Veilbound

CH 05: The One Who Walks Between

Sky’s POV

“You’re scaring me, Sam.”

I had never seen him like this before.

He stood barefoot on my floor, barely stable, like gravity was suddenly heavier on him. The freckles on his face had dulled, and his usual playful glint—gone.

“They’re here,” he whispered, almost to himself. “They crossed the Veil.”

I stepped closer. “Who crossed?”

He looked up at me, eyes shimmering faintly gold. “The Oathbound. The ones who make sure the cursed don’t… forget.”

“Forget what?”

Sam didn’t answer.

Later that morning, I skipped class. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was… coming. I kept glancing over my shoulder, checking corners, staring out the window like the trees might suddenly catch fire.

And then, just past noon, it happened.

A loud c***k echoed across my room—like a spark of thunder with no storm to explain it.

I turned.

There was someone standing in my room.

No door opened. No window creaked.

She was just there.

A woman—tall, pale as winter, hair braided with golden thread and frost-touched flowers. Her eyes shimmered like blue flame. Her cloak flickered between fabric and starlight.

I opened my mouth to scream—she raised a hand.

Silence.

Literally.

I could still move. But no sound came out.

She spoke—not with her mouth, but in my mind, just like in the dream.

“You saw him, didn’t you?”

“The masked seer.”

“You are waking too early.”

My heartbeat thundered in my chest.

“The boy is not the only one marked. You, too, carry the old flame.”

She stepped forward, kneeling to look me in the eyes. Her expression was unreadable—equal parts sorrow and awe.

“You were hidden well… but the realm calls to its own.”

Suddenly, the back of my hand began to burn. I flinched.

A symbol etched itself in golden fire across my skin—glowing for just a moment before vanishing.

She stood again, her voice a whisper behind my ribs.

“When the moons align again, they will come for you both.”

“Run. Or remember.”

And just like that—she was gone.

Sam’s POV

I jolted awake just before sunset, my head pounding with pressure like I’d been underwater all day.

Something changed.

I could feel it in the air. Like Elarion itself had touched this room.

And Sky…

Sky was sitting on the floor, hand clutched to his chest, breathing hard.

“Sky?”

He looked up at me. His eyes wide. Wild.

“She came.”