Eis remained completely still in the shadows. The black-market cavern breathed with low lamplight, muffled voices, and the soft rattle of chains. The smell of oil, rust, old damp, and fear clung to the air.

  She watched quietly as Karrin—the trader she had followed—strode across the floor barking orders. His voice cut through the murmurs like a blade.

  “Seal the eastern tunnel. No one in or out until we clean this mess. The Guild will notice the missing relic soon enough.”

  Around him, smugglers shifted uneasily.

  “And the rest of the merchandise?” someone asked.

  “We keep them here until the next caravan heads for the border,” Karrin replied, his tone hard. “Two nights from now. The Shallows watch will escort them as usual.”

  Two days. Eis filed it away.

  Another man spoke, voice low.

  “What about the girl from the relic test?”

  “Gone,” Karrin snapped. “Buyer’s mistake, not mine. I’ve got three more attuned mages in the cages. Young, strong. They’ll fetch the same price—if Vauren doesn’t scrap them for experiments first.”

  That name again. Vauren. Spoken like a curse and a promise.

  A ripple of disquiet passed through the smugglers.

  “He still paying in platinum seals?”

  “Aye,” Karrin said. “And bloodstone shards. The old bastard’s building something. Doesn’t tell us what.”

  He turned sharply, cloak snapping behind him.

  “Enough. Load the rest into the side cells. And if anyone sees a stranger, bring me their head.”

  The men scattered.

  Eis could feel the relic under her cloak—its pulse tightening as if reacting to Karrin’s presence.

  That was enough for now.

  She slipped silently back the way she’d come.

  The narrow service corridors twisted upward—old brick, dripping pipes, and broken maintenance passages. Eis moved quickly but without rushing, slipping through blind corners, scaling a rusted ladder, and pushing through an old supply hatch.

  When she finally stepped onto the surface, the night air hit her like a clean blade.

  Lumaire’s lanterns glowed along the canals. The city breathed—awake even at this late hour. Somewhere far behind her, the Shallows curled and rotted under the moonlight.

  Eis pulled her hood low and walked toward the Guild.

  The Adventurer’s Guild was still lit, though quieter at night. A clerk at the front desk looked up, prepared to send her away—until he saw the faint glow of the relic beneath her cloak and the dried, dark blood on her gauntlets.

  “Report?” he asked softly.

  Eis nodded.

  “Urgent. Night captain.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Within minutes, she was escorted up the stairs to Captain Darel’s office—a chamber filled with maps, ledgers, and the smell of old parchment and steel oil.

  Darel looked up as she entered.

  “Eis. You were with Ronan’s team. What happened?”

  Eis stepped forward and placed the relic box onto his desk.

  The runes glowed faintly. Darel’s breath caught.

  “Black-market ring in the Shallows,” Eis said evenly. “Slave trading. Mages being moved for experiments. Someone named Vauren is coordinating the purchases. Their next transport leaves in two nights.”

  Darel stared at her for a long moment—then swore under his breath.

  “You’re certain?”

  “I saw it.”

  “And this?” He gestured to the relic.

  “Stolen from a ruin. Dangerous. Pulses with high-level mana.”

  Darel immediately grabbed a communication crystal, whispering urgent orders into it. Reinforcements. Patrols. A lockdown on the Shallows. His voice was low, clipped, deadly serious.

  Finally he faced her again.

  “You’ve just put a target on yourself,” he said quietly. “But you may have saved dozens of lives. The Archmage division will want this relic secured immediately—and they’ll want to speak with you.”

  He exhaled heavily.

  “Get cleaned up. I’ll have an agent debrief you at first light.”

  Eis nodded and turned to leave.

  Ronan. Lira. Kael.

  They were waiting for her.

  Standing in the corridor outside the command office. They must have heard the commotion—the raised voices, the hurried footsteps, the sharp intake of breath when Eis stepped through the hall doors covered in blood that wasn’t hers.

  They hadn’t followed her inside but they overheard parts of the conversation.

  Ronan stepped forward first, jaw tight, eyes hard in a way Eis had only seen on the battlefield.

  “You went to the shallows,” he said, voice low enough to make the walls listen. “In the middle of the night. Without telling anyone.”

  Lira’s hands were clenched at her sides. Her eyes glistened—half frustration, half fear.

  “You could’ve been killed,” she said. “You should’ve told us.”

  Kael didn’t bother softening it.

  “You went into the Shallows,” he snapped. “Alone. At night. And you came back covered in blood.”

  The corridor seemed to narrow around them, the weight of what could have happened pressing in with what already had.

  Eis met their eyes calmly.

  “There wasn’t time.”

  Kael looked ready to explode, but Ronan lifted a hand—cutting him off.

  “This isn’t the place,” Ronan said through clenched teeth. “Not while the Guild is mobilizing. Not while you’re carrying something like that.”

  He nodded toward the relic under her cloak.

  Lira stepped closer, voice softening slightly despite her anger.

  “Please… just don’t disappear like that again.”

  Eis didn’t respond.

  Ronan drew a slow breath, his frustration barely controlled.

  “We will talk,” he said. “But not now.”

  He stepped aside.

  “You’re not leaving our sight again tonight. Go clean up. We’ll wait.”

  Eis nodded slightly and left without argument.

  Cold water washed blood from her hands, her jaw, the edges of her cloak. Her reflection in the basin water was pale under the flickering lanternlight—unmoved, calm, steady. When she finished and returned to the corridor, Team Argent was still waiting.

  Ronan crossed his arms. A hint of relief spread across his face as he saw Eis step out.

  Eis stepped forward.

  “What happened to the girl I freed? The one I sent to the Guild?”

  Lira shook her head.

  “She should've arrived before me. I gave her the spellcard pouch.”

  Concern flickered across Lira’s face. Kael’s posture sharpened.

  Ronan’s expression darkened.

  “I’ll have the night clerk check all incoming reports and the infirmary,” he said. “If she hasn’t come through the Guild doors…”

  his jaw clenched

  “...then someone intercepted her.”