The ice burning into his left hand felt cold enough to freeze his blood solid."Arthur, breathe!" Elena shouted, hauling him upright against the main control desk as his left fingers twitched uncontrollably. "Hold onto me!""Get back, Elena!" Arthur gasped, his teeth grinding as the black lines settled permanently into the skin of his left palm. "It is burning straight into the bone!""What is that thing?" the lead scout barked, stepping forward with his short sword drawn. "Is the shadow trying to possess him?""Do not strike it!" the First Herald warned, its light shifting into a chaotic mix of deep blue and crimson. "An anomaly has occurred in the central core! The dark mark is actively syncing with the flagship's neural systems!"Arthur forced himself to stand, his chest heaving as he stared down at his open hands. On his right hand, the golden starfire glyph pulsed with a warm, steady radiance. On his left hand, the new black counter-glyph settled into a cold, jagged pattern that

A throne built on lies was no place for a real commander to sit."I am not sitting anywhere!" Arthur shouted, his boots planted firm on the platform as the golden and crimson flames roared higher. "Show yourself! Stop hiding behind echoes and fires!""Arthur, stand back!" Elena yelled, stepping up beside him with both her steel blades held high. "The air around that stone is hot enough to melt leather!""Do not approach the seat, Commander!" the lead scout warned, his men raising their heavy crossbows toward the blazing chair. "It is a trap!"The dual flames on the throne did not shrink. Instead, they expanded into a massive, shimmering ring of light that hovered right above the platform, projecting a vast, living scene from the ancient past into the cavern air."You speak of hiding, High Commander," the smooth voice echoed from the heart of the projection, "yet you wear the gold of a civilization that built its empire on the backs of dying worlds."The projection shifted rapidly, sho

Some distress signals should stay buried in the dark forever."High Commander, leaving the ring-world perimeter now," the First Herald announced as the bridge floor vibrated beneath Arthur's boots. "The three hundred warships of the precursor armada have established a permanent defensive line around the sector.""Good," Arthur said, standing at the front glass view-port beside Elena. "They will hold the ring-world secure while we track this signal.""Are you sure about leaving the fleet behind, Arthur?" Elena asked, her arms crossed over her leather tunic as she stared out into the empty void. "We are heading way past the mapped edge of the galaxy.""If we bring three hundred warships into an uncharted rim, we risk pulling unwanted eyes toward our position," Arthur replied, checking the glowing marks on his open palms. "Starward One is faster, quieter, and equipped to handle whatever is emitting that signal.""We are entering th

A shadow that moves against the light is never just a shadow."Reentering normal space now," the First Herald reported as the stretching tunnel of hyper-space collapsed around Starward One.Outside the front view-port, three hundred golden precursor warships hovered in tight formation, their drive rings glowing softly in the quiet dark as they maintained their guard perimeter."Signal the armada," Arthur said, leaning over the strategic console on the bridge. "Tell them we are back, but keep all shields at maximum readiness.""Armada acknowledged, High Commander," the Herald replied. "They are holding the perimeter.""Gather everyone around the main console right now," Arthur said, turning to Elena and the militia scouts. "We need a war council. We have to figure out why my family's genetic code is embedded in a signal coming from inside the Null Void."Elena stepped up to the glass board, her forehead wrinkled in deep

Fifty-eight minutes was all that stood between a living galaxy and total extinction."Override the navigation lock!" Elena yelled, slamming her palm against the secondary console as the crimson numbers on the main view-screen ticked down to 00:58:12. "Herald, force the hyper-space drive to engage!""Unable to comply, ma'am," the First Herald reported, its blue form pulsing in quick, frantic patterns. "The hyper-space drives across all three hundred precursor warships are completely locked in stasis.""How can one ring hold an entire armada?" the lead scout asked, his knuckles white as he tried to manually pull the drive levers. "The levers are frozen solid!""High Commander," the Herald stated, directing a focused scan over Arthur's right hand. "The pitch-black ring is drawing power directly from your central nervous system. It is functioning as a living biological anchor, binding the fleet hyper-drive array directly to Malakor's master proto