The days that followed settled over Aether's Rest like a long-awaited breath. For the first time in months, the seven found themselves sleeping without the weight of steel in their palms. Farmers waved, children ran barefoot between the lanes, and the quiet hum of life filled the village. But even in that calm, some threads vibrated with unease.
It was on such a morning that Vaeth took a walk with Kael, strolling beneath the tall silverbark trees that bordered Aether's Garden. Their shadows swayed across the stone path like drifting memories. Kael kept his hands clasped behind him, calm as ever, but Vaeth's smile carried its usual dangerous spark.
"So," Vaeth began casually, "does the quiet here remind you of home? Or what was left of it?"
Kael froze. His jaw tightened, and his breath shook. Vaeth tilted his head, feigning innocence.
"I only mean," he continued, "what happened to your family… and how your father—"
"Enough," Kael growled, voice trembling. He lifted the long nearby ladder the gardeners used, rage swelling lightning-fast. With a roar he hurled it.
Vaeth stepped aside with effortless grace.
The ladder struck the shimmering boundary of the village—the Veilcrest. A ripple of silver light burst outward, the ladder cracking instantly like brittle bone.
Vaeth tapped the barrier lightly with two fingers. "Veilcrest. My craft. Keeps out everything unfriendly. Convenient, isn't it? Especially for those running from the past."
Kael's breath heaved, but he turned away before he said something he couldn't take back. Vaeth only smirked and followed the path back toward the village center.
---
Lynor found Vaeth not long after, leaning casually against a fountain carved with celestial runes.
"Kael threw a ladder at you?" Lynor demanded.
"Quite impressively," Vaeth replied. "Your man has a temper."
"He doesn't," Lynor snapped. "Not anymore. Only I know what he lived through. He has been rebuilding himself piece by piece since the fall of Dravencort."
Vaeth raised an eyebrow. "Seems a few pieces still need tightening."
Lynor sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "I'll talk to him." His eyes drifted toward the massive structure in the far field — the towering stone hall built for the giants who resided here. The locals called it The Titanhold, its domed roof gleaming like a metal dawn.
"We have giants in this village," Lynor muttered almost to himself, "and somehow they're not the biggest problem."
"Perspective," Vaeth said with a grin. "My favorite game."
---
Elira had spent the afternoon cleaning her room — or trying to. The moment she opened her wooden chest, she froze.
Inside lay the dagger.
Rhazor had carved the hilt himself — obsidian swirling with pale runes, and her name, Elira of Alenwyre,etched in his rough handwriting along the blade's spine.
She held it gently, remembering the argument that broke them apart.
She had seen visions — shadows coiling around Rhazor, warnings whispered in her dreams. For the hundredth time, she had told him.
"There is darkness following you," she had whispered that night. "I feel it. I see it."
And he — exhausted, angry, wounded — had snapped.
"Then stop looking at me!" he'd shouted. "Maybe if you stopped seeing monsters in me, I wouldn't become one!"
Those words had cut deeper than steel.
That night, she ended the bond between them.
Now, holding the dagger, tears blurred her vision.
She placed it back gently, as if setting down the last piece of a broken memory.
---
Meanwhile, Lynor approached The Titanhold. Villagers called warnings after him—
"Don't go inside!"
"They don't speak our tongue!"
"They crush chairs for fun!"
Lynor only laughed and pushed open the enormous door.
Inside, two giants — towering, broad, clad in furs and iron bangles — turned their heads. They were intimidating by every physical measure, but Lynor walked forward without fear.
He bowed.
They stared… then one burst into thunderous laughter.
The other lowered himself and offered Lynor a massive wooden cup of their brew.
By the time Lynor left Titanhold, they had traded hunting stories, challenged each other to arm-wrestle, and Lynor earned their respect by refusing to flinch when one giant slapped his back hard enough to stagger a mule.
When the villagers peeked in later, they found Lynor seated on a giant's shoulder, eating roasted boar and laughing like a king of fools.
That was how he made friends with giants — boldly, loudly, and by simply being
---
That night, Elira dreamed again.
Her mother's face glowed in soft, golden haze — a memory she could barely cling to. Images flickered: a warm hand on her cheek… a lullaby she could not fully hear…
The dream warped.
Shadows thickened. A massive silhouette rose beyond the cheering crowd — the same monstrous shadow beast she had glimpsed before, now larger, fiercer, its wings stretching like night over the world.
It lunged.
Elira gasped awake, heart pounding.
But something else woke her — the sound of something impacting outside the village walls.
Seren burst into the room. Lynor followed, sword half-drawn. Rhazor stood behind him, breath sharp.
"Elira!" Seren cried. "We heard you scream—what happened?"
She told them everything — her family, the beast, the visions, the shadow eclipsing her dreams. Fear cracked in her voice.
Rhazor stepped forward instinctively, but halted himself.
Elira noticed.
---
Outside, the true world shattered.
A shadow-forged stone, glowing with black runes, shot from the forest and struck the Veilcrest with a sound like splitting thunder.
Silver light burst across the sky.
For a moment, the barrier held.
Then the stone exploded, spraying black fire across the outer trees.
Flames crawled like living serpents, devouring bark and leaf alike.
The forest beyond the Veilcrest burned in eerie silence — consumed by unnatural darkness.
Villagers rushed from their homes, trembling. Bells rang. Children cried.
Lynor stepped outside, fists clenched, eyes hardening into steel.
Vaeth appeared beside him, unreadable as always.
He whispered, "The world is waking up again."
Above the burning trees, the Veilcrest flickered — trembling for the first time since its creation.
And somewhere beyond the dark horizon…
something ancient stirred.
The night the Veil trembled had come.