Where Shadows Meet Starlight

Previously

…The figure pushed back its hood, revealing a face that seemed to shift with the light—old and young, familiar and strange. Elara’s breath caught. “Who are you?” The figure smiled. “I am the Veilwood. And you have come to me at the end of your road.” Behind them, the green door dissolved into mist, leaving only trees. Sunset crept across the sky, painting it in shades of blood and gold. The Veilwood raised a hand, and the sphere in Elara’s hands flared to life—not with light, but with sound, a hum so deep she felt it in her bones. “You have one choice left,” it said. “And it will cost you everything you have not yet paid.”