Location: Aqualith Station – Arctic Circle
The wind howled across the frozen wastelands, and the research compound known as Aqualith Station sat nestled among jagged ice cliffs, partially hidden beneath layers of snow. From the outside, it looked abandoned. Inside, it was anything but.
Dr. Eira Voss stood alone in the subzero core chamber, staring into a solid wall of glacial crystal. Buried within it, glowing faintly like a pulse of blue lightning, was the object she'd been guarding for over a decade—a Shard, encased in ancient ice.
This one was different from the one Zara bore. It was dormant, colder than death, but alive. Whispering. Beckoning.
Eira was no stranger to the Shard's influence. She had once been part of a secret program, a branch of the Order tasked with locating ancient Aether relics before they could be used—or turned against them. She had been the only survivor of that mission, and she'd gone off-grid ever since, living in the frozen edges of the world to protect the world from what lay buried here.
But something had changed.
The Shard was waking up.
Her fingers brushed the frost-covered control panel, activating the scanning device embedded in the chamber wall. It hummed weakly. Power here had grown erratic ever since the pulse—Zara's pulse—rippled across the planet. The world didn't know it yet, but the Aether was stirring again.
Suddenly, her comm crackled.
"Dr. Voss, you need to see this," came the voice of Jonah, the station's technician. "Something's on approach. High-speed—military class. Not one of ours."
Eira didn't hesitate. She turned from the chamber, sealed the vault, and activated the internal lockdown. The Shard behind the ice flickered as if responding to her urgency.
Outside, the sky darkened—not from clouds, but from the arrival of a sleek, black VTOL craft bearing the insignia of a faction she hadn't seen in years: The Eclipsed Order.
She cursed under her breath.
They had found her.
---
Location: Silver City
Zara scanned the live satellite feed of the Arctic disturbance from the Nightbound war room. Helena stood beside her, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
"They arrived less than an hour ago," Myles reported. "No broadcast signal, but we pinged old Order frequency modulations. They've deployed strike units—heavily armed."
Zara pointed to the map overlay. "That's where we go next."
"You think there's another Shard there?" Helena asked.
"I know there is. I can feel it," Zara replied. Her voice had a certainty that brooked no argument. "And if the Order's after it, we're already late."
---
Location: Aqualith Station
Gunfire echoed through the halls. Eira moved like a shadow, disabling intruders with calculated precision. She didn't kill—she never had—but she made sure none of them would walk out of the compound under their own power.
She reached the ice vault just in time to see them trying to breach it.
A tall man stood at the center of the group, clad in black armor trimmed with gold. His face was hidden behind a half-mask shaped like a sunburst eclipsing a moon.
"You're not taking it," Eira growled, stepping into the open.
The man tilted his head. "We don't need to take it," he said, lifting a hand. "We only need to awaken it."
And then—he spoke its name.
The Shard in the ice flared.
A thunderous crack split the air as the ancient glacier burst open. Cold vapor swirled in every direction as the ice melted instantly in a burst of impossible heat.
The Shard hovered in midair, spinning slowly.
It sang.
And Eira felt it—every molecule in her body responded. The Shard knew her. Chose her.
The masked man smiled. "There. Your destiny awaits."
But Eira didn't move toward him.
She turned to the Shard and whispered, "I'm not yours to control."
The Shard pulsed—and flew into her chest.
Time seemed to stop.
For a moment, all was silence.
Then, the entire compound exploded in a wave of frigid light.
The Order soldiers were flung backward. Ice formed instantly around them, encasing them in frozen pillars. The masked leader dropped to one knee, shielding his face as the wind howled through the remains of the base.
When it cleared, Eira stood in the center of the room—her white-blonde hair flowing with frost, her body covered in thin layers of Aether-infused ice armor. The new Shard glowed in her chest, pale blue and sharp-edged like a blade of winter.
"I warned you," she said.
The masked man fled.
---
Hours Later – Sky over the Arctic
Zara and Helena arrived at the ruins of Aqualith via dropship. The station was half-buried, the remains still smoking under the arctic sun.
Zara stepped out onto the ice, her boots crunching softly.
She could feel it—the cold. But not the temperature. The presence of the new Warden.
"She's still here," Zara murmured.
From the whiteout beyond the cliffs, a figure approached. Eira, wrapped in a long, tattered coat of fur-lined armor, eyes glowing faint blue.
They faced each other in silence.
"Zara Kane," Eira said. "I've heard of you."
Zara nodded. "And now I've found you."
Eira narrowed her eyes. "You'll want answers."
"I want allies," Zara replied. "There are more coming. The Wound is real. We have to stop it from opening."
Eira was quiet for a long moment. Then, with a voice like breaking ice, she said:
"Then we'd better move fast."
---