MARKED FOR PRETEND - Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Two Days Later – Duskveil War Hall
“They wear no crest.” Bevy dropped the map on the war table. The ink was smeared. The edges were singed.
“No flag, no colours, no names.”
Kaden narrowed his eyes.
“Then how do we know who they are?”
Bevy hesitated “Because the moment they crossed the boundary ward… every Keeper on the eastern ridge started screaming.”
Silence.
“One died. His blood boiled before he could finish the warning spell.”
⸻
“How many?” Kaden asked.
“We don’t know. No scouts returned.”
“Then we’re blind.”
“No,” Bevy said grimly. “We’re being watched.”
⸻
Chelsea’s POV – Outside the Vaults
Chelsea stood at the edge of the broken vault. The one Kaelvarin had cracked. The one no one dared seal again.
The mark on her arm was quiet now but the silence didn’t feel safe. It felt measured. Like someone was listening.
“They’re not coming to negotiate,” she said aloud.
“No,” said a voice behind her. Kaden. “They’re coming to cleanse.”
She turned. His eyes met hers unreadable, but alert. “I want to meet them,” she said.
“You will not,” Kaden replied, too calm. “I will.”
“I am the reason they’re coming.”
“Exactly. That’s why you’re not going alone.”
⸻
Later that night, at the highest watchtower, the storm rolled in. But there was no lightning. No thunder.
Just the sound of boots too many to count and a wall of silence thick enough to choke on.
Chelsea stepped forward, cloak dragging in the wind.
The ones below did not raise weapons.
They simply looked up.
And smiled.
“What do they want?” Bevy asked from behind.
“To remove the bridge,” Chelsea said, voice distant. “So the world stays divided.”
⸻
One figure stepped forward.
Robes white, mask blank, no eyes, no mouth.
They held up a single, curved blade, and dropped it at her feet.
No words, Just a message:
We won’t kill you now.
You have three days.
Unmake yourself. Or we will.