Page 101 of Unveiled

“No surprise there.” Adrian stepped closer, careful with his footing. His gaze followed Connor’s back to the valley. “Xiathen says the fractures are receding.”

“Aye,” Connor said. “Means they’re setting something else in motion.”

The light in the valley didn’t change. It vanished. Shadow moved up from the rend’s scar, first thin as smoke, then thickening, coiling, stacking, taking form.

The ground vibrated lightly beneath their boots. A flock of crows scattered screaming into the clouds.

Lines of blue light, clean and intentional, shot from the rend, faster than before. As the projection formed, it turned fully toward the castle, and frost crept across the stone at his feet.

You have one day.

Sound returned to the air all at once, then silence fell once more. The fractures dimmed but didn’t close.

Adrian stared at Connor. “One day,” he murmured. “They’re going to tear the Veil wide and pull everything through.”

“No,” Connor said.

Adrian looked up, his eyes glass-bright. “You can’t say that unless you mean it.”

“I do.”

Another shout echoed from the courtyard. “Connor. The river.”

They reached the wall as water lifted from its bed, rising into the air in a slow, terrible spiral. It twisted upward, held by nothing Connor could see.

Adrian went still. “That’s an anchor. They’re mapping a collapse.”

The river groaned as if stretched.

“I think,” Adrian whispered, “they’re trying to fold Heatherfell into Utharia.”

“Then they’d better prepare,” Connor said, his voice low and feral, “for a fight they won’t walk away from.”

The river bent toward Glengáill. A spine pulled out of alignment.

“I can feel it,” Adrian said grimly. “Every anchor is awake.”

“We should go talk to Xiathen and the Triarc,” Connor said. “See if they have anything new to tell us.”

Adrian nodded grimly. “The only way we’re going to defeat them is with knowledge. We need everything we can get about how this all could turn out.”

They reached the village square without incident in time to see a crystal emerge from the ground—gnarled, luminous, pulsing like a heart set into stone.

Adrian took one step forward and gasped. “That’s not wood. That’s hardened magic.”

The moment Adrian got within ten paces, the crystal brightened sharply. A gasp rippled through the crowd.

“Step back,” Connor growled, automatically moving in front of Adrian.

But Adrian shook his head. “I need to understand it.”

“You need to be alive,” Connor snarled. “Which requires listening to me for once.”

Despite the situation, a flicker of humour warmed Adrian’s expression. “I heard you quite well last night, mon Valour.”

Connor’s ears burned, but before he could respond, the crystal pulsed again.

“It’s already locked on,” Adrian said. “They’re testing stress points.”