The night air was unusually still, like the world had paused its breath in anticipation. Kael stood at the edge of the moss-covered balcony in Lord Harrow's manor, his eyes scanning the twilight forest beyond the cliffs. The stars hung low, veiled in a strange silver mist. Beside him, Elara sat on the stone rail, her knees drawn up, cloak wrapped tight around her shoulders.
"I remember this silence," she said softly, her voice almost drowned in the wind. "From the night my world ended."
Kael looked at her. There was something brittle in her tone—like glass holding back water. "You mean the night the portal opened?"
Elara nodded, but didn't elaborate.
Below them, the lights of the estate flickered. Soldiers moved along the outer walls, doubling the guard since the encounter with the shadowbeast. Lord Harrow had ordered an emergency lockdown, but Elara suspected it wasn't for protection—it was containment. There was something about the portal's magic that unsettled him more than he let on.
Kael shifted beside her. "You've been quiet since we returned. I thought you'd be celebrating—you survived."
"I did more than survive," she murmured, eyes fixed on the stars. "I felt it again. The pull. The voice calling from the other side. It wasn't the same as the first time, but it was… familiar. Like it knew me."
Kael hesitated. "Do you think it's the same force that tore open the Veil ten years ago?"
"I don't think," Elara replied. "I know."
A silence stretched between them.
Then Kael spoke again. "There's something I need to show you."
He led her down the spiral staircase at the far end of the manor, past the locked doors of the council chambers and through a hidden corridor behind the library. Few knew this passage existed—Kael had only found it because of an old journal left behind by a former captain of the Guard.
At the end of the hall was a plain wooden door, warped by time, almost forgotten. He pushed it open with a creak.
Inside was a small room lined with dust-covered tomes and crumbling scrolls. But in the center stood a pedestal, and on it, a stone disk covered in runes that shimmered faintly in her presence.
"The Archive Room," Kael said. "Restricted by Harrow himself. This—" he pointed to the disk "—is called the Echo Tablet. It holds fragmented memories of major magical events. Including… what happened during the Eclipse."
Elara stepped closer. The air tingled. "Can it show us what really happened?"
"It can show pieces," he said. "But the magic is old and unstable. Sometimes it reveals what is, sometimes what was… and sometimes, what should never have been."
He placed his hand on the disk and whispered an incantation. The runes flared, and the room filled with a low hum.
A projection burst from the center of the tablet—shadows and light dancing in a chaotic spiral, forming an image of the past.
Elara gasped.
It showed the portal opening—but not as a random rift. It had been summoned. By a woman in silver armor, her hands raised to the sky, eyes glowing with a piercing violet light. Around her, cloaked figures chanted in a language that sent chills down Elara's spine.
"That's not just a rift," she whispered. "It was a ritual. A summoning."
Kael's jaw tightened. "And that's not just any woman. Look closely."
The image shifted, zoomed in, and the woman's face came into focus.
Elara recoiled. "That's… me."
But not quite. The woman had her features—her hair, her eyes—but there was something sharper, colder. Like a mirror warped by hatred.
Kael's voice was low. "A future version of you?"
"Or a version that never should have existed," she murmured. "What does this mean?"
The vision faded, leaving silence.
Before either of them could speak, the door behind them slammed shut.
Kael spun around, sword half-drawn.
From the shadows, a voice spoke. "You shouldn't have come here."
Lord Harrow stepped into the light, his face carved from stone.
"You broke the seal," he said, staring at the Echo Tablet. "Do you understand what you've done?"
Elara met his gaze. "We saw a version of the past. A warning, maybe. Or a threat."
Harrow approached slowly. "The tablet doesn't just show visions. It marks those who see them. You've been seen now, Elara. And the being behind that portal… it knows you're watching."
"Who is she?" Kael demanded. "That version of Elara?"
Harrow's eyes flicked to him, then back to her. "She was called Seraphine in the old texts. The First Breaker. She tore the Veil, not once, but twice. Each time, the worlds bled more into each other. She believed that true power came from merging realms."
Elara's mouth went dry. "You think I'm her reborn?"
"I think," Harrow said grimly, "you were meant to be her. But something disrupted the cycle. You're an anomaly. A broken thread in the tapestry of fate."
Silence.
Then Harrow turned away, voice cold. "Leave the manor. Both of you. By morning."
Elara stepped forward. "You can't just—"
"I can and I will. You've already seen too much. And the longer you stay, the more unstable this realm becomes."
Kael looked ready to argue, but Elara placed a hand on his arm.
"No," she said quietly. "Let's go."
They walked in silence under the moonlight, past the sleeping walls of the city, to the edge of the forest. When they were far enough, Elara finally spoke.
"Do you believe him?"
Kael didn't answer immediately. Then: "I believe what we saw. And I believe Harrow is terrified."
"So am I," she admitted. "If that woman… Seraphine… is a version of me, then what stops me from becoming her?"
Kael turned to her, his eyes fierce. "You're not her. You made different choices. You feel things she never could. Compassion, loyalty… fear. She wielded power without consequence. You're trying to understand it."
Elara swallowed. "What if that changes?"
"Then I'll be here to remind you who you are."
The forest rustled around them. Somewhere in the trees, a whisper echoed—soft, feminine, full of hunger.
Elara froze.
Kael heard it too. He drew his sword.
And then from the darkness, something stepped out.
Not a shadowbeast.
Not a soldier.
But a woman.
In silver armor.
Eyes glowing violet.
A smirk curled her lips as she looked at Elara.
"Ah," she purred. "There you are."