Chapter 10: The Ember Veil

The Ember Veil was a myth, at least that's what most believed. An invisible rebellion said to operate beneath Arcadia's skin, shifting with its shadows, hiding behind whispers. Even the city's oldest spies swore they'd never seen it, never touched it, never proved it existed.

But Nightblade had.

Once.

A long time ago.

He didn't speak of it as they left the clocktower before sunrise, cutting through the haze toward the city's ruined core. Wren led the way this time, weaving them through service alleys and abandoned metro tunnels with the skill of someone who had grown up navigating danger.

Starflare followed, her light muted under a long hooded cloak, but she moved like a second heartbeat behind Nightblade, steady, ready. Elian walked quietly beside her, face hidden, palm covered in thick cloth and binding runes. The sigil still pulsed beneath it.

They reached a long-forgotten stairwell, tucked beneath an overpass and blocked by broken fencing. Wren kicked aside a loose grate, revealing the iron doors beneath.

"Here," he said. "This is how they get in."

Nightblade stepped forward, fingers brushing across the iron. Ancient runes lit up beneath his touch. Not modern glyphs. Older. Pre-collapse magic. The kind most considered lost.

"You've been here before," Starflare said quietly.

"Once," Nightblade replied. "A long time ago."

He whispered a phrase in a language none of them recognized.

The doors creaked open.

The world below smelled of candle smoke, parchment, and stone soaked in heat. They descended a spiral staircase carved from black rock, lit by lanterns that floated without chains. Voices echoed from far below chanting, not in worship, but in rehearsal.

They reached the bottom of the stairwell and stepped into a wide hall carved from the earth itself. Crimson drapes hung between iron arches. Dozens of people moved through the space men, women, and children alike, dressed in robes of ash-grey and ember-red. Some wore masks, others bore tattoos that shimmered faintly.

At the far end of the chamber stood a woman.

She was tall, wrapped in black and rust-colored silk. Her hair was silver, her face ageless. One eye was a polished orb of obsidian. The other was piercing and gold. She leaned on a staff shaped like a twisted flame.

"Nightblade," she said, her voice carrying through the cavern like wind through embers. "You return."

He bowed slightly. "Lady Kevara."

The others looked at him sharply. He hadn't mentioned her name before.

Starflare stepped forward, lowering her hood. "We need help."

"Everyone who finds us says that," Kevara replied. "You've brought a boy with cursed blood."

"No," Nightblade said. "We brought a boy with a sealed god inside him."

Kevara didn't flinch. Instead, she studied Elian carefully, her golden eye narrowing. "And you think we should protect him?"

"I think," Nightblade said, "if you don't, Revenant finishes what he started, and the city dies."

At that, murmurs rose from the surrounding crowd.

Kevara raised one hand.

Silence returned.

"Bring him forward," she said.

Elian looked to Starflare. She nodded gently. He stepped into the open space, toward the flame-marked woman.

"Show me," Kevara said.

He unwrapped the cloth. The Eye of Endless Flame pulsed red.

Gasps echoed through the crowd. Kevara alone remained still.

She reached out, her fingers barely touching the air above his palm. A gust of heat passed between them.

Then her eyes widened just for a second.

"He carries it," she whispered. "The echo of what was chained."

Starflare stepped closer. "You know what it is."

Kevara's voice darkened. "They called it Vhal-Zeth in the old tongue. The Ember Devourer. A being of pure hunger and unmaking. Revenant didn't summon it. He found its prison and broke the locks."

Nightblade folded his arms. "And now it wants a host."

Kevara nodded. "And if it takes one, the sky burns."

A boy from the Ember Veil ranks stepped forward. His face was hidden behind a red mask. "We should kill him," he said. "End the vessel before it opens."

Kevara didn't stop him.

Starflare's hands lit with warning. "Try, and you'll answer to us."

Nightblade placed a hand on her arm. "Let her speak."

Kevara turned to the red-masked boy. "You speak with fear, but no wisdom. If we kill the vessel, we don't destroy Vhal-Zeth. We release it. Unbound. Free to choose its next host, and that might be someone far less willing."

The room fell into an uneasy silence.

"So what do we do?" Wren asked. "We just wait until it takes over?"

"No," Kevara said, pacing slowly. "There is a final binding ritual. Lost to most. But our order kept the fragments. We can attempt to chain the entity again. Not in a stone prison, but within Elian himself."

Elian paled. "You want to trap it in me?"

"We want to give you control," she said gently. "The only way to stop a god is to bind it with the will of the mortal who carries it."

Nightblade frowned. "And what if it fails?"

Kevara met his gaze.

"Then we burn with the rest."

That night, they prepared the chamber.

Runes were carved in salt and chalk, circling a dais at the center of the cavern. Candles burned with violet flames. Kevara stood at the head of the ritual, flanked by masked acolytes who hummed in ancient cadence.

Elian sat in the center, trembling.

Starflare knelt beside him. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," he said, voice shaking. "It chose me. I don't know why. But if I don't fight it, someone else will suffer for me."

Wren handed him a small pendant, a coin on a leather string.

"My brother gave this to me before he vanished. I've carried it every day. It's lucky."

Elian smiled weakly. "Thanks."

Nightblade stood at the edge of the circle, watching Kevara raise her staff.

The chanting began.

Elian's body jerked.

His back arched.

The Eye flared, red and blinding.

A scream erupted from his throat, but it wasn't his voice.

It was deeper.

Rougher.

Something ancient poured through him, smoke and flame and memory. The runes flared. The candles flickered. The air itself seemed to bend under the weight of the presence.

Starflare reached for him, but a wall of heat pushed her back.

"Elian!" she cried.

He opened his eyes.

They were glowing gold.

And then the voice came from his mouth.

"I REMEMBER THE SKY BURNING."

Kevara's staff pulsed with light. "Fight it, child! Take the power back!"

Elian trembled, sweat pouring from him. "I can't"

"Yes, you can!" Starflare shouted. "You're not just a vessel! You're more!"

Nightblade's voice rang through the chamber, clear and strong.

"You're not him, Elian. You're not Revenant. You're not Vhal-Zeth. You're Elian. And you choose what you become."

The glow in his eyes flickered.

The sigil dimmed.

And then, all at once, the fire vanished.

Elian collapsed.

Silence.

Kevara stepped forward, placing a hand on his brow.

"He sleeps," she said. "But he won."

Starflare crouched beside him, tears in her eyes.

Nightblade looked to Kevara. "Is it over?"

Kevara shook her head.

"No. It's just beginning."