Lyra received Valerius’s clandestine message with a mixture of suspicion and cautious hope. The Iron General, her sworn enemy, was proposing a true alliance, a united front against a hidden threat within his own ranks. The information he shared – the discovery of advanced shadow technology in the Old Empire ruins, the existence of a secret Dominion faction – was deeply unsettling and resonated with her own experiences fighting the Obsidian Hand.

  The council of the free territories was divided. Some vehemently opposed any form of cooperation with the Iron Dominion, their hatred and distrust too deeply ingrained. Others, recognizing the gravity of Valerius’s claims and the potential for a far greater catastrophe, argued for a pragmatic approach. Lyra, weighing the potential risks against the survival of their people, leaned towards cautious engagement. The enemy of her enemy, especially one wielding such dangerous power, warranted careful consideration.

  After a tense debate, a clandestine meeting was arranged between Lyra and General Valerius in a neutral territory – a desolate stretch of the borderlands scarred by previous conflicts. The air was thick with distrust, the unspoken history of their animosity a palpable presence between them.

  Valerius, shedding some of his usual rigid formality, laid bare his findings. He presented irrefutable evidence of the secret Dominion faction’s activities, their advanced shadow technology, and their apparent pursuit of the Abyssal Resonance. He spoke of his own growing horror at the possibility that the very order he had dedicated his life to upholding was being corrupted from within by an ancient and destructive force.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Lyra listened intently, her skepticism slowly giving way to a grim understanding. The pieces began to fit together – the Obsidian Hand’s seemingly sudden emergence, their advanced technology, and their fanatical devotion to a shadowy power. They might have been pawns, unknowingly manipulated by this deeper, more insidious faction within the Iron Dominion.

  A tense bargain was struck. The resistance would share their knowledge of shadow artifacts and their experiences fighting the Obsidian Hand. In return, Valerius would provide intelligence on the secret Dominion faction’s operations and resources. The alliance was fragile, built on a shared enemy and a mutual fear of a looming catastrophe, but it was a necessary step in the face of a threat that dwarfed their own conflict.

  The serpent’s coil of the resistance now had a new, unexpected partner. The fight for balance had taken a complex and dangerous turn, with the enemy no longer a unified empire, but a shadowy faction lurking within its heart. The whispers of corruption had led to an unlikely alliance, a gamble on the integrity of a former enemy in the face of a potential apocalypse. The enemy within the Iron Dominion promised a conflict far more intricate and treacherous than any they had faced before.