Chapter 65 — The Children of the Veil
The wind sang softly through the pines that crowned Moonshadow Ridge. It had been forty years since the night of the great transformation — when the Guardian, Mira of the Light, became one with the mountain and sealed the balance between shadow and flame.
To most, her story was legend. To others, it was faith. But to one boy standing barefoot at the river’s edge, her name was a whisper he could feel in his bones.
His name was Arin Kaelson, and though he didn’t know it yet, the blood of the Guardian flowed in his veins.
The river shimmered beneath the morning light, catching the reflection of the ridge like molten silver. The air felt strange that day — thick, humming, alive.
“Arin!” a girl’s voice called from the hill above. “You’re late again!”
