“How are you alive?”
Again, nothing.
Coincidence then.
While I’ve encountered wilder things than a sentient or speaking raven, I’m not of the capacity to handle such a thing right now.
It leaps, startling me, and in a low swoop, it flies into thebedroom, out of sight. Ice cold water pours over the side of the tub as I turn, soaking the tile. Scrambling from the tub, I snag a towel as I rush out of the bathing room.
“Oraphia—” I stop short, wrapping the towel around my dripping body.
The bedroom proper is empty.
She’s nowhere to be found.
The raven’s cry rings through the room, drawing my attention toward the balcony. Through the doors, it stares at me, perched upon the railing.
“What in the nine hells are you?” I ask, stepping into the cool afternoon air.
Again, it doesn’t answer.
And the strange quiet of the city grows evident.
Usually there’s sound—the river, distant voices, laughter, bells tolling.
Stranger still, the north lawn lies empty. Eve and Cyran nowhere in sight. They couldn’t have finished their sparring already, could they?
The cold, wet stone beneath my feet reminds me I am in fact,not dreaming. The raven continues to stare, shifting its weight as I approach. Both wariness and curiosity gleam in its eye.
I’m sure we share the same stare—the same state of mind.
It doesn’tfeelorlooklike a call creature.
There’s no sign of decaying flesh, no hint of necromancy crawling over my skin. It doesn’t look haggard or tired. Nor is it sluggish—it took flight with ease.
As I draw close, it warbles again and I halt in my step, taking it as a warning. It swings its beak up, peering overhead, and, curious, I follow its gaze.
The sky, while darkened with emptied rainclouds, isn’t what it should be. Jagged streaks of dark gray tear through the clouds as if claws were dragged through fabric. Within the dark, hundreds of glowing orbs drift and float.
Silver, blue, red…
Souls.
My eyes grow wide.
The veil.
This is the veil.
My stomach falls into the pits of the hells and my racing mind along with it.
The veil wasn’t simplyweakened.
How in the gods’ names has Vaelyn let—
The tiniest vibration in my chest halts me faster and harder than a sudden wall. My thoughts stop, my breathing stops, and I wait.
It couldn’t be.
