The wind howled through the ruins of the old cathedral, its shattered stained glass casting fractured colors across the cracked stone floor. Elias crouched behind a crumbling pillar, his breath shallow, his fingers trembling around the hilt of his dagger. The whispers of the Veil slithered through his mind, a chorus of voices both ancient and unborn, warning him of what was coming.
*"They're here,"* the voices murmured.
Elias didn't need their warning. The air itself had grown heavy and thick with the scent of ozone, sulfur and something darker—something that didn't belong in this world. Shadows pooled unnaturally in the corners of the ruined sanctuary, stretching and twisting as if it is alive.
"Hey! You gots to hide, go! Get out of here." Elias whispered to the little girl. She didn't hesitate, she ran and his herself in a half open catacomb under the cathedral.
A footstep echoed. Then another and another. Elias tightened his grip.
"You can't hide forever you little prophet." The voice was smooth, mocking and dripping with the kind of amusement only an immortal could muster.
Elias exhaled slowly. He knew that voice. * It was Malachai.*
The fallen angel stepped into the dim light, his wings—once radiant, now ashen and tattered—folded behind him. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement, but Elias saw the hunger beneath them. Malachai wanted what he carried. That's what *all* of them wanted.
"The Veil's whispers are loud tonight," Malachai mused, tilting his head as if listening to something Elias couldn't hear. "They say you're close. That you've seen the threads of time unraveling and Tursha that little girl, her eyes have been opened."
Elias didn't answer. He'd learned long ago that silence was his best weapon against creatures like this.
Malachai sighed. "Still refusing to speak? How tedious." He flicked his wrist, and the shadows lunged.
Elias rolled just in time as the inky tendrils slammed into the pillar where he'd been crouched. Stone shattered. He came up swinging, his dagger flashing silver—a blade forged from the remnants of a fallen star, one of the few things that could harm the immortals.
Malachai hissed as the edge grazed his arm, black ichor seeping from the wound. "You *dare*—?"
Elias didn't wait for the rest. He bolted, weaving through the ruins, the whispers in his mind was guiding his steps. *Left, Right, Duck. Strike now. Jump.* He obeyed without hesitation.
He was trusting the Veil's guidance more than his own instincts. Behind him, Malachai's enraged snarl echoed, followed by the sound of wings unfurling.
He wasn't fast enough.
A force like a tidal wave slammed into Elias's back, sending him sprawling. His dagger skittered across the stone. Before he could move, a boot pressed between his shoulder blades, pinning him down.
"Did you really think you could outrun me?" Malachai's voice was a whisper now, cold and lethal. "You're just a man. Fragile. *A Mortal.*"
Elias gritted his teeth. "And yet I've lasted this long."
Malachai laughed. "Barely." He leaned down, his breath hot against Elias's ear. "Tell me where the Key is, and I'll make your death quick."
Elias closed his eyes. The Key is the artifact that could reset time and banish the immortals for good. The thing every fallen angel and demon in creation was hunting for. The thing *he* had sworn to protect.
"I don't know," he lied.
Malachai's grip tightened. "Liar." He yells angrily.
Pain exploded through Elias's skull as the fallen angel wrenched his head back, forcing him to meet those golden eyes. A wave of vertigo hit him, the world tilting as Malachai's power slithered into his mind, searching for the truth.
Elias fought it. He focused on the whispers, on the Veil's chaotic song, letting it drown out everything else. The voices rose, a cacophony of past and future, of screams and laughter and war and peace—
And then, a single, clear command.
*"Now."*
Elias acted. He twisted, driving his elbow into Malachai's ribs with all his strength. The fallen angel staggered, his grip loosening just enough for Elias to wrench free. He lunged for his dagger.
And with his fingers closing around the hilt of the dagger Malachai recovered with a snarl and this time, Elias didn't run.
He met the charge head-on, blade flashing. Malachai dodged, but Elias had spent years learning their tricks. He feinted left, then struck right, and his dagger sliced deep into Malachai's side.
The fallen angel roared with a thunderous voice, his form flickering and for a heartbeat, Elias saw something else beneath the beautiful facade, something monstrous and ancient. Then Malachai was upon him again, claws raking across Elias's chest.
Agony seared through him, but he didn't falter. He couldn't then with a final and desperate lunge, Elias drove the dagger upward then the world *screamed.*
Light erupted from the wound was blinding and pure. Malachai's cry turned into something inhuman as his body began to unravel and threads of his existence peeling away like a burned parchment.
"No—!" he gasped, clawing at the air as if he could stop it. "You don't understand what you're doing—!"
Elias didn't care. He watched with his breath ragged as the fallen angel dissolved into nothingness while his final whisper lost to the wind.
Then silence fell, Elias collapsed to his knees with blood soaking his shirt. The whispers in his mind had gone quiet, as if they were holding their breath.
It was done, For now. But it was far from over. Elias knew for a fact it wasn't over. Malachai was just one of many. And they would keep on coming.
With a painful groan, Elias forced himself to stand. He had to keep moving, he had to keep the little girl alive.
The Key was still hidden, still safe—but for how long?
He staggered toward the cathedral's catacomb door way, the weight of the future heavy on his shoulders. Somewhere out there, the threads of time were fraying. And he was the only one who could stop them from snapping entirely.
The wind howled again, carrying with it the faintest echo of laughter.
Elias didn't hold back, "Tursha stay where you are. Her tiny voice rang out "How did you know my name?"
"The thing I was fighting told me!" He answered.