The cracked mask lay suspended in the center of the room, impossible to ignore, glowing with a soft, sickly violet aura.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Kai's grip on Lina's hand was iron-tight — not protective, but desperate.
As if he feared she might vanish.
Lina squeezed back gently.
He didn't loosen his hold.
Reyon paced a few steps, eyes darting between the mask and the sealed door behind them.
"Okay," he muttered shakily. "Someone say something. Literally ANYTHING. This silence is killing me."
But Seren wasn't listening.
She stared at the mask, eyes unfocused, whispers swirling around her like dark smoke.
"Kai…" she whispered. "It's speaking."
Kai snapped his attention to her. "What do you hear?"
Seren's voice trembled.
"The Veilbound.They're chanting.Something about a ritual.Something about… shadows wearing faces."
Reyon froze. "Shadows mimic people. And we're trapped in here with a traitor twist plot. Nope. Nope. I refuse."
Lina stepped closer to Seren.
"Seren… what exactly are they saying?"
Seren swallowed.
"'One among them is chosen.One among them is bound.One will betray without knowing.'"
Lina's heart dropped.
Kai stiffened. "…Without knowing?"
Seren nodded, terrified.
"The traitor might not even be aware."
Reyon threw his hands up. "Fantastic! So we're not just paranoid. Now we get to be paranoid AND confused."
But Lina wasn't listening.
Her flame flickered sharply.
A warning.
Her breath caught.
"Kai…" she whispered. "Someone else is here."
Reyon immediately drew an illusion-blade. "Where?!"
Kai pulled Lina behind him, eyes sharp, scanning the room."There's only one door. No one got past us."
Lina shook her head violently.
"No. Not physically.My flame feels someone.A resonance.A presence."
Seren gasped again.
"I hear it too.Footsteps.But… not from the ground."
The ceiling lantern flickered.
Reyon looked up — and swallowed loudly.
"Oh no. Oh no, NO—"
A shadow hung upside-down from the ceiling.Not shaped like any of them.Not shaped like anything human.
It dripped darkness like liquid.
The mask pulsed.
The shadow dropped toward the floor—
—but vanished an inch before touching it.
Reyon nearly fainted. "Nope. I'm done. Goodnight everyone."
Lina felt cold creep up her spine.
"What was that?"
Seren whispered:
"A mimic in transition.Something trying to take a shape."
Kai pulled Lina closer. "Whose shape?!"
Seren shut her eyes tightly.
"I don't know. I can't see. But… it wasn't finished. It doesn't have enough… essence yet."
Reyon muttered, "Essence? What kind of monster needs essence?!"
Seren opened her eyes slowly.
"The kind that becomes you."
Lina's breath hitched.
Kai's entire posture turned predatory.
"No one — NO ONE — touches her essence."
Lina felt his fear.His protectiveness.His absolute refusal to let her be harmed.
But her flame…reacted strangely.
As if confused.
As if it sensed two of something.
Two flames.
Lina jolted.
"Kai…"Her voice shook."I feel… another me."
Kai froze.
Reyon spun.
Seren gasped.
"What do you mean?" Kai asked quickly, grabbing her shoulders.
Lina shook her head, panicked."I don't know.But the Veilbound mask—it's picking up on my flame.There's… another echo.But it feels wrong.Twisted."
Reyon cursed. "A fake Lina? Are you kidding me?!"
Seren's eyes widened."That's what the chant means.'One will betray without knowing.'The Veilbound can mimic people… but only partially.Only by draining their resonance.And if they drain enough—"
Reyon finished for her.
"—they can copy someone PERFECTLY."
Kai's jaw clenched so hard Lina thought he might crack his teeth.
"Over my dead body," he growled.
But the mask glowed brighter now.
The final whisper echoed:
"The traitor is chosen.And the traitor is close."
Lina's flame pulsed violently — a warning.
A sharp, sudden, painful warning.
She clutched her wrist, gasping.
Kai grabbed her immediately. "Lina! What's wrong?"
Her flame burned her from the inside — not like danger—
—but like recognition.
As if it had found something.
Someone.
Her voice shook.
"It's reacting to… to one of us…"
Reyon stepped back quickly. "NOT ME— I swear on every loaf of bread I've ever eaten—"
Seren trembled. "I-I haven't done anything— I couldn't—"
Kai looked at Lina.
"Who?" he whispered.His voice broke on that single word.
Lina stared at her shaking flame-hand.
And her breath stopped.
Not from fear.
From horror.
Because her flame wasn't reacting to Reyon.
Or Seren.
It reacted—
to Kai.
She staggered backward.
Kai froze. "Lina…?"
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"My flame…is warning me…about you."
Kai's expression shattered.
Reyon cursed.Seren clutched her head.
Lina staggered another step back, tear-filled eyes locked on Kai's.
"Kai… why is my flame reacting to you?"
Kai's eyes darkened—Not with Shadowsteel.
With heartbreak.
"I don't know."
But the mask whispered:
"The traitor is the one she trusts most."
Kai's shoulders tensed.
Lina stopped breathing.
Reyon whispered into the silent room:
"…Oh, hell."
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.