The attack came without warning.
One moment, the night lay still over the Custodian stronghold. The next, shadows split the sky, and Gates blazed open like wounds in the air. Figures in gray surged through the breaches, moving with a precision that spoke of long preparation. This was no skirmish. It was the beginning of war.
The Betrayal Faction struck hard and fast. Custodians loyal to the Balance fell back in confusion as sabotage ripped through their defenses. Supply lines burned. Signal towers cracked and toppled. Every Gate the Custodians tried to open for reinforcements collapsed before its frame could stabilize. It was as if the enemy knew exactly where the Order would turn—because some of them had once sworn the same vows.
I found myself separated from the others when the western wall gave way. Stone rained down like dying stars, scattering firelight across the ruins. The air smelled of ash and iron. Somewhere in the chaos, I heard the enemy shouting orders I could not see, as if the darkness itself obeyed them.
I ran through the wreckage, searching for an unbroken Gate, a way out, but the Betrayal Faction closed in from every side. Their gray-cloaked silhouettes moved between firelit walls, silent and deliberate, carrying shards of Singularity energy in their hands.
One by one, the Custodians around me fell.
By the time I reached the inner courtyard, the flames had circled tight. My weapons were gone. The last Gate shuddered and died before I could reach it. The enemy advanced in a ring of shadow, their faces hidden, their steps slow—as though they wanted me alive.
Then the wind changed.
A single figure dropped into the courtyard from the broken battlements above. Moving faster than thought, they cut through the gray-cloaked soldiers with a blade that burned white against the night. The Betrayal Faction broke formation, some falling, some fleeing, as the stranger pushed them back with inhuman precision.
When the courtyard finally lay silent, the figure turned to me. A hood masked their face. Their voice came low, steady, carrying words that felt heavier than the falling Gates.
“You are the only key.”
Before I could speak, they vanished into the smoke, leaving the message behind like a blade driven into the earth.
