Veilborn: Into the Magic World

The narrow alley behind Aeryn's bustling

downtown pub was cloaked in

darkness, the faint glow of a flickering

streetlamp doing little to dispel the

oppressive shadows. A low hum of the

city's nightlife buzzed in the distance,

but here, in the seclusion of the alley,

the world seemed eerily still.

Detective Adrian Cross crouched by the

edge of the scene, his breath visible in

the cold night air. His flashlight

illuminated the body; a man,

mid-thirties, dressed in a sleek business

suit now torn and bloodied. The lifeless

eyes stared blankly upward, the

once-pristine concrete beneath him

stained with dark, arterial splatters.

This wasn't the first time Adrian had

seen death, but this one... this one was

different.

Hours earlier, the man was alive.

Elliot Trask, a successful real estate

broker, had always been a creature of

habit. He worked late, dined at

expensive restaurants, and took the

same shortcut home every night to

avoid the heavy traffic. However, some of the nights, he went to a pub to enjoy a few glasses and tonight was one of those nights. But his main agenda was different. He was supposed to meet someone and for that reason he went out through the backdoor of the pub, where he was called to.

The soft click of his Italian leather

shoes echoed against the brick walls as

he walked through the deserted alley.

He adjusted his coat against the wind which was getting colder, his phone clutched in one hand as

he texted his wife to let her know he'd

be home soon. He never saw it coming.

At first, it was subtle. A faint whisper

too quiet to make out words but loud

enough to set his nerves on edge. Elliot's eyes darting around the alley.

The shadows seemed thicker than

usual, stretching unnaturally towards

him.

"Hello?" he called out, "You can show yourself now." But there was no answer, apart from the muted whispers. The

whispering ceased, replaced by a

suffocating silence. He let out a breath, getting angry as he started to call the person he was there to meet. The phone rang in a dark corner of the street. He could only see the faint light of it. As he moved nearer, turning on the torch on his phone. He found nobody.

As he crept down to pick up the phone, the streetlamp above him

flickered, casting jagged, erratic

shadows on the walls. His heart

pounded as he watched a figure emerge

from the darkness-a shape that wasn't

entirely human. Its form wavered as if

struggling to maintain its cohesion, like

smoke bound into the semblance of a

body. Its eyes, if they could be called

that, were twin voids, sucking in the dim

light around it.

"Stay back!" Elliot shouted, his voice

cracking. He fumbled with his phone,

but the creature moved impossibly fast,

its elongated limbs stretching like

tandrils towards him.

He screamed as one of the shadowy

appendages pierced his chest. A cold

unlike anything he'd ever felt spread

throughout his body, freezing him in place.

The creature's grip tightened, lifting him

off the ground effortlessly. His phone

clattered to the pavement, the screen

shattering.

The whispers returned, louder now,

insidious and incomprehensible, filling

his mind with a cacophony of terror. He

felt his strength ebbing away, as if the

creature was draining the very essence

of his being. He tried to fight, to scream

again, but no sound came out.

In his final moments, Elliot's vision

blurred, the world around him fading to

black. As the world disappeared, his dying eyes caught a glimpse of a body, soaked in blood, a meter ahead in the dark narrow alley.

The creature tilted its head,

almost curiously, as if savoring the life it

was consuming. Then, with a sickening

crack, it dropped his lifeless body to the

ground.

Now, Detective Cross stood over the

remains, his gloved hands trembling

slightly as he adjusted the flashlight.

The victim's chest bore strange, glowing

marks-runes etched into his flesh that

pulsed faintly with an otherworldly light.

Adrian had seen brutality before, but

this wasn't human. No knife or gun

could leave wounds like these.

A few yards away was another body, pierced at different points, horror plastered on its face. Unlike Elliot, there were no unusual, glowing marks on it.

"What the hell did this?" he muttered

under his breath.

His partner, Officer Janet Morgan,

approached cautiously. "Forensics is on its way." She informed. "They are going to

stumped" she said, her voice low. "There are no signs of a struggle. Just... this." She gestured at the glowing runes, her expression a mixture of awe and fear.

Adrian straightened, his sharp eyes

Scanning the alley. "This isn't random. Whoever-or whatever-did this wanted

to senda message." He crouched beside

the body again, his mind racing. The

glowing marks seemed to form a

pattern, almost like... a map?

A sudden noise snapped him out of his

thoughts. The streetlamp above them

flickered violently, casting the alley into

momentary darkness. Both the officers

reached for their weapons, their nerves

on edge. The air grew colder, and for a

split second, Adrian thought he saw

something-a shadow moving against

the wall, independent of the light.

"Did you see that?" Janet whispered, her

hand tightening on her flashlight.

"Yeah" Adrian said, his voice steady

despite the unease creeping up his

spine. He rose to his feet, his instincts

screaming that they weren't alone.

The shadows seemed to shift, retreating

into the depths of the alley. Adrian took

a cautious step forward, his flashlight

cutting through the darkness.

"Whatever's out there, show yourself!"

he called, his voice firm.

But there was nothing. Just the quiet

hum of the city, distant and indifferent.

Adrian exchanged a wary glance with

Janet. "Get this area locked down," he

said. "And call in every specialist we

have. This isn't over."

As they turned to leave, neither of them

noticed the faint glow lingering in the

shadows, a trace of the creature that

had claimed Elliot Trask. It was still watching, still waiting. And it wasn't

finished.