They didn't sleep.
Not truly.
When dawn's pale glow brushed the windows, Kael was already awake, muscles tense beneath her touch. The Nightveil's presence pulsed through the city like a spreading poison.Althea sat beside him, her hand in his. "We face them together."He nodded, but fear flickered in his eyes—not for himself, but for her.The tower door shook violently.Kael stood instantly, blade drawn.Althea felt emotions on the other side malice, hunger, darkness.
"Kael," she whispered, "they're here."
The door exploded inward.
Nightveil soldiers flooded into the tower hooded, armored, eyes glowing with crimson light. Their presence was suffocating, their power overwhelming.Kael moved like lightning. Blade flashing, he cut down the first two attackers, shielding Althea with his body.
"Stay behind me!" he shouted.But Althea stepped forward, lifting her hands.
She didn't throw magic she felt.
She reached into the minds around her and pushed.
She pushed fear. Doubt. Memories of pain. Regret.Soldiers staggered, clutching their heads, their emotions turning against them like sharpened knives.Kael took the opening, fighting with precision and fury.But the Nightveil was endless.For every soldier that fell, two more stepped through the doorway.
And then the leader entered.Tall, cloaked, masked in obsidian.The moment his eyes locked on Kael, the air thickened."Kael," the man said, voice dripping venom. "You've been very hard to find.Althea shivered.
She had felt hatred before but never this deep.Kael stepped in front of her. "You're not touching her."The leader tilted his head. "You care for the girl? How poetic. How tragic."
Althea sensed the strike before it came.
"Kael!" she screamed.
The leader hurled a wave of dark energy that hit Kael squarely in the chest, throwing him across the room.
"No!" she cried, running to him.
He struggled to breathe, darkness spreading across his skin like frostbite.The leader approached her slowly. "Come with us, Althea. Or he dies."She felt his power reaching out to control her emotions cold tendrils gripping her heart.
But her power surged.
"You don't control me," she hissed.
A shockwave burst from her, sending the leader skidding back across the stone floor.
Kael forced himself upright, clutching her hand."We have to go," he rasped.
And together, they fled deeper into the tower but the battle had only just begun.