The air shimmered as Elorien pressed her palm to the ancient stone, the runes beneath her fingers pulsing softly. The Veilgate, last of its kind, stood before her, its portal dark and silent. Behind her, the shadow-beasts prowled closer, their growls vibrating in her ribs.
She exhaled, reaching deep for the ember of magic within. The stone thrummed in response, resisting. A test. Only the worthy could rekindle the lost path to the Celestial Realms.
A claw raked her shoulder. Pain flared, but she did not waver. Summoning the echoes of forgotten hymns, she traced the runes once more, this time in the pattern her mother once whispered in the cradle of dusk.
Light flared. The portal surged open. The beasts shrieked, eyes burning with fury. Elorien turned, stepping through toward a sky of silver constellations.
The gate sealed behind her. The beasts were trapped. And she, daughter of lost kings, had reopened the path to the gods.
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