The world tilted.
Elara clung to Darius's arm as the air around them tore open with a sound like the wind screaming through glass. One second she was standing in her shattered bedroom—the next, the floor vanished.
Light exploded.
Colors twisted.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
Then silence.
When she opened her eyes, the world had changed.
They stood on a narrow bridge of silver stone suspended in the air, stretching across an endless night sky. Beneath them shimmered a sea of mist—slowly moving shapes in the fog like creatures made of starlight. Above, constellations spun too fast, glowing brighter than she'd ever seen.
Elara stumbled back. "W-where are we?"
Darius turned, his eyes reflecting the endless sky. "Between worlds," he said softly. "This is the *Hidden Road.* Few ever see it and survive."
His tone wasn't a warning—it was a truth.
Elara's wrist burned again, the silver mark glowing brighter, pulling faint threads of light from the air itself. The light coiled upward, dancing around her fingers like living ribbons.
She gasped. "What—what's happening to me?"
Darius watched her closely. For the first time, something gentle flickered in his gaze. "The mark recognizes its bearer. It responds to your heartbeat, your fear… even your doubt."
"Then make it stop!" she cried.
"I can't." He stepped closer, his voice low. "Only you can."
She tried to steady her breathing, focusing on the glowing light. It pulsed like a living thing, then slowly dimmed, as though obeying her thoughts. When it faded, Elara looked up at him, trembling.
"You said this mark is the key," she said. "Key to what?"
"To the Veil," he replied. "And the prison beyond it."
Something in his words made her shiver. "Prison?"
Darius hesitated. "There are things that should never be free. If the Veil collapses, both worlds burn."
Elara stared at him, her voice barely a whisper. "And me? What am I supposed to do in all this?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked toward the horizon, where the bridge seemed to end in a vast gate of shadow and light.
"You'll have to decide," he said at last. "To save your world… or mine."
The gate ahead began to open—massive doors carved with runes that shifted like they were alive. A chill swept through the bridge.
Elara's fear battled with a strange pull inside her chest—a whisper telling her this was where she belonged, where her story had always been leading.
She looked at Darius. "If I walk through that gate, my life changes forever, doesn't it?"
He met her eyes. "It already has."
The gate flared open, flooding them both with light.
And as the brightness consumed everything, Elara took a breath, stepped forward—
—and crossed the Veil.
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✨ End of Chapter 3 ✨
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