The air was unnaturally still, broken only by Rudraen's low voice. His golden eyes gleamed as he faced Ariv and his friends.
"You're coming with me," he said, calm yet commanding. "To Aetherion."
Ariv's breath caught. Aetherion? The name sounded like something out of myth. "What do you mean we're coming with you? Where is this place?"
"The Queen of Veils has summoned you," Rudraen replied, stepping forward as faint sigils began glowing beneath his boots. "And when the Queen summons, you do not refuse."
Vaishnavi flinched. "Queen? Of what? First these monsters, now this? None of this makes sense!"
Neel's silence was deafening. His gaze was sharp, hiding truths he wasn't ready to share.
Rohit clenched his fists. "This is insane. We're just kids—why would some queen want to see us?"
"You'll understand soon." Rudraen lifted his hand, and the ground beneath them pulsed with violet light. Sigils flared into existence, forming a massive teleportation circle.
But then—he did something unexpected. He raised his blade slightly, pointing to the empty air. "We don't leave anyone behind."
The glowing circle expanded outward, stretching beyond where they stood. Like threads of lightning, beams of energy shot into the distance—through homes, streets, and markets. The beams latched onto figures: parents, frozen in mid-step, pulled gently into the current of light.
Gasps filled the air as Ariv saw his mother's silhouette drawn from afar, her saree fluttering like starlight as she hovered closer. Other parents appeared too, their expressions caught between confusion and awe.
And then it happened.
When Ariv's mother emerged fully into the glow, Rudraen looked up. His eyes widened ever so slightly, his breath hitching for the first time in years.
No… it can't be.
Her face. The curve of her jaw. The calm radiance in her eyes. She wasn't just familiar—she was a mirror. A mirror of someone Rudraen had sworn loyalty to long ago.
She looks exactly like the Queen… when she was young. This changes everything.
He said nothing aloud. His expression hardened as if nothing had occurred, but his thoughts churned like a storm. If this is true, then the Veil Lineage… the entire prophecy… has been hiding more than I imagined.
The teleportation circle roared with energy, swallowing the city lights around them. Time fractured like glass as space itself bent, pulling them out of the mortal world.
---
When the glow faded, they stood on white marble so polished it reflected the stars above. And there were stars—endless, drifting like jewels across a sky that wasn't a sky but an infinite cosmic ocean.
Before them stretched Aetherion—the Realm of the Veil. Towers of crystal spiraled toward heavens painted in shimmering auroras. Floating islands orbited like moons, their rivers gleaming silver under radiant suns. Bridges of light connected worlds suspended in the void, and far beyond, a colossal palace loomed—its gates carved with runes older than time itself.
Ariv stared, breathless. He had never seen beauty so vast… or felt fear coil so quietly within.
Rudraen stepped forward, his cape snapping against the ethereal wind. His voice carried across the marble plain.
"Welcome," he said, glancing briefly at Ariv's mother one last time, hiding the storm in his eyes. "Welcome to Aetherion—the heart of the Veil System… and the beginning of truths you were never meant to know."