Senna released the breath she had been holding as the golden glow surrounding them slowly dimmed. As a wraith, the rush of world stone teleportation felt strange to her senses, less disorienting than she had expected, but never truly comfortable.
Beneath her boots lay a sentinel glyph carved into the limestone landing. It still glowed faintly, residual light pulsing through the runes from their arrival before gradually fading.
Behind her stood her companions, members of the Sentinels of Light who had arrived alongside her through the world stone.
Her husband and other half, Lucian, stood closest. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with a familiar tension in his posture, pistols resting easily at his sides. Nearby was the young boy they had found in an abandoned sentinel base. Lucian had taken to calling him rookie, and somehow, the name had stuck.
She hadn't even asked his real name, had she? Senna frowned slightly at the thought. Still, he didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. Perhaps she could bring it up later, if later came.
Then there was their most recent addition. Though she was the one who best fit the title rookie, her name was Gwen, and so everyone simply called her that. She was a young girl with bright blue hair and wore a dark blue dress that fluttered lightly even without wind. Unlike the Sentinels, who wielded relic weapons forged of light, Gwen carried a massive pair of glowing blue scissors, nearly the size of a full-grown man.
"Looks like this place isn't much better," Lucian muttered, his brows knitting together. "Were all the sentinel bases targeted?"
The base around them was little more than wreckage now. Broken white stone littered the ground, remnants of what had once been a fortified structure steeped in ancient power. Lucian crouched, brushing his fingers over shattered stone fragments.
"The world stone is broken," he said with a heavy sigh. "I guess Rookie is all we've got."
"Hey, why do you sound so dejected?" Rookie protested, his voice echoing faintly through the ruins.
"This is terrible!" Senna heard Gwen cry out from the shattered entrance of the base.
Senna moved instantly, hurrying toward her. Behind her, Lucian and Rookie followed close.
When she reached the entrance, Senna finally saw what had drawn Gwen's cry, and felt her stomach sink.
Demacia was completely shrouded in Black Mist.
The mist rolled endlessly surrounding the city in front of her and its outskirts, thick and oppressive, higher than towers, walls, and streets alike. It was denser than anything she had ever witnessed beyond the Shadow Isles.
In truth, the only place she had seen consumed so thoroughly by the Black Mist was the Shadow Isles themselves.
From where they stood, the shrieks of wraiths and other abominable creatures echoed from within the Black Mist, distant yet constant, like a chorus of suffering carried on a dead wind.
"First the sentinel base is long gone," Lucian said, his voice low and dejected. He stared out at the mist-shrouded city. "And now it looks like there might not be much of the city left either."
"At least nothing that isn't already ruined."
Senna stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Sorry, babe. Not exactly the homecoming you were hoping for."
"It must hurt for you to see Demacia like this," Rookie added quietly.
"Sorry won't get us anything, Rook," Lucian replied, his tone firm but not unkind. "The mist doesn't care how sorry you are, and neither does Viego. All they're going to understand is the light from a gun barrel."
"But first, we've got to get a lay of the land here." Senna moved ahead a few steps, even this close to Havenfall she could barely see the city through the clouds of shadow and black mist. "With these levels of Black Mist…" She turned back to Lucian. "Where's a good place to get some intelligence?"
Lucian hummed thoughtfully. "There used to be a tavern just past the gates."
"A tavern?" Gwen tilted her head. "Really, Lucian? Isn't it customary to toast 'after' a battle?"
"That place was always full of salty old sailors and mercenaries," Lucian replied. "If anyone's going to know what happened here, it'll be them." His gaze hardened as he looked toward the city. "Though Havenfall isn't looking so good right now. Here's hoping they're still around."
"Worth a try," Senna decided. She broke into a run, the others quickly following after her.
They passed the ruined port and pushed toward the gates of Havenfall, plunging into the Black Mist without hesitation.
Almost immediately, Senna frowned at the sheer volume of wraiths that greeted them. It was like an endless flood of dark, shadowy bodies, drawn unerringly toward everything that was living, everything that still carried light.
"What the hell is going on here?" Lucian shouted as he unleashed a sustained barrage of light. Brilliant blasts tore through the mist, annihilating dozens of wraiths in seconds and clearing a wide swath of ground.
But even as the light faded, more shapes surged forward.
It was barely a drop in an ocean of advancing wraiths.
"There's way too many!" Gwen yelled, her massive glowing scissors flashing as she cut down any wraith that drifted too close.
"Guys!" Rookie shouted suddenly. "Up there!"
Senna snapped her gaze upward and caught sight of a flying shadow slipping through the mist-choked sky, its shape barely defined against the roiling darkness. "Now what!" she growled, already lifting her massive relic gun and aiming it toward the heavens.
Just as the creature banked and dove straight at them, Senna fired. A blinding beam of light tore through the sky, punching clean through the shadow and obliterating it in an instant.
"This isn't looking too good, Senna," Lucian said as he slowly retreated, firing measured shots into the encroaching wraiths to keep them at bay.
"There's more!" Rookie yelled again, still pointing upward.
Senna looked up, and his words rang painfully true. Several more flying shadows emerged from the mist, their silhouettes circling above. At least two dozen.
"Senna?" Lucian called out, his voice tense as he waited for her call.
She hesitated.
This was already going wrong, and they hadn't even reached the city proper yet. They didn't know what Viego was planning, or why Demacia had been hit this hard and this fast.
But they couldn't move forward like this. Not with the manpower they had. Not against numbers like these.
Senna placed a hand against her chest, instinctively seeking the warmth that used to be there, the presence she once shared with Isolde. All she felt now was a hollow cold, an ache that never truly faded.
'We have to keep going. We have to,'
She fired another beam of light into the sky. The flying shadows scattered, darting and weaving through the mist as they narrowly avoided the blast.
"Senna!?" Lucian called again, sharper this time.
She bit her lip, teeth pressing hard enough to hurt, though no blood followed. 'There has to be a way. There has to.'
Before she could speak, Gwen stepped forward.
"Gather around, everyone," Gwen said, her voice bright but steady. "Hallowed Mist!"
A shroud of shimmering silver-blue mist unfurled from her, enveloping her and the others in a soft, glowing veil.
The small dome of shimmering silver-blue mist stood in stark contrast to the bleak darkness of the Black Mist around it. Yet almost immediately, the wraiths and warped creatures roaming nearby slowed, then stopped altogether. One by one, they drifted past as if the dome no longer existed, their hollow gazes sliding over it without recognition, their shrieks fading into distant echoes.
They ignored the Hallowed Mist completely.
"Phew. That was close," Gwen chuckled, resting her scissors against her shoulder. "But we're safe now. They can't see us."
Rookie glanced beyond the edge of the shimmering veil, watching as shadows passed by only a few paces away. "This can't be normal, right?" he asked uneasily. "Because if this is how all the places we're going are… then I don't know how we're supposed to beat back the Black Mist. We might not even make it to Viego."
Senna shook her head slowly. "No. You're right. This is definitely abnormal." Her gaze swept across the ruined port and the endless waves of mist beyond it. "Lucian and I fought Viego over two weeks ago, and there weren't even half as many wraiths as there are here."
"Something must be drawing them in," Lucian said, his eyes narrowing. "Do you feel anything, Senna? Anything at all that could be pulling the wraiths here?"
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, reaching outward with senses shaped by years bound to the Mist itself. Then she exhaled and shook her head. "Nothing. No pull. No call." She opened her eyes again. "We'll have to get into the city to find out."
She turned toward Gwen. "How long can you keep our position hidden?"
Gwen snapped a playful salute, her grin wide and confident. "As long as you could possibly need, commander."
Senna nodded once, reassured. "Alright. The plan stays the same. We get into the city and find out what's really going on."
With that, the small group moved forward beneath the protection of the Hallowed Mist, slipping silently toward the shrouded streets of Havenfall as the Black Mist continued to churn all around them.
However, as they reached the gates, Senna was met with a sight she had not expected.
Demacian soldiers and city guards stood firm at the entrance, cutting down any wraith that dared draw close. Steel flashed beneath the murk, shields locked in practiced formations, while archers lined the walls above, loosing arrows into the writhing shadows below with disciplined precision.
And behind them, Havenfall stood untouched.
The city lay clear and whole beyond the gates, its streets free of the Black Mist entirely. The darkness rolled and pressed against the walls, thick and restless, yet it did not enter. It could not.
"Are you guys seeing this?" Rookie asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"And here we thought the city had fallen," Gwen said brightly. "Something's keeping the mist out."
Lucian nodded slowly. "The mist was so dense from the outside that it looked like it had swallowed the whole city."
"But what could keep it out like this?" Senna murmured, her eyes narrowing as she studied the boundary where the darkness simply stopped. "That has to be why the mist is so thick here. Like a pipe that's clogged, everything is backing up and gathering outside."
"Why don't we find out from the inside?" Lucian said, lifting his guns as he stepped forward.
Senna nodded. "Of course."
They advanced beneath the cover of the Hallowed Mist, Lucian sheepishly lowering his weapons again once he remembered the wraiths could no longer see them.
Ahead, several Demacian guards paused, confusion flickering across their faces as they spotted the strange dome of silver-blue mist moving toward the gates. One raised his spear defensively, the point leveled at the approaching glow.
Then the mist dissolved like breath on cold air.
The group emerged at once, moving quickly through the gate and into the city.
The moment Senna crossed the threshold, she shuddered.
An oily sensation washed over her, subtle but unmistakable, as though she had stepped through an unseen veil. There was a faint pressure pressing down on her senses, light yet persistent, not hostile, but not welcoming either.
"My Hallowed Mist!" Gwen cried out suddenly. "I, I can't bring it out anymore!"
Senna turned sharply toward her. "What do you mean?"
Gwen looked genuinely distraught now, a sight Senna would have once thought impossible. Her hands trembled as she tried again, fingers weaving familiar motions through the air. Nothing answered her call. "I'm trying to summon it," she said, voice wavering, "but it keeps vanishing faster than I can form it."
She swallowed, blue eyes wide. "It's almost as if my magic…" she hesitated, struggling to find the right words.
"Is being suppressed," Senna finished quietly. "I feel it too. There's something here, pressing down on me. Trying to weaken me."
"Weaken?" Lucian echoed, his eyes narrowing as his gaze swept the street and the towering walls beyond. His grip tightened around his guns, though he did not raise them.
Before Senna could respond, a sharp voice cut through the tension.
"Who are you?"
Four Demacian soldiers approached at a brisk pace, armor marked with the city's sigil. Their expressions were wary, hands tight around their weapons.
"How did you come out of the mist?" one demanded. "What were you doing out there? Answer us, now."
Spears were leveled toward them, their points gleaming. Senna glanced upward and felt her unease deepen as she spotted archers lining the nearby walls, bows drawn, arrows trained squarely on the group.
Senna raised both hands slowly, palms open and empty, a gesture meant to calm rather than challenge. "Easy," she said, her voice steady despite the pressure weighing on her senses. "We're not your enemies."
"That's what they all say," one of the soldiers snapped, his spear not wavering an inch. "You walk out of the Black Mist unharmed, wrapped in strange magic."
Lucian took a half-step forward, then stopped himself, clearly forcing his temper down. "If we meant you harm," he said flatly, "we wouldn't have waited for you to ask questions."
The soldiers did not look convinced.
Senna could feel eyes on her from every direction now. Windows. Battlements. Rooftops. The city might have been free of the mist, but it was very much on edge.
"We're Sentinels of Light," she said, lowering her hands but keeping them visible. "We fight the Black Mist. That's why we were out there."
One of the guards scoffed. "Sentinels?" he repeated. "That's an old tale."
"Old doesn't mean false," Gwen cut in, lifting her massive scissors just enough for their glow to be clearly seen. "Also, very rude."
The glow drew immediate attention. Several of the archers shifted, murmurs passing between them.
Another voice rang out before the exchange could continue. "What is going on here?"
The soldiers immediately straightened as a woman in polished armor approached, her cloak bearing the crest of the Dauntless Vanguard. Her presence carried authority, practiced and unquestioned.
"Captain," the sergeant said quickly, turning. "These people emerged from the mist. Claim to be Sentinels of Light."
The captain's gaze swept over the group, sharp and assessing. It paused on Lucian's guns, then on Gwen's scissors, and finally settled on Senna.
"They're sentinels," she said. Not a question.
Senna inclined her head slightly. "You've met sentinels before then."
The captain almost smiled, then caught herself. "You're going to come with me," she said. "All of you."
"And if we refuse?" Lucian asked coolly.
The captain met his gaze without flinching. "Then I'll assume you're spies, madmen, or worse. And I'll act accordingly."
Senna exhaled slowly. "We'll come."
Lucian shot her a look. "Senna..."
"We need answers," she said quietly. "And they're not out there."
Reluctantly, Lucian nodded.
The soldiers fell into formation around them, not quite escort, not quite arrest. As they moved deeper into the city, Senna's unease only grew.
The streets of Havenfall were intact. Too intact. It barely looked like it had been hit by the mist, but then you look outside the city and saw the walls of mist gathering just beyond the gates.
Whatever was keeping the mist out wasn't natural. And whatever it was, it didn't like her.
Gwen stumbled slightly, catching herself with a sharp intake of breath. "Yeah," she muttered. "I definitely don't like this feeling."
Rookie swallowed. "Feels like the city's staring at us."
"It is," Senna replied.
They were led toward the central district, toward the keep that overlooked the city. And with every step, Senna became more certain of one thing.
Something else was here.
Once they reached the central district, Senna immediately noticed that the area had been repurposed into something resembling a field ward.
Mats and makeshift pallets had been laid out across the stone ground, parchments and ledgers spread between them. Around eighteen or so people lay resting on the mats, some unconscious, others groaning softly as they were tended to by medics and attendants moving with practiced urgency.
Bandages, poultices, and people who held them were in constant motion.
'So this is where they're treating the injured,' Senna thought as she took it all in, her expression tightening slightly.
The captain led them past the wounded and toward a woman standing near the center of the operation.
She wore Demacian steel armor much like the other guards and officers, but hers seemed to catch the light just a little more sharply, polished to a finer sheen. A red cloak was clasped securely at her pauldrons, the fabric heavy and formal, marking her status even without a crown or sigil to announce it.
"This is Lady Kahina Buvelle," the captain said, gesturing toward her as she stepped aside.
Behind Senna, Lucian tilted his head, recognition flashing across his face. "Buvelle?" he repeated. "That name sounds familiar."
Kahina turned toward them at the sound of her name, already frowning faintly. "Please, Saskja," she said with a tired sigh, addressing the captain. "I've told you more than a dozen times already, just call me Kahina. I'm no longer an heiress."
"Yes, Lady Kahina," Saskja replied immediately, bowing her head. She failed to completely hide the small, amused smile tugging at her lips.
Lucian let out a short breath, then snapped his fingers as the realization clicked. "From the Buvelle household," he said. "Your father is Barrett Buvelle."
Kahina's brow rose slightly.
"I didn't realize you'd joined the Illuminators," Lucian continued, sounding genuinely surprised. "Though… in hindsight, it does make sense. Your mother used to be one, didn't she?" He paused, then frowned. "But to give up your seat as heiress?"
"You have me at a disadvantage," Kahina cut in smoothly, her gaze sharpening as she studied him more closely.
Before Lucian could respond, Senna stepped forward, placing herself slightly between them. "My name is Senna," she said clearly. "I'm the commander of this Sentinel field force."
Kahina's composure slipped, just for a moment. Her eyes widened slightly. "Sentinels?" she echoed. "Here? In Demacia again?" She let out a quiet breath. "It's been over a decade since the last Sentinel walked these streets."
Lucian smiled, a touch of pride in his expression. "Yeah. That would've been my dad. When he passed… I guess there weren't any Sentinels left in the Demacian branch."
"Your father," Kahina repeated, her expression softening. Then she laughed lightly. "That explains how you recognized me. The Illuminators worked closely with the Sentinel back then."
"Yeah," Lucian said, nodding. "My old man did a lot of work with the Illuminators, so..."
A quiet cough from Senna cut him off.
Lucian winced slightly. "Right. Yeah. Sorry."
"We are glad to see that Demacia is still pushing back against the Mist and stalling its advance," Senna said, smoothly taking over the conversation. Her eyes swept across the fortified space around them. "Although I do have to ask, how is it possible to keep the Black Mist at bay like this? What exactly is covering Havenfall right now?"
"Yeah!" Gwen chimed in, lifting one sleeve and rubbing her arm with an exaggerated grimace. "It feels weird on my skin, and my Hallowed Mist isn't working at all."
Kahina let out a soft chuckle, folding her arms. "I was surprised at first as well. But this," she said, gesturing vaguely at the invisible barrier surrounding the city, "is the handiwork of Asta, the leader of the Black Bulls."
Senna frowned. The name clearly meant nothing to her, and Kahina caught the confusion immediately.
"He's a foreign mage who appeared in Demacia a little over two months ago," Kahina explained. "Though calling him a mage might be misleading. Apparently, he doesn't use magic at all, but Anti-Magic."
Senna's brows rose slightly. "So the veil that's acting as a barrier to the Harrowing…" she began.
"Is a veil of Anti-Magic," Kahina finished calmly.
Lucian crossed his arms, disbelief creeping into his expression. "Wait, if he's a mage, how has he managed to stay in Demacia for two months?" he asked. "With Demacia's views on magic, I thought..."
"He's just that strong."
Saskja cut him off without hesitation, drawing everyone's attention. Her tone was firm, almost matter-of-fact.
"It's not just his Anti-Magic," she continued. "His physical strength. His swordsmanship. His speed. Even without Anti-Magic, he's the strongest person I've ever seen." She let out a quiet chuckle, shaking her head. "I'm starting to doubt he's even human."
Lucian stared at her. "So you're saying that because he's powerful enough, Demacia was willing to look past his… magical background?"
"The way I see it," Saskja replied, "it was either that, or the alternative." Her gaze hardened slightly. "He becomes an enemy. And I'm not going to lie to you, I don't think he'd lose."
"Dude sounds kinda awesome," Rookie said with a laugh, breaking the tension.
"He does, doesn't he?" Kahina agreed. "Thanks to him, Demacia was able to respond to the Harrowings just in time to form a proper defense. Just like the system we have here." She gestured around again. "The veil keeps the Mist at the outskirts of Havenfall. Any wraith that leaves the Mist and enters the veil is freed once it's slain. His power is releasing them."
Senna's eyes widened slightly at that.
'He can free the souls trapped in the Mist,' she thought, 'and he's not even here?'
Kahina continued speaking, her voice steady despite the chaos around them. "As for the rest of us not fighting, we decided to turn the city centre into a medical field, somewhere any soldier can reach from anywhere in Havenfall. If you're wounded, you just head for the centre."
Almost on cue, a Demacian guard staggered toward them, another soldier slung over his shoulder. With a grunt, he lowered the injured man to the ground in front of Kahina. "He couldn't pull out in time," the guard reported, breathing hard. "Took a spike straight to the side."
"Understood," Kahina replied, offering him a brief but sincere smile, her expression resolute. "Thank you for your service. You can return now."
The guard nodded and immediately turned, sprinting back toward the ongoing battle without another word.
Kahina knelt beside the wounded soldier, her attention fully focused on him now. "I'm going to need one of you to hold him on his side."
"On it!" Gwen volunteered instantly, moving in without hesitation. She grabbed the groaning man and carefully rolled him so that the wound faced upward, keeping him as steady as she could.
The spike embedded in his body was massive, nearly as thick as her arm, and it had torn clean through his armour as if it were nothing.
There was no hope for this man. At least, that was what Senna thought. The moment the spike was removed, he would bleed out. If it was left in place, the same outcome awaited him. Either way, the soldier was dying.
Senna didn't know how to say that to the Illuminator. She remained silent, watching as Kahina calmly began issuing orders to Gwen.
"Alright, we're going to have to work very fast," Kahina said, her tone firm but controlled. "Do you see those wrappings? The white ones... yes, grab them. I'm going to pull the spike and dress the wound as quickly as I can. After that, I need you to wrap him just as fast." She glanced at the remaining supplies. "How many are left…? It looks like there are only twelve."
Senna saw what Kahina had been counting, and at first glance they looked like small, tiny pumpkins, no bigger than a thumb. She frowned slightly, uncertain of what they were meant to be.
She found out almost immediately.
Kahina did exactly as she said she would, and in record time at that. Her hands moved with practiced precision as she dressed the wound and guided Gwen through wrapping it tightly, layer after layer sealing the torn flesh.
To Senna, it wouldn't have mattered how many times they wrapped it. With a wound that large in his side, the man should have bled out regardless. The damage was too severe.
Then Kahina reached for one of the small pumpkins and gently fed it to the wounded guard.
Almost instantly, Senna noticed the change. The man's breathing steadied, the shallow, ragged gasps easing into something deeper. The tension in his body lessened, his grip on Gwen's sleeve loosening.
Senna's eyes narrowed. "What is that?" she asked.
"Oh, this?" Kahina replied casually, as if she hadn't just defied Senna's expectations. "It's a healing pumpkin. A girl from Asta's squad of magic knights made it with her magic."
Lucian let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Are we sure we're in Demacia right now? There's a whole lot of magic going on here." He glanced around before grinning. "I really want to meet this Asta guy."
"You seem to be running out," Senna mentioned, noticing the dwindling supply. Now there were only eleven pumpkins left.
"Well, the other Black Bull member has been supplying us with the pumpkins every few hours or so. Although I do worry for him, he has to pass through the mist every time he does it." Kahina paused, then her expression brightened as her gaze lifted. "There he is now."
Senna followed the direction of her eyes and spotted a figure approaching from above, riding atop a staff that cut cleanly through the air as it flew toward them.
The staff dipped, slowing just before reaching the ground. With a light, practiced hop, Darryl jumped down, boots hitting the stone with a soft thud.
"I've got more pumpkins," he said, lifting the bag slightly as if to prove it.