"Some people listen to wind. Others… to what the wind tries to forget."
The Hollow Grove
After leaving the Withered Bloomfields, the twins followed a path carved not by people, but by memory itself. A trail of singing stones and cracked roots wound them deep into an ancient forest of pale trees—The Hollow Grove.
Here, every tree was carved with spirals. Not by hand. But by the wind.
"It's… quiet," Yvonne whispered, her fingers brushing a spiraled bark. "Too quiet."
Kaizen didn't answer. His armor made no sound as he walked. Even the earth seemed to hold its breath beneath his weight.
Then they heard it—a voice. A soft hum. Not spoken, not sung—but something between.
"That melody," Yvonne said, halting, "it's in the same pattern as the Veils… but reversed."
The Girl in the Glade
They followed the hum to a small glade where sunlight filtered like liquid gold through trees with white leaves. There, in the middle, sat a girl on a bed of moss—legs crossed, eyes closed, her hands floating inches from the ground as if conducting the air itself.
She was maybe seventeen, draped in torn blue robes with copper stitching that formed fragmented Veil sigils.
Her hair was silver-blonde, braided around delicate ears that looked almost elven—but not quite. Her eyes opened slowly—entirely white, save for faint swirling spirals within the pupils.
"Welcome," she said, her voice the same pitch as the Veil Yvonne had felt break days ago.
"I've been waiting for you both… Flameborn and Stonebound."
Yvonne's magic surged on instinct, crackling under her skin. Kaizen stepped forward, placing himself between the stranger and his sister.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Lira," she said, gently lowering her hands. "And I don't see the world like others. I… hear it. The Veils hum to me. I was born for this meeting."
The Listener's Curse
Lira stood, and the grove pulsed faintly around her. Trees seemed to lean toward her. Even the moss curled inward, as if listening.
"When the Crimson Eclipse birthed you," she said softly, "it cracked the Spiral. Not just in this realm—but in every echo of time."
"You talk like a Watcher," Yvonne snapped. "But you feel alive."
"I'm not one of them," Lira replied, unfazed. "But I was touched by the Spiral in the womb. My mother died when I was born… from the sound of it screaming."
"Screaming?" Kaizen said.
"The Veils sing. But when one breaks—when a fragment of your soul frees itself—it doesn't whisper. It roars."
Yvonne sat, drawn into the words despite herself.
"Then you heard us."
Lira nodded.
"Twice. Once when the First Veil cracked. Again when Burden fell. Each time, I lost hearing for days. But today…"
She touched her temple.
"Today, Judgment trembled. The scream almost killed me. And then you walked into the Bloomfields."
The Truth She Carries
Lira reached into her satchel and withdrew a piece of Veilstone—a rare mineral formed only when Spiral energy solidifies into memory. It pulsed faintly in her palm.
"This came from the monument you touched," she said. "It's weeping. And it wants you to remember."
She stepped forward, placing it between Yvonne and Kaizen.
"You are breaking free. But every Veil you shatter… awakens something else."
"The Watchers," Kaizen muttered.
"Worse," Lira said. "They're only messengers. The ones who come after… are the Veil Devils."
Yvonne and Kaizen stiffened. The name echoed like a curse across the glade.
"They were born of the backlash. The sixfold suppression twisted not only your souls—but reality itself. Each broken Veil draws their attention. They are… fragments of your worst selves."
"Reflections?" Yvonne asked.
"Distortions," Lira corrected. "Like echoes that forgot they were echoes."
Three Stars on the Horizon
Lira lifted her eyes to the trees.
"You broke two Veils already. Judgment is next. That will draw the first Devil into motion."
"We've already fought monsters," Kaizen said. "We'll handle it."
Lira looked at him with a sorrow too deep for her age.
"You don't defeat a Veil Devil like a beast. You don't fight it with weapons. You survive it by facing the part of yourselves you cast away."
Yvonne stood, flames dancing faintly around her fingertips.
"Then we won't run."
"I never said you should," Lira smiled. "Only that you'll have to bleed truth before you burn with it."
She pointed to the western sky.
Three stars, previously hidden, now glowed a deep red. One for each Veil broken. A warning.