Page 99 of Unveiled

“Hello?” he whispered into the void.

Nothing answered.

The stone beneath his feet pulsed with faint lines of blue. Veins of light, not unlike the valley’s but older, deeper. He stepped forward, and the veins brightened.

Adrian.

He spun. Behind him stood a silhouette, tall, robed in midnight, its edges rippling like smoke. No face. No shape. Only a void.

Adrian stepped forward. “Why don’t you leave me alone? Why do you want me so badly?”

You can’t flee what you are.

“I’m not yours,” Adrian hissed. “I’m not marked to serve you.”

You are the Marked One. And a Valour. And you belong to us.

The voice echoed across light and water, shaking his bones. Adrian fell to his knees, clutching his chest as the mark burned like fire.

The void creature leaned in. Your Veilwarden cannot follow you here.

Adrian’s laugh was strangled, pained. “Clearly you don’t know the man.”

The air behind him shattered, and another voice, rough and furious, tore the dream open.

“Adrian.”

Connor hit the ground beside him, his body skidding across stone, his hands slamming down to catch Adrian before he toppled sideways.

Adrian stared at him, breathless, disbelieving. “Connor. How did you—?”

“I held on,” Connor growled. “You think I’d let you go wandering through nightmare realms without me?”

Adrian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The void-creature tilted its head. You should not be here.

Connor rose slowly, shielding Adrian with his body. “Tough shit.”

The creature rippled. Your presence violates the Rift.

Connor’s growl rumbled through the plane. “Your existence violates my patience.”

Adrian, even half out of it, managed a strangled laugh. “Connor, that may not be wise.”

“I’m not here to be wise,” Connor said. “I’m here to take you home.”

The void-creature moved without moving. Sudden and towering, it expanded like a shadow cast by a growing fire.

Balance needs redress.

Connor stepped forward. “No,” he said softly. “Like I said before, balance can go to hell.”

The ground shook. The veins of light throbbed. The creature struck. A wave of shadow aimed straight for Adrian. Connor lunged, his arms locking around Adrian’s waist, pulling him into his chest as the darkness slammed into them.

Adrian cried out and Connor roared, his body pushing out an aura of purple light .

And the bond snapped.