As the Shadowy canopy shimmered above the high palace nestled atop the endless jungle of Nal'uth, the celebration was in full bloom. Crystal-fire lanterns danced in the humid breeze, the sky alive with the colors of the Mahasimu banners. Princess Safi stood at the apex of the Grand Terrace, her expression regal, but her heart cold with intent. Lady Thalia, clad in obsidian silks, stood at her side, whispering venom.
"The moment is now," Thalia said under her breath, eyes watching the procession of nobles below. "Strike, and Saumu's reign will falter." Princess Safi subtly raised her hand—a prearranged signal to her faction of conspirators hidden throughout the palace's upper walkways. But the Nine Royal Guards had never left their Queen's shadow.
Nyota, Commander of the Obsidian Custodians and the Queen's most lethal guardian, emerged from the shadows like a blade unsheathed. The other eight formed a silent crescent behind her, eyes glimmering with voidfire.
"Princess Safi," Nyota's voice rang sharp, emotionless. "Your treachery ends here. You overreach, and now you will fall."
Gasps echoed across the terrace as Moro—Safi's most trusted bodyguard—charged forward in a desperate attempt to defend his mistress Nyota met him with no hesitation.
One movement—fluid, exacting—and Moro's head was severed cleanly from his shoulders. It rolled across the obsidian floor, stopping at the edge of the queen's ceremonial dais. The crowd fell into stunned silence.
Safi, furious and betrayed by fate, attempted to draw on her latent shadowcraft, but the Nine closed in. Her magic was extinguished under the force of their collective will. She was shackled by Nyota herself, her arms bound in shadowsteel.
Lady Thalia, her mask of nobility shattered, was seized and labeled Traitor of the Crown. Her fate would be worse than death.
The Transport to Gharar: Thalia's Descent
Four of the royal elite—Roko, Jalia, Omari, and Amani—were assigned to escort Thalia personally to the prison world of Gharar aboard a blackened Shadow Transport vessel.
Within the vessel's dim, humming chamber, Thalia sat chained in an upright harness of energy-iron, her once-elegant form marred by bruises and silence. She stared straight ahead, jaw set with defiant pride.
Roko broke the silence. "Why betray the Queen? You had everything."
Thalia turned her head slowly, eyes gleaming with poisoned amusement. "Because everything… was never enough."
Amani sneered. "You won't find glory in Gharar. Only horror." "Then I'll make horror my ally," Thalia whispered. As they approached Gharar's orbit, the immense black fortress loomed—like a continent carved from shadow. On its surface, one million Umbari warriors awaited in coordinated stillness—an honor guard summoned by command, not for Thalia, but for Princess Safi, now disgraced yet untouched.
For Safi could not be harmed—not without direct sanction from the Ancient Queen, mother of Saumu and the true architect of the Mahasimu bloodline.
Beyond the Shadows: The Zelith's First Move
Far beyond the veil of Mahasimu space, in the crystalline halls of Zelith Prime, the Thalor High Council convened under flickering starlight.
Unaware of the internal collapse unfolding within the enemy empire, the Council, guided by prophecy and growing fear, summoned High General Vrakhar, the veteran war tactician of the Zelith Defense Authority.
"General," said First Speaker Zhal-En, his long golden crest glinting, "intelligence reports that the Uli border worlds remain heavily fortified. But there are rumors… of growing instability."
"They must be verified," Zhal-En continued. "We authorize the dispatch of your elite scouts."
General Vrakhar bowed. "I will send our finest."
Within a day, the first infiltration team was selected:
Elan Virel, the silent blade, expert in infiltration.
Talan Rynn, demolitions and terrain specialist.
Ishara Vey, psion and tracker.
Droven Maal, linguist and cultural mimic.
Seris Korr, the field commander, a veteran of five border wars.
Their mission: infiltrate Akaris V, a critical border world under Mahasimu control in the Uli System. Gather intelligence. Locate weaknesses. Prepare the ground for what may come.
They departed under cloaked silence, unaware that the empire they stalked was already bleeding from within.