The victory over the Veilborne was short-lived. The night air in the Veilways grew unnaturally thick, heavy with the scent of rain though no storm brewed overhead. The ground itself seemed to exhale a cold mist, curling around Lucas's boots like restless spirits.
"This isn't right," Seris muttered, hand tightening on her twin blades. "The Veilborne don't retreat without a reason."
Martha knelt and touched the earth, her healing affinity sensing disturbances beyond flesh and bone. Her brow furrowed. "Something's moving beneath us. The ground… it's alive."
Lucas scanned the dark horizon. The Rainbow Orb, hanging in its sling on his hip, pulsed once — a warning.
Then the world erupted.
From the soil burst monstrous constructs of blackened stone and sinewy roots, shaped like wolves with eyes of molten gold. They moved with unnatural coordination, snapping at anything in reach.
"Veilspawn!" Seris hissed, slashing one down, only for its shattered pieces to slither back together.
Lucas summoned a wall of fire to hold them back, but the flames flickered unnaturally, as if the mist itself was eating the light. "They're feeding on our affinities!" he realized.
Martha raised her staff and unleashed a burst of radiant light, forcing the nearest beasts to recoil, but the strain was clear in her face. "We can't fight them directly. We have to sever their link to the source!"
Seris pointed toward a jagged spire in the distance, black as obsidian and veined with crimson energy. "That's it. Cut off the spire, and these things die."
---
They sprinted toward the spire, the Veilspawn snapping at their heels. Lucas's Ruin affinity surged inside him, urging him to obliterate everything in his path, to end the threat with pure annihilation.
No. He gritted his teeth, refusing to give in. That path led to losing himself — and maybe losing Martha, too.
The spire's base was guarded by a figure cloaked in mist, its voice slithering into their minds. "The Rainbow Orb will never be yours. The Veilborne are merely pawns. We are the roots beneath the world."
Lucas stepped forward. "Then I'll tear those roots out."
The figure extended an arm, and the ground cracked open, swallowing Seris whole in a sinkhole. Martha cried out, racing to the edge, but the mist-thick darkness below swallowed the sound of her voice.
Lucas's fury ignited. Drawing deeply on every affinity he could command, he hurled a spiraling spear of elemental force at the figure. The cloak shredded away, revealing something half-human, half-root, its face split by a smile that was more vine than flesh.
The creature laughed, even as the blow staggered it. "You fight well… for a mortal bound to the Orb. But soon, you'll learn who truly commands the Veilways."
Lucas didn't wait for the threat to finish. He leapt forward, channeling pure chaos through his blade. Martha mirrored him, striking with a concentrated beam of light. Together, their attacks cleaved the spire in two.
A shockwave ripped through the battlefield. The Veilspawn screamed in unison, their bodies crumbling into ash. The mist thinned. The figure staggered backward, vines shriveling, and then disintegrated into nothing.
---
Silence fell.
Lucas immediately knelt at the sinkhole's edge, shouting, "Seris!" For a moment, there was no answer. Then a rope dart shot upward, embedding into the dirt. Seris climbed out, covered in grime but grinning. "Miss me?"
Martha exhaled in relief. "Don't do that again."
They regrouped, the Rainbow Orb glowing more brightly now, as if pleased with their survival. But Lucas knew the truth — this was no victory.
The Veilborne had been a distraction. The real enemy was older, deeper, and far more cunning than they'd imagined.
As they made camp for the night, Martha sat beside Lucas, her shoulder brushing his. "You're carrying too much," she said softly.
Lucas gave her a faint smile. "Maybe. But I've got you here. That's enough for now."
They didn't notice the shadow in the mist watching from afar, whispering in a tongue older than the Veilways themselves.
The war had only just begun.