WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book Sixteen: The New Darkness
---
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.
---
Prologue to Book Sixteen: The Stirring
Year 340 – Three Hundred Twenty-Nine Years After the Curse – Twenty-Three Years After the Release
Two decades had passed since the First was defeated.
Liora was older now. Her hair had streaks of gray. Her face had lines of wisdom. Her eyes had seen everything.
She was still the queen.
Still the darkness.
Still the hunger.
But she was also human.
Also kind.
Also good.
She had found peace.
She had found purpose.
She had found love.
But the peace was fragile.
The darkness was patient.
And something was stirring.
Far away, in the ruins of the old castle, a new darkness was growing.
Not from the First.
Not from Liora.
From something else.
Something new.
Something terrible.
Something hungry.
It had been born from the souls Liora had released.
Millions of souls.
Millions of screams.
Millions of whispers.
They had coalesced into a single being.
A being of pure shadow.
Pure rage.
Pure hunger.
It had no name.
It had no form.
It had no purpose.
Except to consume.
And it would start with the one who had freed it.
Liora.
---
The Whisper – The Warning
Liora sat on the porch of her cottage, watching the stars.
The watcher appeared beside her.
Its form was dim, its light flickering, its presence urgent.
"Queen," it said.
"Watcher."
"There is something you need to know."
"What is it?"
"The souls you released."
"They have coalesced."
"They have formed a new being."
"A being of pure shadow."
"Pure rage."
"Pure hunger."
"It has no name."
"It has no form."
"It has no purpose."
"Except to consume."
"And it is coming for you."
Liora's blood ran cold.
"A new darkness," she whispered.
"Yes."
"Born from my mercy."
"Yes."
"It wants to consume me."
"Yes."
"Can I stop it?"
"I do not know."
"No one has ever faced anything like it."
"You would be the first."
"But it will be difficult."
"It will be dangerous."
"It could kill you."
Liora was silent for a long moment.
Then she said, "I have faced darkness before."
"I have faced the First."
"I have faced myself."
"I can face this too."
"Will you help me?"
The watcher nodded.
"Always."
"Then let us begin."
---
To Be Continued in Book Sixteen: The New Darkness