CHAPTER 37 — Within the Red
Morning in the Red Desert did not arrive gently.
There was no soft sunrise, no slow warmth spreading across the horizon. Instead the light came like a blade—sudden and harsh, spilling across the dunes in violent sheets of burning gold. The red sand caught the light greedily, each grain glowing like powdered ember until the entire desert looked like a sea of smoldering fire.
The wind never stopped.
It hissed across the waste with a constant restless hunger, carving the dunes into strange shifting shapes that never stayed the same for long. One day a hill might stand tall as a tower, the next it would be gone, swallowed by the tide of sand.
Wister was a living graveyard.
And the Red Desert was its beating heart.
Sera sat outside the tent on the edge of the black boulder, knees drawn up, her fingers buried in the sand. She let the crimson grains slide through her hand slowly, watching them spill between her fingers like liquid rust.
The desert had a strange beauty to it.
Not the kind that made someone feel peaceful.
The kind that made you feel very small.
She glanced up.
The sky above the waste was pale and empty, broken only by faint streaks of cloud and the distant shimmer of heat bending the horizon. Somewhere far away something howled—a long, broken cry that echoed across the dunes before dissolving into silence.
Then she looked back at Nark.
"Tell me something," Sera said.
Nark sat a few meters away, crouched beside a small portable burner she had built from scrap metal. She held a thin rod of ether-crystal over the flame, heating it slowly while muttering calculations under her breath.
Without warning she flicked her wrist.
A bolt of compressed air shot forward.
A small furry desert creature—something between a lizard and a rat—exploded into a cloud of red dust twenty meters away.
Nark exhaled.
"Breakfast," she said casually.
Sera blinked.
"…that was terrifyingly casual."
Nark shrugged.
"You get used to it."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"So what are you curious about now?"
Sera leaned back slightly, brushing sand from her palms.
"The Moon."
"And sorcery."
Nark raised an eyebrow.
"That's a big topic."
"Well," Sera said with a faint grin, "knowledge is power, isn't it?"
Nark smirked.
"Yes."
She turned the crystal rod slowly in the flame.
"But knowing more than you should…"
"…can also cut your throat."
Sera shrugged.
"Worth the risk."
The wind swept between them again, carrying heat and dust.
Nark sighed.
"Well."
She gestured around them lazily.
"We're not exactly in immediate danger."
"And our odds of surviving Wister are better than most."
She leaned back on the boulder.
"So I guess I can tell you."
Sera's eyes lit with interest.
Nark pointed at her.
"You mentioned something before."
"Said you grew up around nirvra."
Sera nodded.
"Yeah."
"Drug trade."
"Smuggling."
She scratched the back of her neck.
"Not exactly glamorous."
Nark chuckled.
"Well, nirvra has a nicer name in some places."
She tapped the crystal rod against the stone.
"Sugar."
Sera snorted.
"That's marketing if I've ever heard it."
"Pretty much."
Nark looked out over the desert.
"Nirvra is one of the greatest gifts left behind by the Kaisarin."
"No one actually knows where it came from."
She paused.
"It grows naturally in certain ethrin fruits."
"Strange alien plants scattered across dozens of worlds."
"When processed correctly…"
"It becomes the drug everyone in the galaxy fights over."
Sera listened quietly.
Nark continued.
"When someone takes nirvra, something inside their body changes."
"Temporarily."
"It awakens their ether channels."
"For a short time, they become a mage."
Sera frowned slightly.
"So the power is temporary?"
"Exactly."
Nark nodded.
"As long as the drug is in your system, you can access ether."
"Manipulate it."
"Shape it."
"But once the nirvra leaves your body…"
"The power disappears."
Sera rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Then how do permanent mages exist?"
Nark held up a finger.
"Two things."
"Mana drives."
"And disks."
She tapped the center of her chest.
"A mana drive is basically an artificial ether core."
"It replaces the temporary surge nirvra gives you."
"It stabilizes your ability to channel ether permanently."
Sera whistled softly.
"And disks?"
"Amplifiers."
"Spell storage."
"Control regulators."
"Different types exist."
Nark waved the explanation away.
"Point is…"
She looked directly at Sera.
"You can't just have a galaxy full of superpowered lunatics throwing storms at each other."
Sera laughed.
"That would be bad for business."
"Exactly."
Nark crossed her arms.
"That's where the Golden Moon comes in."
More specifically—
"The Vell."
Sera leaned forward.
"I've heard that name before."
"Of course you have."
Nark smiled.
"The Vell is the organization that manages battle mages across the galaxy."
"They're the ones who make sure sorcerers act like protectors…"
"…and not terrorists."
She pointed to herself.
"Technically."
"I work for them."
Sera raised an eyebrow.
"Technically?"
"Long story."
Nark grinned.
"The Vell is divided into several groups."
"At the top are the Silk."
Sera recognized the name immediately.
"Lady Nerrisa's order."
"Exactly."
Nark nodded.
"All female."
"All Vallenian."
"Fanatically loyal to Nerrisa."
She shrugged.
"Honestly no one knows much about them."
"They appear."
"They disappear."
"They do whatever they want."
Sera smirked.
"Sounds terrifying."
"They are."
Nark stretched her legs.
"Then you have the rest of us."
"Battle mages."
"Ranked."
Sera tilted her head.
"How does ranking work?"
Nark drew a simple diagram in the sand with her finger.
"Mostly based on mastery."
"Years of service too."
She wrote the first word.
"Racks."
"Lowest rank."
"Basic ether manipulation."
"Moving raw energy around."
She wrote another.
"Rims."
"Ether plus elemental control."
"Fire, wind, water, lightning."
"Basic stuff."
Sera nodded slowly.
"Sounds like me."
Nark smirked.
"You said it, not me."
She continued writing.
"Hoods."
"Ether."
"Elements."
"And shard control."
Sera frowned.
"What's shard?"
"Weaponized ether fragments."
"Advanced technique."
Nark drew another line.
"Veils."
"Ether, elements, shards…"
"And first release."
She tapped her chest proudly.
"That's my rank."
Sera raised her eyebrows.
"So you're pretty high up."
"Middle tier," Nark corrected.
She continued.
"Cloaks."
"They can perform second release."
"And above that…"
"Robes."
"Masters of the third release."
Sera stared at the list.
"Okay."
"That's already a lot."
Nark nodded.
"Then you have senior ranks."
She drew two more names.
"Viscose."
"More than forty years of service."
"And Rayons."
"Thirty years or more."
Sera blinked.
"…those sound like fabric brands."
"They are," Nark said proudly.
"The Vell has a weird naming tradition."
Sera laughed.
"So where do the Silk fit in?"
Nark brushed the sand away.
"Above all of it."
"But their rank isn't based on power."
Sera frowned.
"What?"
"Yep."
Nark shrugged.
"It's mostly merit."
"Your rank determines your pay."
"Your missions."
"Where you're stationed."
"Not necessarily how strong you are."
Sera leaned back slowly.
"That's… surprisingly bureaucratic."
Nark grinned.
"Welcome to the galaxy."
She glanced at Sera sideways.
"And you, my dear friend…"
"…would start near the bottom."
Sera narrowed her eyes.
"Oh?"
"Rim."
Nark said it cheerfully.
"From what I've seen, you're good with basic ether manipulation and elemental bursts."
She shrugged.
"That's it."
Sera didn't respond.
Her expression stayed carefully neutral.
Nark stared at her for a moment.
Then she smirked.
"…unless you're hiding something."
Sera snorted.
"Don't flatter yourself."
The wind picked up again, throwing sand across the stone.
Sera suddenly looked thoughtful.
"That Moonborn you mentioned before."
"Lucy."
Nark's expression shifted slightly.
"What about her?"
Sera tilted her head.
"You told me you met her."
"Yes."
"And you let her live."
Nark didn't answer immediately.
Sera continued.
"She's supposed to kill your god someday."
"Why not eliminate the problem early?"
Nark looked out across the desert.
"The higher-ups say it's fate."
Her voice was quiet.
"Personally?"
"I think it's damnation."
Sera raised an eyebrow.
"Strong opinion."
Nark kicked a pebble off the boulder.
"Some people say the Moonborn is the reincarnation of the mage who killed Kain."
"The one who stabbed him all those years ago."
"They believe she keeps returning."
"Again and again."
"To destroy his descendants."
Sera stared at her.
"That sounds like religious propaganda."
"Exactly."
Nark scoffed.
"I think it's all nonsense."
"Just another myth the Golden Moon feeds people."
She stood up and stretched.
"We should probably focus on improving our kill ratio instead of worrying about prophecies."
Then she paused.
"Oh."
"Actually."
She looked back at Sera.
"Have you ever heard of the Song of Shadowfell?"
Sera shook her head.
"No."
"What's that?"
Nark smiled faintly.
"It's a prophecy."
"A blasphemous one."
The wind quieted slightly.
And Nark began to recite.
Her voice carried across the desert like an old forgotten melody.
At the end of stars a child was born,
Of broken light and silence torn—
Moonborn pale as winter night,
Silver breath and hollow sight.
Moons do not weep, they do not pray,
They rise when old gods lose their way.
She came not clad in wrath or flame,
Nor marched beneath a bannered name,
But walked alone through void and war
Till she stood at the Emperor's door.
He rose in gold, in starforged might,
A living dawn against her night—
Crown aflame, his voice the sun,
Lord of all beneath the run.
But we have seen, and we will tell,
What befell in Shadowfell—
For when pride burns too bright to run,
A moon may yet unmake a sun.
The desert fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
Sera exhaled slowly.
"…that's beautiful."
She brushed sand from her hands.
"But if they're bound by fate…"
"…then the Moonborn killing the Kaisarin is just natural, isn't it?"
Nark looked at her.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then she shrugged.
"I suppose it could be interpreted that way."
Her eyes drifted toward the horizon.
"There are other prophecies too."
"Like the one about the Three Stars but—"
Sera leaned forward.
"But what?"
Nark suddenly clapped her hands together.
"Alright."
"That's enough history for one day."
She grabbed her cloak and slung it over her shoulders.
"Come on."
Sera frowned.
"You're dodging the question."
"Maybe."
Nark grinned.
"But battle calls."
She jumped down from the boulder.
"Time to hunt."
Out in the Red Desert—
Something screamed.
And the game continued.