CHAPTER 81: THE OUTBURST OF THE VEIL 3

By midday, they reached a plateau overlooking a jagged rift with a tear in reality, pulsing with violet light, its edges were writhed with shadows that seemed to breathe.

Aberrations were poured from it, grotesque hybrids of claw and fang, their bodies was a twisted amalgamations of beast and nightmare, their glowing eyes burned with hunger, their maws dripped with black ichor.

The air thrummed with dark energy, pressing against their minds which was whispering despair. "Form up!" Kelvin shouted, Xerion rearing, his massive body uncoiled as flames erupted from his maw in a blazing arc that lit the plateau.

The battle erupted in chaos. Kelvin channeled a fire Convergence through Xerion, the serpent’s flames swept across the plateau, incinerating aberrations in bursts of ash and light, their screeches were echoing off the cliffs.

Lyra wove shadow runes with dizzying speed, her gauntlet glowed as tendrils that lashed out to bind the creatures’ limbs, pinning them in place.

Salaris darted from the shadows, her talons ended flesh in swift, precise strikes. Darius fired soulstone blasts, each explosion shattered the hybrids’ forms in bursts of green light, while Rhoam charged, his iron bulk crushed anything in his path, his roars shoke the ground.

But the aberrations were relentless, their numbers increased as the rift pulsed faster, its energy was a suffocating weight.

One lunged at Lyra, its claws grazed her leg, drawing a thin line of blood. She gasped and stumbled, but Salaris intervened and tore the creature apart in a blur of shadow and feather.

Kelvin’s heart raced, fear spiking through him, but he was focused, his bond with Xerion was a blazing lifeline.

The whispers grew louder, colder which was promising failure. You will fall, You are weak, but he pushed them back and shouted, "We will end this now!"

They fought their way to the rift’s edge, where a stone anchor stood, its surface was etched with a glowing runes that pulsed with dark energy, like the slab in the grove but larger and more potent.

Kelvin’s Convergence burned brighter, Xerion’s flames was a roaring inferno that scorched the air. Lyra’s runes bound the anchor with her gauntlet trembling with effort as she wove a web of shadow to contain its power.

Darius aimed a soulstone blast and the green light flared as it struck the anchor’s core. Their beasts struck as one, Xerion’s flames, Salaris’s talons, Rhoam’s charge converged on the anchor.

The plateau trembled as the anchor shattered, the rift collapsed in a scream of shadow that echoed through the Crags. The aberrations faltered, their forms dissolved into ash, and silence fell which was heavy and absolute.

The trio stood amidst the carnage, their breaths ragged, their beasts battered but was alive. Kelvin’s hands trembled with his body aching, but pride swelled in his chest, a spark of resolve was ignited within.

"We did it," he said, his voice was hoarse and barely audible over the fading hum of the rift. Lyra nodded, blood trickled down her leg, but her eyes burned with fierce determination. "Together."

Darius leaned on Rhoam, his grin was weak but genuine. "Told you are unstoppable." As they gathered their bearings which was a shadow that moved on a distant peak.

Their silhouette stark against the stormy sky, watching with an intensity that sent a chill down Kelvin’s spine. The figure vanished before he could point it out, but the unease lingered, a whisper of the Veil’s persistence.

They began their descent, the Crags’ jagged paths was a treacherous underfoot, the storm clouds parted to reveal a sliver of sunlight.

The monitoring device hummed in Kelvin’s pack, a reminder of the Sanctum’s watchful eyes, but it was their unity that carried them forward.

The Veil was far from defeated, its shadows creeped closer, but the Tide’s Crest’s resolve burned brighter which was a flame that would light their path through the coming darkness.

They reached the foothills by dusk, the Sanctum’s spires was a distant promise on the horizon. As they made camp, Kelvin sat beside Xerion, the End-Tyrant’s scales warm against his side, his amber eyes was a steady anchor.

Lyra tended to her wound, her runes glowed as she sealed it with shadow magic, while Salaris preened nearby, her feathers catching the firelight.

Darius fed Rhoam a chunk of dried meat, the panther’s iron plates clinking as he chewed, his low rumble a comfort in the quiet.

"We are not done yet," Kelvin said, his voice steady despite the exhaustion weighing him down. "The Veil is watching and waiting. But we are ready."

Lyra met his gaze, her expression resolute. "We wil face it together." Darius raised a soulstone, its glow reflecting in his eyes. "To the Crest, they were unbreakable, unstoppable, and ready for anything."

They clinked their canteens, the gesture sealed their vow. As they settled for the night, the stars emerged above, a faint hope against the gathering storm.

The Veil loomed, its shadows ever-present, but the Tide’s Crest stood firm, their bonds was a spark that would burn through any darkness.

After the night rest, in the morning the crest went back to the school and retired to their rooms to rest. Lyra went to her room in the female dormitory while Kelvin and Darius retired to their room.

In the night the Tide’s Crest gathered for a late-night briefing at the hall. Kelvin sat at a scarred wooden table with his staff leaning against his chair, its fire runes pulsed faintly in rhythm with his heartbeat.

The pendant around his neck, etched with a flame rune that felt heavier than ever, a reminder of their victories in the Shadowfen Marshes, Iron Crags, and Emberfall Wastes, each triumph tempered by the Veil’s relentless shadow.

The memory of the cloaked figure in the Wastes lingered, its silent challenge was a cold weight in his chest, like a blade positioned to strike.

Xerion, the End-Tyrant, coiled beside him with his massive serpentine form a cascade of crimson and gold scales that shimmered like molten metal in the lantern light.

The ancient beast, a Level 8 Legendary whose legend stretched back to the Great Rift War that exuded a primal power with his twenty-foot length filling the space with a quiet intensity.

Lyra sat across from him with her silver braid that frayed from days of relentless missions, her shadow-etched gauntlet glowed faintly with new runes.

Salaris, her shadow-cloaked raptor, perched on the edge of the table, her iridescent feathers blended with the shadows and her talons clicked softly against the wood.

Lyra’s eyes was sharp but shadowed by fatigue which met Kelvin’s with a quiet intensity. "You are brooding again," she said with a soft voice as she pointed it out for Kelvin. "That cloaked figure’s got you rattled."

Kelvin nodded, his fingers traced the pendant’s rune. "It was not just watching us, Lyra. It was... testing us. Like it wanted to see how far we had go."

Darius slumped in his chair, his hazel eyes glinted with a mix of defiance and exhaustion.

Rhoam with his iron-plated panther, sprawled across the floor with his massive paws that left faint scratches on the stone and his iron plates clinked with each breath.

Darius tossed a soulstone into the air and caught it with a weary grin. "Let them test us," he said, his voice rough but steady. "We have smashed two rifts and a pile of nightmares. They are gonna regret picking a fight with the Crest."

Kelvin managed a faint smile as he responded to Darius, "You are right," he said, though the cloaked figure’s presence echoed like a warning. "But we need to be ready. The Veil is not playing games."

The hall’s heavy doors was opened and it revealed Headmaster Torin with his stormhawk, Veyra that perched on his shoulder, its crackling feathers casted sparks that fizzled in the air.

The Council followed, their beasts were, a crystal boar, a shadow wyrm, and others that filled the hall with an aura of power. The air grew heavy, thick with the scent of incense and the hum of soulstream energy.

Torin’s piercing eyes was locked onto the Tide’s Crest, his voice was resonant with authority. "Your success in the Wastes has bought us time," he said, "but the Veil grows bolder.

Our scouts report was a new disturbance in the Abyssal Hollow, a sunken valley of two days east. It is not a full rift, but a fracture that is unstable, leaking dark energy that is corrupting the land. Beasts are turning rogue, and villages are reporting disappearances."

Kelvin’s pulse was quickened and his grip was tightened on his staff. The Abyssal Hollow was a place of legend, a sunken scar in the earth that is said to be the site of a failed rift sealing centuries ago. "What is causing it?" he asked.

Torin gestured to a rune-projected image that flickered into the air which was a jagged fracture in the ground that pulsed with violet light that is surrounded by twisted, skeletal trees and rogue beasts with glowing eyes.

"A shard of a dark crystal which is likely a remnant from an ancient rift," he said. "It is destabilizing the soulstream that is drawing the Veil’s attention. You will investigate, neutralize the shard and report.