POV: Auren (1st person – child's voice, dreamlike narration)
---
> "They speak when no one listens.
They live between the ticks of time.
The Veilwalkers are not friends.
But they're not lies either."
— Auren Kaelen Virelle
---
[Scene: Auren's Dreamworld — Between Realms]
I fell asleep holding Mama's scarf.
It still smells like moonflowers.
But in my dreams, the scent fades… and the whispers begin.
They come from underneath the stars. Not above. Like they're crawling up from the cracks in space. Voices with no mouths. Faces that change every blink.
> "You are the bridge."
"You are the key."
"She waits for you in the dark."
I try to speak, but my voice floats away like a balloon.
And then — I see her.
Seris.
She's wearing a crown made of my shadows.
She kneels, smiling like a mirror that's about to break.
> "Hello, little moon."
"Would you like to see what they've hidden from you?"
---
[Scene: The Memory Thief – What Auren Sees]
She waves her hand, and suddenly—
I'm not me.
I'm Kael.
And I see Mama — Elara — crying.
She's being dragged by guards. My father's voice is shouting. The Council is splitting them apart.
But that didn't happen to me, right?
I try to close my eyes. I can't.
Then the scene changes.
I'm Seris.
Alone. Covered in blood. Screaming at the moon.
And then I'm something else.
Not human. Not starlit.
Something in-between.
---
[Scene: Veilwalker Realm — The Gathering]
The whispers grow louder. The sky above is stitched with moving mouths and blinking moons.
Around me, figures appear.
Tall. Pale. Dressed in robes made from woven time.
The Veilwalkers.
One of them steps forward — no face, just a shifting cloud where eyes should be.
"We remember all endings," it says.
Another speaks.
"We guard the stories not yet told."
Then the third:
"And we serve the child who was not supposed to be."
They kneel.
To me.
---
[Scene: Auren's Trial – The Three Riddles]
They test me.
Because even in dreams, you must prove your heart.
They ask me three riddles. If I fail, they'll take a piece of my soul.
1. "What dies when spoken?"
– I answer: Silence.
2. "What belongs to you, but others use more?"
– I whisper: My name.
3. "What can exist in two places, and never truly be seen?"
– I pause. Then I say: The future.
The Veilwalkers nod.
"You may walk the in-between," they declare. "But the in-between walks through you now."
And they mark my chest — a glowing spiral of silver and black.
---
[Scene: The Awakening – Back in Lunaris]
I wake up screaming again.
Mama's by my side. Papa too. Laziel stands in the shadows, watching with those strange eyes.
"There's something in him," Laziel murmurs.
"No," Mama says. "It's always been him."
Kael touches my hand. "What did you see, Auren?"
I look at all of them.
And then I say something I've never said before:
> "I saw the end.
But it doesn't scare me anymore.
Because I saw what comes after."
---
[Scene: Seris Watches — Through the Ebon Pool]
Far away, in her Hollow Fortress, Seris watches through her magic.
She sees me wake. She sees my spiral mark.
And for the first time… she falters.
Because the mark on my chest wasn't hers.
It was older.
More ancient than either of us.
A symbol belonging to the First Light.
And if I carry that…
Then she's no longer fighting a boy.
She's fighting a legend reborn.
---
[Scene: Final Scene – Elara's Plan]
That night, Mama meets with the Council in secret.
"The Veilwalkers have chosen my son," she says. "That means the battle for prophecy has already begun."
Elder Virellian sighs. "Then you must go to the Forgotten Ring."
Kael shakes his head. "That place was sealed for a reason."
"But it's where the first Lightwalkers trained," Elara replies. "And if we don't teach Auren… someone else will."
From behind her, Laziel steps forward.
"I'll take him," he says.
Kael flinches. "Absolutely not—"
But Auren interrupts, his voice low and certain.
> "I want to learn.
I want to understand what I am.
Before Seris teaches me her way instead."
---
✅ End of Chapter 8
Next Chapter: "The Forgotten Ring"