WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book Seven: The Age of Shadows
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CONTENT WARNING: This series contains explicit sexual violence, human sacrifice, psychological torture, murder of innocent characters (including children and family members), ritualistic killing, and extreme horror. No character is safe. Read at your own risk.
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Chapter Two Hundred Three: The Mage's Search
Year 202 – One Hundred Ninety-One Years After the Curse
The mage in the south had studied for one hundred ninety-one years.
Not literally—she was only twenty-six. But she had studied as if she had been preparing for two centuries. Every day. Every night. Every page of every book.
She believed she had found a way to break the curse.
She believed she could free the souls.
She believed she could destroy the queen.
Her name was Elara—another echo, another coincidence. She was young, powerful, and brilliant. She had a staff. A grimoire. A purpose.
She had heard the stories.
The legends.
The fear.
She believed them.
She knew the queen was powerful. Immortal. Invincible.
But she also knew that no one was truly invincible.
Everyone had a weakness.
Everyone could be stopped.
Everyone could be killed.
She just had to find it.
And she had found something.
A lens.
An ancient lens, carved from the eye of a dead god, imbued with the power to see any truth, any secret, any weakness.
It had been hidden for centuries, guarded by a secret order of seers who had dedicated their lives to protecting it.
She had found them.
She had convinced them.
She had taken it.
The lens hummed in her hand.
It was cold.
It was alive.
It was seeing.
This is it, she thought.
This is the answer.
This is how I see her weakness.
She did not see the shadows gathering.
She did not hear the whispers growing louder.
She did not feel the darkness closing in.
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The Southern Tower – Morning
Elara studied in her tower, as she always did.
The books were old. The pages were yellow. The words were fading.
Life is short, she thought.
Life is fragile.
Life is precious.
She did not see the shadows.
She did not hear the whispers.
She did not feel the darkness watching.
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The Ruins – Morning
Liora sat on the throne, listening to the whispers.
Two hundred thousand and two souls now served her. They flitted through the shadows, invisible to all but her, reporting on everything they saw and heard.
They told her about the mage.
She is powerful, they said. She is determined. She is dangerous.
She has found a lens. An ancient lens. Carved from the eye of a dead god.
It can see any truth.
Any secret.
Any weakness.
She believes she can find your weakness.
She believes she can destroy you.
She believes she can succeed.
Liora's smile faded.
A lens, she thought.
Carved from the eye of a dead god.
It can see any truth.
Any secret.
Any weakness.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
She stood up.
She walked down the steps.
The shadows followed.
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The Southern Tower – Night
Elara worked late into the night.
She held the lens.
It hummed in her hand.
It was cold.
It was alive.
It was seeing.
Show me, she thought.
Show me the queen.
Show me her weakness.
Show me how to destroy her.
The lens glowed.
Images appeared.
A castle. A winter night. A child born without a cry.
A girl. A knife. A cellar full of shadows.
A woman. A curse. An eternity of hunger.
She has no weakness, Elara thought.
How can she have no weakness?
Everyone has a weakness.
Everyone.
She looked deeper.
The lens showed her something else.
A soul.
A single soul, trapped inside the queen, screaming to be freed.
The first soul, Elara thought.
The first victim.
If I free that soul—
The queen will be vulnerable.
For a moment.
One moment.
That is when I strike.
She did not see the shadows gathering.
She did not hear the whispers growing louder.
She did not feel the darkness closing in.
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The Tower
Liora appeared in the doorway.
White dress. Black eyes. Pale skin.
"You're here," she said.
Elara looked up.
"Who—"
"I am the queen."
"The queen?"
"Yes."
"Please—"
"Shh."
Elara reached for the lens.
Liora moved.
Faster than Elara could follow. Faster than she could react.
Her hand closed around the mage's wrist.
"You won't need that."
"Let go of me."
"No."
Elara tried to pull away.
She could not.
Liora's grip was like iron.
"What are you?"
"I am what comes next."
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The Feeding – Elara
Liora reached into the mage's mind.
She tried to resist.
She was powerful. Determined. Brilliant.
But she was stronger.
She pushed past her defenses.
She found her memories.
...the studies...
...the rituals...
...the hope ...
...that she could be the one...
...that she could stop her...
...that she could destroy her...
She pulled.
The memories flowed into her.
The power.
The determination.
The soul.
Delicious, she thought.
More.
She pulled again.
Elara gasped.
Her body convulsed.
Her eyes rolled back.
She pulled again.
Elara went limp.
She withdrew from her mind.
She looked down at her.
Still breathing. Still alive. But empty.
The mage was no more.
Just a shell.
Another victim.
Another name for the list.
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The Lens
Liora picked up the lens.
It hummed in her hand.
It was cold.
It was alive.
It was seeing.
Interesting, she thought.
Very interesting.
She raised the lens.
She looked through it at her reflection.
Her eyes were black.
Her skin was pale.
Her smile was wide.
But the lens showed her something else.
A girl.
A young girl with tea-colored eyes and a white dress.
A girl who had not yet killed.
A girl who had not yet fed.
A girl who had not yet become her.
The first soul, she thought.
The first victim.
If someone frees that soul—
I will be vulnerable.
For a moment.
One moment.
That is when they could strike.
She crushed the lens in her hand.
The glass shattered.
The hum stopped.
The cold died.
The seeing ended.
No one will ever use it now, she thought.
No one will ever see.
No one will ever know.
I am safe.
I am eternal.
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The Two Hundred Thousand Third Sacrifice
She performed the ritual in the tower, surrounded by books and silence.
The whispers watched.
She spoke the words.
She made the cuts.
She collected the blood.
And when it was over—
The darkness purred.
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The Power – Two Hundred Thousand Three
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
Two hundred thousand and three sacrifices. Two hundred thousand and three souls. Two hundred thousand and three streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming her.
Two hundred thousand three, she thought.
The hunger is quieter now.
But it will return.
It always returns.
She released the spell.
The shadows retreated.
She looked at the body.
A mage. Powerful. Dead.
No one is safe from me, she thought.
No one.
Not even the powerful.
She smiled in the darkness.
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The Disposal
She burned Elara's body in the tower's brazier.
The fire was hot. The smoke was thick. She worked quickly, efficiently, scattering the ashes before dawn.
No one saw her.
No one ever saw her.
She walked back to the ruins as the sun rose, smelling of smoke and blood and darkness.
She washed her face in a broken fountain.
She braided her hair with her fingers.
She wore a white dress she had found in a forgotten wardrobe.
She practiced her smile.
Eyes wide. Innocence.
Mouth soft. Gentleness.
Head tilted. Curiosity.
Perfect, she thought.
She sat on the throne.
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The Empty Throne
The throne room was open to the sky.
No walls. No roof. No protection.
Just Liora.
And the whispers.
You are alone, they said.
Yes, she thought.
But I am not lonely.
I have you.
I have all of you.
Forever.
She closed her eyes.
She listened to the whispers.
They told her about the world.
The new kings. The new heroes. The new legends.
They told her about a young man in the west. A priest. Faithful. He had been praying for years, begging his god to save them, to stop the queen, to end the darkness.
His god had not answered.
Not yet.
But he still prayed.
He still believed.
Liora smiled.
Let him pray, she thought.
Let him believe.
Let him hope.
I have time.
I have forever.
And when his god does not answer—
I will.
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End of Chapter Two Hundred Three