POV: Celeste

I'd lived 1,200 years. I'd seen empires rise and fall. I'd bonded with dragons, fought wars, loved and lost more times than I could count.

And I recognized what stood before us in Vex's corpse.

"Nihilus," I breathed, ancient terror flooding through me. "The Devourer of Realms."

Everyone looked at me, confused and terrified.

"From Dragonborn legends," I explained quickly. "A primordial entity that destroyed three realms before being sealed away between realities. How did it get here?"

"The Veil," Yvonne said, Morgana's knowledge showing through. "Every conflict has been weakening reality's fabric. Morgana's curse, Crimson Dawn's experiments, the Fae invasion, the hybrid network. All of it tore...