Silence.
Not peaceful silence—
the kind that follows something breaking.
May blinks hard, trying to force shapes back into meaning.
Her ears ring.
Her skin prickles with leftover heat.
The world feels… fractured.
The forest is no longer dark.
It's dim, flickering like a lantern losing oil.
Black ash drifts through the air—floating embers of something that didn't burn, but unraveled.
"Zara…?"
No answer.
May pushes herself upright, coughing as she searches the clearing.
Nathel is already on his feet—swaying, bruised, his shirt torn, blood dripping from his lip. But he's alive.
Barely.
His eyes scan the destruction with raw desperation.
"Zara!" he shouts, voice cracking.
Nothing.
No figure.
No shadow.
No body.
Just gold residue on the ground, still glowing faintly, like dust made from light.
May's throat tightens.
"Is she—?"
Nathel doesn't let her finish.
"She's not dead," he says hoarsely, though he sounds like he's convincing himself.
"She's… displaced. Burned out. The seal consumes what it uses."
May steps closer.
"What does that mean?"
Nathel kneels beside the glowing dust, his hand hovering but not touching it.
"It means she's somewhere between here and the Veil. Trapped."
A beat.
"And we don't know how long she has."
May feels it then—
a sudden pulse in the air, sharp and cold.
The creature.
She spins around, expecting it—
But the smoke-monster is gone.
Completely.
Only a faint smear of black mist clings to a nearby tree trunk, slowly evaporating.
May shivers.
"Did Zara kill it?"
Nathel's jaw clenches.
"No. She scattered it."
His eyes darken.
"It will reform. They always do."
The words sink into May's bones like ice.
"But she bought us time," he adds quietly.
May drops to her knees beside him, staring at the dust that was Zara's light.
Her chest aches.
"Nathel… I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was carrying something like this."
He exhales shakily.
"She wasn't supposed to. That mark was meant for me."
A bitter smile.
"But Zara always did what she wasn't supposed to."
May touches the ground where Zara stood.
It's still warm.
Suddenly—
the bond tugs.
Hard.
Not gently.
Not softly.
A violent pull that nearly knocks her backward.
Her breath catches.
"Nathel—"
His head snaps toward her, eyes wide.
"You feel it too?"
She nods, pressing a hand to her chest.
"It's like… something's calling. From below."
Nathel's expression darkens in a way she's never seen.
"Below means only one thing."
"What?"
He hesitates.
Then:
"The Veil is weakening."
May frowns. "The Veil?"
Nathel's voice lowers.
"The barrier between our world and the other planes. The place I was taken when the bond was silenced."
A tremor runs through him.
"It's where Zara is now."
May freezes.
The Veil.
The place he almost didn't return from.
The place something is now pulling her toward.
"Nathel," she whispers, "why would the Veil be calling us?"
Nathel's eyes lock onto hers—haunted and determined.
"Because something on the other side is aware of the bond."
His voice drops to a whisper.
"And it wants you."
A cold rush spirals through May's spine.
She takes a step back instinctively—but Nathel grabs her hand, steady and firm.
"Don't run."
His voice soft but fierce.
"Whatever is waking, it started with me. It's tied to me. I won't let it touch you."
But even as he holds her—
May feels it again.
A second pull.
Stronger.
Deeper.
Like a hand under her ribs.
Calling her name.
Nathel sees her flinch.
He curses under his breath.
"We don't have long," he says. "We need to get to the one place the Veil can't reach you."
May swallows hard.
"And where's that?"
Nathel looks up at the darkening sky.
Then at the ash.
Then at her.
"…My father's shrine."
May stiffens.
"You told me your father was dead."
Nathel nods slowly.
"He is."
A pause.
"But that doesn't mean he's gone."
The bond pulses again.
Harder.
Louder.
Urgent.
Nathel grips her hand tighter.
"May. If we don't reach the shrine before nightfall—
the Veil will take you."