The wind howled like a wounded beast, swirling through the broken chasm surrounding the Nexus Gate. Lightning danced across the sky in spirals, striking the chains that barely held the Gate in place. Beneath it, reality frayed like unraveling thread.
And in its center stood Veylis Arath’zor—her arms raised, eyes glowing with crimson fury, tendrils of abyssal energy lashing out in rhythm with the Gate’s heartbeat.
Ethan stepped forward, his boots grinding against cracked obsidian. The Sigil on his arm pulsed in response to the Gate’s call—veins of gold and violet racing beneath his skin.
Behind him, Andriane tightened her grip on her sword. Misty clutched her notebook, though the pages fluttered violently, flipping on their own. Serena Vale stood tall, her twin daggers drawn, her expression unreadable.
“You’re too late,” Veylis called across the breach. “The Gate awakens. The Abyss has waited long enough.”
Ethan’s voice was steady. “Then we close it—together.”
Veylis laughed. The sound echoed across dimensions. “You still don’t understand, Ethan Cross. You were made for this. The Veilborn were never guardians. You’re not here to stop the Abyss. You’re here to become it.”
---
The Gate Cracks
With a roar, the Nexus Gate split down the center.
A blinding beam of pure abyssal light surged upward, piercing the Rift sky. Howling screams—ancient, inhuman—echoed from within. Massive silhouettes shifted behind the breach. Forgotten titans. Abyssal kings.
Misty screamed as visions assaulted her mind—of Earth swallowed in black flame, of oceans boiling, of her father kneeling before a throne of void.
Ethan turned sharply. “Misty!”
“I’m fine!” she gasped, tears streaking her face. “She’s trying to break me!”
“Stay with me,” he said, voice raw.
And then—Veylis moved.
---
The Clash Begins
In a blur of motion, Veylis appeared before Ethan, her obsidian-black hair trailing like smoke, her claws crackling with voidfire. She struck with impossible speed.
Ethan raised his Veilborn gauntlet—barely blocking her first attack.
The force sent him skidding across the cliff, boots carving deep grooves into the stone.
Andriane charged in, blade singing. She caught Veylis across the ribs—but the wound healed instantly, consumed by shadow.
Serena joined the fray next, weaving between strikes, her daggers carving glowing runes in the air. “She’s tethered to the Gate,” she shouted. “Until it’s severed, she can’t be killed!”
Ethan’s chains lashed out—Veylis dodged, teleporting mid-swing and driving her palm into his chest.
Pain exploded through him.
---
The Inner Fracture
Ethan staggered. The Sigil pulsed again—hotter, more frantic. Inside his head, he heard a voice—not Veylis’s, not Serena’s.
Aegir.
“You’ve come far… but you still hold back.”
He saw himself—broken, on his knees. He saw his children burning. The Earth collapsing.
And in the center of it all—Veylis, whispering, smiling.
“What are you afraid of?”
Ethan’s hands trembled.
He roared.
The Sigil flared so brightly it blinded everyone nearby.
Time fractured.
---
Unleashing the Next Form
In that heartbeat, Ethan vanished from view.
He reappeared mid-air—his body glowing, laced in radiant energy. His form had shifted—more refined, not monstrous but regal, pulsing with raw Veilborn essence. New armor etched with ancient script formed around him, flowing like living steel.
The Tether Chains ignited into whips of flame and starlight. His gauntlet extended into a clawed lance. Veins of shadowlight streaked his face.
Veylis recoiled. “So... you’ve accepted more.”
Ethan’s voice echoed like thunder. “I’ve accepted who I am. But I won’t be your weapon.”
He lunged.
The battlefield shattered under the weight of their collision.
---
Chaos and Light
They fought like demigods.
Chains slammed into Veylis’s defenses, breaking her glyphs apart. She responded with spikes of darkness, trying to corrupt his body mid-motion—but Ethan phased around them, now mastering his Time Fracture ability in split-second bursts.
Serena and Andriane struck from the flanks. Misty, trembling, began drawing again—sigils that flickered into life around the Gate, weakening its tether.
“Keep going, Misty!” Serena shouted. “You’re the key!”
And then—Veylis screamed.
A wound—real this time—bloomed across her side.
She staggered.
“You…” she hissed. “You’ve bonded to the Gate.”
Ethan’s Sigil flared once more. “No. I’ve bonded to the truth.”
---
To be continued..
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when i sleep : The Nocturnal hunter (book 1)
Science FictionWhen Ethan Cross closes his eyes, the nightmare begins. He wakes up covered in blood-his own, or someone else's. His body is changing, instincts sharpening, something ancient stirring beneath his skin. Each night, he hunts. Each morning, he question...
