Isla's POV
Kael's sword blazed as the massive creature charged.
"Get down!" he shouted.
I dropped to the ground. His blade swung over my head, cutting through the creature's first attack. The force of the impact sent shockwaves through the square, cracking the glowing stone beneath our feet.
The creature roared and swung a massive claw. Kael blocked it, but the strength behind the blow sent him skidding backward. His boots left grooves in the stone.
"This one's stronger," he said through gritted teeth. "Much stronger."
All around us, the Lunar Court people scattered. Some tried to fight the smaller shadow creatures, but they were losing. I saw a woman with wings get dragged down by three monsters. A man with glowing hands blasted one creature, but two more took its place.
"We need help!" I yelled at Kael.
"There is no help!" He parried another attack from the massive creature. "The Guard is on the other side of the city. By the time they get here—"
The creature's tail whipped around, hitting Kael in the ribs. He flew through the air and crashed into a building wall. The stone cracked around him.
"Kael!" I screamed.
He fell to the ground and didn't move.
The massive creature turned to me, its burning coal eyes locked on the scroll in my arms. "At last. The Veilweaver is unprotected. Your power will be ours."
It took a step toward me. The ground shook.
I backed up, but there was nowhere to go. Behind me was a wall. In front of me was certain death. The scroll pulsed in my arms, and the symbols on my skin burned hot.
Do something! I thought desperately. I have power, right? Use it!
But I didn't know how. I was just a girl who'd cataloged books her whole life. I didn't know how to fight monsters or use magic or save myself.
The creature raised its massive claw to crush me.
Then Kael was there.
He moved between us so fast I barely saw him, his sword up, blocking the blow. But I could see blood running down his face. His breathing was heavy. He was hurt.
"You don't give up, do you?" the creature laughed. "Admirable. Useless, but admirable."
"I've killed things older and stronger than you," Kael said coldly. "You're nothing special."
"Then why are you bleeding?" The creature attacked again, faster this time.
Kael fought back, but he was slower now. Each impact drove him backward. The massive creature was wearing him down, and we both knew it.
I had to do something. Had to help somehow.
I looked at the scroll in my hands, at the symbols glowing on my skin. The creature said I had power. The scroll had protected me before, creating that silver shield. Could I do it again?
I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to remember how it felt when the shield appeared. The warmth, the energy, the feeling of the magic responding to my fear.
Please, I thought. Please work. I don't want him to die protecting me.
Heat built in my chest. The symbols on my skin burned brighter. The scroll vibrated in my hands.
"Isla, what are you doing?" Kael shouted.
"I don't know!" I yelled back. "But something's happening!"
Silver light exploded from my body, forming a dome around both me and Kael. The massive creature's next attack slammed into it and bounced off.
The creature recoiled. "Impossible! She's untrained! She shouldn't be able to—"
"Apparently she can," Kael said, looking at me with surprise. "Keep that shield up!"
"I'm trying!" The effort of holding it made my arms shake. "But I don't know how long—"
That's when I heard the voice from above.
"ENOUGH!"
A woman descended from the sky, floating on wings made of pure light. She wore white armor and carried a staff that crackled with energy. Her eyes were pure silver—like Kael's but brighter, fiercer.
"Elder Seraphine," Kael breathed, and I heard relief in his voice.
The Elder raised her staff. "Shadow creatures in my Court? Attacking under my watch?" Her voice boomed with power. "I think not."
She slammed the staff down. A wave of silver energy exploded outward, washing over every creature in the square. The smaller ones dissolved instantly. The massive creature screamed as the light burned through it.
"You cannot stop us all!" it roared. "More will come! The Veilweaver will be ours!"
"Not today," Seraphine said calmly. She pointed her staff, and a beam of pure light shot through the creature's chest. It shattered like glass, pieces dissolving into black smoke.
Silence fell over the square.
My shield flickered and died. I collapsed, exhausted. Kael caught me before I hit the ground.
"I've got you," he said quietly.
Elder Seraphine landed in front of us, her wings folding away. She looked at me with ancient, knowing eyes. "So. The rumors are true. A new Veilweaver awakens." She turned to Kael. "You brought her through the Veil? That was reckless. The shadow creatures followed her signature."
"I had no choice," Kael said. "They would have killed her in the human realm."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps you felt something else." Seraphine's gaze was sharp. "Something that made you care whether she lived or died."
Kael's jaw tightened. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" She smiled knowingly. "We'll discuss it later. Right now, the Council will want to see this girl. A Veilweaver hasn't awakened in fifty years. They'll have... questions."
That sounded ominous. "What kind of questions?"
"Questions about your bloodline. Your training. Whether you're a threat or an asset." Seraphine's voice softened. "Don't worry, child. I won't let them harm you. But you must understand—your existence changes everything. The balance between realms, the stability of the Veil, even the politics of our Court. You're not just a girl anymore. You're a weapon. And everyone will want to control you."
Fear twisted in my stomach. I'd gone from being nobody to being hunted to being some kind of magical weapon? How was this my life?
"I just want to understand what's happening to me," I said.
"Then you'll need training," Seraphine said. "Kael, you brought her here. You'll be responsible for her protection and education."
"Elder, I'm not a teacher—"
"You are now." Her tone left no room for argument. "Consider it your new assignment. Teach her to survive. Teach her to fight. Teach her to use the power she's inherited. Because if you don't, others will. And they won't be as kind as we are."
Kael looked like he wanted to argue more, but he just nodded. "As you command."
Seraphine turned to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Kael? Whatever happened between you two when you touched—whatever you're feeling right now—don't ignore it. Sometimes the universe knows what it's doing."
She vanished in a flash of light, leaving us alone in the damaged square.
I looked up at Kael. "What did she mean? About what you're feeling?"
He didn't answer. Just stared at me with those silver eyes, his expression unreadable.
"Kael?"
"We should go," he said finally. "The Council will summon us soon. You need to rest and prepare."
"Prepare for what?"
"For them to decide if you're worth keeping alive."
My blood ran cold. "What?"
"The Council doesn't trust easily. Some will want to train you. Others will want to bind your powers so you can't be used as a weapon. And a few..." He hesitated. "A few will want you dead. Just to be safe."
"Safe from what? I'm not dangerous!"
"You are, though. You just don't know it yet." He started walking, pulling me along. "A fully trained Veilweaver can tear holes in reality, merge realms, or seal them off forever. You're potentially the most dangerous being in existence. They'd be fools not to fear you."
We walked through streets where people whispered and pointed at me. I heard their words:
"The human Kael brought..."
"She smells like awakening..."
"Why is she still alive?"
"The Council won't allow this..."
I wanted to disappear. Wanted to wake up back in my basement apartment and discover this was all a nightmare.
Kael must have sensed my panic because his hand tightened on my wrist. "Breathe. I won't let them hurt you."
"Why?" I stopped walking, forcing him to face me. "Why do you care? You said you don't feel anything. So why are you protecting me?"
He was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper.
"Because when I touched you, something inside me woke up. Something I thought was dead forever." He met my eyes, and for the first time, I saw real emotion there. Fear. Confusion. Wonder. "For a thousand years, I've been empty. And then you came along and made me feel again. I don't understand it. Don't know if I want it. But I can't let you die. Not when you're the first thing that's made me feel alive in a millennium."
My heart pounded. Before I could respond, a bell tolled across the city.
"The Council summons," Kael said. "It's time."
He led me toward a massive building—a palace of white stone and silver spires. Guards stood at every entrance, all watching me with suspicious eyes.
We climbed the steps. The doors opened.
Inside waited a circle of beings so ancient and powerful that the air itself seemed to bow before them. Seven thrones. Seven figures. All staring at me.
"Isla Thorne," one of them said, a man with a voice like thunder. "You stand before the Council of the Lunar Court. We have questions. And depending on your answers, you will either be trained as an ally... or eliminated as a threat."
The doors slammed shut behind me.
Kael stood at my side, his hand still on my wrist, the only thing keeping me from running.
"Let's begin," the Council member said. "Tell us everything about how you awakened. And human? Don't lie. We'll know."