---
The rain hissed as it hit the asphalt. Time felt slower now, like the air itself held its breath.
Silas stood beside Nyra, staring down at the corpse. The masked figure lay still, golden blood seeping into the cracks of the sidewalk like living fire.
"They killed one of their own?" he whispered.
"No," Nyra said grimly, eyes locked on the three figures approaching. "They don't die. Not like us."
The three remaining Veilwalkers circled, robes moving like liquid shadow. Their masks were smooth and pristine—no cracks, no signs of identity. Just emptiness.
One raised its hand.
The street flickered.
The world flickered.
Silas blinked and the entire city changed. Buildings stood in twisted formations. The moon hung too close, too large. Every sound was reversed—cars hummed backward, dogs barked before they growled.
"Where—what the hell is this?"
Nyra pulled him behind a rusted car. "The Wound. A space between our world and the Veil. They pulled us in. That's what they do when they hunt. Makes things... easier for them."
Silas peeked over. The three didn't rush. They walked calmly, as if confident of the outcome.
"What do they want?"
"You. Me. Anyone who can see through the Veil," Nyra said. "You've got Ash, Silas. And Ash burns bright in the dark."
Silas grabbed her arm. "What the hell is Ash?"
She didn't answer.
Because one of the figures was already above them.
Without movement. Without sound.
Just... there.
Its arm swung inhumanly fast.
Silas raised his hand on instinct—and the world bent.
The masked attacker froze mid-strike, suspended like a puppet. Lines of blue fire traced Silas's arm, pulsing from veins that hadn't existed a moment before.
The Veilwalker trembled.
Then shattered—not like glass, but like memory.
Nyra stared.
"You... you just erased a Level One Reaper."
Silas blinked. "I what?"
"You shouldn't be able to do that. That's Chrono-grade... maybe even Core-tier. What are you?"
He staggered back. "I don't know. I'm just a kid—"
"No," she cut in. "You're not just anything. You've got Echo-Veil scars. Your eyes glow in the mist. You erased a Reaper without training."
"I didn't even know what a Reaper was thirty seconds ago!"
She grabbed him by the collar. "Then you better start learning, fast."
The other two Veilwalkers began to converge.
Nyra cursed under her breath. "We can't take them here. Not in the Wound. Come on!"
She yanked him toward a crooked alleyway. The walls rippled with blue veins, and runes shimmered faintly on the bricks.
Nyra threw the coin—the Whispershard—against the wall.
It opened.
A tear in space. A spiraling maw of symbols, keys, and shifting doors.
She dove in.
Silas hesitated. The Reapers were almost on him.
He jumped.
---
The Coin's Pathway – Between Worlds
They tumbled into blackness wrapped in white flame. Thoughts, memories, and dreams flew past like pages torn from a book.
Silas saw a memory of himself—age six—standing in a burning library, holding a staff of bone.
Another flash: Nyra, crying at a grave marked "Here Lies the Last Gatekeeper."
Then darkness.
---
They landed hard in a tunnel beneath the city.
Dim lanterns hung from crooked vines. The walls were lined with mirrors that reflected nothing.
"This is a safehouse," Nyra panted. "One of the old ones. Used by the Fractured Guard before the Cataclysm."
Silas sat, shaking. "Start explaining. Now."
Nyra paced. "Fine. But keep up. There's no time for slow thinking."
She pointed to her temple. "There are three worlds: the Mortal Realm, the Veil, and the Wound between them. Most can't see the Veil. But you? You've got Ash. A remnant of something ancient. Something forbidden. Ash lets you see through. Touch things you're not supposed to."
"And the Reapers?"
"They're not alive. They're what's left when someone gets consumed by the Veil. Masked, forgotten, hollow."
"Why were they after me?"
Nyra stared at him. "Because you're not supposed to exist."
Silas swallowed. "Great. So what now?"
"We find answers. We train. We survive."
"And if I say no?"
She tossed him the Whispershard again.
He caught it—and this time, it didn't burn.
"You've already said yes," she whispered.
From behind them, the mirrors flickered.
And a new voice echoed through the tunnel:
"Found you... Abyss-Born."
---
End of Chapter 2
---