Amid the shadows of the past that never truly faded, I still remember the first day I saw her—a young woman with weary steps, gathering remnants of hope from the city's garbage heap.

The years passed like fallen leaves between seasons. I fell—slowly, but surely. My business failed, my family drifted away, and my life was worn down by days that grew darker and darker. Then, from out of nowhere, she returned. No longer cloaked in dust and hunger, but glowing with a success I knew she had earned through blood and tears.

One day, I left the city, wandering in search of fresh air. I had too much free time and found myself returning to the same place—where I once helped a woman, right where I now stood.

“I never forgot your face,” she said, approaching me from behind.

“You were the first person to treat me like a human being.”

She helped me, just as I had once helped her. Genuinely, without expecting anything in return. And like a strange dream that somehow turned real, we fell in love.

Our wedding was simple. Not everyone in our families accepted it—especially on my side. “You deserve someone better,” my brother said, his voice laced with sarcasm he thought was subtle. But we endured. Love, it seemed, was strong enough to withstand the wind—though not always the storm.

Then came that day.
The day that changed everything.

I hadn't moved when Vassago leaned back in his chair, eyeing me as if something was stuck in his throat.


"Hey, Exsanguine," he said quietly. "Before you go… there's something you need to know."


"People say I'm the right hand of The Emperor. That's why you came looking for me, isn't it?"


I didn't answer, but my silence was confirmation enough.


He exhaled a thin trail of smoke, slow and deliberate. "That's a lie. A false story I crafted myself."


"Not because I wanted to look powerful. But because in this world, sometimes you have to become a myth just to survive. I'm nobody in The Emperor's circle. I just sell rumors, fear, and information I bought with someone else's blood."


"No," he said, grinning. "I'm a shadow broker. I don't take sides—except for money. But for the first time, I want to place my bet… on you."


I paused. Then said, "Maeve is more than enough."


"Maeve is your brain," Vassago replied, standing and clapping a hand on my shoulder. "But I'll be your nose—the one that sniffs out what neither of you can see."


He pulled a small, pitch-black card from his pocket and handed it to me.


"This number is encrypted. One-way. I'll speak when I have something valuable. And you can call me… if you're ever desperate."


"And Exsanguine," he said just as I was about to leave, "you're going to hunt him—the leader of The Emperor. But don't be mistaken. That thing isn't human. He's a black hole. Everything that gets close, vanishes. Including the truth."


"Good. Because what's coming for him this time… isn't human either."


The shadows of the past had become a war made flesh.


Chapter 7 - Destination #3