The tension in the air was a blade in itself.
Eren stood just beyond the broken gate of the ruined keep, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of Akreth. Across from him, six figures clad in silver-trimmed grey stood beneath the trees, their faces obscured by bone-white masks etched with faded glyphs. The lead figure, taller than the rest, held a staff crowned with a crescent-shaped blade.
Behind him, Elira remained still, though her fingers hovered near the small dagger hidden within her cloak. Her breath was steady, but Eren had known her long enough to sense her unease.
The masked leader stepped forward, arms raised.
"We come not to bind, nor to betray. We are not your enemies."
Eren said nothing.
"You bear the sword," the man continued, "and with it, the flame. We have waited for one such as you for generations."
"You mean hunted," Elira said sharply. "Your Order slaughtered entire villages during the Fracture War just to keep the sword buried."
"That was not us," the figure replied. "That was a splinter faction fanatics who twisted our creed. The true Silver Veil seeks only balance."
Eren raised an eyebrow. "Balance? With a sword that corrupts everything it touches?"
The figure nodded solemnly.
"Exactly. That is why we must speak. Not here, not now, but at the Sanctum. There are truths you have yet to uncover truths even your guide has kept from you."
Elira stepped forward. "Careful what you imply."
"I imply only what is known," the man said calmly. "That you were once a Seeker. That your hands were on the seals. That you led another bearer to his doom."
Eren turned sharply to Elira.
"Is that true?"
Her jaw tightened. "Not like they say."
The masked man lowered his staff. "Let us parley. If we meant you harm, we would not have announced ourselves."
"Or you would have waited for nightfall," Elira muttered.
Still, Eren hesitated.
Akreth's runes glowed faintly at his back, but not with threat. With curiosity.
"Then speak," he said finally. "Say what you came to say."
The man bowed slightly. "The sword you carry is half of a whole. You have joined its fragments, yes but not its legacy. The Black Flame was not born with Akreth. It was summoned torn from the Threshold between worlds and given shape."
Eren frowned. "The Threshold?"
"The place beyond death," the man said. "Where gods and monsters sleep. Where power has no name."
He continued, voice grave.
"When the first bearer drew that flame into this world, he fractured the veil between realms. That tear still bleeds. And Akreth is its anchor."
The trees around them seemed to darken.
"You carry the key to that rift," the man finished. "And others will come. Not just Orders. Not just men. But things from beyond."
Eren clenched his fist. "Then help me close it."
The man's head tilted. "We can help. But you must come with us. The Sanctum holds what remains of the Ritual of Severance. It is the only known way to contain the Black Flame without destroying the bearer."
"And what if I don't come?" Eren asked.
"Then it will consume you," the man said simply. "Just as it did Cael."
Silence fell again.
Eren turned back toward Elira.
Her eyes were hard.
"You can't trust them. Their Sanctum is a prison. A gilded cage. Once you enter, you don't walk out with your will intact."
"And if they're right?" he asked.
"Then we find another way," she said. "We always find another way."
Eren looked back at the man. "Give me time. One day. To decide."
The masked figure nodded. "You have until the next moonrise."
Then the group turned and faded into the forest like ghosts.
Only when the last one was gone did Eren exhale.
Back inside the keep, the fire had dimmed. Eren sat with his head in his hands, the weight of the moment sinking in.
"You should have told me," he said.
Elira didn't respond immediately. When she did, her voice was quiet.
"I tried to protect you. Cael didn't listen either. He trusted the Veil. It destroyed him from the inside out."
Eren lifted his head. "And you think they'll do the same to me?"
"I know they will."
He stared at the fire.
"I saw it," he said softly. "The Threshold. When I merged the sword. I saw something trying to push through."
Elira looked at him sharply. "You didn't mention that."
"I didn't know what I was seeing," he admitted. "But it wasn't human. It wasn't even alive. It watched me."
She walked to him and knelt.
"Then we don't have time."
Eren nodded.
His hand drifted to the sword at his side.
Akreth pulsed in response not in warning, but in readiness.
The flame was waiting.
And something beyond the veil was reaching back.