It moved through me, resonant and deep, bending my breath to its rhythm. My vision blurred. Light fractured behind my eyelids, shattering like glass under water. My pulse faltered, panicked, spiralled out of sync.
“Please,” I gasped as I struggled against the hold.
A hand breached the Veil, long fingers, pale as bone. Gold embroidery shimmered at the cuff. I looked up and silver eyes met mine.
The Veil struck.
Light flared, it hurled him backward. He hit the earth hard, a harsh breath escaping clenched teeth. Smoke twirled from his wrist. His skin was scorched where the Veil had lashed out.
He rose and dusted soot from his sleeve calmly, as if it had never happened.
His gaze dropped to his wrist, then lifted to mine.
Wordlessly, he reached into the Veil again. His fingers twitched just once before steadying. This time, his hand locked around my wrist. In a single, swift motion, he pulled me free.
The Veil unravelled from my body like a living thing, reluctant to release me. I hit the ground hard, my knees slamming into damp earth.
2
The air pressed close, dank and cloying, thick with a scent I couldn’t name. I gasped for breath, the remnants of the Veil vibrated beneath my skin, twisting inside my bones. An echo that hadn’t quite faded.
Mireth’s arms cinched around my waist. Her fingers dug in like she thought the earth might open and take me again.
“Mama!” Her voicetrembled with relief as she clung to me, Eryx tucked between us, his tiny fingers fisting my tunic. I buried my face in their hair and inhaled their warmth, their scent.
But a man stood over us.
Instinct roared to life. I moved fast, grabbed my blade from my belt and pushed to my feet. I stood between him and my children.
He towered over us with a stillness that made my skin crawl.
Not loud. Not showy. But the space bent around him.
There was youth in his face, an illusion of his early thirties. But it was not the kind that belonged to mortals. It was timeless. Untouched.
Long ashen hair framed eyes with irises of liquid silver and a face that wasalmost too perfect, except for the scar, a single brutal line across his cheekbone. As if someone had tried to carve the beauty from him.
And then I saw his wings. Folded neatly behind him, the dim light skimmed the feathers where hints of gold shimmered faintly. Silent and immense, they radiated strength.
His face gave nothing away. His silence gave even less.
I gripped my blade. Everything in me screamed to attack, but he hadn’t moved. Hadn’t struck. Just watched.
His wrist smoked faintly at his side.
I forced my hands steady and levelled my dagger between us. “Stay back.”
“I would worry less about me,” he said, low and smooth, “and more about what lurks in these woods, human.”
The smirk that followed made my dagger feel like a twig in a hurricane. “I have no interest in killing you.”
I let out abitter laugh, my pulse pounding. “You expect me to believe that?”
“If I wanted you dead, I would’ve left you in the Veil.”
Mireth slipped past me, her steps cautious but unafraid.
“Are you… a hero?” Her eyes shone as she stared up at him. “Like Fenric the Fierce?” She named the hero from tales I’d read them a hundred times, a mythical warrior with wings and strength beyond mortal limits.
