The Midnight Key

Rene's breath caught in her throat. The last Keeper of the Veil? That couldn't be right. How could she be part of something so powerful and not remember?

The cloaked figure stepped closer, their voice urgent. "There's no time to question it. They know you're back."

"Who?" Rene asked, her fingers still pulsing with the strange black glow.

"The Forgotten Ones."

At the name, a chill swept through the air. The floating city of Nocturna, once alive with the shimmer of hidden magic, seemed to darken as if a storm loomed overhead.

"They were exiled from this realm long ago," the figure explained, "but they have found a way back. And you—you are the only one who can stop them."

Before Rene could process it, the ground beneath her trembled. A crack split the obsidian road, and from it, tendrils of shadow slithered upward, curling like smoke. But these weren't like the comforting shadows she had known. These were wrong—twisting, writhing, hungry.

Then she saw them.

Figures emerging from the darkness, their faces blurred like they had been wiped from existence. Hollow eyes, stretched smiles—beings that shouldn't exist.

The Forgotten Ones.

Rene's instincts kicked in. She raised her hands, and the black glow surrounding her fingers flared to life. The nearest shadow-creature lunged, but before it could touch her, a pulse of power exploded from her palms, sending it screeching back.

She barely had time to breathe before the cloaked figure grabbed her wrist. "We need to go now," they urged, pulling her toward a glowing archway ahead.

But something in Rene resisted. A voice deep inside whispered: You don't need to run. You need to fight.

And then—another twist.

A memory resurfaced. Not just of Nocturna, but of before. Of the reason the Forgotten Ones had been exiled. Of a betrayal so deep, it had shattered the balance between light and dark.

A betrayal she had been part of.

Her eyes widened in shock. Was she really the hero here? Or had she just woken up as the villain of her own forgotten past?

To Be Continued…...