The first thing that fell from the Veil wasn't a creature.
It was silence.
A terrible, unnatural silence that swallowed the world whole.
The city below stopped laughing. Music cut off mid-note. Fires crackled too loudly, like they were trying to fill the void.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Aria felt it press against her ears, thick as water.
Then the screaming started.
Not from the sky.
From the streets.
People were pointing upward now. Running. Dropping lanterns that shattered like tiny suns against stone.
The fracture above widened with a sickening sound, like bone splitting under pressure.
And something moved inside it.
Not clearly. Not yet.
Just a shifting mass of shadows that didn't belong to this world.
Damien's arm tightened around her.
"We need to move."
But Aria couldn't.
Because the Crown was awake.
Fully awake.
