Caela stood motionless.
The shard hovered before her chest, spinning slowly like a heartbeat suspended in time. Her eyes—once a soft gold—were now obsidian black, fractured with lines of silver. The air around her shimmered, as though the Veil itself were breathing.
Aurelle and Lira stepped back instinctively.
Kade held his ground.
"Caela?" he asked gently.
Her gaze shifted to him, unblinking.
"I see too much," she whispered. Her voice wasn't just hers anymore—it echoed, layered like a dozen versions of her speaking at once. "The timelines are... screaming."
Kade placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then scream back."
A flicker of a smile played on her lips—brief, fragile.
Then the Spire shook again.
From the remnants of shattered mirrors, shadows began to move. Not just reflections—entities.
One stepped forward. Slender, faceless, with limbs that stretched unnaturally. Its presence bent light. A mirror-wraith.
Aurelle swore. "Spireguards. I thought they were myths."
"They're memory scavengers," Caela said. "They hunt those who tamper with timelines."
The wraith spoke with no mouth, just a sound that rattled the bones.
"She has bonded. She must be erased."
"Try me," Caela whispered.
Before anyone could react, the wraith surged forward, limbs slicing through space.
Kade jumped in its path—but he didn't block.
He split.
Reality blinked. There were two Kades—one drawing the wraith's attention, the other grabbing Caela and diving aside.
"What the hell was that?!" Aurelle shouted.
Kade blinked, disoriented. "I… I don't know. I moved, but… I also didn't."
"Temporal afterimage," Caela murmured, clutching her head. "You've awakened more than one thread. You're not just walking the Veil—you're beginning to fracture it."
"Is that bad?"
"It depends if you can control it," she said grimly.
The wraith shrieked again and split into four, each charging a member of the group.
Lira spun into action, blades materializing in her hands—twin daggers etched with glyphs. She danced between the attacks, slicing through shadow, but the creatures reformed.
"They don't die," she growled. "Not unless you sever their origin memory."
"I don't even remember my own birthday," Kade muttered.
Aurelle raised both palms. Blue light pulsed outward in a ripple. The air thickened, like walking through molasses. Time slowed—not stopped, but bent.
"I've got ten seconds max," she warned. "Do something."
Caela stepped forward.
The shard pulsed.
She spoke a word in a tongue no one recognized. One that didn't belong in a single timeline.
The world glitched.
One of the wraiths froze—and shattered.
"Language of the First Thread," she said. "Only works once per being."
Kade narrowed his eyes. "Then we've got three left."
"Actually," came a new voice from behind them, "make that five."
Everyone spun.
A figure walked through a mirror—not out of it, through it, as if it were a door. He wore a coat of stitched time—clocks, gears, broken watches fused into fabric. His hair was white, but his face was young. In his eyes: spiraling constellations.
"Hello, children," he said with a grin. "I'm your curator."
"Who?" Lira asked.
Caela paled. "The Curator of Collapse."
The man bowed dramatically. "Arxus. Keeper of collapsed timelines. Archivist of forgotten wars. Ex-boyfriend of reality."
He snapped his fingers, and time collapsed in a bubble around the remaining wraiths. They froze, crumbled, then reformed into tiny cubes and slotted themselves into a floating briefcase at his side.
"You're welcome."
"What do you want?" Caela asked, still wary.
"Oh, nothing much. Just thought I'd pop in and congratulate our little Threadwalker." He winked at Kade. "You've just become the most valuable pawn in this whole cosmic mess."
"I'm nobody's pawn," Kade said coldly.
Arxus grinned wider. "Of course you are. You just don't know the board yet."
He turned to Caela. "You activated the shard. That sets the first ripple. The Eye of Velmar will feel it. The Veilbound will send their best now. Maybe even… him."
A silence followed that word. Him.
Kade felt the weight of it, though he didn't understand why.
"I'd offer advice," Arxus said, stepping back toward the mirror. "But spoilers ruin the fun. Just know this—not every version of you is the hero. Some… are monsters."
He stepped into the mirror and vanished.
The chamber dimmed.
The shard stopped pulsing.
Everyone stood in silence for a moment, breaths shaky, minds heavier.
Finally, Caela spoke. "We need to leave. The longer we stay, the more reality here notices us."
Aurelle nodded. "Where to?"
Caela looked at Kade. "To the Forgotten Forge. It's the only place that can forge a weapon capable of killing a Threadborn."
"Wait," Kade said. "Why would we need that?"
Caela met his gaze.
And didn't answer.
---
End of Chapter 26