The Order Of The Veil
316 Words
They traveled for days through hidden paths only Kael seemed to know. He spoke little, answering questions with single words or silence. When she asked why he was bound to her, he only said, “An oath older than both of us.”
On the fifth night, they reached the ruins of an ancient observatory perched on a cliff. Vines choked marble columns carved with constellations. Kael pressed his palm to a stone etched with a crescent moon. The ground rumbled, and a hidden door opened into torchlit halls.
They descended into the stronghold of the Order of the Veil—an underground sanctuary where the last keepers of true magic hid from the world.
An elderly woman with silver hair and eyes like winter skies waited for them. She wore robes embroidered with stars that seemed to move when Ariyah blinked.
“Welcome home, Astralyn,” the woman said softly.
“My name is Ariyah.”
“For now,” the woman replied. “I am Seris, High Keeper. And you are the vessel of the Starheart—the promise the heavens made long ago to protect magic. You were born to restore what was broken.”
Ariyah laughed, a brittle sound. “I’m a gardener. I’ve never even held a sword.”
Seris’s smile was sad. “The greatest power often begins in quiet places.”
Kael removed his hood fully for the first time. His hair was black as midnight, his face hard and handsome in a way that made Ariyah’s breath catch despite herself. A faint scar ran through his left eyebrow.
He did not look at her as he spoke to Seris. “The Purge Hunters are closer than we thought. They felt the awakening.”
“Then we have little time,” Seris said. “Train her. Protect her. Fulfill the oath.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “Yes, Keeper.”
- Writer
