Chapter 97 — Into the Fractured Veil
The decision to enter the Fractured Veil was made in the quiet hours before dawn, when the kingdom still slept under a fragile blanket of peace.
Cairis and Liora stood alone in the deepest ritual chamber beneath the Obsidian Throne. The Veilheart Keystone rested on the central altar, its twilight crystal fractured with deep, glowing cracks that pulsed like open wounds. Its light was dimmer now, unsteady, as if struggling to maintain its own existence.
"We can't keep using it like this," Liora said softly, her fingers tracing one of the larger fractures. "Every major battle drains it further. The bond… I can feel it fraying at the edges. If we push it again without repairing it, we risk losing everything it holds together."
