Diviner Sharin hurried up the stairs leading to the entrance of the Emperor's castle. It spoke to the levels of the information she carried that she hadn't even bothered dressing properly before she'd left her home.

  As the main Diviner to the Emperor, her job was to keep the Emperor on the paths that were more certain to bring glory and prosperity to the empire. She was also to keep him appraised of any upcoming cause for concerns or highly impactful events that were certain to involve both him and the empire. And now, it seemed she was to do her job and plot a safe path against the coming calamity.

  When Sharin had first divined the anomaly, an event that had been shrouded even from her sight, with only tiny crumbs to go by, she had instantly seen it as a distant possibility. After all, the more shrouded an event was, the more uncertain it was to happen. All she had to do was lead the Emperor through a path that was sure to skirt around the upcoming calamity, and all would be fine.

  Informing the Emperor of the coming event had only served to task her with an assignment which she would have carried out nonetheless. And unlike the cause, divining a solution for the empire had been surprisingly easy, and it seemed the heavens were smiling down on them when she, in a great deal of fortune, discovered both the cause and solution in the same location: a small no-name city in the faraway desert continent.

  The Emperor's knife, head of the Empire's hidden protectors, had swiftly proposed to dispatch a hidden protector to said city. Due to those at the top being heavily monitored by their enemies, it had been concluded that a hidden protector in the mid realms would be sent out. It was a sound idea. After all, a Spirit lord walking into a city with only a few lord realms wielders and no Monarch was sure to draw serious attention, attention even from outside the continent. Because of that, everyone in the know had been made to swear into a vow of secrecy, which each person's vow linked to an egg that rested solely in Sharin's keeping.

  Salin, a former Soldier who had been fortunate enough to have discovered a plot aimed at the heir of the Wesan Dukedom, a powerful house with a Spirit lord at their head. Due to his growing talents, coupled with his successful track record and the virtual obscurity of his reputation in comparison to some of his peers, the Emperor's Knife had nominated him.

  It was said that the man had taken easily to the art of infiltration and assassination, rising quickly in a few short years from the bottom of the barrel to a master hidden protector.

  Like them, the man had been summoned before the emperor to be made known of his task. And just to be safe, he had also been made to swear an oath, though without the knowledge of what he had just done.

  Ever willing to serve, the man had happily accepted and sworn to see his assignment completed, thereby unknowingly swearing himself into secrecy.

  She didn't blame him, what with all the promises he'd been showered with should his task be successfully completed. And while Sharin knew how wrong it was to leave him in the dark about what he had done, she also recognized the importance of such a decision.

  It had been two weeks since then with a steady supply of information from the master spy, which was when the problem began.

  The previous day, Sharin had been expecting the usual news about the city and the brewing battle about to happen. What she hadn't been expecting was news that the spy's cover had been blown, surprisingly enough by a random stranger. This had alarmed Sharin enough that she had swiftly sent word back that he uncovered the identity of said stranger, by any means necessary if they proved unwilling.

  It had been hours past the time he was supposed to report in, but they hadn't heard a single word from him aside from the information that he had already tracked down the whereabouts of the stranger.

  On a hunch, Sharin had then tried to divine the future again, and what she saw sent shivers down her whole body.

  The distant but clear possibility was now a single wrong step away from becoming a close future.

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  She had quickly rushed out of her mansion, ignoring all propriety on how a female of higher status should move as she practically ran up the castle's stairs like a demon on a rampage.

  The guards at the twin massive doors leading into the castle proper must have seen her expression because they didn't bother with any of the bowing she so detested. She passed through the opened doors with barely an acknowledgment of their existence.

  Getting into the waiting hall, which was meant for visitors of little importance, Sharin didn't tarry; she moved towards a corridor down her left, which led to an entrance only a few in the castle were allowed near. This was a location exclusive to only the Empire's pillars, with the exception of Sharin.

  Grabbing a passing servant, Sharin ordered. "Go to Pillar Samon and inform him that he should come find me." She didn't bother specifying where to meet, Samon would know.

  Turning left down another passage that led towards the Emperor's quarters, this one had fewer servants moving about. Instead of heading straight for the Emperor's room, as would have been expected, she turned down another passage, a dark passage with zero lighting whatsoever, but at her level of power, she didn't need light to see in the dark.

  It took five different turns before she came upon a dead end with a single door at the end. Four guards protected the entrance, discounting those already hidden in secret openings along the walls. All were sworn to secrecy about the room and those who went in.

  Approaching the wooden door, she reached for the handle, channeling a strand of her unique energy. Despite the door's simple design and make, Sharin knew the impossibility of someone below the Spirit lord realm destroying it. And even when faced with the might of a Spirit lord, she was certain in its sturdiness that it wouldn't go down easily.

  With a click echoing through the quiet atmosphere, the door turned open. Entering, Sharin barely took notice of the bare walls with zero decorations. She understood why, though. This room was made for one thing and one thing only: emergency meetings that required swift Solutions.

  Mind elsewhere, Sharin moved towards the wall opposite the entrance. She wanted to be made aware should anyone enter... which didn't take long as Samon entered just a few seconds behind her.

  "Why is the castle aflush with rumors of the head Diviner barging into the castle like a mad woman? You do know that a few of the servants have begun panicking, what with all the world-ending look you seem to be wearing..." his voice died down just as Sharin raised her eyes to meet his, a frown replacing it. "I'll send a summon to the rest of the council."

  "Don't bother, I do not have the time to wait for them to hurry over," a voice said just as the Emperor walked into the room, his aura billowing behind him with such power that Sharin had to take a deep, steadying breath. "Sharin, I assume you have terrible news?"

  Despite her disheveled look, both in mind and body, Sharin still bowed deeply, with a mirroring gesture from Samon. The Emperor wasn't one to ignore formalities, even from close advisors.

  Emperor Solaris was a man of small stature, but despite that, he still carried himself like a giant before everyone else. No one dared contest him, seeing as power-wise, he was the most powerful being in the Empire, reaching the realm of Spirit lord at the stunning age of thirty-eight, which hailed him as a genius of the millennia. And while she knew how unbelievable the claim was, she wasn't about to gainsay it.

  He was a handsome man, alright; even despite his small stature, the emperor looked like a being sculpted by a master artisan and not like a natural-born human being. There was not a single mark on his body, which wasn't that surprising given his realm, and his face was chiseled into complete handsomeness.

  Unwilling to delay any longer, Sharin answered. "The egg has broken.

  With a sudden swiftness enough to startle even the utterly blind, the atmosphere turned tense. They all knew what that meant. Despite taking massive steps to protect their secret, it seemed it was all for naught.

  "Who was it?" Emperor Solaris asked.

  "The spy sent towards the desert city."

  "Tell me how it happened," Solaris demanded.

  With a deep breath, Sharin instantly went on to explain how the man had been made and how he had been supposed to report a few hours before, right after the stranger's questioning which should have been done hours ago. She explained how she had chosen to divine the future and the result of it.

  She told of how she had come to after her divination and found the oath egg linked to the Master spy broken.

  When she was done, the emperor simply nodded.

  "This is still salvageable; both the cause and the solution are still in the city, correct?" At Sharin's nod, the Emperor continued. "Send in two pillars to that city; I want it destroyed and the cause with it. Find the so-called solution and bring it to me."

  At the Emperor's command, Sharin nodded, even though she didn't fully agree with the decision. It never paid to argue with the Solarian ruler.

  "Inform me when it is done." And without any more words, the emperor turned around and left.

  Leaving both Sharin and Samon standing behind, both wondering about the future of the empire and what it entailed.