Beneath the Mountain
The deepest chamber of Vaelcrest Keep was no longer known by name.
It predated the castle itself—built not by masons, but shaped by ancient rites when the world was young and the Veilborn walked freely. No one spoke of it. Most believed it was sealed for eternity.
But tonight, under a sky still bruised crimson, the old circle had opened once more.
Six robed figures stood at each point of a hexagon, their hoods drawn low, garments trimmed in elemental hues:
Crimson for Flame
Onyx for Earth
Silver for Spirit
Emerald for Life
Indigo for Time
White for Balance
At the circle's center, nestled on veiled silk in a double cradle of pale stone, lay the newborn twins: Kaizen and Yvonne.
They did not cry.
Their eyes were closed, but their auras pressed against the air like heat on the verge of storm.
"We cast not a prison," said Grand Seer Valtos, stepping into the circle with a crystalline blade in hand, "but a veil. For power should not awaken before purpose."
Behind him, Lord Kaelen and Lady Selira Vaelcrest watched in silence. Their faces betrayed the war between reverence and heartbreak.
The Binding Begins
Valtos lifted the relic high — a dagger of translucent crystal laced with starlit mist. The blade was known only as the Eye of Aether, said to contain a fragment of pure cosmic law — the unshaped essence of the world before magic, before time.
The chamber dimmed. The torchlight bent inward, flickering against ancient sigils carved into the walls. The runes responded to the presence of the twins.
Then the six Keepers raised their hands and spoke in one voice — the First Tongue — a language not meant for mortal mouths.
Each word vibrated through the bones of the earth.
"Let not the vessel shatter.
Let not the fire consume.
Let strength not turn to wrath,
Nor vision to madness.
Let the sixfold veil lie soft over soul."
The First Veil – Strength (Kaizen)
The Onyx-robed Keeper stepped forward and dipped his finger in ash and iron dust. He marked a single glyph over Kaizen's chest, just above his heart.
"We bind the root of might.
Let stone hold its stillness.
Until strength serves will."
Kaizen's body convulsed—once. The stone cradle beneath him cracked, but then softened, as if the weight of his presence receded. His breath evened out.
A faint, glowing symbol appeared along his spine—then faded.
The Second Veil – Magic (Yvonne)
The Crimson Keeper stepped forward next, holding a coal forged in a dead star's core. She pressed it to Yvonne's forehead without burning her.
"We bind the birth of flame.
Let spark learn silence.
Until wonder walks with wisdom."
Yvonne stirred. Her skin dimmed from its inner glow. The air stilled, and for a moment the torches returned to normal color.
A soft pulse passed through the chamber like a heartbeat.
The Third Veil – Life (Both)
The Emerald Keeper approached holding two leaves from the Heartwood Tree, older than written history. One leaf was pressed against each child's chest.
"We bind vitality unchecked.
Let fire not burn itself.
Let stone not fracture under its own weight.
Let life unfold in time."
The leaves turned to mist. The twins' pulses slowed to a human pace. Their auras dimmed slightly.
The Keepers exhaled in unison.
The Fourth Veil – Memory (Both)
The Indigo Keeper lifted a vial of timeglass — sand taken from a ruined timeline. She poured it into a ring around the cradle.
"We bind what once was.
Let not old lifetimes spill into new breath.
Let this path begin clean."
As the sand touched the floor, runes near the chamber's base burned away. Echoes of lives the twins had not lived—but perhaps once had—faded into dust.
The Fifth Veil – Emotion (Both)
The Silver Keeper stepped forward, carrying a feather dipped in moonlight. She whispered as she drew a soft line between each twin's eyes.
"We bind the ocean within.
Let rage not shatter, nor love consume.
Let emotion grow after reason."
Both twins shivered in unison. The room fell utterly silent. Even Selira sobbed without sound.
The Sixth Veil – Fate
Finally, the White-robed Keeper stepped forward, carrying no relic, no object—only breath and presence.
He knelt between the twins, one hand above each forehead.
"We bind the thread.
The calling. The chorus that leads to ruin or rebirth.
Let fate remain dormant…
Until they choose to listen."
The silence deepened to stillness.
For a moment, the chamber ceased to exist in time.
Then—a breath.
All six glyphs glowed on the twins' bodies at once, briefly visible—before sinking beneath skin and soul.
Aftermath
Valtos lowered the crystal dagger and touched it to the floor.
A final rune flared at the center of the chamber: a spiral within a spiral — the ancient symbol of balance and recursion.
The rite was complete.
The twins were asleep now, breathing softly. No flames. No trembling stone. Just children again.
"They are veiled," the White Keeper whispered.
"The world may know peace… until they begin to unmake it."
Kaelen turned without speaking. Selira lingered, brushing a hand against Yvonne's cheek.
"Forgive us," she whispered. "We are not hiding you from the world. We are hiding the world from you."