Semua Bab Soulbound: Bab 51 - Bab 55

The world beyond the gate was not darkness. It was memory. Colors bled through the air like watercolor on glass — images flickering in and out of form: faces, cities, broken skies. Every step Avery took disturbed the reflections, sending ripples of light curling outward like disturbed water. Kael walked behind her, silent but tense. His hand hovered near the hilt of his scythe, though even he seemed to know it would do no good here. “This isn’t part of the Vein,” he murmured. “Not the living current, at least.” Avery nodded, her voice hushed. “It’s… what’s underneath it.” The ground beneath her glowed faintly, veins of light branching out from her feet with each step. When she stopped, the glow faded. When she breathed, the air shimmered. She was tethered to this place. The realization made her chest tighten — half awe, half dread. “Do you hear that?” Kael asked suddenly. Avery strained to listen. There — faint, rhythmic, like a whisper behind a wall. A heartbeat. No — many

The Citadel had gone quiet, but it was the wrong kind of silence — the kind that hummed under the skin. Veyra stood at the heart of the Veil’s descent platform, her cloak torn, the ash of shattered conduits still clinging to her sleeves. Around her, the air was thick with residual gold — dust-like motes drifting lazily, each one carrying the faint echo of the heartbeat that had shaken their world. The strike team assembled in a tight circle. Armor glinted in the low light, sigils etched into their weapons pulsing faintly in rhythm with their own marks. They were the strongest of the remaining reapers, but none dared meet Veyra’s eyes. Soreth approached last, his usual composure frayed. “The lower strata are unstable. Our path might not hold.” Veyra’s voice was calm, precise. “We won’t have another chance to trace the surge.” He gave a slow, uneasy nod. “Do you even know what you’re walking into?” “I know enough,” she said, stepping toward the edge of the platform. Beneath them,