Lunara's POV
I felt it the instant it happened.
The break.
It wasn't dramatic or anything—just a quiet snap, like glass cracking under too much weight, sliding right through the Veil.
Evershade glowed beneath me while I stood on the edge of a rooftop. The wind messed with my hair. Down below, cars drifted along, headlights weaving through the city like veins. People went about their night, talking, laughing, glued to their phones.
Living.
Clueless.
They always are.
That ripple was so faint, I almost thought it was thunder. But the Veil shook—just enough to get weaker.
And weakness always calls the predators.
I turned, scanning the city, zeroing in on where that burst of energy flashed.
Six signatures.
Not one.
Not two.
Six.
Off-balance.
Raw.
Awaken.
Water.
Fire.
Air.
Earth.
Light.
Lightning.
The Codex chose.
I let out a breath, slow and steady.
I murmured to the wind, "So it begins."
Down below, the city didn't notice a thing. Someone outside a café was laughing too hard. A motorcycle ripped past. Music floated from a car window, fading into the night.
Just another evening. But something new pulsed underneath it all—under the noise, the lights, the endless shuffling of people.
Strength.
The Veil felt it the second those girls found their elements. Power like that doesn't hide.
It rings out.
Across worlds.
That meant the shadows heard it too. I stepped away from the edge, boots silent on the concrete.
The first time I emerged into this modern world, I nearly blinded myself with the light. Electric lamps instead of moonfire. Engines instead of hooves. Buildings of steel and glass where forests once grew.
Humans have changed this world in ways I could not have anticipated.
At first, I observed from a distance.
I Learned.
I Listened.
I Adapted.
Humans carried small glowing rectangles wherever they went. Spoke in short bursts of slang and sarcasm. Filled silence with sound because silence discomforted them.
But humans are resilient.
And stubborn.
And worth saving.
And so I learned to blend in.
I learned their language. Their clothing styles. Their pacing. The way humans moved when they believed they belonged in a place. And so the city grew up around me.
Skyscrapers grew taller.
Roads expanded.
The space between buildings grew into narrow bands of blue.
But something remained the same.
The Veil.
Thin.
Delicate.
Waiting.
I raised my eyes once again to the lingering echo of power that remained suspended in the air.
Six signatures.
Water flowed strong and deep, a tide waiting for the moon's command.
Fire flamed hot and unrelenting.
Air moved swift and unsteady.
Earth grounded solid and heavy.
Light shone bright and reassuring.
And lightning—
Crackling wildly and unpredictably, energy bursting like a storm held tightly inside.
Six elements.
Six bearers.
The Codex had not selected them lightly. Another ripple ran through the skyline.
I froze.
The monsters had detected it. Of course they had.
Shadow creatures were drawn to the imbalance between worlds. Wherever power like this suddenly manifested, they closed in around it like wolves around a wounded beast.
Testing.
Waiting.
Learning.
I shut my eyes for a second and let my senses extend throughout the city.
Two vulnerabilities stood out in the Veil.
One was near the industrial district.
The other—
My eyes opened.
Closer.
Too close.
There was a low thrumming in the air. Humans would never pick up on it.
But I felt it in my very bones.
"They're speeding up," I whispered. The shadows weren't just reacting. They were adapting.
Learning the patterns of the girls' energies. Tracking the waves they created. Learning those patterns.
Learning to follow those patterns.
Learning to hunt.
I raised my hand slightly, silver power beginning to coalesce on my palm. Then I pushed it away.
No.
Because if I moved too soon, something worse might notice.
And the girls weren't ready for that.
They didn't know me.
Didn't know what hunted beyond the Veil.
All they knew was that something felt wrong.
That was enough—for now.
I could feel the restraint in their power. The way they kept forcing it down whenever they were near other people.
Smart.
If their loved ones discovered what they were becoming…The monsters would too. And shadows never wasted leverage. Movement flickered between two buildings several streets away.
Too smooth.
Too wrong.
There.
A thin smear of darkness stretched along the wall like spilled ink crawling upward.
A scout.
One of them had slipped through.
Not an invasion.
Not yet.
Just a test.
I stepped backward into the deeper shadows of the rooftop, letting the darkness swallow my presence completely.
I'd keep my identity hidden. Not tonight.
Instead, I'd watch. Step in when they needed a nudge. If things got desperate, I'd act.
I'd do what I've always done—stay right in that strange space between two worlds.
Below me, city lights blinked and danced. Just once, I let myself pause. But then… I kept going.
The air rippled over the skyline, a faint shimmer—another crack in the barrier, and it was getting worse.
My gaze sharpened. Somewhere out there, six girls were just starting to realize what they could do. They were waking up to their power.
And already, the shadows were after them.