ECLIPSED VEINS — Episode 9: "City Beneath the Veil"
The descent smelled of rust and river mould.Water dripped between the old subway walls as Yuna followed Halmeoni, her shoes splashing in shallow puddles. The tunnels felt deserted — yet watched. Every step echoed like something was counting them.
Seong-min walked last, one hand gripping his forearm, shadow pulsing faintly under his skin as if irritated by the confined dark.
Halmeoni tapped her staff against the ground twice.A low rumble answered.
A section of wall shifted. Cracked bricks parted like lips, revealing a sliver of golden-lit darkness.
A hidden city breathed awake beneath Seoul.
Yuna exhaled in awe.
Lanterns hung from stone arches, lit with watery gold flame. Old clay shrines rested beside boarded stalls selling charms, relics, and sealed vials that glowed faintly — shadowy or sunlit. A canal ran through the market's center, water black like mirrored night. Bridges arched over it, carved with sun runes and eclipse sigils too old to read.
People moved through the space quietly — hooded, heavy-cloaked, some whispering incantations under their breath as they passed. Others bore blades on their backs, talismans bound in rope around their arms. Not quite criminals. Not quite monks. Something in between.
Light fugitives. Shadow refugees. Hybrid souls.
The forgotten world between worlds.
A guard with half-painted mask stepped forward as they crossed the bridge.
His eyes traveled over Yuna first — her glowing sigil, still faint from exhaustion.
Then Seong-min.
The guard's hand drifted to the blade at his hip.
"Eclipsed," he muttered. "How awake?"
Seong-min stiffened.
Yuna stepped in front of him."He's with me."
The guard laughed under his mask — short, dry air.
"You think your word protects him here? Down here, both sides bleed without consequence."
Halmeoni struck her staff against the bridge.It echoed like thunder.
"That boy is under my protection. If anyone touches him, they answer to the Lightkeeper who trained me."
That name drained color from the guard's face.He stepped aside without another word.
Yuna whispered to Halmeoni, "You trained a Lightkeeper? Which—"
"Not now," the old woman murmured. "The walls remember too much."
They walked deeper.
Shops and shrines gave way to stone corridors, lined with murals of shadow embracing sunrise, of two warriors — one crowned with sunlight, the other wreathed in eclipse. Their threads intertwined, neither dominating.
Yuna reached out to touch the painting, fingers brushing the carved face of the shadowed warrior.
"Why does everyone talk like I'm supposed to fight him?" she whispered. "What if that isn't how it works anymore?"
Seong-min stopped walking.
"You're assuming I survive long enough to become a choice."
Yuna looked back at him. His jaw was clenched, his pupils dark as pitch, irises glimmering silver.
"You're assuming I'd let anything happen to you."
He blinked. The shadow beneath his feet softened, no longer flaring resentfully.
Halmeoni cleared her throat sharply.
"Romantic idealism is death in places like this." She started walking again. "Come. The Council of the Veil won't wait."
Yuna frowned. "Council?"
Halmeoni didn't answer.
They turned into a vast chamber carved from black stone. Candles floated several feet above, gravity forgotten. Runes spiraled across the floor, glowing in two colors — sun-gold and lunar black. Voices murmured in layered echoes, though no one seemed to speak.
At the center, a table shaped like a broken circle.
Five figures stood behind it, each wearing a mask carved from cracked moonstone and gold leaf. Their robes shimmered oddly, patterns shifting like rippling water.
The tallest one stepped forward, voice layered like several people speaking at once.
"Cha Yuna. Seong-min of the Eclipse. And the Light-touched Elder. State your intent."
Halmeoni leaned on her staff.
"I request sanctuary. For both."
A low murmur rippled through the chamber — a mixture of laughter and concern.
One masked figure leaned forward, speaking with a voice like cracked bells.
"Asking protection for a Sunwarden is easy. Asking protection for him is different."
Seong-min lifted his head.His voice was quiet, steady.
"I didn't ask for power. I didn't choose this."
The Council responded in unison:
"No one ever chooses their nature. Only what they become."
Yuna stepped toward the table.
"Then why do all of you — Lightkeepers, elders, councils — act like his future is already written in blood?"
A different Councillor answered, voice strangled with bitterness.
"Because we have watched dozens like him lose their minds. Because we have buried families torn apart by shadow. Because no Sunwarden ever hesitated to judge."
Yuna's glare sharpened.
"I'm not them."
The Councillor leaned in closer. "Not yet."
Before Yuna could reply, the tallest member snapped his fingers. A harsh ring of sound cut the air.
"The Eclipsed must be tested."
Seong-min felt his shadow thicken, rise, coil like a living serpent.
"What… kind of test?"
"Control," the Council said. "If you cannot command your own shadow, then the Sunwarden beside you will be commanded to kill you. As tradition demands. As fate demands."
Yuna's heart slammed against her ribs.
"No. No, there has to be another way—"
The Council ignored her.
A section of the floor shifted, revealing a platform carved with runes that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Seong-min stared at it, breathing shallow.
"What happens if I succeed?"
The Council's answer was terrifyingly simple.
"You live. For now."
Halmeoni touched his shoulder — old hand trembling with unspoken fear.
"You have one advantage, boy. Something rare. Something even the Council doesn't quite understand."
He swallowed. "What advantage?"
Halmeoni's eyes drifted to Yuna.
"That girl believes in you. And belief binds more powerfully than fate."
Yuna stepped up beside him, gripping his hand.
"I'm staying with you. Through this. Through everything."
The Council's lanterns dimmed. Shadows lengthened across the chamber. Water from the canal outside roared as if stirred by something ancient.
Seong-min's shadow stretched across the floor, elongating into a monstrous shape with silver eyes, claws forming like obsidian razors.
The platform flared.The test began.
And the city beneath Seoul held its breath.
To be continued…