The Underworld Market of Khaldar was less a market and more a sprawling, multi-tiered canyon-city carved into the bedrock. Red lanterns threw long, distorting shadows over stalls stacked with illegal arcane goods: chipped Regulator parts, volatile elemental crystals, and vials of unnaturally vibrant liquids. The air was a toxic stew of smoke, sulfur, and unwashed bodies.

  ?Sera, instantly adopting the posture of a wary local, led them down a narrow, treacherous path toward a low-slung, dark alcove that seemed mostly forgotten.

  ?“This will be our burrow,” Sera whispered, pulling a scrap of heavy, dark canvas from her pack. “It's near enough to the main flow for a quick escape, but too close to the sewage runs for anyone important to bother us.”

  ?She worked quickly, using small iron pegs and focused geomantic whispers to install a subtle proximity ward around the alcove—a net of invisible sound and pressure that would alert them to approaching footsteps.

  ?Kiyan sank to the rough, cold floor. The absolute exhaustion following the Cut felt bone-deep, leaving him vulnerable and cold in a way his Primal Cold couldn't protect against.

  ?“The Legion won’t follow us here, will they?” Elara asked, her eyes scanning the shifty-looking crowd.

  ?“No, they won’t dare,” Kiyan rasped. “Khaldar is a geopolitical black hole. If they move in force, they start a war with every petty ganglord in the sector. But we can’t stay. We’re ghosts here, and ghosts don't last long when they carry valuable cargo.”

  ?

  ?They pulled the battered Regulator into the center of the alcove. The machine, though silent now, looked imposing and utterly inert. Sera opened a panel and used a thin wire probe to check its internal charge.

  ?“The good news: the Regulator is stable. The dimensional matrix survived the chaotic jump through the Mists,” Sera reported, running a hand over the scorched metal. “The bad news: Kiyan used the last of the Regulator's stored energy to open the final nexus point. We have nothing left for the main jump to the Inner Worlds.”

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  ?“How much power do we need?” Elara asked.

  ?Sera frowned, consulting a small data slate. “We don’t need mana. We need something that burns—fast and hot—to breach the deeper layers of the Barrier. We need Aether Coals. Concentrated, stabilized fuel derived from ancient sun-dust. It’s highly restricted, incredibly volatile, and absolutely illegal.”

  ?Kiyan closed his eyes, his mind already formulating the risk. “Meaning only two kinds of people have it: Obsidian Legion quartermasters, or the dealers in this pit.”

  ?

  ?“I know a dealer who operates here,” Sera admitted, her eyes distant as she worked her wrist-mounted scanners. “The Silent Scale. He doesn't trade in currency; he trades in favors and exotic artifacts. We have nothing he wants, and we can’t risk using Force.”

  ?“I’ll go,” Elara stated firmly. “I can pass through a crowd and I have a better sense for detecting arcane traps than either of you right now. I’m also the only one who isn’t a known fugitive with a distinctive, chilling superpower.”

  ?Kiyan didn't like it. He was meant to be the protection. “No. I need to recover. Give me twenty hours, and I can be your backup.”

  ?“We don't have twenty hours,” Sera countered, pointing to the roof of the canyon. “Look closely. That flickering red light isn’t just illumination. It's a localized detection grid run by the biggest gang here, the Copper Heads. We’re safe for now because they don’t see us doing anything, but the Regulator’s residual signature will be attracting attention. We have to move tonight.”

  ?Sera turned to Elara. “Here is the plan. We trade. I have one item the Silent Scale might value: a small shard of geomantic true-iron I salvaged from the Regulator’s casing. It's worthless to us, but priceless to a collector. You and I go. Kiyan, you guard the alcove and conserve every joule of energy. If we aren't back in two hours, assume the worst and disappear.”

  ?Kiyan met Elara’s determined gaze. “Go. Be shadows. Do not fight. Do not even cast a glance in anger. This place consumes the weak, Elara.”

  ?Elara adjusted the dagger strapped to her wrist, its hilt barely visible beneath her sleeve. “We won't be weak, Kiyan. Just quick.”

  ?With a nod to Kiyan, Elara and Sera slipped out of the alcove and vanished into the crowded, poisonous shadow of Khaldar, leaving Kiyan alone with the silent, demanding machine.