowing with threat markers. "The Grand Design. The Order fleet is being subtly maneuvered to block your obvious exit routes from the Gloom. The Corrupted are being baited toward potential ally locations you might seek out. The Shadow Court is leaking just enough of our network's early contacts to the other two, forcing us to expend resources protecting them. They're constricting the board, forcing you to make a move on their terms."
It was a chilling confirmation of the Design's pervasive influence.
"Then we don't play their game," Ryn said. "We change the rules."
"How?" Leyla asked.
Echo studied the map, his Mercantile Insight and Sovereign perception merging. He saw not just the threats, but the gaps. The quiet spaces the Design was ignoring because they held no strategic value. "Here," he pointed to a nondescript nebula of dust and dead comets. "The Silent Veil. No resources. No strategic lanes. A perfect blind spot."
"It's a dead zone," Kiera said, then her eyes lit up. "Exactly. The perfect place to hide something you don't want found."
A plan formed. They would establish a decoy sanctuary in the Silent Veil—a convincing fake, staffed by holograms and a few loyal Forgotten, broadcasting a faint copy of their resonance. Meanwhile, they would deepen the real Sanctuary's cloaking and prepare for their next, crucial step.
To synthesize, Echo needed to understand both sides of the schism not just intellectually, but experientially. He needed to touch the heart of both Order and Corruption without being consumed.
And Kiera knew a way. "There's a place," she said, her voice low. "A black market relic auction happens once a cycle in the belly of a dying star. The sellers are… neutral. They've been known to traffic in forbidden things. One of the listed items is a Tear of the Primordial—a droplet of matter from before the schism. And the bidding is to be attended by a high-ranking Corrupted Ascendant… and an Order Inquisitor-General. If you want to touch both sides of the war in one place, that's it."
The risk was astronomical. But the potential insight was the key to everything.
The Sovereign's Circle had its next mission.