Ash fell like snow.
It drifted from the sky in lazy spirals, painting the crumbling ruins in a blanket of gray. The sun hadn't risen in days—not that it ever shone through the Veil. Just the same dull twilight, the same bitter cold, and the whispering wind that never shut up.
Cael Ardyn crouched low beneath a collapsed archway, his breath curling white in the air. The stone beneath his fingers was cold and cracked, covered in ancient runes no one could read anymore. He didn't know what the ruins used to be—a temple, maybe, or a library—but the bones scattered around told him enough.
People had died here. Recently.
His fingers twitched. The System window blinked in his mind's eye, flickering like a dying lantern:
> [SYSTEM ERROR]
Welcome, Cael Ardyn.
Status: Corrupted
Class: N/A
Skill: Oblivion's Whisper (Passive)
Listening...
That last line pulsed faintly. Always listening.
Cael shut it down with a thought. The System was broken, everyone knew that. His, though—it was worse. No stats, no class, no guidance. Just whispers. Always whispers.
He exhaled slowly and adjusted the bone charm around his neck, its edges smooth from years of handling. His reflection in the cracked shard of glass beside him was ghostly: pale ash-colored skin, too thin for his age, high cheekbones sunken by hunger. A jagged scar peeked from the collar of his shirt, trailing toward his collarbone like a warning. His black hair hung in uneven strands over storm-gray eyes, eyes that people said looked too old for someone seventeen.
They called him "Dustborn." Or "Veil-Touched," when they were being cruel.
The wind howled low again—and this time, he heard something beneath it.
A whisper. Faint, rasping. Not words, not exactly. Just... presence.
He froze. His fingers went to the hilt of the rusted knife at his side. It wouldn't help much, not against a Wraith or a Veilbound, but it made him feel like he wasn't helpless.
Then the voice came again. Clearer this time. "Return... the name... buried…"
The stone beneath him pulsed faintly. The runes shimmered like breath on glass.
Cael's blood turned to ice.
He stood quickly, scanning the open ruins. Just shadow and silence. Nothing visible.
But something was here. Watching.