Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Echoes of the Veil
The sigils burned.
Not painfully, but with a strange warmth like sun filtering through stormclouds, like breath shared on a cold morning. Light coiled around their wrists, rising into the air between them, weaving symbols neither could read but both instinctively understood.
A map. A path. Not drawn in ink or lines, but in memory.
Kaela flinched, still propped against Seralyn's side. "What... is this?"
Seralyn's brows furrowed. "The sigils are showing us where to go. The next fragment it's calling to us."
The ghostly trail shimmered forward, hovering above the grass, pulsing toward the jagged spine of mountains in the far north.
Kaela's voice was rough. "That range is cursed. Even the Dread Coven doesn't enter its heart."
"Then that's exactly where we're going," Seralyn replied, helping her to her feet.
They shared a long glance. There was no turning back now.
---
Their journey north was nothing short of harrowing. The Hollow Fields stretched for leagues rolling grasslands dotted with crumbling statues and haunted wind. Each night, the mist thickened, and by morning, whispers clung to their skin like cobwebs.
Seralyn and Kaela spoke little. Every step forward required vigilance. But in the silence, something bloomed: a growing awareness, not just of the danger ahead, but of each other.
On the third night, Kaela broke the silence.
"You keep looking at me like you expect me to disappear."
Seralyn, sharpening her blade, didn't look up. "You tend to vanish when I let my guard down."
Kaela huffed. "You mean that one time I was kidnapped and tortured by your people?"
"That's not fair."
"Neither was the collar around my throat."
The silence returned, heavier.
Seralyn stood and tossed her whetstone aside. "Why do you always push me away the moment I let you in?"
Kaela blinked. "I could ask you the same thing."
Their eyes met.
And for the first time, neither looked away.
---
On the seventh day, the terrain shifted. The Hollow Fields gave way to jagged ravines and cliffs where thunder rumbled with no storm in sight. The mountain range loomed ahead like the ribs of some ancient beast.
Seralyn pointed to the highest peak. "That's where the map leads."
Kaela grimaced. "Velgareth. Locals call it the Mountain That Devours."
"Well," Seralyn said, hoisting her pack, "we're not exactly local."
---
They climbed for two days, navigating narrow paths and icy ridges. Wild mana surged through the air here, distorting time and sound. Once, Seralyn watched Kaela cast a fire ward, and the flame floated sideways.
"It's worse here than I thought," Kaela muttered. "This mountain is laced with magic older than the gods."
"You think the next fragment is inside?"
"No." Kaela looked up. "I think it is the mountain."
They reached the mouth of a cave by twilight. Its entrance was carved with runes neither recognized, but the sigils on their arms pulsed in response.
Inside, the air was warm too warm.
Seralyn drew her blade.
Kaela summoned a soft light.
They descended.
---
The cave opened into a vast underground temple. Pillars of black glass soared into the darkness above, and pools of glowing water reflected twisted images of their own faces.
Kaela shivered. "This place remembers pain."
At the center of the chamber stood a pedestal, above which floated a shard of crystal amber and red, like a frozen flame.
Seralyn stepped forward. "The Veil Fragment."
But as she reached for it, the ground trembled.
From the shadows emerged three figures cloaked, masked, humming a low, ancient song.
"Guardians," Kaela breathed. "But not like before."
These ones were alive.
Their chant grew louder. The air thickened.
Seralyn raised her sword. "We don't want a fight."
One Guardian stepped forward. "Then die quietly."
The attack was immediate.
Kaela unleashed flame in wide arcs, while Seralyn deflected twin blades with deadly precision. The fight felt surreal like moving through water, every motion slowed by magic.
One Guardian lunged for Kaela's heart only to be intercepted by Seralyn's blade.
Kaela staggered back, gasping. "You… you took that hit for me."
"I didn't have time to think."
"Then maybe that's when you're most honest."
They stood together, back-to-back. Fire and steel. Heart and blade.
One by one, the Guardians fell.
When the last collapsed, the pedestal flared.
Kaela approached the fragment, her hand trembling.
"I don't know if I can take another one," she whispered.
Seralyn walked up beside her. "Then we do it together."
Their hands touched the crystal simultaneously.
A wave of power exploded outward memories not their own flooded their minds. A world before theirs. Two women one elf, one witch locked in the same dance of love and war.
The sigils burned white.
When the light faded, Kaela was on her knees.
Seralyn cradled her. "Kaela talk to me."
Kaela opened her eyes. "I saw us. In another life."
"So did I."
Kaela whispered, "They chose each other. Even when the world ended."
Seralyn stroked her hair. "Then so will we."
Outside, lightning split the sky.