A chill dawn mist curled through the Silverfang Hold's outer gates as Zephyr Ardent patrolled the newly restored Boundary Wards with Rook and Seren. Lanterns of moon-crystal glowed faintly along the battlements, ward crystals humming in the cool air. Below, hybrid apprentices ran through Binding drills in the courtyard—eager faces untroubled by the night's shadows.
Rook studied the ward crystals. "No disturbances here," she said, voice low. "But the dust from farwatch sites still lingers in the air—echoes of hemaleth energy."
Seren traced her fingertip over her newly earned Blooddrop rune. "I've intercepted fragments of coded messages—mentions of a 'midnight convergence' along the Moonlit Road."
Zephyr paused, amber eyes narrowing against the mist. "That old highway runs between Emberfall and Westmark—once a haunt of the Shadow Conclave." He activated his gauntlet's ward sensor: a faint pulse flickered on the display. "They probe our boundaries again."
He sheathed his blade. "Gather the Circle. At first light, we ride the Moonlit Road—hunt down this convergence before they can regroup."
In the Council Chamber, the Inner Circle convened under banners now frescoed with the Unbroken Circle's emblem. Corin projected intercepted messages onto the holo-map of the Moonlit Road, highlighting three waypoint distortions where ward crystals had flickered.
Elara placed a calming hand on the console. "These distortions coincide with ritual sites—likely hemaleth infusion points."
Rook unsheathed her halberd. "Then we strike at dawn. I lead the Vanguard. Seren and hybrid scouts flank. Zephyr and I will close the circle."
Alaric nodded, adjusting his satchel of prototype vials. "I'll follow with medics—ready to treat any who fall."
Zephyr stood, final authority in his bearing. "Operation Moonshadow: intercept and dismantle the convergence. No unnecessary bloodshed—and question any survivors."
At first light, five steeds thundered down the Hold's causeway: Zephyr, Rook, Seren, Rennan, and a hybrid scout named Kiri. Ward crystals dangled from stirrups, prototype flashes strapped to saddlebags. The Moonlit Road wound between moon-fern groves, dew slicking the cobblestones.
Seren rode beside Zephyr, eyes alert. "Message fragments spoke of three markers—ancient waystones used by the Conclave."
Rennan pointed ahead. "The first marker stands by the Blackstone Arch."
They passed under the arch—a moss-laced ruin etched with forgotten eclipse runes—and found a shattered ward crystal on the ground. The ground beneath it crawled with hemaleth veins, pulsing faintly.
Rook dismounted, kneeling to trace her hand in the earth. "They've poisoned this site—probably to channel hemaleth into the ward network."
Zephyr knelt beside her. He recited the Purge Rite:
"By moon's grace and blood's own might,Purge this stain from warded light."
Silver winds rippled through the grove as the hemaleth veins withered into dust. The first marker lay neutralized.
An hour's ride brought them to the second waypoint—a solitary oak whose branches spiraled like eclipse crescents. Below it, a ring of brittle ash and shattered shards gleamed in the rising sun.
"Wait," Rook whispered, drawing a warded blade. "They laid a trap."
Seren's eyes widened. She leapt from her steed and tossed a ward crystal into the ash ring. The crystal exploded in reflective runes, revealing three cloaked figures poised with hemaleth-infused javelins.
Zephyr sprang into action, gauntlet humming. He hurled a chain-whip imbued with Chorus energy, entangling the nearest assailant's leg. Rennan charged another, Feral Sprint knocking him off balance. Rook deftly skirted the third and raised a reflection ward: the javelin struck the ward and shattered against a spectral mirror of light.
Seren joined, calling the Binding Glyph:
"Blood bind steel, moon bind soul—Trap these hands within our fold."
Silver nets sprang from her palm, snaring the three attackers. They struggled, gasping for breath as the nets tightened. Kiri and hybrid scouts bound them in warded manacles.
The lead attacker ripped off his hood—revealing a gaunt, hollow-eyed youth no older than seventeen. "Please… we were told the Circle would free us from our blood's curse!" he whimpered.
Zephyr deactivated his ward and knelt. "I see fear in you. Why do you betray the Accord?"
He lowered his head. "A sorcerer in Emberfall promised to remove my sire's heritage. He gave me these orders."
Rook's expression softened. "Tell us who he is—and he may yet find redemption too."
The youth nodded, tears streaking ash across his cheeks. "He hides in the old fertility shrine beneath the Emberfall cataracts."
They pressed on, reaching Emberfall's roaring cataracts by midday. Behind the falls, concealed by mist, lay the ancient shrine: a stone circle ringed with moonstone inlays now sullied by hemaleth stains.
Corin readied a ward resonator. "This site channels life's renewal—if twisted, it could infect the river downstream."
Zephyr dismounted and stepped into the circle. Emerging from behind the monoliths was the sorcerer—a haggard man draped in ochre robes, eyes flickering with hemaleth hunger. He clutched a rune-chipped staff that pulsed with dark energy.
"So you come to stop me," he hissed. "The Circle denies our true power." He slammed the staff into the ground. Hemaleth geysers erupted around the circle's edge.
Rook and Rennan threw down ward nets to shield the group. Elara invoked the Reflection Rite to mirror the geysers into harmless sparks. Zephyr advanced through the mist, gauntlet flaring:
"Blood's torrent, moon's pure shore,Wash away this stain of gore."
He slammed his palm into the earth. A silver wave rippled outward, purging hemaleth from the fissures. The shrine trembled; the sorcerer staggered.
Seren stepped forward, holding the youth's shard of the shattered rune. "You prey on fear, but we prove our strength through mercy." She recited the Binding Glyph. Silver cords bound the sorcerer's wrists.
The man convulsed, then sagged. "I… betrayed my oath."
Zephyr pressed a healing ward to his brow. "Then atone by helping us cleanse every corrupted shrine."
As twilight fell, the Moonlit Road's mists glowed beneath ward lanterns. The caravans retraced their path to the Silverfang Hold, carrying three captives who sought redemption under Accord guidance. Hybrid scouts replaced broken ward crystals at both waypoints; full purification rites lauded them at the cataracts shrine.
Back in the courtyard, the apprentices greeted them with practiced Binding Glyphs. Seren led a new group of novices through the Eclipse precursor chant—her confidence renewed by trial. The formerly wayward youth knelt, placing his bound hands upon the primer scroll's Binding Rune, pledging his life to healing.
Zephyr surveyed the scene: from the shining wards to the hopeful faces, the Codex's legacy thrived in unity, even when tested by shadows.
He turned to Rook, voice soft but resolute. "We have sealed the last probe against our borders—for now."
Rook nodded, blade sheathed at her side. "The Circle endures, vigilant and compassionate."
Zephyr exhaled as dawn's full light warmed the Hold. "Then let us rest—and prepare for the next passage of our shared journey."
Above, the wards shimmered, a promise against the night's shadows: the Unbroken Circle would stand, ever ready to send the light of the Codex down every road.