The air inside Aethlar was thick with tension, the usually pristine streets now tainted by the residue of battle. Kael Relan could feel the rift before he saw it. The way it pulsed in the distance, almost breathing like a living entity, sent a shiver up his spine. His keen eyes caught the subtle flickers of dark energy seeping from its edges, corrupting everything it touched. Beside him, Varin Valen walked in brooding silence, his face a stoic mask.
The city was under siege—not from any typical invader but from the vile influence of the Abyss Rift. But there was something far more insidious at play here, something neither Kael nor Varin had anticipated.
"You feel that?" Kael asked, his voice barely a whisper as they moved through the deserted street.
Varin gave a curt nod, eyes sweeping the rooftops and shadowy corners. "It's worse than I thought. We're not dealing with just Darkspawn."
Kael didn't ask for clarification. He knew Varin's instincts were sharp, honed by decades of experience. If Varin sensed something off, there was more to this invasion than the usual corruption pouring from the Rift.
As they approached the heart of the disturbance, the ground trembled beneath their feet. Kael felt a pulse of energy shoot through him—a sickening sensation that left his stomach lurching. The Rift was growing stronger. The Darkspawn had been relentless, pouring through the breach in waves, but there was a new, darker power lurking behind it.
Suddenly, three figures stepped out of the shadows. Kael instinctively drew his blade, the silver gleam catching what little light remained in the gloomy city. Varin tensed beside him, his aura crackling with Void energy, ready to strike.
"We're not your enemies," said a calm voice from the middle figure, raising a hand in a gesture of peace. The speaker was a tall man with short-cropped hair and a scar running down the side of his face. His armor, dark and intricate, shimmered with runic patterns. "We're here to help."
The man was flanked by two others—a wiry, sharp-eyed woman with red hair who stood with her fingers dancing over the hilts of her daggers, and a hulking man, bare-armed and brimming with silent menace. Their presence screamed competence, but Kael wasn't about to let his guard down.
"And who exactly are you?" Varin asked, his voice as cold as the shadows gathering around them.
The leader of the trio stepped forward, offering a tight-lipped smile. "Evans, leader of this team. We're part of The Veil."
Kael had heard of The Veil before. In fact, he had met one of their members in the past when they had approached him unexpectedly, shrouded in secrecy. The rumors that surrounded The Veil painted them as an enigmatic group of warriors and spies, operating from the shadows, but few truly understood their purpose.
"The Veil?" Kael's brow furrowed. "What's your business here?"
Evans cast a glance toward the distant Rift, its ominous energy swirling into the sky. "Same as yours, I imagine. This Rift—it's no accident. Someone inside Aethlar is working with the Darkspawn. There's an Abyss Cult hidden among the city's people. They've weakened the city's defenses from within."
"A cult?" Varin's expression darkened. "I've heard rumors of this before, but I didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to make deals with the Abyss."
Kael's stomach twisted. "They worship the Abyss?"
Evans nodded grimly. "Worse than worship. They've found a way to absorb the power of the Abyss itself. Dark Abyss Essence—the essence of an Abyssal Lord. It's different from the Dark Essence that leaks from the Rifts. This essence can turn anyone into a Darkspawn, corrupting them from the inside."
The revelation hit Kael like a physical blow. "So the Darkspawn… they were once—"
"People of Erendath," the woman with the red hair interjected, her voice sharp and cold. "Creatures, too. All of them, corrupted by the Abyssal Lord's essence."
Kael exchanged a glance with Varin. The pieces began to click together, the horrors they'd witnessed all making a sickening kind of sense. Every Darkspawn they had fought, every twisted creature that had clawed its way through the Rift—they were once inhabitants of Erendath.
"Does any of you know Rune magic?" Varin asked. "I can see that there is one over on the west side of this city's edge. I believe what's causing is that one that weakened the city's protective shield."
The third figure, the hulking man, spoke for the first time. "Tiara can handle that."
Tiara, the red-haired woman, gave a slight nod. "I specialize in Rune Magic. Once we get to the breach, I'll disable the Rune that's disrupting the shield. But we need to move fast. The longer that Rift stays open, the more Darkspawn will pour through."
Kael felt the weight of the situation pressing down on him. He had always been a fighter, using his Rebirth Core and Void Step to stay ahead of the danger, but this—this was bigger than any fight he'd ever faced. Aethlar was on the brink of collapse, and if they didn't act quickly, the entire Eternal City could fall to the Abyss.
"We should get moving," Evans said, turning on his heel. "The breach in the west part of the city, it's swarming with Darkspawn, so be ready for a fight."
As they moved, Kael couldn't shake the growing sense of dread. He had always known the Abyss was a powerful force, but hearing about the Abyss Cult and the Dark Abyss Essence—it added a new layer of fear. How many more people would fall to the corruption before they could stop it?
They reached the western district of Aethlar under a veil of twilight. The streets were deserted, save for the twisted forms of the Darkspawn that prowled the shadows. Their grotesque shapes writhed and hissed, eyes glowing with malevolent hunger.
"Stay sharp," Varin murmured.
Kael tightened his grip on his blade, his eyes scanning the horizon. Then he saw it—the rune. It was etched into the very air, a shimmering network of dark lines that pulsed with Abyssal energy. The protective shield that once guarded Aethlar flickered weakly around it, barely holding on.
"There," Tiara said, her voice low and focused. She knelt by the edge of the Rune, her fingers tracing its lines. "Give me a few minutes."
Kael knew they didn't have much time. The Darkspawn were already converging, their guttural growls growing louder as they sensed fresh prey.
"We'll hold them off," Evans said, unsheathing his twin blades. Then he turned tand faced Kael and Varin. "You two cover us."
The first wave hit fast. Darkspawn charged from all sides, their claws gleaming in the fading light. Kael darted forward, his Void Step carrying him between enemies, slicing through their ranks with precision. Each movement was calculated, his mind racing to stay ahead of the chaos.
Varin, always the silent warrior, moved with lethal grace. Void energy crackled around him as he unleashed powerful blasts that sent Darkspawn flying back. But despite their combined efforts, the Darkspawn kept coming, wave after relentless wave.
Kael's breath came in ragged bursts, his muscles straining under the onslaught. He could feel the dark sigil on his arm pulse with a strange energy, the same mark the Abyss Lord had left him with. It throbbed painfully, almost as if it was feeding off the Abyss energy around them.
"Almost there!" Tiara shouted, her voice strained as she worked furiously on the Rune.
But before Kael could respond, a massive Darkspawn, larger and more twisted than the others, broke through the line. Its eyes locked onto Kael, and he felt the air grow cold as the creature lunged at him. He barely had time to react, Void Stepping out of the way just in time to avoid its deadly claws.
Varin was beside him in an instant, his Void energy flaring as he slammed a fist into the creature, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Focus!" Varin growled. "We're almost through this!"
Kael nodded, his mind sharpening. He couldn't afford to let his fear get the better of him. He was stronger than that—he had to be.
A bright flash of light erupted from where Tiara was working, and the Rune shattered, disintegrating into a thousand shards of dark energy.
"The shield's back!" Tiara called, breathless.
Kael looked up to see the city's protective shield flicker back to life, a brilliant barrier of light that surged across the sky. The Darkspawn recoiled, retreating as the shield cut off their connection to the Abyss.
But the victory felt hollow. Kael wiped the sweat from his brow, his mind swirling with everything they had just learned. A cult, a city teetering on the edge of ruin, and the revelation that the Abyssal Lord could corrupt anyone, even him.
Evans turned to Kael, his expression unreadable. "We could use someone like you in The Veil. You've seen what's out there. It's only going to get worse."