Beastbound: Reincarnated in the Abyss

The Veiled City did not settle after Kahless vanished.

It pulsed.

Buildings breathed in shallow, anxious rhythms. Windows shivered, eyes darting from one shape to another as if unsure who still ruled this fragment of the Abyss. Even the streets twisted, sighing beneath Raen's boots like creatures rolling in uneasy sleep.

Raen sheathed his blade with deliberate calm. His hand lingered on the hilt longer than it needed to—reassurance or warning, even he couldn't tell.

Ember Vow hovered a breath behind him, her dark hair drifting in strands that moved as if caught by water instead of air. Her pupils remained slitted, attuned to things Raen could only feel as pressure on his bones.

"You let him escape," she murmured. Not accusation. A simple, unsettling fact.

"I did." Raen's voice came out rough. His throat ached from channeling Memoryweaver so fiercely during the fight. "I needed to see the shape of his court. How deeply the city favors him."

"And?" Her hand ghosted over his shoulder, lingering like a question.

"He's not as rooted here as he pretends." Raen turned slowly, scanning the shifting alleys. Each time he blinked, the angles rearranged—what had been a narrow dead end now opened into a long boulevard choked with fog. "The city is… curious. Hungry for power, but cautious. Kahless courts it, but doesn't own it."

Ember Vow's lips curved, though not into a smile. "Then it waits for you to make your claim."

"Or to prove I'll destroy myself first." Raen's eyes narrowed. "This realm respects cruelty, but it worships consistency. Kahless can conjure horror. I can forge loyalty. That's our difference."

Hollowfang padded up beside them, its massive body shedding bits of shadow like leaves in a dying wind. Its yellow eyes fixed on Raen with a question Raen couldn't quite hear. Nearby, Despair Maw crouched low, jaws opening just enough to release a slow exhale that smelled of rust and old sorrow.

Raen crouched and let his hand rest between Hollowfang's ears. The beast pressed into the touch, tension draining in a ripple of trembling fur.

"You did well," Raen murmured, letting Memoryweaver slip through his palm like faint heat. Echoes of shared hunts, fleeting victories, the quiet moments after slaughter when there was nothing left but breath and heartbeat—he fed those memories back into Hollowfang's mind. The beast's tail thumped once against the broken glass street.

Ember Vow watched, eyes hooded. "You've learned to reward as well as command."

Raen looked up at her, expression unreadable. "Do you think I learned it here?"

A small sound left her lips—half laugh, half sigh. "No. You carried that into the Abyss. That's why it chose you. Why they choose you."

She gestured lightly at Hollowfang, at Despair Maw, even at the whispering shapes that hovered beyond ruined archways, drawn close by the recent clash.

Raen rose, dusting glass slivers from his palm. The Veiled City's heart waited somewhere ahead—a labyrinth by design, shifting with every lie told within its borders. Somewhere in that maze, Kahless gathered new reflections, preparing for the next strike.

He could have pressed forward now. Could have challenged the city outright, forced its illusions to kneel.

Instead, he turned down a smaller avenue, where towers leaned close like conspirators. Each window dripped with faint red light, as if bleeding from unseen wounds.

Ember Vow followed without question. Her steps made no sound on the fractured streets. Even Hollowfang's claws fell quieter than usual, as though it too respected this hush.

They walked until the city itself seemed to give them privacy. A small square opened at their feet, tiled in pale stone that held no reflections—just cold, honest emptiness.

Here, Raen finally paused. He let out a long breath that shook at the edges.

"You're hurting," Ember Vow said.

"Not from the fight." His eyes tracked a tiny fissure running through one of the tiles, following it as it spidered toward his boot. "Kahless is… familiar. Too familiar. Not just as a rival. As a possibility. If I ever stop testing my own motives, stop weaving memory with truth—I could become him."

Ember Vow stepped close, close enough her breath tickled his ear. "You fear the same abyss that feeds you."

"It's more than fear." Raen's hand found her wrist. His grip was firm, grounding. "It's recognition."

A quiet moment stretched. Then her fingers turned under his hand, curling to thread between his.

"You are not Kahless," she said simply.

"Not yet."

"Not ever."

She leaned in until their foreheads touched. Her skin was strangely warm for something born of curses and void, a warmth Raen let himself savor.

"I chose to follow you," Ember Vow murmured. "Not because you could rewrite my chains, but because you offered me the chance to break them myself. Kahless offers only mirrors—endless images of power with no substance behind them."

Raen let his eyes close. The tension slipped from his shoulders, if only slightly. "Then I'll hold to that. If I falter, you'll remind me."

"I'll do more than remind you." Her breath curled across his cheek, almost a promise. "I'll tear your illusions apart myself. For your sake—and for mine."

A faint, crooked smile ghosted across Raen's lips. "Good. I'd expect nothing less."

—

They didn't linger. The Veiled City was already stirring again, illusions creeping back to repaint its wounded streets. Somewhere beyond these tangled corridors, Kahless would be weaving new traps, learning from every exchange just as Raen did.

Raen straightened, tightening his grip on Ember Vow's hand once before letting go. His other hand settled naturally on his blade. Hollowfang fell into a quiet prowl at his side, Despair Maw slithering after them like living shadow.

As they moved out, Ember Vow's fingers brushed briefly against his again—a fleeting contact that meant more than any spoken vow.

[System Notice: Bond Affinity with Ember Vow Deepened]

[Effect: Ember Vow's Manifest Will Strengthened — Can Resist Domain Illusions Independently]

Raen's eyes flicked to the message, then to Ember Vow. Her lips curved, faint amusement dancing there.

"You see?" she teased. "Even your System acknowledges my stubbornness."

He snorted. "Stubborn is a kind word for it."

A small laugh slipped between them, unburdened for just an instant. Then the city's breath returned, long and low, pulling at them with new possibilities.

Raen rolled his shoulders. "Time to hunt again."

"To end him?" Ember Vow asked.

Raen's expression darkened, though something softer lingered behind his eyes. "No. To end what he would make of this place. So that when we rule, it is by choice—ours, and theirs."

Together they stepped forward. The Veiled City closed around them, whispers rising in a crescendo that promised new lies, new battles, and perhaps, someday, a truth worth binding their fates to.