The air grew colder as they traveled farther north. The once-green trees of the forest gave way to crooked pines, and the dirt path faded into winding trails of rock and frost. Aria pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, but it wasn’t just the chill that made her shiver.
It was the way the world watched here.
Kael said little as they walked, eyes scanning the shadows, his blade always within reach. Aria didn’t mind the silence. It gave her time to think—about the mark on her chest, the way her power had erupted without warning, and the fact that an entire order of assassins now wanted her dead.
> You may become something greater.
Kael’s words echoed in her mind, over and over. But greater than what?
By the time the sun sank behind the distant hills, the sky burned in streaks of crimson and gold, and their path finally ended at the edge of a cliff. Below them, nestled between jagged stone ridges, stood a tower—black, spired, and crumbling with age. Vines and mist curled around its base like a serpent.
“That doesn’t look like a ruin,” Aria said warily.
Kael gave a grim smile. “That’s because it isn’t. Not entirely. Velhira sleeps, but it remembers.”
He led her down a narrow path, careful not to step on loose gravel. As they neared the base of the tower, Aria could see old carvings lining the broken walls—symbols like the ones in Elda’s journal. Some of them glowed faintly in the fading light.
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They reached the entrance—an archway sealed with stone.
Kael stepped forward and unsheathed his blade. He pressed its tip against one of the glowing runes.
“Velhira,” he whispered. “The Seeker has come.”
The stone rippled, then shuddered. The runes flared to life, and with a sound like thunder muffled underwater, the door split down the center and opened inward.
Inside, a cold wind greeted them. Dust filled the air, but not decay. This place wasn’t abandoned—it was waiting.
They entered slowly. The tower’s interior was massive, lit by floating orbs of silver flame. Old scrolls and relics lined the circular walls, and a giant mural wrapped around the ceiling.
Aria stepped closer and stared up at the painting.
It showed a figure cloaked in moonlight, standing before a shattered gate. Behind it, shadowy figures twisted and writhed—some human, some... not. Beneath the figure’s feet, the land cracked like broken glass.
“She tried to open the veil,” Aria whispered.
Kael nodded. “And failed.”
“But what’s behind the veil?” she asked.
Before he could answer, a voice echoed through the chamber—soft, female, ancient.
> “The veil is a prison. And a shield. Break it, and you free more than truth.”
Aria spun around. Standing in the center of the room was a woman made of light and smoke. Her robes flowed like mist, and her face was both young and ageless.
Kael dropped to one knee. “Guardian.”
The woman’s gaze fell on Aria. “You bear the mark of the Crescent. The Key.”
Aria swallowed. “Who are you?”
“I am Elenys. Keeper of this sanctum. Guardian of Velhira. And once, long ago... I was a Seeker too.”
Aria gasped.
Elenys nodded slowly. “I chose to lock the veil. But every seal has a cost.”
She lifted her hand, revealing a chain of scars down her palm.
Kael stepped forward. “We need answers. She’s awakening, but the Order hunts her. She doesn’t know what she carries.”
Elenys studied Aria closely. “And yet she’s already begun to change. The power in her blood is not just light. It is shadow, too.”
Aria stepped back, heart pounding. “What does that mean?”
“It means your lineage is not pure,” Elenys said. “You are not just the Key. You are also the door.”
The ground seemed to tilt beneath her feet. “The door to what?”
But Elenys only smiled faintly. “To what sleeps beyond the veil. And soon... it will wake.”
The silver flames flickered violently. Wind howled through the chamber, and the mark on Aria’s chest burned again—this time with something deeper than magic.
Something ancient. Something calling her name.
