The old winds shifted.
Word spread like fire in dry grass.
The Veilbreaker—the girl born of Liora's line, bearer of the Codex—had returned.
And she was gathering the forgotten.
---
They began to come.
From sunless forests and shadowed ruins.
From the twilight barrows where the thorned fae still wept.
From caves where ember-hearted spirits had slumbered since the first war.
Old oaths stirred in blood.
Some came out of loyalty to Liora's name.
Others… for vengeance.
---
Serelith stood in the clearing of a dead grove, once a throne-hall for the Autumn Kings before the Hollow Queen's conquest. Her cloak was torn, her hair streaked with ash—but her voice rang out like prophecy.
> "We were cast out. Shamed. Hunted.
But I carry the blood of fire.
I hold the Codex of fate.
And I will not kneel to gods who burn the world for silence."
Faelan stood beside her, eyes blazing with fierce pride.
And one by one, the exiled stepped forward.
Pledging fealty.
Not to a queen.
To her.
---
That night, the Codex glowed again, unbidden.
It opened itself.
And from the pages rose not ink—but smoke.
It curled and shimmered and spoke.
> "Daughter of the Veil," came Avaeth's voice, soft as dusk. "You gather insects for a war of stars."
> "I gather truth," Serelith whispered.
> "You gather defiance," the god replied. "And you are mine."
> "I belong to no one."
> "Then why does the Codex bear my mark? Why do you dream in my name?"
The god's voice swirled with a terrifying tenderness.
> "When you fall, I will wear your soul like a crown."
The smoke vanished.
And Serelith's hand was burned with a new sigil—curved and spiraled, like an eye half-closed.
---
Corren studied the mark as Faelan wrapped her hand.
> "It's not a curse," Corren said quietly. "It's a claim. He sees you as the final vessel."
> "Then he'll be disappointed," she muttered.
Faelan met her gaze. "We'll burn every star before we let him take you."
And for the first time since the Codex awoke, Serelith believed they might have a chance.
---
But far across the sea of mists, in the Hollow Queen's citadel, Avaeth's name was spoken aloud.
And the veils began to tear.