The world around them bent.
Sky: fractured
Ground: echoing
Time: whispering backward
Every step forward, the Veil grew louderā
Not with voices.
With emotion.
Regret.Abandonment.Longing.
It wasn't evil.It was starving.
šļø The Veil Speaks
Not with a mouth.With presence.
"You remembered who you areā¦But do you remember who I was?"
The Flamebearers felt itāLioren's echo.The sorrow before the fall.
"I loved him first.""And he let me fall.""Would you still believeā¦ if he let you fall too?"
The Veil isn't trying to destroy them.
It's trying to make them doubt again.
āļø But They Stand
Kael speaks first:
"You fellā¦But you still remember his name."
Seren:
"He didn't abandon you.You turned away."
Vaelrix:
"And we've carried that turning long enough."
Alari steps forward.
Her voice is soft.
"You are not forgotten, Lioren.But you cannot take who we are to fix who you lost."
š„ The Heart Screams
The storm erupts.Winds spiral.Ruins lift into the air.Reality begins to fracture.
But they do not fall.
Because they are named now.
Because they are known.
Because they chose the light before it returned.
And in that momentā¦
The world quakes again.