The writing on the book page was still wet.
Its black ink looked like something alive, slowly seeping into the old yellowed paper.
Kael read that sentence once more.
"The first observer has come."
Behind him, the window glass trembled again.
BAM.
The cracks at the corner of the glass spread like a spider's web slowly crawling.
The fog outside the window was now far thicker. The vague shape clinging to the glass became clearer, though still not fully real.
It had no face.
But two dark hollows resembling eyes continued staring into the room.
Lyra looked at that creature with an expression rarely seen on her before.
Tension.
"The book wrote again?" she asked.
Kael nodded.
Lyra approached the desk and read that page.
Several seconds passed without words.
Then she exhaled a long breath.
"The first observer..."
Kael folded his arms.
"That means there will be a second?"
Lyra did not answer immediately.
Instead, she closed the book again gently.
"I hope not."
Outside the window, the creature pressed against the glass again.
CRACK.
One of the cracks extended almost halfway across the glass surface.
Kael observed calmly.
"I have a question."
Lyra answered without looking away from the window.
"Ask away."
"If it's not a physical creature, how can it break glass?"
Lyra fell silent.
That question was clearly not something she wanted to think about.
"There are several possibilities."
She finally said.
"And all of them are bad."
Kael smiled thinly.
"Good. I'm starting to get used to bad news."
Lyra looked at the symbol on Kael's wrist again.
The mark still glowed very faintly, almost like small embers covered by ash.
"Many things behind the Veil cannot touch this world directly."
She pointed at the creature behind the glass.
"Creatures like that usually can only... observe."
"So why is it trying to enter?"
Lyra answered with one word.
"Because of you."
Kael raised an eyebrow slightly.
Lyra continued.
"That mark... the Mark of the Veil."
"Someone who bears that mark is not merely an observer."
She looked at the book on the desk.
"They are also a door."
One second.
Two seconds.
Then—
BAM!
The entire window shook hard.
The cracks finally reached the center of the glass.
Cold night air began seeping in through the thin gap.
The fog outside moved like something alive.
Lyra immediately made a decision.
"We have to move that book."
Kael asked,
"To where?"
Lyra answered quickly.
"A safer place."
Kael looked around the room.
"You called this room 'safe' five minutes ago."
Lyra did not respond.
She opened the small bag she brought and took out something.
A small piece of metal shaped like a circle.
Its surface was covered with very complex symbol engravings.
Kael looked at it.
"What is that?"
Lyra answered shortly.
"A temporary barrier."
She walked toward the window.
The creature behind the glass was still clinging there.
When Lyra approached, the two dark hollows moved.
As if observing her.
Lyra pressed that piece of metal against the wall right beside the window.
Once the metal touched the wall surface—
the symbols on it began to glow faintly.
Thin lines of light spread along the wall like cracks of light.
The creature behind the glass suddenly stopped moving.
The fog forming its body trembled.
For the first time since appearing—
it retreated slightly from the window.
Kael observed calmly.
"Seems it doesn't like that."
Lyra nodded.
"A small artifact from the organization I work for."
Kael looked at her.
"You haven't mentioned the organization."
Lyra exhaled softly.
"There are many things I haven't mentioned."
The creature outside the window was still there.
But now it only floated several inches from the glass, like something hesitant to approach.
The cracks in the glass stopped spreading.
For now.
Lyra returned to the desk.
"We don't have much time."
She pointed at the book.
"That artifact has now attracted attention."
Kael asked,
"Whose attention?"
Lyra looked at him.
"Not whose."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"...more precisely, what."
Kael looked at the book again.
The page that had written was now empty.
But faint ink still looked like shadows of words that had vanished.
Lyra spoke with a more serious voice now.
"If that creature is truly 'The First Observer'..."
She turned to the window.
"...then this is only the beginning."
Several seconds later—
black ink appeared again on the book page.
But this time the sentence was much shorter.
Only three words.
Kael read them in silence.
Then looked at Lyra.
The writing said:
"The others awaken."