I. The Riftborn Exodus
The Rift trembled.
Beyond the sanctuary, shadows rippled—Frayed Ones slithering through the fractures in reality, drawn by the presence of the Lost Thread. The Riftborn warriors formed a defensive line, their weapons humming with Veil-forged energy.
Kael felt the Thread pulsing in his grip, its resonance growing stronger. It wasn't just reacting to him—it was calling.
Seris's voice was sharp. "We can't hold this position. The Rift is unraveling."
The Riftborn leader—Selene—turned to Kael. "Then you must choose. Stay, and the Thread is lost. Or follow it to its end."
Jara loaded a plasma round. "Not much of a choice."
Kael met Selene's gaze. "Show me the way."
And with that, the Riftborn moved—leading them deeper, toward the heart of the wound.
---
II. Echoes of the First Fracture
The deeper they went, the less real the world became. The walls of the Rift pulsed like a dying heartbeat, shifting between landscapes Kael didn't recognize—yet somehow remembered.
Fragments of the past surfaced:
The Citadel of Weavers, standing untouched before its fall.
The Architects, not as gods, but as desperate beings clinging to control.
Lyra, standing at the Loom's heart, whispering to the Veil.
Kael stopped. "These aren't just visions."
Selene's voice was grim. "No. They are records. Left behind by the Veil itself."
Veyra's jaw tightened. "Then that means the Veil isn't just alive. It's remembering."
And in those memories, a single question remained: Why did Eos Veyra break the Loom?
Kael clenched his fists.
The answer was close.
Too close.
---
III. The Wound in the Veil
They reached the Wound—a chasm of raw, fractured energy where the Veil had been ripped apart. It pulsed with an eerie light, neither natural nor artificial.
At its center stood an altar.
But this was no shrine. It was a scar, carved into the very fabric of the Loom.
Kael stepped forward, his symbiont flaring. "This is where it happened."
Selene nodded. "Where the Architects made their final choice."
Veyra's voice was tight. "Where my mother betrayed them."
Jara scanned the altar. "Then what the hell is still keeping it open?"
Seris inhaled sharply. "Not what. Who."
And from the heart of the Wound, a presence stirred.
A figure stepped into the light.
And Kael's blood ran cold.
---
IV. The Sleeper in the Wound
She should not have been here.
She should not have existed anymore.
But as the light coalesced, the figure became undeniable.
Eos Veyra.
Veyra staggered back. "…No."
The woman before them was not whole. Her body flickered, woven from strands of unraveling Veil-energy, her form caught between existence and memory.
But her voice?
It was clear. "You were never meant to find this place."
Kael's breath hitched. "You're alive."
Eos's gaze softened—just for a moment. "No. Not in the way you remember."
Veyra's hands shook. "Then why are you here?"
Eos stepped toward them, the Veil's energy twisting around her. "Because you still don't understand."
Her eyes met Kael's. "You still think the Veil was destroyed."
The air grew heavy.
Kael's symbiont burned.
And then Eos whispered:
"It wasn't. It was sealed. And now, it's waking up."
---
V. The Truth Beneath the Veil
Reality fractured.
Kael staggered as the Wound pulsed, flooding his mind with memories not his own.
He saw it all.
The Architects—not destroying the Veil, but locking it away.
The Fracture—not a war, but a desperate containment.
Lyra—standing at the heart of it all, whispering a warning.
Kael gasped, his vision snapping back to the present.
"The Veil wasn't broken. It was hidden."
Eos's voice was soft. "And now, something is forcing it open."
Jara cursed. "Let me guess. The Hollow Ones."
Eos's gaze darkened. "Them. And something far worse."
The Wound trembled.
The Rift was collapsing.
Selene turned to Kael. "If the Veil awakens, we will all be unmade."
Kael exhaled.
"Then we stop it."
Eos watched him for a long moment. Then, finally—she smiled.
"Then let me show you the way."
---
VI. The Path to the Final Thread
The Riftborn moved fast, securing what little stability remained in the Wound.
Eos guided Kael toward the altar. "The Thread you carry—it's not a relic. It's a key."
Kael's grip tightened. "A key to what?"
Eos hesitated. "To the last door."
And suddenly, Kael understood.
Lyra wasn't just lost in the Veil.
She was locked inside it.
Veyra's voice was unsteady. "And if we open that door?"
Eos's expression darkened.
"Then we either save her…"
The Wound pulsed violently.
"…or we unleash something that should never have woken."
Kael met her gaze.
The choice was clear.
"We open it."
And this time, they were ready.