The Veil was breathing again.

Each pulse of light rolled through the ruined Vale like a tide of memory — soft, almost tender, if not for the ache it left in its wake. The survivors huddled near the remnants of the wards, their faces pale with exhaustion. Above them, the sky trembled with silver veins, each strand a wound barely holding its shape.

Kael stood at the edge of what had once been the Mirror Gate. The pool there was dark now, reflecting nothing but a faint shimmer of light ...