The air split like torn fabric, and a bitter chill poured out from the breach in reality. The sky above twisted, darkening into a swirling mass of crimson and shadow. Nkosana instinctively shielded Lwandle behind him as Enkai raised his Boneblade, eyes narrowing.
"They're here…" Enkai whispered. "The Watchers."
From the tear in the Veil emerged figures draped in writhing cloaks of living shadow, their faces a blur of shifting masks — joy, sorrow, rage, madness — changing with every heartbeat. They didn't walk; they glided above the ground, carried by whispers only they could hear.
"You who carry the Seed…" one of them rasped in a thousand voices. "You tilt the balance. The child of ruin... must choose."
Nkosana clenched his fists. "Choose what?"
"To become what you were born to be… or to be erased," the Watcher replied, stretching a long, clawed hand toward him. "You are anomaly… power misplaced. Our world was not meant to hold one like you."
Lwandle gripped his hand. "Nkosana, don't listen. They want to control you."
He stepped forward instead. "I never asked for this power. But now that I have it, I'll use it to protect those I care about — even if it means defying fate." The Watchers' masks twisted into unreadable expressions. One extended a finger toward his chest. The Demon Seed glowed violently, reacting to their presence.
"Very well. But know this… with every choice you make, the curse deepens."
The figures began to fade, sinking into the ground like melting shadows.
Enkai exhaled. "You've been marked now, truly. The Veil won't hold forever. When it breaks… you'll be their target."
Nkosana stared at his own reflection in a pool of still water — his eyes now rimmed with darkness, his silhouette less human than before.
"I don't care who's watching."
He turned.
"Let them come."
—