The crack spread like lightning across the night sky.
Elena staggered back, her chest heaving as the barrier that had held for centuries finally tore. The world seemed to breathe in sharply with her—wind rushing, branches trembling, the air itself vibrating with an otherworldly hum.
And then Anna screamed.
"Anna!" Elena's voice broke as she lunged forward.
But it was too late. The shadows surged like a living tide, wrapping around her best friend in writhing coils of smoke and void. Anna's terrified eyes locked on Elena's for a heartbeat—a heartbeat filled with trust, fear, and something else. Something Elena couldn't name before the darkness yanked her into the crack.
"NO!"
Elena threw herself forward, arms outstretched, but Kael caught her, his grip iron around her waist.
"You can't—"
"LET GO OF ME!" she shrieked, thrashing like a wild thing. "She's in there! Anna's in there!"
The townsfolk gathered, panic thick in the air. Someone cried out prayers, others backed away as though Elena herself had caused this. Father Tomas's voice rose above the din, trembling:
"The prophecy… the Child of Light has awoken too soon…"
Elena didn't care about prophecies. She didn't care about the whispers of fear painting her as a curse. All she could see was the look in Anna's eyes as the shadows dragged her away.
Her only friend. Her anchor. Gone.
Kael held her tighter, his own jaw clenched so hard the veins in his temple pulsed. "If you step into that crack unprepared, you won't come back. You'll be consumed before you take three breaths."
"Then prepare me!" she spat, her voice raw. "Or get out of my way."
The argument continued, voices clashing in the chaos, but Elena barely heard them. Her mind was a storm: Anna's laughter, Anna's tears, the way she always believed in Elena when no one else did.
Kael's hand pressed against her chest, forcing her to meet his eyes. For once, his gaze wasn't the calm, detached shield he always wore. It was blazing with fear.
"I've walked the Veil," he said. His voice shook, though he tried to hide it. "I know what waits inside. You don't."
"Then take me there," Elena hissed, her nails digging into his wrist. "Because I will never forgive myself if I let her die alone."
Something flickered across Kael's face—pain, guilt, memory. His grip loosened just enough for Elena to wrench free.
Father Tomas staggered forward, clutching his prayer beads. "Child, listen! The Veil isn't just shadow. It bends what you are. It twists. Once inside, you may not even recognize your friend when you find her."
Elena turned, her voice steady now, like steel tempered in fire.
"Then I'll remind her. Even if I have to tear through every nightmare it throws at me—I'll bring Anna back."
The townsfolk gasped, whispers spreading. She dares the Veil? She'll doom us all… Or maybe she truly is the Light…
Kael stood silent, his fists clenching at his sides. At last, with a growl of frustration, he stepped beside her.
"Fine. But understand this—you'll see things that will break you. Things that will make you wish you never loved anyone at all. And once the Veil knows your heart… it will use it against you."
"I'm not afraid of shadows," Elena said, though her heart was hammering so hard it hurt. "I'm afraid of losing Anna."
Kael closed his eyes briefly, as though in prayer—or surrender. When he opened them, the shadows coiled around his arms like living chains. "Then we go together."
The crack in the sky widened, spilling darkness like blood from a wound. The world roared, trees bending, stones trembling. Without another word, Kael gripped her hand, and the two stepped into the Veil.
The first breath was agony.
Cold slammed into Elena's lungs, sharp and metallic like swallowing broken glass. She gasped, clutching Kael's arm, but he pulled her through, his stride unwavering.
The world inside the Veil was not a place—it was a wound.
Black forests twisted in impossible directions, trees with bark that dripped like tar and branches whispering in voices she almost recognized. The ground was neither solid nor air, shifting like water beneath her boots. And the sky—if it could be called that—was a swirling canvas of purple and green fire, veins of lightning cracking silently through the void.
Elena's vision blurred. For a moment she swore she saw her childhood home, her mother calling her name. But then the image melted into shadow.
"Don't look too closely," Kael warned, his voice rough. "The Veil feeds on memory. If you give it an inch, it will pull you under."
She clenched her fists, forcing her eyes on him instead. His face was grim, lit by faint embers in the distance that weren't really light at all.
"How far could they have taken her?" Elena asked, her throat dry.
Kael hesitated. "That depends."
"On what?"
"On how much Anna fears."
They walked for what felt like hours, though time bent strangely here. Elena's muscles ached, her heart screaming with every step, but she refused to slow. The Veil shifted constantly—corridors of bone leading to fields of black glass, rivers of liquid night reflecting faces she tried not to recognize.
Once, she thought she heard Anna's voice.
"Elena… help me…"
She bolted forward, but Kael yanked her back. A grotesque figure rose from the ground where she would have stepped—Anna's face stretched across a shadow's body, its mouth too wide, its eyes too hollow.
"Do you see now?" Kael snapped. His voice cracked with something she hadn't heard before: desperation. "Every step will try to break you. If you falter even once, you'll lose yourself."
Tears burned Elena's eyes, but she lifted her chin. "Then I won't falter."
Deeper they went, the Veil thickening around them like a living thing.
Elena's mind replayed memories unbidden: Anna standing up for her when the other children mocked her. Anna sneaking bread to her after Elena's mother died. Anna whispering that no matter what, she'd never leave her.
Hold on, Anna, Elena thought fiercely. Just hold on.
But the deeper they walked, the heavier the whispers grew. They weren't random anymore. They knew her.
She blames you, Elena.
She screamed your name, and you let her fall.
She'll choose the shadows over you.
Elena pressed her hands over her ears, but it was useless. The words weren't outside—they were inside, coiling through her veins.
Kael noticed. He grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look at him. "Remember what's real. Right here, right now. Me. You. The path. Nothing else."
His grip was firm, grounding. For a moment, she could breathe again.
But then the ground trembled.
From the darkness ahead, dozens of eyes opened. Yellow, hungry, endless.
The first wave of shadow creatures burst forth—limbs like smoke, jaws like shattered glass. Their screams shook the air.
Kael shoved Elena behind him, shadows coiling into a blade in his hand. "Stay back!"
But Elena stepped forward, fire sparking at her fingertips. Her magic flared unbidden, golden light spilling from her palms. The shadows recoiled instantly, hissing.
Kael glanced at her, astonishment flickering in his eyes. "You shouldn't be able to summon that here…"
"I don't care what I should or shouldn't do," Elena said through clenched teeth. "I'm not helpless. Not anymore."
She thrust her hands forward. Light roared from her like a river, searing through the first ranks of shadows. They shrieked, dissolving into mist.
Kael fought beside her, every strike precise, every motion honed from centuries. Together, they carved through the endless tide, light and shadow in unholy harmony.
But for every creature they cut down, more rose.
"Elena!" Kael shouted over the din. "If we stay, we'll be buried!"
"Then where—" she began, but her words died.
Because through the horde, standing utterly still, was Anna.
Her friend's dress was torn, her hair tangled, her face pale as snow. But her eyes… her eyes glowed with shadow, dark as midnight.
"Anna…" Elena whispered.
Anna tilted her head, her lips curving in a faint smile that wasn't hers. "Elena. You came."
The shadows parted around her like obedient servants. And behind her, the Veil itself seemed to pulse, alive with anticipation.
Elena's heart stopped.
Kael cursed under his breath. "The Entity has touched her."
"No." Elena shook her head violently, tears spilling. "No, that's not—she's still in there. She has to be."
Anna's voice was soft, almost tender. But layered beneath it was another voice, deeper, echoing like a thousand whispers.
"Stay with me, Elena. Don't fight it. The shadows don't hurt. They… complete."
Elena stepped forward despite Kael's arm barring her. "Anna, listen to me! It's me—it's Elena. Remember? You promised you'd never leave me. You—"
Anna's smile widened, shadows curling around her like a crown.
"I didn't leave, Elena. You did."
And with that, the entire horde surged forward at her command.