SHADOWS AT THE EDGE

The portal to the severed realm shimmered before them, a swirling mass of fractured light and shadow. Mildred stood at its edge, her team assembled behind her. Each member carried their own weight of determination and apprehension, their expressions grim but resolute.

Kael adjusted the blades strapped across his back, his sharp eyes scanning the unstable portal. "This thing looks like it might collapse before we even step through."

"It's stable enough," Mira said, her hands weaving faint threads of energy to bolster the portal's edges. "But don't waste time on the other side. Severed realms are unpredictable—anything could trigger a collapse."

Mildred tightened her grip on the shard around her neck, its faint light pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat. "We stick together, no matter what. If something goes wrong, we retreat. I don't care how close we are to answers—your lives come first."

"Understood," Lysander said, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "But you'd better follow your own advice, Guardian. You're no good to us—or the Loom—if you're reckless."

Mildred gave him a small nod, though her mind was already racing with the possibilities of what they might find. The shard pulsed again, a faint tug pulling her toward the portal. The severed realm beyond felt like a gaping wound, raw and hungry, its edges frayed with the void's touch.

"Let's move," she said, stepping through the portal.

The transition was disorienting, as if stepping through a veil of ice and fire. When Mildred's vision cleared, the realm unfolded around them—a desolate landscape of broken spires and drifting fragments of land. The air shimmered with unstable energy, and the ground beneath their feet felt oddly insubstantial, as though it might dissolve at any moment.

"This place is barely holding together," Mira said, her voice tight as she wove a stabilizing thread around the group. "We'll need to work fast."

Kael knelt, his fingers brushing a jagged crack in the ground. "There's something off about this realm. It's not just the void—it's like the threads here were deliberately severed."

Mildred frowned, the shard glowing brighter as she took a cautious step forward. "The remnant," she said. "If they're here, they might know what happened."

"And if they're not?" Kael asked, rising to his feet. "We'll have wasted time we don't have."

"They're here," Mildred said, her voice firm. "I can feel it."

As they moved deeper into the shattered realm, the air grew heavier, the void's presence pressing against them like a tangible weight. Shadows flickered at the edges of their vision, shifting and writhing in unnatural ways.

"This doesn't feel right," Lysander muttered, his sword drawn and ready. "Stay sharp. We're not alone."

A low, resonant hum echoed through the air, growing louder with each step. Mildred's shard pulsed in response, the light growing stronger as if drawn to the sound. They rounded a crumbling spire, and there, in the center of a fractured clearing, stood the remnant.

The figure was cloaked in a shifting veil of light and shadow, their form indistinct but humanoid. Their presence radiated an ancient, quiet power, and their gaze—though featureless—seemed to pierce through mildred. 

"You came," the remnant said, their voice echoing with a blend of sorrow and relief. "I was beginning to think no one would."

Mildred stepped forward, her team close behind. "We're here to stop the void. If you know anything—anything at all—we need your help."

The remnant tilted their head, the light around them dimming slightly. "The void cannot be stopped," they said. "It is older than the Loom, older than light itself. But it can be understood—and perhaps, in understanding, it can be resisted."

"Then tell us what you know," Mildred pressed. "We've risked everything to find you."

The remnant's form flickered, their light dimming further. "What I know comes at a price. The void is drawn to knowledge, to those who seek to understand it. If I share what I've seen, the void will follow you. Are you willing to bear that burden?"

Mildred hesitated, the weight of the decision settling over her. She glanced at her team, their faces a mixture of determination and unease. They had trusted her to lead them, to make choices that might cost them everything.

"I'm willing," she said finally. "If it means saving the Loom, I'll bear the risk."

The remnant nodded, their form solidifying slightly. "Very well. But be warned—once you know the void's truth, there is no turning back."

They reached out, a thread of light extending toward Mildred. She hesitated only a moment before taking it, the shard at her chest flaring brightly as their connection formed.

Images flooded her mind—fragments of a forgotten history, a time before the Loom, when the void had been the only constant. She saw realms consumed by its hunger, threads severed and left to drift into nothingness. And she saw the remnants, beings who had severed their connection to the Loom to survive, their light dimmed but enduring.

"The void is not a mindless force," the remnant said, their voice echoing through the visions. "It is a will, ancient and inexorable. It seeks to unmake what the Loom creates, not out of malice, but because that is its nature."

The connection broke, and Mildred staggered back, her mind reeling from the weight of the knowledge. The remnant's light flickered, their form growing fainter.

"Take this truth," they said, their voice fading. "But be warned—the void now knows you. It will come for you."

Before Mildred could respond, the remnant dissolved into a cascade of light, leaving only silence in their wake. The shard at her chest burned with newfound energy, its glow steady and bright.

"What did you see?" Lysander asked, his hand steady on her shoulder.

Mildred met his gaze, her voice low but resolute. "The void isn't just a threat. It's a part of the Loom—a shadow cast by its light. If we're going to stop it, we need to confront it directly."

Kael exhaled sharply, his expression grim. "And how do we do that?"

Mildred turned toward the horizon, where the void's presence loomed like a dark storm. "We go to where it began," she said. "To the

Loom's first thread."

The journey, she realized, was far from over.