The air in Vejis's private nook, deep within the Veil-Touched caverns, was colder than the surrounding tunnels. Not the damp chill of earth, but a sharp, dry cold that bit at the skin. Vejis moved like a shadow disturbed, snatching items from rough-hewn shelves and stuffing them into a worn leather satchel. His usual sardonic calm was replaced by a focused urgency.
His fingers closed around a book. It wasn't like the Godclimb; its cover was dark, unadorned stone, its pages thick and fibrous, etched with jagged, angular symbols that seemed to writhe slightly under the glow of a solitary, blue-glowing fungus lamp. Symbols found after the Veil cracked, whispers of power that didn't play by the old divine rules. He shoved it into the satchel. Next, a heavy fountain pen, its nib gleaming silver. Without hesitation, he pricked his thumb with the sharp point, a bead of dark blood welling. He carefully filled the pen's reservoir, the viscous liquid catching the eerie light. This too went into the satchel.
He paused, head tilted as if listening to something beyond the rock. A grimace flickered across his ashen face. "Trouble knocking," he muttered to the empty air. He didn't head for the tunnel entrance. Instead, he walked straight towards the solid cavern wall. Where his body met the stone, there was no impact. The rock seemed to ripple like dark water, swallowing him whole. One moment he was there, the next, gone.
On the surface, the alley where Lira had opened the path was shrouded in the deep gloom just before true dawn. The air hung heavy, thick with the scent of ash and something else – ozone and deep, unnatural cold. The grey-coated figure stood motionless before the seemingly solid wall, his blurred features turned towards the earth below. The dark aura around him pulsed.
A ripple spread across the wall's surface. Like ink dispersing in water, the stone parted, and Vejis stepped out, adjusting his coat as if he'd merely walked through a curtain. He offered a thin, humourless smile to the startled figure.
"Hi," Vejis said, his voice flat. "You looking for me?"
The figure recoiled slightly, the blur over its features shimmering with surprise. "Vejis?" The voice that emerged was unexpectedly clear, female, and laced with disbelief. "It's just you?" The blur solidified momentarily, revealing Lira's sharp, tense face before shifting back into obscurity.
Vejis shrugged. "Disappointed? Expecting the Thrice-Drowned King himself?"
Lira ignored the jab. Her posture radiated urgency. "Vejis, those siblings you just let in. Kael and Aria." She took a step closer, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "They're being hunted. Actively. Not just Church patrols. The Heretic Hunter."
Vejis didn't flinch. He examined his nails, feigning boredom, but his eyes were sharp, calculating. "Yes. I know."
"You know?" Lira hissed, incredulous. "And you brought them here? Straight to our doorstep? The Hunter will tear this place apart looking for them! He won't care who gets caught in the net!"
"Probably," Vejis agreed calmly. He finally looked at her, his galaxy-pool eyes glinting. "But they're interesting. Especially the boy. Even if they cause this whole rat's nest to collapse... he has something. He'd burn the world for that girl. Rip out his own heart. That kind of raw, stupid devotion..." A flicker of something almost like respect touched his lips. "That's the essence. The spark that makes true Ascenders. He's destined for... something. Greatness. Or a spectacularly messy end. Either way, fascinating."
Lira stared at him, a mix of fury and confusion warring on her obscured features. "Destined? Fascinating? Vejis, people will die! This isn't one of your nihilistic experiments!"
Before she could say more, a new voice shattered the tense quiet, booming with zealous fury.
"BY THE WILL OF HIGH INQUISITOR VARETH AND THE SEVEN CHURCHES! BLASPHEMERS! YOU SHALL BE HUNTED!"
A man stepped into the mouth of the alley, blocking the weak dawn light. He wore robes of deep, arterial red, the hood thrown back to reveal a face twisted with fanatical rage. A Judicator, but not just any – the crimson robes marked him as a Heretic Hunter, the Church's most feared purgers. In his hand, he held a large, translucent orb filled with swirling, gelatinous crimson liquid.
The Hunter didn't hesitate. He raised his free hand, fingers weaving complex, sharp gestures – symbols of binding, of divine authority over the world's fabric. He chanted, his voice grating: "By the Spire's decree, gravity kneels!" The gelatinous substance within the orb pulsed, then slowly, unnaturally, began to levitate, pulling free of its container. It hovered, a grotesque, quivering sphere of blood-tinged jelly, radiating a sickening pressure that made the very stones beneath their feet seem lighter.
Vejis sighed, a sound of profound irritation. "Nice trick," he drawled, his voice cutting through the Hunter's fervour. "Bit flashy for this hour, though." He didn't reach for a weapon. Instead, he pulled out the stone-bound book and the blood-filled pen.
As the Hunter snarled, preparing to hurl the levitating mass, Vejis began to speak. Not in Common, but in the guttural, resonant tones of Thalassian, the words seeming to vibrate the cold air itself: "Nul'Ghala Vorr!" Void defies flesh. His free hand wove through the air, not sharp like the Hunter's, but fluid, almost beautiful, tracing patterns that seemed to siphon the warmth from the world.
A wave of intense, bone-deep cold exploded outwards from Vejis. Frost crackled across the alley walls, racing towards the Hunter. The gelatinous sphere froze solid mid-air with a sharp crack, then shattered, raining crimson ice shards onto the cobbles. The Hunter gasped, his breath pluming thickly in the sudden, unnatural freeze. He looked down at his hands. His skin was turning grey, then white, veins standing out like black ice under marble. He tried to speak, to curse, but only a choked rattle emerged. His eyes, wide with terror, locked onto Vejis.
Vejis ignored him. He flipped open the stone book with one hand, uncapped the blood-pen with his teeth, and swiftly inscribed a jagged Thalassian glyph onto the open page. The symbol seemed to drink the light. The cold intensified, focusing on the Hunter like a physical force.
The Heretic Hunter shuddered violently. A crackling sound emanated from his body as his frozen veins began to fracture beneath his skin. His mouth opened in a silent scream. Then, like a statue made of ash, he crumbled. Not into blood and bone, but into fine, grey dust that scattered across the frost-rimed stones, leaving only the empty red robes pooling on the ground.
The terrible cold receded as quickly as it came. Vejis capped his pen, tucked the book away, and scanned the rooftops. "We should go," he said, his voice flat again. "The noise attracts flies. More will come." He gestured towards the wall he'd emerged from. "After you... Arin."
Lira – Arin – stared at the pile of dust and robes, her hidden face pale even beneath the blurring effect. She didn't argue this time. With a final, haunted glance down the alley, she stepped towards the wall. Like Vejis, she passed through it as if it were mist. Vejis followed, and the stone flowed solid behind them, leaving the alley cold, silent, and marked only by red cloth and grey ash.
Back in the relative warmth of the tunnel leading to his cave, the silence stretched. Vejis walked slightly ahead, his usual detached demeanour seeming brittle. Arin walked behind him, the blur around her features gone, revealing Lira's face, now etched with concern and a deep sadness.
"Vejis," she said softly, her voice echoing slightly in the confined space.
He didn't turn. "I know why you're here, Arin," he said, his voice low, lacking its usual bite. "Out of the blue, after all this time? It's him, isn't it? What does he wish for? Another impossible task? Another memory burned to fuel his games?" There was a bitter edge now.
Arin stopped walking. Vejis took a few more steps before halting and slowly turning to face her. The light from the glowing fungi on the tunnel walls cast deep shadows on his face.
"Vejis," Arin repeated, her voice gentle but firm. "He's... he's gone. He died. Years ago. During the Cleansing of Veridia's Reach. I... I thought you knew? The news spread..."
Vejis stood perfectly still. The galaxy-swirl in his eyes seemed to slow, then stop, becoming just dark, depthless pools. He didn't speak. He didn't move. His gaze wasn't on Arin, but fixed on a point somewhere beyond the tunnel roof, through miles of rock and earth, into some distant, empty place. The silence pressed in, thick and suffocating.
Finally, he blinked. A slow, deliberate movement. When he spoke, his voice was rough, scraped raw. "I... didn't mean to offend." It sounded hollow, an automatic response devoid of its usual sarcasm.
Arin stepped forward, placing a tentative hand on his arm. "Offend? Vejis, no. Never. The past... it's gone. Buried. Only the future remains now." She offered a small, sad smile. "And right now, it involves keeping your interesting new guests alive long enough to see what destiny you've dumped on them."
Vejis looked down at her hand, then slowly back up at her face. The profound emptiness in his eyes receded, replaced by a weary, familiar cynicism, though it seemed thinner than before. He managed a faint, crooked smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Point taken. Lead on, Arin. My cave's warmer than this drafty corridor."
They walked the rest of the way in a companionable silence, the shared weight of grief and years momentarily bridging the gap between the nihilistic alchemist and the branded rebel. It was the quiet understanding of old friends who knew the shape of each other's scars.
Deep in the warren of the Veil-Touched refuge, Kael carefully adjusted the clean bandage over the fissure on Aria's collarbone. The unnatural blue ice Vejis had conjured still held, but the skin around it looked pale and fragile. Aria sat on a thin pallet, her form only flickering slightly at the edges now, exhaustion anchoring her.
"How is it?" Kael asked, his voice low in the quiet of their small, curtained-off alcove. The hum of the underground settlement was a distant murmur.
Aria touched the bandage lightly. "It's... fine. Numb. But not spreading." She looked up at him, her eyes tired but clear. "And Kael... thanks." The gratitude wasn't just for the bandage; it was for the cellar, for the fights, for being there when the world crumbled.
Kael nodded, a tightness in his chest easing slightly. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow... Vejis." The name hung between them, heavy with unknowns.
Aria lay down, pulling a thin blanket over herself. "Tomorrow," she echoed, closing her eyes. "Be careful."
Kael settled onto his own pallet nearby, leaning back against the cool stone wall. He watched the slow pulse of light from a tiny fungus embedded near the ceiling. Vejis. The Godclimb. The Heretic Hunter. The sigils on his forearm seemed to throb in time with his heartbeat. Six debts etched into his skin. Six steps closer to becoming prey. What did Vejis want? What price would tomorrow demand?
Aria's breathing deepened, evening out into sleep. Kael remained awake, staring into the dimness. The cold dread of the cellar felt like a lifetime ago, replaced now by the oppressive weight of a future hurtling towards them, shaped by forces they barely understood. He thought of Aria's flickering form, the memory of her mother's voice lost. He thought of the desperate hope in the eyes of the branded people in the cavern. He thought of the sheer, terrifying power in Vejis's cold gaze.
Destined for greatness. Or a spectacularly messy end. Vejis's words, overheard earlier when he thought they were asleep, echoed in his mind.
Outside their flimsy curtain, the low hum of the refuge continued, a constant reminder they weren't alone, yet the path ahead felt terrifyingly solitary. Kael closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to try and quiet the whirlwind of fear and resolve. Whatever tomorrow brought, he needed to be ready. For Aria. He held onto that single, burning point of certainty in the swirling dark.
The fungus-light pulsed on. The refuge hummed. And Kael waited for dawn, deep under a dying city, wondering what impossible turn his destiny would take next.