C7 The Broken Sky
The tower shook again.
Stone cracked.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
Kael stumbled against the wall as another violent tremor ripped through the ancient structure.
Outside, chaos erupted.
Shouts echoed through the corridors.
Orders were barked.
Steel clashed against steel.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
The voice still echoed in his mind.
The Veil is weakening.
Not spoken.
Proclaimed.
As though an ancient power had awakened and announced its return.
Kael’s pulse hammered.
“What was that?”
No answer came.
The dragon’s presence had vanished.
The connection was gone.
Then footsteps thundered toward his cell.
Kael jumped to his feet.
The iron door burst open.
Seraphine stood there breathing heavily.
Holding a stolen key ring.
“You look terrible.”
Kael blinked.
“That’s the first thing you say?”
“We can discuss appearances later.”
She grabbed his arm.
“Run.”
He didn’t argue.
⸻
The corridors were madness.
Veilbreakers rushed in every direction.
Some carried weapons.
Others carried scrolls.
Several appeared genuinely terrified.
No one paid attention to Kael and Seraphine as they slipped through the confusion.
“What happened?” Kael asked.
“I don’t know.”
Seraphine tightened her grip on a lantern.
“But everyone started panicking after that sound.”
A deafening roar interrupted her.
The dragon.
Alive.
And angry.
The entire tower trembled.
For the first time since arriving, hope flickered inside Kael.
“Maybe it escaped.”
“Maybe.”
Seraphine didn’t sound convinced.
They reached a staircase.
The moment they emerged onto the upper battlements, both froze.
The sky had changed.
Dark clouds churned above the valley.
Not natural clouds.
These moved in strange spirals.
Twisting around a point high above the mountains.
Blue light flashed within them.
Lightning without thunder.
Energy without storm.
At the center of it all hung a crack.
A tear.
A wound in the sky itself.
Kael stared in horror.
It wasn’t large.
Perhaps the size of a house.
But it should not have existed.
Through it, he could see darkness.
Not night.
Something deeper.
Older.
The sight made his stomach twist.
“What is that?”
Seraphine whispered.
For once, she had no answers.
⸻
A horn sounded below.
The Veilbreaker leader emerged from the tower entrance.
His calm demeanor was gone.
For the first time, fear was visible on his face.
“Prepare the anchors!”
he shouted.
“Move!”
Dozens of Veilbreakers rushed toward massive stone pillars positioned around the valley.
Each pillar was covered in glowing runes.
Blue light surged through them.
The air hummed with power.
Kael watched in confusion.
“What are they doing?”
“They’re trying to stop it.”
The voice came from behind them.
Both spun.
The wounded dragon stood on the battlement.
Or rather, part of it.
Its enormous head rose above the shattered wall.
One chain still hung from its neck.
Several broken links trailed behind it.
The dragon had escaped.
Kael’s heart leapt.
“You’re free.”
Not for long.
Its voice sounded weaker than before.
The effort of escaping had cost it dearly.
Yet determination burned in its golden eyes.
The Veil is breaking.
Kael looked toward the crack in the sky.
“The Veil is real?”
The dragon gave him a look that was almost offended.
Did you think I invented it?
“Fair point.”
Despite everything, Seraphine laughed.
A nervous laugh.
The kind people made when reality stopped making sense.
⸻
The dragon turned toward the sky.
Fear crossed its ancient face.
True fear.
Kael had never imagined a dragon could be frightened.
That terrified him more than anything.
“What happens if the Veil breaks?”
The dragon hesitated.
As though searching for the right words.
Then:
Long ago, this world was not alone.
Silence fell.
Even the distant chaos seemed to fade.
Other realms existed beside it.
A chill crawled down Kael’s spine.
Some were beautiful.
The dragon’s gaze hardened.
Others were nightmares.
Lightning flashed across the crack overhead.
The tear widened slightly.
The sight made Kael’s stomach drop.
The Veil was created to separate them.
Seraphine looked pale.
“You mean there are things on the other side?”
The dragon slowly nodded.
Things that should never return.
As if answering those words, a shape moved within the darkness.
Huge.
Indistinct.
Watching.
Kael’s breath caught.
Something was looking back through the crack.
Something alive.
⸻
Suddenly a scream echoed from below.
Everyone turned.
One of the Veilbreakers pointed toward the sky.
“No…”
His voice trembled.
The crack widened again.
A hand emerged.
Not human.
Too long.
Too thin.
Covered in black scales.
The creature gripped the edge of the tear and began pulling itself through.
Panic exploded across the valley.
The Veilbreakers opened fire.
Bolts of blue energy streaked upward.
The creature ignored them.
Slowly, impossibly, it climbed farther into the world.
Kael felt cold.
Utterly cold.
The dragon growled.
A sound filled with hatred.
Shadowborn.
The name struck like a hammer.
“What are they?”
The dragon’s answer came in a whisper.
The reason the Veil was created.
The creature’s glowing eyes opened.
Dozens of them.
Burning like embers within darkness.
And every single one turned toward Kael.
The Dragon Speaker.
The moment stretched.
Then the creature smiled.
A terrible smile.
As though it recognized him.
As though it had been waiting.
And somewhere deep inside his mind, a voice not his own whispered:
We have found you.
The world had just become far more dangerous.
