Where the Dead Keep Watch

Previously

…The Vances stood together, breathless, watching as the spectral world around them seemed to recede, the restless spirits finding their long-sought peace. The pact, it seemed, was finally being honored, not by continued watch, but by a final release. But as the last spectral whispers faded, a new presence began to solidify, a figure more defined, more focused, its gaze fixed not on the departing spirits, but on the Vances. The Spectral Watcher, its duty fulfilled, its own chains perhaps loosened, turned its ancient eyes upon them, and for the first time, its expression was unreadable. The confrontation was not over; it had merely shifted.