The break of dawn had hardly passed when Otoku stood on the Watcher's Spire, looking out into the horizon where the Rift's ember-trail had once glowed. Now, there were only whispers in the wind—a leftover of lost echoes that still haunted the fringes of perception.
To his side, there was Arthelia, quiet but powerful. Unveiled and shining, her silver eyes roved the far mountains, where ash-smudged summits concealed truths under veils of frost and shadow. Fingers drawing subtle patterns in the air, her marked paths Otoku hardly knew.
"It's not over," she whispered at last, her voice a distant bell.
Otoku's face puzzled. "We closed the Rift. Broke the cycle. What else is there?"
Arthelia's blindfold streamed behind her like a flag, its loose knot swaying with the wind. "The Rift was only the guardian," she breathed. "The real veil lies deeper.and it's beginning to crack."
Otoku's eyes flashed with intensity. "You mean.another Realm?"
She nodded cautiously. "Fractured. Bound in darkness. The Ashen Veil is merely a strand of the tapestry."
Otoku looked again toward the horizon, fists knotting at his waist. "Then we unpick it."
I. Shadows of the North
By evening, the Vanguard had all congregated within the Hall of Convergence—a cavernous hall with crystalline runes set upon the walls, their light throbbing as if with an antiquity as great as the Academy itself. Maps were spread over the stone desk, inscribed with forgotten courses. The far north was picked out with perils: crimson dots for Fractures—points where reality itself had commenced bleeding.
Iseri leaned forward over the table, fingers drumming a serrated line close to the Frostmarch. "Scouts saw flashes of shadow. Phantoms in the mist."
Korrin adjusted his leather bracers, his eyes narrowing. "Ghosts?"
"Worse," Arthelia said. "Remnants. Shards of beings from beyond the Veil."
Otoku laid a hand over the mark, the Codex humming softly at his side. "We face them."
Noctis wrapped himself around his shoulders, wings spreading wide. "Confront or devour?" the familiar asked, purring, violet eyes twinkling with wickedness.
Otoku grinned. "Both."
II. The Veil's First Test
Their journey led them north, through the Wailing Wastes and into the very center of Frostmarch. Sheets of snow fell, blinding and biting, but Otoku sensed the call—an echo in his bones. The Codex became heavier with every step, as if attracted to something long forgotten and unsettled.
They topped a hill and saw it: a Fracture, jagged and glinting like shattered glass. Shadows poured from its borders, curling and uncurling with half-remembered lives.
Iseri drew her crossbow, bolts vibrating with frost power. "Orders?"
Otoku's eyes blazed with void-light. "We seal it."
Korrin advanced, deploying his void-null wards around the perimeter. "I can hold it.but not for long."
Arthelia fell in beside him, tracing sigils in the air, her breath misting in the cold. "I'll hold the veil."
Otoku moved to the brink, fingers touching the broken energy. A sigh slipped past his mind—old and speaking of lost worlds. He calmed his breathing and started the incantation:
"By light unbound and shadow's grace, I call the Veil to seal its trace."
The Fracture hissed, shadows recoiling back, screaming against the binding power. His palms radiated void-light, and for one heartbeat, Otoku saw what lay beyond: a kingdom of shattered spires, its sky ablaze with extinguishing stars.
Then it vanished, the Fracture closed, with only silence and frost remaining.
III. Paths Diverging
They came back to the Academy beneath a twilight sky, hearts weighed with new resolve. Otoku stood before the Vanguard, eyes burning. "The Fractures are expanding. The Ashen Veil was just the start. If we are to survive.we must decipher the secrets of the Fractured Realm."
Arthelia walked forward, her hand on his shoulder. "Then we tread the shadowed way together."
Otoku's eyes locked with hers and nodded. "Together."
Thus, the Unbound Veil was followed by the whispers of the Fractured Realm, one that would revolutionize Ashveil's future.
Chapter 35 Ends.
Volume 4 – Fractured Realms has officially begun. The rumors of old kingdoms and realms hidden in darkness beckon. Make ready for the unveiling.