The green spires of Oa loomed through the viewport of Razor's Edge, a beacon that should've felt like home but instead looked like a fortress under siege. Kael Varn eased the ship into the Citadel's hangar, his ring's glow casting a steady light across the cockpit. The fight on the Voidveil's heart-world had left him drained, his body aching, his mind buzzing with Sala's confession and the new coordinates his ring had shown him another world, another mind, another piece of the Voidveil's puzzle. He wasn't sure how much more he could take, but the ring didn't care about his limits. It demanded he keep going.
Lirra Syn, Toren Kade, and Sala Vereth landed beside the ship, their green auras dimmed by exhaustion. Sala's golden form was silent, her ring steady but her presence a storm cloud. Kael's suspicion hadn't faded her admission that the Voidveil had touched her since Korrath was a crack in the team's foundation. Lirra had chosen to bring her back to Oa, to let the Guardians judge, but Kael's gut screamed that Sala was a bomb waiting to go off.
He stepped out of the ship, his armor fading, his pilot's jacket scorched but intact. The hangar was a hive of activity Lanterns repairing damage, medics tending to the wounded, constructs reinforcing the Citadel's defenses. The Battery's pulse was stronger than when they'd left, but the red-black veins still lingered, a reminder that their victory over the heart was temporary.
Lirra approached, her mandibles clicking faintly, her eyes heavy with the weight of leadership. "Kael, you did well out there. The cage held. The Voidveil's weakened."
He grinned, though it felt forced. "Yeah, well, I'm getting the hang of this glowstick. What's next? We lock up Sala and hunt the next creepy mind?"
Her telepathy brushed his mind, catching his distrust. "The Guardians will decide Sala's fate. For now, we report what we found."
Toren's crystals chimed, his voice calm but edged. "The Voidveil's network is vast. The heart was one node. The others will be stronger, smarter."
Sala stood apart, her golden eyes scanning the hangar, her silence louder than words. Kael's ring hummed, a warning he couldn't shake. "Lirra," he said, low enough for only her to hear, "she's not telling us everything. You saw her eyes."
Lirra's mandibles stilled, her telepathy probing Sala's surface thoughts guarded, heavy with guilt, but no clear betrayal. "I know," she said, her voice quiet. "But we need her. The Corps is stretched thin."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Need her? She's a liability. One wrong move, and we're done."
Before Lirra could respond, a Lantern approached broad, with armor like molten rock and a ring that burned with authority. "Lirra Syn, Kael Varn, Toren Kade, Sala Vereth," he said, his voice a low rumble. "The Guardians await. Bring the prisoner."
Kael's eyes flicked to Sala, who didn't flinch at the word "prisoner." She stepped forward, her head high, and Kael's ring pulsed, a vision flashing Sala, her ring blazing red-black, standing over a shattered Oa. He shook it off, but the image clung like a warning.
The Guardians' chamber was a shadow of its former glory, the starlight dome dim, the constellations flickering like dying embers. Ganthet and Sayd floated at the center, their blue robes stark against the green haze. Other Lanterns senior ones, their faces etched with strain stood in a tense semicircle, their rings casting a wary light. The Battery's pulse echoed through the walls, steady but fragile, a heartbeat on the edge.
"Lirra Syn, Kael Varn, Toren Kade," Ganthet said, his voice heavy with millennia of responsibility. "You have struck a blow against the Voidveil. The heart's containment has bought us time. But Sala Vereth, step forward."
Sala did, her golden skin glinting, her eyes meeting the Guardians' without fear. Kael's ring hummed, his hand twitching, ready to act if she moved wrong. Lirra's telepathy was a steady presence, watching, waiting.
"You admit the Voidveil touched you," Sayd said, her voice soft but piercing. "Yet you fought with your team. Explain."
Sala's voice was calm, but there was a crack in it, a vulnerability Kael hadn't expected. "On Korrath, years ago, I faced the Voidveil alone. It saw my doubts my fear of failing the Corps and marked me. I resisted, but its touch never left. I hid it to serve, to fight. The heart offered me truth, but I chose the ring. I chose the Corps."
Ganthet's eyes narrowed, a flicker of doubt crossing his face. "And the Voidveil's offer? What truth did it show you?"
Sala hesitated, her ring glowing faintly. "That the Corps is flawed. That our will blinds us to our failures. The Voidveil isn't just our enemy it's our mirror. It grows because we deny what we are."
Kael's ring flared, his voice sharp. "That's a fancy way of saying you're compromised. Why should we trust you?"
Sala's eyes met his, steady but haunted. "Because I'm still here, Kael Varn. Because I fought for you."
Lirra stepped forward, her telepathy catching Sala's sincerity but also a shadow, a choice unmade. "Guardians, Sala's will held on Korrath. She helped us contain the heart. But her connection to the Voidveil is a risk. What's your judgment?"
Sayd's voice was cold. "She will be confined, her ring monitored, until we can assess the Voidveil's influence. The Corps cannot afford another traitor."
Sala bowed her head, accepting the verdict, but Kael's gut twisted. Confinement didn't solve the problem it just delayed it. His ring pulsed, the new coordinates burning in his mind: a world called Nexara, where another Voidveil mind waited. He opened his mouth to speak, but a tremor shook the chamber, the Battery's pulse faltering.
Alarms blared, and Lanterns tensed, their rings flaring. Lirra's telepathy spiked, catching a surge of malice not from Sala, but from outside. "The Voidveil," she said, her voice grim. "It's attacking."
Ganthet's voice cut through the chaos. "To your posts! Lirra, Kael, Toren lead the defense. Sala, you remain here."
Kael's ring blazed, his armor forming as he ran with Lirra and Toren to the Citadel's perimeter. The sky above Oa was a nightmare red-black rifts tearing open, spitting tendrils and entities that dwarfed the colossi they'd fought before. Lanterns clashed with them, their green constructs straining against the Voidveil's tide, but the enemy was different now coordinated, precise, as if guided by a single will.
Kael dove into the fray, his ring's constructs blades, shields sharper than ever, fueled by a fire he hadn't felt before. He wasn't just fighting for survival anymore. He was fighting for Lirra, for Toren, for the Corps that had chosen him. His hammer smashed a tendril, his net trapped another, and he grinned, the thrill of it burning through his doubt.
Lirra fought beside him, her blades a storm, her telepathy linking them. "Kael, focus on the rifts! They're the source!"
Toren's beams pierced a rift, collapsing it, but more opened, and a new figure emerged not a shadow, but a Lantern, their armor sleek and black, their ring blazing red-black. Their face was hidden, but their voice was a chorus, cold and familiar. "You contained one heart. We are many."
Kael's ring trembled, a vision flashing the figure, leading an army of corrupted Lanterns, the Voidveil's true mind revealed. "Who the hell are you?" he shouted, firing a spear that the figure deflected with ease.
"I am the Reckoner," they said, their ring unleashing a wave of red-black energy that knocked Kael back. "The Voidveil's herald. Your Corps is a lie. We are its truth."
Lirra's telepathy plunged into the Reckoner's mind, recoiling at a void deeper than Voryn's, deeper than the heart. "It's not just a Lantern," she said, her voice raw. "It's... us. All of us."
The Reckoner laughed, their constructs jagged, alive tearing through Lanterns' defenses. Kael's ring blazed, his will pushing past the fear, and he charged, his hammer smashing the Reckoner's shield. Toren followed, his beams precise, while Lirra's blades struck from above, but the Reckoner was relentless, their power a mirror of the Corps' own.
"We need Sala," Kael said, dodging a strike that cracked the ground. "She knows the Voidveil. We can't win this without her."
Lirra's mandibles clicked, her telepathy weighing the risk. Sala was a gamble, but the Reckoner was a certainty a threat they couldn't outfight alone. "Toren, cover us. Kael, with me."
They fought their way back to the Guardians' chamber, the Citadel shaking under the Voidveil's assault. Sala stood where they'd left her, her ring dim, her eyes locked on the chaos outside. Ganthet and Sayd were gone, coordinating the defense, leaving the decision to Lirra.
"Sala," Lirra said, her voice firm. "The Reckoner's leading the Voidveil. You've faced its truth. Help us stop it."
Sala's golden eyes gleamed, a flicker of red-black buried deep. "You trust me now?"
"No," Kael said, his ring flaring. "But we need you."
Lirra's telepathy probed Sala, catching resolve but also a shadow, a choice still unmade. "Prove you're a Lantern," she said. "Fight with us."
Sala nodded, her ring blazing green, and for the first time, Kael saw no flicker, only light. But his ring hummed, a warning he couldn't shake.
They returned to the battlefield, Sala's constructs weaving with theirs fluid, precise, cutting through tendrils with a grace Kael envied. The Reckoner turned, their eyes narrowing at Sala. "You," they said, their voice a hiss. "You know us."
"I know you're a lie," Sala said, her ring firing a beam that staggered the Reckoner. Kael followed, his hammer smashing their flank, while Lirra's blades struck from behind, Toren's beams sealing the trap.
The Reckoner roared, their ring unleashing a rift that spat more entities, but Sala's light held, her constructs weaving a cage that trapped the rift's edge. Lirra's telepathy linked them, guiding their strikes, and Kael's will burned, his ring pouring out a construct a massive chain that bound the Reckoner's arms.
"Now!" Lirra shouted, and they struck as one Lirra's storm, Toren's precision, Kael's force, Sala's truth. The Reckoner screamed, their armor cracking, their ring sparking red-black, then green, then nothing. They fell, their form dissolving into shadow, the rift collapsing.
The Voidveil's entities retreated, the rifts closing, but Oa's light dimmed further, the Battery's veins pulsing stronger. Kael panted, his armor fading, his eyes on Sala. She stood tall, her ring steady, but her face was haunted, as if the fight had cost her something deeper.
Lirra's telepathy caught a whisper not from Sala, but from the void: The Reckoner was one. We are many. She met Kael's eyes, her mandibles clicking. "This isn't over."
"No," Sala said, her voice soft. "The Voidveil's minds are waking. Nexara's next. And it knows we're coming."
Kael's ring flared, the coordinates burning brighter. "Then we hit it first," he said, his voice steady despite the weight. "No more running."
Lirra nodded, her trust in him a quiet strength. "Together."
As they prepared to leave Oa, Sala's eyes lingered on the Battery, a flicker of red-black buried deep. Kael saw it, his ring humming, and he knew: the Voidveil wasn't just out there. It was here, in them, and Sala was the key or the end.