"Lina…"
The voice behind them was Kai's—smooth, low, familiar enough to make Lina's bones twitch toward it.
But Kai's hand was still in hers.
Warm.
Real.
Anchor.
Kai didn't look behind him. He just tightened his grip like a silent warning and whispered, "Don't turn."
Lina's pulse hammered. "Then who—"
"Veilbound," Seren whispered, eyes glowing. "Mimic voice. Mimic cadence. Mimic comfort."
Reyon swallowed. "Mimic flirting too, probably."
The Runemap fluttered in midair like it was breathing.
Its ink-lines rearranged again, highlighting the Prism corridor route in bright, cheerful strokes—like a helpful friend waving you toward safety.
Kai's jaw clenched. "It's lying."
The voice behind them came again, softer, closer.
"Lina… come here."
Mira whimpered, clutching Lina's sleeve. "That's not him."
Lina's stomach turned cold.
Rule #4 surfaced like a flare in her head—If someone asks your name twice, leave immediately.
But this wasn't asking.
It was calling.
Which was worse, because calling a name was how the Quill and the Veilbound hooked you.
Lina forced breath into her lungs.
She didn't turn.
She did what saved them before.
She weaponized the Name Test.
"Say my name," Lina said sharply, voice loud enough to cut through the underwing hush. "Stay real."
The voice behind them paused—just a fraction too long.
Then answered, perfectly:
"Lina Veris."
Kai's grip tightened.
Reyon whispered, "Too clean."
Lina's throat tightened. "Again."
"Lina Veris," the voice repeated smoothly.
No tremor.
No strain.
No human crack.
Seren's eyes narrowed. "Fake."
Kai's voice was low, brutal. "Run."
He yanked Lina forward—hand contact unbroken—and the group moved as one chain through the Umbral corridor.
Behind them, the voice laughed softly.
Not mocking.
Pleased.
As if the trap had already begun to close.
The Runemap's ink flared brighter, highlighting the Prism route like a neon sign in a storm.
A dotted line appeared beneath it:
SAFE PASSAGE — VERIFIED
Seren hissed, "It's pushing us."
Reyon's voice cracked. "It's literally writing propaganda."
Kai pulled them toward a side junction—darker, narrower, less welcoming.
The Runemap shuddered.
Its ink scrambled.
For a second the map lost their location entirely.
Then a new label wrote itself next to Lina's smudged name:
LINA VERIS — LOCATION: UNKNOWN
Lina's skin prickled.
Seren's breath caught. "It's trying to erase her from tracking."
Mira whispered, terrified, "If you're unknown… can we still find you?"
Lina's throat tightened. "That's the point."
Kai's voice cut in, fierce. "You're not unknown to me."
The words hit Lina's chest like warmth and pain at the same time.
They turned the corner—
—and the corridor ahead shimmered.
Not with mirrors.
With illusory space.
The Umbral stone began to fade into prism-glass, as if the architecture itself was being overwritten.
The Runemap fluttered violently, ink shifting faster.
Seren's eyes widened. "The Orders routes are overlapping."
Reyon's breath stuttered. "We're being folded into Prism whether we want it or not."
Kai's jaw clenched. "Veilbound funnel."
The air ahead smelled like cold glass and perfume—too clean, too polished, too… curated.
A shadow moved in the shimmer.
Then another.
Figures in porcelain masks stepped out along the corridor like they had been waiting behind the walls.
Veilbound.
They didn't rush.
They didn't need to.
Because the corridor itself was turning into their territory.
The Veilbound voice—still wearing Kai's tone—murmured from behind them, close now:
"You can't hide a VOID girl in a school that remembers rules."
Mira whimpered.
Seren's eyes glowed brighter. "We need a witness."
Kai's head snapped to Seren. "What?"
Seren stared at the Runemap, throat tight. "Orders have oaths."
Lina blinked. "What—like… membership vows?"
Seren nodded shakily. "Old Founder traditions. They're not just clubs—Order Oaths are recognition mechanisms. They can 'witness' someone even if the academy won't."
Reyon whispered, "So you're saying we need… a magical paperwork loophole."
Seren shot him a look. "Yes."
Kai's gaze darted to the four symbols carved into old stone near the corridor wall—faded crests half-hidden under dust.
Ember.
Umbral.
Prism.
Echo.
Seren's hand lifted toward the Echo symbol instinctively—and it flared faintly under her touch.
Not bright.
Not friendly.
Responsive.
Seren's eyes widened. "My resonance… it's reacting."
Then the Echo crest shifted, and next to it—like a tiny embedded ledger—symbols flickered:
🕯️ 🪞 🧵 🖋️
Seren's breath hitched. "Echo Order crests respond to death symbols."
Mira whispered, trembling, "So Echo can see the Runic Grave."
Seren swallowed hard. "Echo Order was built to monitor the dead. To hear what the academy hides."
The Veilbound stepped closer, their masks blank smiles in the prism-shimmer.
One lifted a hand.
And the corridor's prism-glass rippled, preparing to close like a mouth.
Kai tightened his grip on Lina. "We don't have time."
Seren's voice shook. "There's an Order door."
She pointed—past the funneling Prism shimmer—to a narrow archway sealed by old stone and a faint crest: Umbral.
It wasn't lit.
It wasn't highlighted on the map.
It looked forgotten.
Which meant it was probably real.
Kai stared at it. "That's an Umbral route door."
Reyon whispered, "Please let it be a door that doesn't murder us."
Seren's eyes widened. "It needs a truth phrase."
Lina's stomach dropped. "A what?"
Seren swallowed. "Old Founder access. It doesn't open for a key— it opens for truth."
The Runemap fluttered violently, ink scrambling, trying to highlight Prism again.
Kai stepped toward the Umbral door, pulling Lina with him.
The Veilbound surged closer—still not running, but closing the distance like certainty.
Lina's heart hammered.
"What truth phrase?" Lina hissed.
Seren stared at the door, eyes glowing, listening. "It wants… identity truth."
Kai's jaw clenched.
Then he spoke, voice low and absolute—like he was carving the words into the door with his spine.
"She is not VOID to me."
The Umbral crest on the door flickered.
Not open.
Not yet.
The Veilbound hissed softly.
The voice behind them—Kai's voice—whispered, pleased:
"Say it louder. Let the academy hear you."
Kai's eyes flashed with rage.
He tightened his grip on Lina's hand and stepped closer to the door, almost shielding her with his body.
Then, in a voice that cut through the corridor like a blade—
Kai said the truth in the shape the door demanded:
"Lina Veris is real."
The Umbral crest flared.
Stone groaned.
The door cracked open, spilling darkness like a secret.
Seren yanked Mira through first.
Reyon stumbled after, whispering, "Okay, that was hot and terrifying."
Kai pulled Lina toward the opening—
But Lina's breath caught.
Because the moment the door opened, the prism-glass corridor behind them reflected the doorway like a mirror.
And in that reflection—
Lina saw herself.
Mask. Eyes wide.
Standing at the threshold.
Only… her reflection moved first.
It smiled.
And it lifted a finger to its lips.
Shhh.
Kai's voice snapped, urgent: "Lina—don't look—"
Too late.
The reflection stepped backward—into the darkness behind the Umbral door—
as if it had already been inside… waiting.
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.