The city looked different after your first kill.
Eli walked beside Kael down a dimly lit street, the neon ads flickering overhead like dying stars. People passed by in a blur — heads down, unaware that their world was hanging by threads stitched in shadow and light.
"How long do I have?" Eli asked.
Kael glanced at him. "Before the Shadekin find you again? Hours. Days if we're lucky. But that mark on your chest? It's a beacon."
"Can we get rid of it?"
"No. But you can master it."
They arrived at an abandoned subway station on 43rd and Holloway — a forgotten ruin half-swallowed by time. Moss climbed the walls. Arcane sigils had been etched into the bricks, glowing faintly as they approached. The temperature dropped the moment they stepped inside.
"This is a Hollow Watch post," Kael explained. "One of the last safe zones for Veilbreakers."
They passed through a shimmering ward, and the air changed — heavier, buzzing with latent energy. Inside were others. A woman with tattoos like constellations along her arms. A man meditating with a flaming orb floating beside him. Even a boy, no older than fifteen, flipping through a book that whispered.
Kael introduced them in clipped words:
"Seren — alchemist and former guardian of the Eastern Rift. Bram — elementalist. Jayce — archivist. All Veilbreakers."
Eli stared. "There are more of us?"
"A few. Not enough. And dying faster than we're finding new ones."
Seren approached, eyes scanning Eli's aura. "The mark's still unstable. You'll need a binding ritual — fast — or it'll tear you apart from the inside."
Kael nodded. "We start training tonight. No more conduit repairs. From now on, you fight."
Eli didn't argue. The pulse of the relicblade at his side was warm, eager — like it had waited for centuries to be held again. Somewhere deep inside, something had awakened. And it was hungry.
He looked at Kael. "What are we fighting for?"
Kael didn't hesitate. "To keep the Veil closed. To stop the world from ending."