CHAPTER 6 THE SHATTERED VEIL

The Shattered Veil

The path to the Veil was treacherous. Lyra and her companions rode through the cursed lands, where shadows whispered their deepest fears. The air crackled with dark energy, and an unseen force pressed against them as if warning them to turn back.

As they neared the sacred boundary, a sudden explosion of light erupted before them. The celestial guardians emerged, their spectral forms towering like sentinels of old. They carried weapons forged of pure starlight, their eyes glowing with wisdom and power.

"You seek entry beyond the Veil," one of them spoke, their voice echoing like a celestial hymn. "But only the chosen may pass."

Lyra stepped forward, her mark glowing. "I am the heir to the celestial throne. Let me prove my right."

The guardian regarded her for a moment before lifting their blade. "Then face the Trial of Eternity."

The ground beneath Lyra's feet shifted, and she was suddenly alone in a realm of stars. Voices whispered around her, showing her visions of the past and glimpses of a future she could not yet understand.

Then the darkness struck.

A figure emerged from the void, eyes burning with a power she recognized all too well—because it was her own reflection but twisted into something dark and malevolent.

"The celestial curse is not just a burden," her dark self-whispered. "It is a choice."

Lyra realized that the battle ahead was not only against the Shadow born but against the darkness lurking within her own soul.

And the true war had only just begun.