The Bridge was dying. Arin could feel it in every trembling stone, in the groans that rose like a beast trying to shake him off its back. The scream had become constant now, a pitch that tore at his skull, and yet he kept moving, because if he stopped, civilians would die.
A boy clung to his sleeve as he pushed through smoke. Arin pulled him along, thrust him toward a fleeing mother, then spun back to cover their retreat. His spear was slick with black ichor, his lungs burned with ash, and the twin sigils across his chest pulsed so brightly he was sure anyone could see the glow through his armor.
"Vale!" Dreskin's shout carried over the chaos. The captain leaned against a broken pillar, blood soaking his sleeve. "The eastern flank is gone. Pull back, damn you!"
"I cannot!" Arin shouted back. He pointed toward a cluster of villagers trapped near a collapsed arch. "They will not make it!"
Dreskin's jaw clenched, but before he could reply, a new sound cut through the cacophony. A voice. Clear, sharp, carried across the storm like a blade.
"Human."
Arin froze. His eyes snapped toward the chained figure at the far side of the fractured span. Seraphine Auriel stood, bound in radiant links, her wings folded under their weight. Her lips had moved, and though the distance was impossible, her voice reached him as if whispered in his ear.
"You carry their marks."
Arin's chest blazed in answer, silver and crimson twisting together. He staggered, spear clattering against the stones.
"What?" His voice cracked, too soft for her to hear, yet her eyes flared, as if she had.
Another quake split the Bridge. Demons lunged through the smoke, howling, chains lashing. Arin barely raised his spear in time, stabbing one through the gut, then pivoting to slash another across its neck. Black blood hissed against his boots. His arms trembled. He was not trained for this kind of fight, not against enemies that never tired.
Still, he fought. Because stopping meant death.
Behind him, the villagers screamed again. A rift had opened at their feet, widening as the Bridge crumbled. Stones fell into nothingness, dragging two men with them. Arin darted forward, slamming his spear butt against the edge to create a brace, then grabbed the nearest woman's arm. With a guttural cry, he hauled her across before the gap widened.
Another soldier appeared at his side, a freckled boy no older than Arin, eyes wide with terror. "We cannot hold this, Vale! The whole span is gone!"
"Then buy them more time!" Arin barked, shoving him toward the civilians. The boy's lip trembled, but he obeyed, helping the last family across.
Arin turned back just in time to see one of the radiant Aetherian warriors advancing through the smoke. Its wings spread, feathers blazing, its weapon raised. But it was not striking at demons. Its blade came down toward a wounded human soldier crawling for safety.
"No!" Arin surged forward. He slammed his spear against the blade, sparks flaring as mortal iron met divine steel. The shock jolted up his arms, nearly breaking his grip, but he held.
The warrior's helm turned toward him. For a moment, they locked eyes. The silver sigil in Arin's chest pulsed, and the warrior hesitated.
"You should not exist," it said, voice like crackling fire.
Arin's heart lurched. His chest seared with light. The crimson sigil blazed in answer, cutting through the silver, as if refusing to be silenced.
The warrior staggered back, flames sputtering along its blade.
Arin gasped for breath, sweat pouring down his face. His hands shook, but he raised his spear again. "Then you are going to have to get used to me."
Before the warrior could reply, another quake ripped the Bridge. Chains rattled across the span. Seraphine's voice cut through once more, urgent now.
"Human! Cut me free!"
Arin blinked at her, stunned. "I cannot even reach you!"
"You can," she said, her eyes burning with command. "The Veilshard will answer you. You must sever these bonds before the Bridge takes us both!"
Arin's breath hitched. Veilshard. He had heard the name only in hushed whispers. A shard of the Ladder's root, sealed in Aetherian vaults, forbidden even to speak of. How would she know,
Another demon lunged at him. He pivoted, driving his spear through its skull. Black ichor sprayed across the stones. He wrenched the weapon free, chest blazing with agony, mind reeling with her words.
The Veilshard.
Behind him, civilians stumbled into the last stretch of safety. Dreskin dragged the limping, freckled boy across, both covered in blood. "Vale! Fall back now!"
But Arin did not move. His eyes were locked on Seraphine.
Her chains glowed brighter, tightening around her form, pulling her to her knees once more. She grits her teeth, wings straining, and her gaze cuts into him like a command.
"You are bound as I am bound. If you leave me, the war will find you anyway. Cut me free, and maybe you live long enough to choose."
Arin's pulse thundered. The Bridge screamed louder, its voice nearly drowning his thoughts. Civilians were nearly clear. Dreskin was alive but faltering. Demons pressed harder with every moment.
And across the collapsing span, an enemy, a god, begged his aid.
The Bridge shook like a living thing caught in its death throes. Stone cracked beneath Arin's boots, gaps splitting wider as each quake ripped through the span. Smoke coiled in sheets, glowing red and silver where demonflame and skyfire clashed. The air was a battlefield of screams, steel, and shattering light.
"Vale!" Captain Dreskin's voice tore across the chaos. He staggered toward him, one arm bloody and useless. "It is over! Fall back before this whole damned span drops us into the abyss!"
Arin's breath heaved. His spear felt heavy in his hands, sweat blinding his eyes. Civilians had fled; the last few shoved past Dreskin and the terrified conscripts. Duty said he should follow them. Duty said survive.
But Seraphine Auriel still stood across the broken chasm, chained, her eyes burning into him.
"You are bound as I am bound," she called, voice carrying like a bell struck in his skull. "If you leave me, their war will hunt you until nothing remains. Cut me free, and you may yet choose your own fate."
Arin's chest blazed. The silver mark and the crimson burned against each other, fighting, twisting, as though the choice itself tore him apart. He grits his teeth, spear shaking.
"I am a soldier," he muttered. "I am not"
"You are more than a soldier." Seraphine's chains glowed brighter, pulling her wings tighter. "The Veilshard will answer only you. No Aetherian, no demon. Only a mortal who carries both."
Arin's heart lurched. He had heard whispers of the Veilshard, a weapon sealed in vaults, said to cut through worlds. He had never believed it real.
Dreskin reached him, seizing his arm. "Vale, listen to me! We are done here. You did more than anyone could ask. If you stay, you die. Move, damn you!"
Arin stared at the captain, torn. Dreskin's eyes were hard but not cruel, the eyes of a man who had seen too many orphans left in rubble. He wanted to save Arin as much as he wanted to save himself.
But Seraphine's gaze refused to let go. She strained against her radiant bonds, lips curling with pain. "Choose, human! If you walk away now, you walk into chains of your own!"
The ground convulsed. A demon burst from the smoke, chain whip lashing toward them. Arin shoved Dreskin aside and swung his spear, catching the demon across its chest. The blow sent it sprawling, but three more emerged behind it. Their eyes locked on Arin, not Dreskin.
The silver sigil blazed brighter, drawing their hunger. The crimson flared in reply, a heartbeat of rage.
Arin staggered, teeth bared in pain. "Why me?" he spat into the storm.
The Bridge screamed again. For an instant, he thought it answered.
Because you are both.
His vision blurred. He clutched his chest, gasping, as the marks writhed. Dreskin shouted something, but the words drowned in the howl of demons rushing closer. Arin stumbled back, spear raised weakly. He could not fight them all.
Then he felt it.
A hum beneath the stones. A vibration that traveled up his legs, into his chest, into the marks. He turned, eyes drawn toward a fissure near the center of the span. Amid shattered stone and firelight, something glowed. Not demon red, not Aetherian silver, but a shard of black crystal veined with molten light.
The Veilshard.
It pulsed once, and the marks in his chest pulsed back.
Seraphine's chains rattled, her voice a desperate command. "Take it! Only you can wield it! Sever me before the Bridge collapses!"
Arin's legs moved before thought caught up. He sprinted toward the shard, dodging rubble, ducking a demon's claw as it swiped at his head. He drove his spear into the creature's throat, wrenched it free, then dropped the weapon as his hands closed around the glowing crystal.
Agony seared his skin. The Veilshard burned with power that should have killed him. But the marks absorbed it, silver and crimson twisting into harmony for the first time. His vision was filled with light and shadow colliding.
Dreskin's voice echoed distantly. "Vale, leave it! That thing is cursed!"
But Arin could not let go. The Veilshard pulsed in his grip, and for the first time, he felt not like prey, but like a blade drawn from its sheath.
Demons howled. The radiant Aetherian warriors faltered, their fire dimming as if recognizing a rival. Even the Bridge's scream lowered, as though holding its breath.
Seraphine raised her head, eyes fierce. "Now, human! Cut me free!"
Arin staggered forward, clutching the shard, its edges humming in his hands. Dreskin caught his arm, face pale. "Vale, if you do this, you are not coming back. They will mark you an enemy of both realms."
Arin's chest burned with truth. Maybe Dreskin was right. Maybe he was sealing his death. But when he looked across the ruin and saw Seraphine straining against her chains, he knew death was not the worst fate. Living as a pawn was worse.
He pulled free of Dreskin's grip and raised the Veilshard. Its black light cut through the storm. The chains around Seraphine shuddered.
The demons roared louder, charging. The Aetherian warriors spread their wings, blades raised. Both sides moved at once, converging on him.
And Arin struck.
The Veilshard's edge met the first chain. The world split with a scream louder than anything yet, a scream that was not just stone but memory itself, tearing.
The Veilshard struck, and the Bridge screamed as if it had lungs. The sound was not mere noise. It was memory, it was every step ever taken on that span, every oath whispered, every plea for safe passage, ripped free and flung into the night.
Arin staggered as the chain binding Seraphine split. Light burst outward, blinding, shards of radiance tumbling into the abyss like broken stars. His arms shook, muscles tearing under the weight of the shard, but he swung again, teeth clenched.
The second chain shattered.
Seraphine cried out as her wings jolted, feathers igniting with pale fire. She pulled against the last bonds, eyes locked on him. "Do not stop!"
Arin raised the Veilshard for the third strike. Demons closed in, snarling, claws scraping across stone. An Aetherian warrior swooped low, sword burning white. Dreskin staggered forward, sword in his good hand, shouting: "Vale! Behind you!"
Arin turned just as the warrior descended. The silver mark on his chest flared, the crimson answered, and the Veilshard lashed out on instinct. Black light cleaved upward, striking the warrior mid-flight.
The figure screamed, its wings fracturing like glass. It spun into the abyss, fire trailing.
Arin gasped, nearly dropping the shard. He had not meant to kill it. His body shook with terror and exhilaration. For the first time, he had felled something divine.
The demons faltered, growling, eyes wide. Even they hesitated.
Seraphine's voice pierced through his shock. "Now, human! Finish it!"
Arin roared, swung, and the final chain snapped. The explosion of light shook the Bridge harder than any quake yet. The span buckled. Dreskin fell to one knee, clutching rubble to stay upright.
Seraphine was free.
Her wings spread wide, light cascading from them, though dimmer than before. She collapsed to one knee, panting, sweat streaking her pale face. For all her beauty and power, she looked… mortal.
Arin stumbled toward her, Veilshard humming in his grip. "What now?"
Before she could answer, the Bridge screamed again, louder than ever. Cracks raced across the stones, whole slabs plunging into the abyss. The gap between Arin and Dreskin widened. The captain's eyes met his, filled with grim certainty.
"Vale! Run!"
Arin started toward him, but Seraphine caught his arm, voice sharp. "If you try to save him, you will lose us all."
Arin froze. Dreskin was more than an officer. He was the man who had dragged orphans out of burning houses, the one who had kept conscripts alive when commanders treated them as expendable. Leaving him felt like betrayal.
The Bridge convulsed. Demons surged from the smoke, chains rattling. Aetherian warriors descended, wings aflame. The span was seconds from collapsing completely.
Dreskin's voice cut through the roar. "Vale, you are marked! If you live, make it mean something!"
Then the stones beneath him gave way.
"Captain!" Arin lunged, but Seraphine yanked him back. Dreskin vanished into the abyss with a final defiant shout, sword raised as he fell.
Arin's chest burned with grief, his marks flaring so bright it felt like his ribs would split. He staggered, choking, as Seraphine pulled him close.
"Not your death today," she whispered fiercely. Her wings flared, catching a rising current as the Bridge crumbled beneath them.
The last of the span collapsed. Screams of demons, the shrieks of skyfire, the endless cry of the Bridge itself, all fell into the void.
Arin felt the world tilt. His grip on the Veilshard tightened, its black pulse echoing his heartbeat. Seraphine held him, wings straining, as they were flung into the abyss of Nethermere.
The last thing Arin saw before darkness swallowed him was the sky above Kestral ripping open, scar after scar of fire spreading wider.
And then the Bridge was gone.