The Veil’s Secret

The morning after the Veil, Crestwood glimmered under a fragile sunlight. For the first time in weeks, the town seemed almost peaceful. Yet, beneath that calm, a sense of unfinished business pulsed in the hearts of Sarah, Lila, Mark, Lisa, and Adrian. They gathered in the church’s hidden chamber, the cracked obsidian mirror and Selene’s black-silver feather lying at the center of their circle.

Sarah turned the feather over in her hands, feeling its odd weight. “She saved us,” she said softly, “but she’s gone. And the mirror-what if we need to go back?”

Adrian, still pale from the ordeal, shook his head. “The Veil is sealed for now. But the crack in the mirror means the barrier’s weak. If the ash finds another way through…”

Lila’s silver-marked palm trembled as she tucked her knees to her chest. “I felt something in the Veil. Something watching. Not the ash-older, colder. Like the Veil itself is alive.”