The Dominion's capital, Eterna Sanctum, did not feel the weight of rain.
It was a city of cold marble and towering spires, built on the bones of erased rebellions. Its streets were swept clean, its walls unmarked by time or history—because history was only what the Dominion allowed it to be.
And in the heart of this city, seated at a desk carved from the petrified remains of an extinct world, High Executor Campion Rizger listened to the report in absolute silence.
The voice of the officer kneeling before him did not tremble. But it should have.
Because Campion's patience was a fragile thing.
Lucian Vance had survived.
Selene Vale was still breathing.
And the Umbral Blades had failed.
Again.
Campion turned the blood-red pages of the Erasure Docket, his gloved fingers tracing the names that should no longer exist.
Names that should have faded.
Names that did fade—until now.
He spoke without looking up.
"Repeat it."
The kneeling officer, clad in Dominion black and gold, swallowed hard before obeying.
"The Umbral Blades were sent to neutralize Lucian Vance and eliminate the girl."
A pause. A breath.
"They were all killed."
Another pause.
"The Hollow Queen was sighted."
The candlelight flickered.
Campion finally lifted his gaze. His presence was not loud. He did not radiate rage, nor did he raise his voice.
But his silence?
That was worse.
"And?"
The officer hesitated. "She left him a sigil."
Campion exhaled through his nose. Not in anger. Not in frustration.
In disappointment.
The Duskwatch Dominion did not tolerate mistakes.
Campion Rizger did not tolerate persistence.
Lucian Vance should have been erased by now.
The Arbiter's Brand had been placed upon him. His name should have vanished from records, from memory, from existence.
And yet,
He was still here.
Still fighting.
Still protecting the child that should not exist.
Still defying the will of the Dominion.
Campion's fingers curled, and the candlelight in the chamber dimmed—as if the very air knew to still itself in his presence.
Selene Vale.
She was a mistake that should not have been possible.
A remnant of a war that was meant to be erased.
And now, she was the single greatest threat to everything the Dominion had built.
Campion closed the Erasure Docket with a quiet, deliberate motion.
"Summon Astara Noctis."
The officer stiffened, his breath catching, just slightly.
Astara Noctis was not an assassin. She was an executioner. Her arrival meant this was no longer a hunt.
It was a sentence.
"At once, High Executor," the officer said, bowing before vanishing into the shadows beyond the chamber doors.
Campion sat back in his chair, his expression unreadable.
The Hollow Queen had marked Lucian.
Which meant she was watching.
Which meant she wanted something.
And Campion Rizger would ensure that she never got it.
Lucian Vance would be erased. Selene Vale would cease to exist, and the Hollow War would never rise again.
-----
The rain had settled into a gentle rhythm, a quiet pattering against the cracked windowpane. The air inside Raine Ashford's apartment was thick with the scent of burnt herbs, old books, and whatever strange experiment was currently simmering on the stove.
Lucian sat at the table, fingers wrapped loosely around a ceramic cup of perfectly steeped black tea. He had cleaned up, now dressed in a clean loose shirt and new clean pair of pants. His hair was still wet from the shower. Across from him, Selene was holding her own cup, small hands curled around the warmth, silver eyes reflecting the dim candlelight.
She had barely spoken since he found her. But for once, she looked calm. Lucian wasn't sure what to make of that.
He glanced toward the kitchen, where Raine Ashford, looking like a man half-dragged through his own bad decisions, was tending to a pot over the stove. His shirt was half-buttoned, hair an absolute mess, and sleeves still rolled up from whatever medical procedure he'd performed earlier.
The kitchen was a battlefield, knives, herbs, and magitech cooking tools thrown across the counter with reckless abandon. Lucian, who was used to order, structure, and precision, resisted the urge to start cleaning.
Raine didn't notice, or, more likely, didn't care. He grabbed a bottle of something murky and definitely questionable and poured it into the pot.
Sierra Blaze, standing near the couch with arms crossed, narrowed her eyes.
"What the hell are you making?"
Raine smirked. "Something special."
"That's what people say before they commit a crime," Sierra muttered.
Lucian suppressed a smirk.
Raine ignored her, turning to Lucian. "Tea?"
Lucian held up his cup. "Already made my own."
Raine scoffed. "Of course you did."
He turned back to Sierra. "What about you?"
Sierra tilted her head, considering. "What kind?"
"Blackrose Spice."
She raised an eyebrow. "You got anything stronger?"
Raine sighed dramatically. "Tea, Sierra."
Sierra rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever." She waved a hand vaguely. "But I haven't eaten yet, so—"
Before she could finish, Raine was already setting a plate in front of her.
Lucian stared at it.
Sierra stared at it.
Even Selene looked at it.
It was… something.
A dish that did not exist anywhere else in the world.
Soft golden grains, slow-cooked meat that had been braised in some kind of dark, glistening sauce. There was a faint herbal scent clinging to it, rich and smoky, but slightly medicinal. A thin sheen of violet-tinted oil glistened over the top, catching the candlelight in a way that was just slightly wrong.
Lucian's fingers twitched.
Sierra tilted her head just a fraction.
Selene blinked, then took a slow sip of her tea.
"…Raine," Sierra said slowly. "What did you do?"
"It's a new recipe." Raine crossed his arms. "And you all have the honor to test it before anyone else."
Sierra glanced at Lucian, as if gauging whether he was about to die from food poisoning.
Lucian, expression unreadable, picked up a spoon. Slow, methodical. He took a single bite, testing it with the precision of a man who had spent years identifying poisons in enemy rations.
Sierra, not one to be outdone, scooped up a spoonful and popped it into her mouth.
There was a long pause.
They stared at eachother for a long minute.
Lucian set his spoon down.
Sierra swallowed with the careful precision of someone who had made a terrible mistake and needed time to process it.
Then she whispered to Lucian.
"We have to stop him." She took away the spoon from Selene's hands slowly with a smile. "You don't have to eat this."
Lucian nodded.
Sierra turned back to Raine, deadly serious. "No more creativity. Just follow normal recipes. Like a normal person."
Raine looked genuinely offended. "You people have no appreciation for culinary innovation."
Lucian nudged his plate further away. "Or food safety."
Sierra pointed at him. "Exactly."
Raine scowled. "Oh, come on, I've made worse things."
Sierra looked horrified. "That's not the defense you think it is."
Raine huffed. "Fine. I'll stick to normal cooking."
Lucian took a long, slow sip of his tea, eyes flicking to Sierra.
She caught the glance and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
He didn't respond immediately. Then, smoothly, "You ate that faster than I did."
Sierra scoffed. "Yeah, because I thought it would be good."
Lucian exhaled, setting his cup down. "Next time, let me test it first."
"Oh, so you're looking out for me now?"
Lucian's fingers twitched against the rim of his cup. "You don't need looking after."
Sierra held his gaze a second longer than necessary. Then, with a slow smirk, she leaned back in her chair.
"Damn right."
"Do you have anything normal to be eaten by normal human being?" Sierra got up from her chair.
"Who is normal here?" Raine said deadpan, pointing towards a cabin. "There."
Opening the cabinet, Seirra took out a piece of bread. "This dry piece will be better than that."
Raine scoffed in return, still working on his recipe.
Lucian shook his head slightly, turning back to his tea.
Selene, through all of this, had not stopped drinking hers.
She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't tense.
Lucian watched her, fingers loose around his cup, noticing the way she sat there, simply listening.
She was small. Too small. Too thin. Too quiet.
But she wasn't afraid.
Not of him. Not of Raine. Not of Sierra.
Just there, just watching. Smiling silently.
For the first time since he had met her, she looked content.
Sierra stretched her arms over her head and sighed. "Okay. We survived another meal. What now?"
Lucian didn't answer immediately. His gaze flickered back to Selene, who was still holding her tea with careful hands.
She had been waiting for something—but maybe, just for this moment, she had found it.
This was a moment of peace, unaware of the impending chaos that awaited them.
"…Now," Lucian said quietly, "we wait."
Sierra frowned. "For what?"
Lucian didn't look at her.
"For whatever comes next."
And outside, in the cold night beyond their fragile moment of peace, the Dominion was already moving.
----