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??Nothing is as it Seems

Ember

The creature lunged, fast, jagged, and impossible.

Its limbs twisted in directions that made my stomach turn. The air around it warped, like it wasn’t fully tethered to this world. Like it’s still slipping through the Veil.

But its hunger was here. Fully present. Focused entirely on me.

Watcher.

That word still echoed in my skull, like it branded itself there the second it spoke.

I didn’t think. I reacted.

I hurled a pulse of magic from my palm, white hot, a surge I didn’t know I could summon. It slammed into the creature and sent it flying into the far wall. Stone cracked. Dust exploded.

But it didn’t fall. It laughed.

The sound was wrong. Wet. Hollow. Like it didn’t come from lungs, but from something behind the wall of the world .

Dorian was already moving. His power coiled around him like living smoke. His eyes blazed. He lifted his hand, and a glyph ignited beneath the creature’s feet.

The ground opened in a flash of runes and light, swallowing it halfway before it clawed free, shrieking.

“I’m going to tear your heart out,” Dorian growled, “and gift it to the Veil as a warning.”

But the creature, still smiling, cocked its head. “Too late . The door has already begun to open.”

“Then I’ll burn the hinges,” he snarled.

It lunged again.

I leaped forward, magic flaring between my fingers. I screamed a binding phrase in an ancient tongue I didn’t remember learning, but the spell knew me, and it obeyed.

Chains of light lashed around the creature’s limbs. It hissed. Fought. Began to unravel itself just to escape.

“Dorian!” I yelled. “Hit it… NOW!”

He did.

His magic collided with mine mid-air, fusing like lightning crashing through oil. The explosion sent the creature into the ceiling with a blast that cracked every window in the house.

And still… It got up.

Blood leaked from its mouth. If you could call that thick black ooze blood.

It pointed at me. Smiling. “You are the key,” it said. “And he is the lock.”

My heart stuttered.

“Who?” I demanded.

Its head tilted, eyes flickering between us. “You already know.”

And then it said the name I’d been avoiding. The name that made the back of my neck go cold.

“Kreed . ”

The creature gurgled a laugh. “But he isn’t the one you should fear the most. No, no, no. Not the traitor cloaked in riddles.” Its body convulsed, flickering like flame in wind. It leaned closer. Eyes glowing green. “The one wearing Cassian’s skin ... He’s the true herald.”

Everything in me went still.

“What did you say?”

Dorian’s entire body locked.

The creature grinned wider, its teeth doubling, tripling. “Cassian died weeks ago. A demon ripped out his soul and slipped into the hollow he left behind. You dine with the dead and don’t even taste the rot.”

“No…” I whispered.

“You think he came to warn you? Came to help?” It cackled. “He came to open the Veil . Because what waits beyond it... Feeds on things like you.”

Dorian lunged.

He drove a spear of pure magic straight through the creature’s heart.

It screamed.

Not in pain, but in rage.

“You are too late, Watcher of the Veil ,” it choked. “It is cracking, and the key is already turning . ”

I summoned everything I had, my fear, my fury, my bond, and poured it into my hands. The spell that formed came from instinct, not knowledge. But it burned with truth.

Light and shadow spiraled into my chest, down my arms, and out through my palms. The energy slammed into the creature like a divine hammer.

It shattered.

Not just its body, but its existence. Gone in a flash of howling, blinding, soul-deep rupture.

Silence.

Smoke. Magic. Sweat.

I collapsed to my knees.

Dorian’s there in an instant, pulling me into his arms, cradling my face like I might vanish.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, voice tight.

I shook my head. “No. But we’re not ready for what’s coming.”

“No,” he agreed, holding me tighter. “But we will be.”

The runes on the walls still flickered faintly. And I knew, we’d drawn attention now. Whatever’s watching beyond the Veil?

It knew I was awake.

And it knew I wasn’t alone .