The journey through the void was unnervingly smooth.
Inside the Sanctum, there was no sensation of movement at all, only the constant, deep hum of the island's impossibly powerful transit drive. The only visual indication of their voyage was on the holographic Oversoul's Compass, where their glowing beacon steadily closed the distance to the dirty smudge that was Eldoria.
Rhys spent the "trip" lounging on his throne, idly brainstorming different dramatic entrances they could make. Liora, after her initial shock, dedicated herself to prayer and weapons maintenance, her focus absolute. Elara, unable to sit still, paced the Grand Foyer like a caged, incandescent tiger, radiating waves of impatient fury. Theia sat calmly in her chair, meticulously documenting the genesis of their holy mission.
It was Vesper who broke the silence, her silken voice cutting through the hum. "We are approaching the destination, My Lord."
Rhys sat up, a thrill running through him. "Already? Show me."
Vesper gestured to the crystalline wall, which functioned as a window to the outside. At her command, the wall became a perfect, magnified viewscreen, displaying the void ahead.
The sight was… bleak.
The blue, placid emptiness of the void gave way to a sickly, reddish-brown miasma. The Fading Coals, Vesper had called it. Floating in this sea of decay were jagged chunks of dead rock and the petrified husks of unidentifiable cosmic creatures. It was a celestial graveyard. And at its heart, looking small and fragile, was Eldoria.
The floating continent was exactly as Vesper had described it, but seeing it for real was another matter. It was a lone, desperate island of life in a vast, uncaring sea of death. From this distance, they could just make out the flicker of thousands of tiny lights in the city of Aethelgard.
"Well," Rhys said, a low whistle escaping his lips. "It's even more of a fixer-upper than I imagined. I love it." He turned away from the 'window'. "Alright, people, time to make an entrance. We can't just materialize on their doorstep. It's too aggressive. We need something more mysterious, more subtle."
Elara's face fell. "Subtle? My Lord, we should appear in the sky above their city like a new sun! Their corrupt priests and false princes will tremble!"
"And get a thousand crossbow bolts fired at our dome before we can even say hello?" Rhys countered. "No, no. Think strategically. We need to scout, make contact, and establish a foothold before we reveal our hand. The 'divine intervention' card is one you can only play once." He was thinking in game terms: don't reveal the final boss at the start of the level.
He looked at Vesper. "We need a hiding spot. Somewhere close, but out of sight."
Vesper, who had already analyzed every floating rock and shadow in the vicinity, pointed at the magnified view. "There."
She indicated a colossal, crescent-shaped shard of obsidian that floated about a league away from Eldoria's landmass. It was huge, miles long, and completely inert. One side of it was brightly lit by the ambient, sourceless light of the void, but the other side—the side facing Eldoria—was cast in a perfect, absolute shadow.
"The Dark Crescent," Vesper said. "A dead rock. No energy readings. No life. Its shadow will completely conceal the Sanctum from any visual observation from the city."
"Perfect!" Rhys declared. "A secret base right next to the main questing hub! Classic! Helm, take us in."
He strode to the Oversoul's Compass. With a few decisive taps, he guided the Argent Sanctum in a slow, silent arc, slipping it perfectly into the shadow of the colossal obsidian shard. From the perspective of anyone in Aethelgard, the sky remained unchanged. But just out of sight, a divine fortress had just moved in next door.
The low hum of the transit drive ceased, and a profound silence descended once more. They had arrived.
Rhys clapped his hands together. "Alright! Phase one complete. Phase two: Boots on the ground. Vesper, Theia, you're with me."
Liora and Elara both stepped forward at once.
"My Lord, it is my duty to be your shield!" Liora insisted.
"I am your sword! Let me be the first to taste the air of this corrupted city!" Elara seethed.
Rhys held up a hand to forestall the argument. "And you will. Soon. But this first trip is pure reconnaissance. No guards, no celestial bodyguards." He looked pointedly at Elara's glowing form. "We need to blend in, get the lay of the land. Vesper can keep us unseen, and Theia… well, Theia can write down all the cool lore we find."
He wasn't going to admit that Liora and Elara, with their magnificent, reality-defying wings, were about as subtle as a comet strike. Vesper and Theia, at least, looked passably human.
Liora and Elara reluctantly conceded, though their displeasure was obvious. They would be left behind on this crucial first step.
"So, how do we get over there?" Rhys asked, looking at the viewscreen. "Teleportation?"
Vesper shook her head. "A teleport of that magnitude, with three people, would leave a significant energy signature. The city's mages, if they have any left, might detect it." She glanced towards the shadow cast by the throne. "But there is another way. The path I walk. The shadow-road."
"Even better!" Rhys said. "Lead the way."
Vesper nodded. "Stay close. And do not be alarmed by the transition."
She walked to the edge of the balcony, where the shadow of the Sanctum's highest spire fell across the floor like a black dagger. Theia moved to stand directly behind Rhys, a calm, scholarly look in her eyes.
Vesper stepped into the shadow and turned to face them. She offered Rhys her hand. Her skin was cool to the touch.
"Ready, my Lord?"
"Born ready," Rhys grinned.
He took her hand, and with Theia placing a trusting hand on his shoulder, Vesper pulled them into the shadow with her.
For Rhys, the sensation was utterly disorienting. For a single, vertiginous second, the world dissolved. He was not in the Sanctum, nor was he in the void. He was in a place of pure, silent, cold nothingness. A place between. It was like being submerged in ink.
And then, just as suddenly, it was over.
THUMP.
His feet hit solid ground. The air that filled his lungs was shockingly different. It was thick, heavy, and smelled of woodsmoke, unwashed bodies, rain-soaked earth, and a faint, cloying sweetness of decay.
The silence of the Sanctum was replaced by a cacophony of sound: the distant clang of a blacksmith's hammer, the shouts of merchants, the crying of a baby, the lowing of a stressed-looking cow.
Rhys opened his eyes.
They were standing in a narrow, muddy alleyway between two leaning, timber-framed buildings. The sky above was a sliver of dirty, overcast grey. It was drizzling, a cold, miserable mist that clung to his clothes. A mangy dog was sniffing at a pile of garbage a few feet away.
Vesper had deposited them perfectly in the heart of Aethelgard's lower district. Unseen. Unheard of.
Rhys looked down the alley towards the bustling, miserable street. He took a deep, appreciative breath of the polluted, living air.
"Right," he said, a thrilled, adventurous smile spreading across his face. "Let's find a tavern."