Nebula Bloodlines: Echoes Beyond the Veil
Chapter: 45 Veil Drac & A Beautiful Dessert
Gus didn't retreat.
His boots dug into the ancient stone as black shadowflames erupted around both of his forearms, curling like living serpents around his wrists. Unlike the warm glow of ordinary fire, his flames swallowed the surrounding light, turning the silver mist around him into an unnatural darkness.
The Veil answered.
The grass beneath his feet shriveled.
The glowing flowers that had lined the old Mistborn pathway folded closed as though recoiling from his presence. Even the luminous insects drifting through the forest scattered into the canopy, vanishing among the silver leaves.
Lirael noticed immediately.
The Veil…
It's rejecting him…
She had never witnessed anything like it.
The Drac lunged, jaws snapping shut with enough force to shatter the remains of an ancient stone monument. Gus twisted his body at the last possible instant, the creature's teeth grazing the sleeve of his coat as he slipped underneath its neck.
His dagger flashed.
Metal scraped across scales.
Sparks burst into the air.
"…Hard."
He clicked his tongue.
"So much for an easy fight."
The Drac answered with a violent sweep of its tail.
The impact split the ground apart.
Gus crossed both arms just in time, shadowflames reinforcing his body as the blow launched him through three ancient pillars before he finally rolled across the earth.
He exhaled sharply.
"…Okay."
His ribs ached.
"That one actually hurt."
"It learns!" Lirael shouted.
Mist swirled around her feet as she slammed both palms against the ground.
"Don't attack the same way twice!"
Ancient Mistborn runes illuminated beneath the moss-covered stones surrounding them. Thin streams of silver mist rose from the earth before spreading through the ruins like flowing rivers.
The Drac immediately changed direction.
Its head jerked violently toward a patch of empty forest.
Then another.
It couldn't see.
It could only hear.
And now the entire forest sounded alive.
Three false footsteps echoed to its left.
A heartbeat pulsed somewhere behind it.
Branches snapped where nothing stood.
The creature roared in frustration before charging directly toward one of Lirael's illusions.
Gus didn't waste the opportunity.
Shadow spread beneath his feet.
He disappeared.
The Drac crashed through another ruined structure, realizing too late that it had chased nothing but echoes.
Before it could recover—
A black silhouette emerged from beneath its shadow.
Gus drove both daggers upward.
The Drac twisted.
Instead of piercing its throat, the blades buried themselves beneath one shoulder.
Dark blood splashed across the ancient stones.
The beast screamed.
Its roar shook leaves from the trees.
Then it reacted far faster than Gus expected.
One massive claw slammed into his side.
The world spun.
He hit the ground hard enough to carve a trench through centuries-old stone before finally coming to a stop.
Blood filled his mouth.
"…Damn…"
The Drac wasn't mindless.
It adapted frighteningly fast.
Lirael sprinted toward him.
"Are you hurt?"
"I've been better."
She helped him to his feet just as the creature began circling once more.
"This is why Mistborn hunted in teams," she said between breaths. "One distracts. One kills."
Gus wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"…Guess we're a team then."
Lirael blinked.
For a split second…
She smiled.
"…I suppose we are."
The smile disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"The next opening has to end this."
The Drac lowered itself.
Listening.
Waiting.
It had stopped charging recklessly.
It was hunting now.
Gus noticed the change too.
"It figured us out."
"No," Lirael answered quietly.
"It figured me out."
She stepped forward.
"I'll make it believe I'm alone."
Gus frowned.
"Lirael—"
"Trust me."
Without waiting for his answer, she dismissed every illusion surrounding the ruins.
The forest fell silent.
The Drac's head immediately turned toward her.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Satisfied.
It had found its prey.
Lirael didn't move.
Her heartbeat remained perfectly steady.
The monster crouched lower.
Then exploded forward.
At that exact instant, she slammed one foot against the ground.
A pulse of Mistborn magic shot through the ancient roots beneath the forest.
The vibration echoed fifty feet to the creature's right.
The Drac hesitated.
Just for a heartbeat.
It turned toward the false vibration.
"NOW!"
Gus vanished.
Not into shadow.
Into complete silence.
Even Lirael lost sight of him.
The Drac corrected itself too late.
A single black flame ignited beneath its jaw.
Gus emerged directly beneath its neck.
Both daggers crossed together.
"Shadow Fang…"
The flames compressed around the blades until they resembled polished obsidian.
"…Sever."
One clean motion.
The reinforced daggers pierced through the softer scales beneath the Drac's throat.
Black fire erupted inside the wound.
The beast let out one final deafening roar before collapsing onto the ancient stones with enough force to shake the entire forest.
Silence returned.
Neither of them moved for several long moments.
Finally…
Gus pulled his daggers free.
"…Guess that worked."
Before Lirael could answer, the corpse began dissolving.
Not into ash.
Into streams of emerald light that seeped back into the forest floor.
The Veil accepted its own.
Then…
The ground beneath Gus darkened.
The emerald light surrounding his boots recoiled from his shadowflames, refusing to come near him.
The silver grass blackened where he stood.
Lirael stared.
"…It's worse than I thought."
Gus extinguished his flames.
"What is?"
"The Veil."
She looked toward the dying patch of earth.
"It doesn't hate you…"
"It rejects your power."
Gus followed her gaze but said nothing.
He wasn't sure which answer was worse.
⸻
The Mistborn Woods slowly gave way to older forests where the silver trees became impossibly tall, their branches weaving together until they nearly hid the colorful sky above. Strange birds with translucent feathers sang somewhere high in the canopy, while glowing streams carved winding paths through the undergrowth.
"The Ancient Forest begins here," Lirael said softly. "Few outsiders have ever crossed it and lived."
Gus adjusted his coat.
"So…"
"We're making good progress?"
She nodded.
"If the others survived the storm, this forest is one of the places I hoped they'd reach."
He glanced toward the path ahead.
"We'll find them."
"You sound awfully confident."
"We always find each other."
Lirael studied him for a moment before looking forward again.
"…I hope you're right."
⸻
Elsewhere…
Heat.
Blinding, shimmering heat.
Kin groaned as burning sand pressed against his face.
"…Five more minutes…"
A sharp smack landed against the back of his head.
"Wake up."
His eyes snapped open.
The first thing he saw wasn't the sky.
It was crystal.
Endless crystal.
Massive sapphire and violet formations rose from golden dunes like mountains of glass, catching the light of the Veil's radiant sky and scattering rainbows across the desert in every direction.
Kin slowly sat up.
His jaw dropped.
"…Mira."
She was already on her feet, brushing sand from her dark coat while scanning the horizon with her Blooddaggers drawn.
"What?"
He looked around in complete disbelief.
"…Either I'm dead…"
He scratched his head.
"…or somebody dropped me inside the world's biggest jewelry store."
Mira sighed so deeply it bordered on painful.
"Out of everything you could've said…"
She sheathed one dagger.
"…that's what you chose."
Kin grinned.
"I stand by it."
Despite herself…
Mira smiled.
Then both of them noticed something far off among the crystal dunes.
A figure.
Walking toward them.
Slowly.
Alone.
And carrying something over one shoulder.
End Of Chapter 45