Night descended upon Velis Solara like a shroud of liquid gold. The crystalline lattice buildings of the city reflected the fading light, casting it across streets and buildings in sickly yellow.
As night fell, thousands of spy runes lit up throughout the city, their faint luminescence a reminder that in Velis Solara, one was never alone.
In the medical observation room of the Eastern Branch, Alex sat motionlessly on the foot of his bed.
The slick stone walls of the room flashed softly with glowing blue runes that monitored various conditions of his in turn. Sensory devices softly hummed out their rhythmic beat in accompaniment with the stammering pulse of his Mark.
The crow sat on the windowsill in front of him, its dark obsidian feathers soaking up the artificial illumination. Alex had gotten used to having it around—a quiet sentinel that was more attentive than any regular bird should ever be.
"We need to locate it," Alex breathed, his voice little more than a murmur above the soft hum of monitoring devices. "The Fractured Light."
The crow moved a little, cocking its head as if weighing his words. Its eye reflected the blue light from the wall runes, sending it back with an unnatural sense of awareness that made Alex question—not for the first time—whether this was really just a bird.
Beyond the observation chamber, a security camera flickered once. It was not a malfunction or a power surge—it was identification. Deep within the Eastern Branch's surveillance systems, an alert was logged: "Subject ALEX VEYNE – Conscious."
On a darkened control room some stories below, an Eastern Branch staff member dressed traditionally in flowing, midnight blue robes embroidered with shining silver stars of constellations saw the alarm flashing on her crystal display screen.
She then delicately struck a tiny embedded crystal within the wrist cuff to send out the alert over the branch's communiqué system.
Twenty minutes went by before the observation room door creaked open with a quiet hiss.
A woman stepped in, moving with deliberate steps. She was dressed in the characteristic uniform of an Eastern Branch Inspector—a jacket with a high collar of indigo twilight color with silver runes tracing along its edges. Her black hair was drawn back in a complex knot, showing pointed features and assessing eyes.
"Alex Veyne," she said, her voice not warm but not cold, but exactly modulated. "I am Inspector Lirien of the Eastern Branch. I hope your quarters are satisfactory."
It was not a request, but Alex nodded.
"You are now in the Eastern Branch headquarters of Velis Solara," she went on, referring to a crystalline tablet that glowed softly in her hand.
"You were brought here for observation after the incident at Caelum."
"Incident?" Alex's voice broke. "What happened to all the rest of them? My friends—"
"Caelum was leveled by forces currently under investigation," Inspector Lirien said, her voice still even though what she was saying was dire. "You are the sole survivor."
The report struck Alex as if he had been punched in the chest. He had known it in glimpses of memories and in nightmares, but to hear it made his chest hurt.
"And as for why you're here," Inspector Lirien went on after giving him a moment to catch up, "your Mark has been flagged as extremely unusual. The Hollow's Bargain is not documented in any Sunspire database we're privy to."
She glanced up from her tablet, directly into his eyes.
"You've been validated as an Everborn, Alex. A rare category whose Mark is created by being selected, not taken. This requires us to keep you under close observation until we know what we're dealing with."
"Once our investigation is finished and we're sure that your Mark is no danger, you'll be cleared and you can leave," she finished. "Do you have any questions?"
Alex had dozens, but they knotted up in his throat. He accepted one. "How long am I going to be here?"
"That is up to your Mark's conduct entirely." Inspector Lirien's eyes flicked for a moment to his chest, where the Hollow's Bargain rested beneath his medical vest. "That it's migrating around your body is. unusual."
With that, she went to exit. There was no viciousness to her movement, no personal hatred—only the clinical effectiveness of procedure.
"Wait," Alex urged. "You used the word 'Everborn.' What is that in practical terms?"
Inspector Lirien hesitated in the doorway. "It's an old category. Signs that select their hosts instead of being taken in ritual or circumstance. Extremely uncommon—most thought them extinct or even mythical."
She departed without another word, the door sliding shut behind her with a quiet click.
"Everborn," Alex breathed to himself, trying out the word.
He sat by himself in the observation chamber, the city's constant thrum muted behind magical glass. The crow still lingered at the windowsill, its eyes on him with that unnerving intensity.
Then the voice came back—the same one in his dreams, gentle but commanding:
"This is not a safe place. Leave. Seek out the Fractured Light."
Alex's eyes were closed, and he did not know if he was actually hearing a voice or just losing his mind. He pulled back his medical gown to examine his Mark.
The Hollow's Bargain stretched across his chest—a broken star with seven uneven points, its edges stained with shadow.
Delicate tendrils radiated from the design, and the entire Mark throbbed with a silver-black light that pulsed in an uneven rhythm. It had moved further along his right shoulder since he'd last looked.
In spite of the fear and uncertainty that hung over him, Alex experienced a muted, still happiness. He had a Mark at last. His boyhood fantasy realized, though in no form he could have envisioned.
Flashbacks of Mira and Jakel from the Caelum camp—mere flickers of their laughter, their taunts, their Marks pulsing with vitality as they learned elementary techniques. Now they were lost, perhaps forever, along with all the others he'd known.
The voice came back, even more urgent: "Leave. You are not safe here. A threat approaches."
The crow shifted slightly but did not stir. Its alert stillness was now unnerving instead of reassuring.
As the clock struck midnight, the observation chamber's illumination automatically dimmed. Alex flopped back on his bed, weariness finally claiming him even as his agitated thoughts roiled on.
Just as his lids were closing, he realized something odd—the surveillance runes implanted in the walls flickered, once, twice, then extinguished one by one.
Not a blackout. These were being turned off on purpose.
Alex sprang up, now wide awake. His Mark beat faster, as if acknowledging his growing fear.
His room door slid open with agonizing slowness. A wide-shouldered man entered, standing against the dim emergency light of the corridor beyond.
The uniform dark jacket and the lantern-shaped badge on its front were recognizable as that of the Southern Branch. Features appeared as the figure approached—tough, worn face and hard eyes, fixed in an intent expression of grim resolve.
"Who are you?" Alex snapped, his own voice calmer than he managed. "What are you doing here now?"
Senior Inspector Dren Vokar didn't respond. His eyes were transfixed on the Hollow's Bargain Mark flickering prominently against the skin above Alex's ribs, through the thin covering of the medical gown.
"Shadowwell user registered," the whisper in Alex's mind whispered intensely. "Flight. Survival."
Alex attempted to shift, to slide away from the bed and space himself from the intruder, but his body was leaden after days of unconsciousness. He could only push himself toward the wall at the back of his bed.
Dren Vokar came with a surprising speed for his size. In three strides, he covered the space to the bed and leaped forward, his right hand extended toward Alex's Mark.
"What are you doing?" Alex shouted, rolling sideways.
"Stopping a disaster," Vokar snarled, his Southern drawl heavy with tension. "That Mark shouldn't be in this world."
Alex rolled to the side, just out of Vokar's reach. "Stop! I haven't done anything wrong!"
"It's not what you've done," Vokar said, shifting his position. "It's what that Mark will do through you."
With fresh determination, Vokar launched himself at Alex once more. This time, his fingers found the Hollow's Bargain Mark on Alex's chest. A burst of cold energy coursed through Alex's frame, immobilizing him.
The crow was still watching from the window, observing the fight without interference. Its calmness now appeared intentional, as though it was letting this fight play itself out.
"Why isn't anyone coming to help?" Alex struggled in Vokar's hold, desperate to escape.
Vokar's lips curled into a twisted smile. "I've taken care of us. No alarms, no one around to see."
His hand started to radiate a deep purple light that looked more like it was soaking up than producing illumination. Where it touched Alex's Mark, dark tendrils crept out, trying to find hold in the design of the Hollow's Bargain.
"You're—you're trying to take my Mark," Alex realized with terror.
"Take. Destroy," Vokar amended. "A mercy, compared to what will happen to you if it fully awakens."
Pain unlike anything Alex had ever felt emanated from his chest. The Hollow's Bargain convulsed under Vokar's grasp, burning hotly as if resisting, but unable to shatter the link.
"You don't know what you're doing," Alex gasped, his eyes blurring from the pain.
"I understand better than most," Vokar replied, his voice strained with effort. "I've spent decades studying forbidden Mark classifications. The Hollow's Bargain is mentioned in texts so old they're written in languages no one speaks anymore."
His grip tightened, the purple glow intensifying. "They called it the 'Void's Handshake'—a doorway that should never be opened."
Alex's strength was waning as Vokar initiated the process of extraction. The Mark was being ripped away from his soul, and his vitality was slipping away with it.
"Please," Alex implored, his words now mere breath. "Stop."
"It will soon be done," Vokar replied, nearly kindly. "Your sacrifice will save many lives."
Alex's body convulsed as the Mark's light began to separate from his skin. The pain transcended physical sensation, becoming something fundamental—as if his very soul was being torn apart.
Through blurring vision, he saw the crow watching, its head tilted at an inquisitive angle. Why wouldn't it help him? Why was it simply observing his death?
"I don't want to die," Alex's mind raced desperately, his awareness ebbing. Images rushed past his eyes—his parents, friends in Caelum, the enigmatic woman of his dreams, the Fractured Light he was meant to seek.
At the edge of oblivion, something shifted.
The Hollow's Bargain Mark throbbed once—a heart so vivid it appeared to rock the room. The silvery-black design abruptly flared with power, and the tendrils that had been slowly creeping across Alex's skin fired outward with tremendous energy.
They attached themselves to Vokar's hand, burrowing deeper into his skin like famished snakes.
Vokar's face changed from intentness to shock, then to terror.
"No," he exhorted, attempting to wrench free. "Impossible!"
But the link had been made. The Mark that had been resisting passively suddenly went on the attack, defending no longer but striking back. The purple aura surrounding Vokar's hand wavered and started to suck inward, swallowed by the rapacious filaments of the Hollow's Bargain.
"Something's happening." Vokar shouted in alarm, his voice for the first time full of real fear.
A wave of power poured into Alex—dark, cold, invigorating power. The Bargain of the Hollow was consuming Vokar's energy, draining the very life he had invested in his assault.
"Shadowwell," Alex breathed, the name on him without knowing how he knew it.
The purple energy kept streaming from Vokar into Alex's Mark. The Senior Inspector's face twisted in pain as his power—his very existence—was stripped away.
"Quit it," Vokar implored, his voice failing. "You have no idea what you're doing."
Alex wasn't doing it on purpose, though. The Mark was controlling itself, following some distant programming or inclination.
"I'm unable to prevent it," Alex answered, with a combination of horror and morbid fascination watching as Vokar's vitality literally ebbed from his frame.
The black jacket with the Southern Branch's shattered lantern emblem started to lose its sheen, the implanted energy runes disappearing one by one. Vokar's complexion turned ashen, his muscular body appearing to shrink before Alex's gaze.
"You've cursed us all," Vokar whispered, falling to his knees beside the bed. "When it awakens completely. when it remembers."
"Recalls what?" Alex insisted, strength coming back into his voice as Vokar faltered. "What is my Mark? Tell me!"
Vokar's eyes went wide with a final understanding. "Not your Mark," he wheezed. "You are its Mark."
With those enigmatic words, the last of Vokar's strength was spent. The purple radiance vanished altogether, and the Senior Inspector fell to the ground. He was not dead—his chest continued to rise and fall with labored breaths—but something vital had been stolen from him.
The Hollow's Bargain tendrils pulled back into their design, now glowing with increased strength, the silvery-black light brighter and more consistent than it had been.
Alex couldn't help but feel strangely energized after the experience, as though he had been imbued with a new form of energy.
The crow stirred at last, jumping from the windowsill to the bottom of the bed. Its eyes flashed with what Alex could only assume was approval.
"What just happened?" Alex asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.
To his surprise, the voice in his head returned: "You lived," it murmured. "Now choose what comes next."
Alex looked down at the fallen Inspector, then at his own hands, which trembled slightly with residual energy.
"I didn't mean to hurt him," Alex said.
"You didn't," the voice came back. "Your Mark took care of itself. It drained his Shadowwell energy when he attempted to obliterate it."
Alex slid down from the bed and made a slow, cautious way around Vokar's lying form. The man was breathing regularly, but his breaths were shallow, his face lax in unconsciousness.
"Is he going to die?"
"No," replied the voice. "But he is helpless now. His Mark has been drained, its energy added to yours."
Alex attempted to wrap his head around this. "He mentioned something about my Mark waking up full, about remembering. What did he mean?"
The voice hung in silence for a very long time before replying: "Some questions are best answered when you're willing to hear the truth."
A soft caw from the crow caught Alex's attention. He hopped closer to the door, then returned to look up at him eagerly.
Alex realized that. With surveillance systems out of commission and Vokar sidelined, this was his opportunity to flee.
"But where would I go?" he asked himself aloud.
"To find the Fractured Light," the voice replied, reminding him. "Before others find you."