Chapter 5 Ashes and Echoes

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The tower loomed like a scar on the sky, carved from bone and obsidian. Every step Aeris took toward it made her heart beat louder-not from fear, but from recognition.

She'd been here before.

Not in this life. Not with this face. But her soul remembered.

Lazrin kept pace beside her, silent but watchful. The realm around them was too quiet. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

"Something's wrong," she murmured.

"Yes," Lazrin said. "We're being watched by the past."

Inside the tower, memories waited. Their memories.

They crossed the threshold-and the air changed. Time twisted again, curling like smoke. For a split second, Aeris wasn't Aeris anymore.

She was-Ilyra, High Priestess of the Moon Flame.

Veilkeeper. Betrayer. Beloved.

And Lazrin-he wasn't himself, either. He was Kavryn, Prince of the Veilborn. Cursed heir to the dying realms.

Aeris staggered back, gasping.

A vision slammed into her-her hand reaching for his throat, tears in her eyes, blood on her lips.

"I'm sorry," her past self whispered.

"I would let you do it again," Kavryn had answered, voice broken. "If it meant I could love you one more day."

She collapsed to her knees. "Gods..."

Lazrin dropped beside her, grabbing her shoulders. "It's coming back to you too?"

"I killed you," she choked.

His grip tightened. "No. You saved me. Then you killed me."

She looked up at him-truly saw him. His face was the same and different, aged by death and lifetimes. Still haunting. Still his.

"You were my forbidden lover," she whispered. "We were supposed to destroy the Veil together."

He nodded. "Until your order turned on us."

"I betrayed them."

"You chose me."

A heartbeat.

Then a whisper-echoing in the chamber around them.

> Love tore the Veil once. It will tear it again.

A woman stepped from the wall, pale as ice, eyes like broken mirrors. Her hair fell in ribbons of white, trailing behind her like smoke.

Aeris gasped. "That's me. That was me-"

"No," Lazrin said, drawing his blade. "That's what's left of you."

The spirit-Ilyra's Echo-smiled sadly. "You burned the world for him. You cursed yourself for it."

Aeris stood, trembling. "What do you want?"

"I want to warn you," the echo said. "History always repeats itself. And love... always ends in ruin."

The room darkened. The sigils on their skin flared.

And in the echo's last breath, she whispered:

> Only one of you can survive the Veilbinding.

Then she was gone.

And the tower began to crumble.

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