Shadow’s Veil – Part 3

The hooded figure did not move, yet the shadows around him twisted like living things, writhing and coiling in unnatural patterns. His voice was slow, deliberate, as though time itself had no meaning here.

“You are already too late.”

Vaelin shifted his stance, instinctively angling his body between Elira and the figure. His grip on his daggers tightened, though a nagging voice in the back of his mind whispered that steel might not be enough against whatever this was.

Elira, however, did not flinch. “Too late for what?”

The Keeper tilted his head slightly, the darkness beneath his hood revealing no face, only emptiness. “The breach has widened. The hunger of the Void cannot be undone.”

Vaelin exhaled through his nose. “Fantastic. You’re one of those cryptic types, aren’t you?”

Elira shot him a look before turning back to the Keeper. “We didn’t come here to let the Void consume anything. If you know what caused this, tell us how to fix it.”

The air around them rippled. The glassy ground beneath Vaelin’s boots trembled, sending a deep, unnatural vibration up his legs. He glanced down...

The trapped figures beneath them had shifted.

Before, they had been clawing at the surface, their hands pressed against the glass in frozen desperation. Now, they were staring up at him.

Watching.

Whispering.

Vaelin clenched his jaw. “Elira. We need to move.”

She hesitated but nodded, stepping back toward him.

The Keeper lifted a hand. The shadows at his feet pulsed, extending toward them in a slow, deliberate motion. “You do not understand,” he murmured. “This place is not merely a prison—it is a gateway. One that has already begun to open.”

Elira frowned. “A gateway to what?”

Vaelin didn’t wait for the answer.

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her back just as the shadows surged forward.

Elira gasped, jerking her hand free as dark tendrils coiled around where she had been standing moments ago. The mist curled and shrieked, a chorus of voices rising from the depths.

“That’s enough of that,” Vaelin muttered, adjusting his stance. “Listen, shadow-man, we’re just passing through, but I don’t like being grabbed.”

Elira ignored him. “If the rift is a gateway, then we need to close it before something gets through.”

The Keeper’s voice was eerily calm. “Would you trade your lives for something that cannot be undone?”

Vaelin let out a short laugh. “She’s already reckless, don’t encourage her.”

Elira ignored him again. “Tell us how.”

The Keeper was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he extended an arm.

A single shard of obsidian hovered in the air before them, rotating slowly.

“This is a fragment of the Veil,” he said. “The boundary that separates your world from this one. It is breaking.”

Elira reached out cautiously, fingers hovering near the shard. It pulsed faintly in response.

Vaelin narrowed his eyes. “And what happens if we take it?”

The shadows at the Keeper’s feet rippled. “You will be bound to it. To this place.”

Elira hesitated, her green eyes flicking toward Vaelin.

He didn’t like the look she gave him.

“No,” he said immediately. “No binding. No cursed objects. We’ll find another way.”

Elira sighed. “Vaelin...”

“Nope.” He sheathed one of his daggers so he could fold his arms. “I’ve seen how these things go. You touch it, you end up cursed. Next thing you know, you’re speaking in cryptic riddles like our friend here, and I have to stab you, which I’d really rather avoid.”

Elira pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s not that simple.”

“It’s always that simple.”

The Keeper tilted his head slightly. “One of you must take it.”

Vaelin tensed. “Must?”

“The breach cannot be sealed from your world alone.” The Keeper’s voice was slow, deliberate. “One of you must carry the burden.”

Vaelin looked at Elira.

Elira looked at him.

Then, as one, they both said, “I’ll do it.”

The silence that followed was heavy.

Elira’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Vaelin.”

“Elira.”

She exhaled. “You can’t—”

“Yes, I can.”

Elira threw her hands up. “You’re not even magic, Vaelin.”

“That’s the point,” he countered. “I’m already morally gray. What’s a little more corruption?”

She shot him a glare. “That is not how this works.”

“Pretty sure it is.”

Elira turned back to the Keeper. “There has to be another way.”

The shadows shifted. The trapped souls beneath them let out a soft, collective whisper.

“There is not.”

Vaelin sighed. “Fine. But if I grow extra eyes or start whispering in ancient languages, I expect you to handle it.”

Elira hesitated—but only for a second.

Then, with clear reluctance, she stepped back.

Vaelin reached forward, fingers grazing the obsidian shard.

The moment he touched it, darkness surged into him.

It wasn’t pain. It wasn’t even cold. It was something deeper, something that recognized him. The shadows curled into his veins, coiling in the spaces between his ribs, whispering in voices he didn’t understand but somehow felt.

The shard pulsed once, then vanished into his palm.

The weight of it settled in his chest.

Elira grabbed his arm. “Vaelin?”

He blinked, shaking his head. “I’m fine.” His voice was not quite his own.

Elira’s brows furrowed, but before she could respond, the Keeper spoke again.

“The breach will call to you now.”

Vaelin flexed his fingers, feeling the shadow lingering beneath his skin. “Yeah. Sounds lovely.”

The Keeper inclined his head slightly. “Go now. Before it is too late.”

The world shuddered again.

The mist rose.

And then—

They were falling.

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All Parts of this Series

• Shadow's Veil Part 1
• Shadow's Veil Part 2
• Shadow's Veil Part 3
• Shadow's Veil Part 4
• Shadow's Veil Part 5