~Cleo ~
I feltit the moment the ship crossed into the island’s waters. The dark magic that surrounded The Spire, and the Rift concealed within, was like ice cold water splashing over me from head to toe. The cold seeped into my bones, a chill from which there would be no escape. The darkness of the Void, the break between worlds. The place Devin had given his entire life to protect and defend.
The air thickened around us as the ship dropped anchor in deeper water, away from the rocky cliffs, and Devin helped me into one of the small boats the crew used to go to shore. Magic pressed against my skin, cold and electric, like a storm held tight in the palm of a god. The sea darkened—not with shadow, but withdepth, as if it knew what waited beneath the cliffs.
Something ancient. Something dangerous. Something calling to me. Not in a voice. Not in words. Just a pull. A whisper at the edge of my mind. A longing that wasn’t mine.
I wrapped my arms around myself and stepped to the railing as the island loomed into view.
It was wild. Jagged cliffs rose high above the waves, streaked with white where seabirds circled. The shore was a mosaic of black stone and green moss, dotted with flowering bushes and twisted trees clinging to the rocks like ghosts. Beyond the coast, a narrow valley stretched inland, fertile and strange, dotted with orchards, thatched cottages, and pale smoke curling into the sky.
And at the heart of it all—rising like the spine of the world—was The Spire.
My breath caught. It wasn’t just a building. It was a monument. A warning. A monolith of obsidian and iron-veined stone rising high into the clouds, crowned with ancient spires and wardstones that pulsed faintly with magical light. It didn’t shimmer. It didn’t gleam.
Itthrobbed.Like a living thing. Like a heartbeat. Its blood ice cold. Its pulse sluggish and dissonant, not of this world, as least not fully. It was beautiful. Terrible.
I took a step back. I couldfeelwhat lay inside. A rift. The Rift. The Veil—torn, poisoned, open. Devin was wrong. The Veil wasn’t thinning. It was open. Not wide. Not yet. But the wound was real. And the darkness inside it was hungry.
It scraped against my soul.
“Breathe,” Devin said behind me, his hand sliding to my lower back. “It won’t hurt you.”
I leaned into him, letting his warmth push back the chill crawling over my skin.
“You live here?” The thought was abhorrent. Horrifying. No wonder Death Mages had a reputation for being sullen, grumpy, frightening murderers.
He nodded, a small grin adding a bit of warmth back to my soul. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
I looked at him. It was worse. “You are tied to it, aren’t you? Your magic feeds it?”
“My blood helps power the runes.” He was paler than usual, his power already curling tighter around his bones. The closer he got to the Veil, the more itwantedhim.
“It wants to kill you.”
“I know.” He smiled as if that fact was of no great concern, the tilt of his lips both crooked and fierce, and I couldn’t help smiling back.
“You’re insane.”
He wrapped his arm around me. “I thought that was why you liked me.”
“Who said I liked you?” I loved him. But I wasn’t about to tell him that. Not yet.
We disembarked from the small rowboat, stepped into a small port village nestled between the cliffs and the orchard-lined hills. It was busy—markets open, vendors calling out wares, children laughing as they chased each other through the muddy streets.
And everywhere I looked—Death Mages walked among them. And no one screamed. No one ran. In fact… theysmiled. Laughed. A stooped old man waved at one mage in heavy robes. A woman with a baby on her hip handed another a bunch of herbs and bowed her head. Two children darted between Devin’s legs, giggling, before running off without so much as a backward glance.
“They… like you,” I said.
Devin nodded. “You’re surprised?”
“All of Lunaterra is terrified of the Death Mages, and the Necromancers. The Void. Dark magic.”
Devin laughed. “We like it that way.” He kissed me, a promise for later. “They respect us. They know what we protect. They’ve seen the Tower bleed magic when the Veil shakes. They’ve watched the sky split during eclipses. They live with us. In our shadow. We protect them. They provide for those that live in TheSpire. Theychoseto stay. To help us. They are our people. Our families. Friends. Generations of people who understand what’s at stake and what will happen to the world if the Void opens, the seals break.”
I stared at a young girl handing a sugarfruit to a Death Mage with glowing purple eyes.
She hugged him.
