ar

ed, face pressed to the soil like it was try

myself to

sked. "When it said the

d a mark into its forehead with the tip of his blade-a sigil that shimmered for on

now," I said

ly stood

. At fate. But the truth was heavier tha

whispered

n't k

and moonlight. "But I know what comes next. The Veil will thin

ha

st me-toward the orchard, toward

om

owed because there was

hat seemed to thrum with whispers now, like the

ick and silver, curling around the trees like ghost f

u touched the gat

re now-no bones, no shimmer of glyphs. But the wound

ne had whispered. The way th

ething like one. I thought it was th

still. "It

sita

ide of the H

eath c

ent p

ano

en he

someone makes when they see a prophecy unfolding

aid of tha

does i

at me-lo

just chosen," he sai

th wen

wh

his land. Older than the gods we remember. Somethin

k. "I'm not a

ned. "Tell tha

ugh the trees. T

ossibly far yet n

this

this

rkened. "We need

whe

d. "There are answers

what kind o

st n

e last Veilborn

grass between gnarled roots and thorny underbrush. It twisted eastward, away from

skirts were torn.

er di

pillars. The air here was different-thicker, heavier, as if time itself had slow

aid, breathing har

d away the leaves. Beneath them, a carved symbol-th

Duskmere even had a name. The Veil was thin her

closer.

didn't

ground formed a shallow depression lined with stone til

ed it an

ch opened-releasing a gust of air that smelled of

This is where I s

sita

y for a

I des

Ravien lit a lantern from the flame in his palm-a flickerin

ottom was a crypt. O

ely. Some bore antlers. Others had fangs too long, fingers too many. Each

"Are these.

y we

egible. It showed a woman cloaked in white, standing before a bleeding moon. Behind her: a gate ma

de," I b

hen the Veil begins to rupture, when the Hollow Moon stirs, the bride a

think I

hen. Eyes solemn.

it. Wanted to scr

the way the gat

r had whispered it wi

I don't open th

ures on its own. And no force in the wo

o I'm a key. A nec

"You're not a sacrifice. You're the axis. T

at if I

n I'll find another wa

ed in my chest

swer, the lantern

rk, a voice slither

e bride returns.

drew hi

n the wall

nowhere, knocking

not walking, not floating. Dragging it

my throat, but

pped between me

. "You will n

adow h

en-it

mber we

unes

beside me. "W

hat wa

he said.

ight. The ruins faded behi

ll hear it

the Hol

't just

a sen

hind the Veil wa