Chapter 3 CHAPTER THREE

AERIS

One by one, students stepped forward. Some made it. Others did not. Each scream etched itself into my bones, and every thud of the collapsing Veil made my skin crawl.

I lost count of how many had crossed. I lost track of how many were gone.

The pattern kept twisting, unpredictable and cruel.

Each success sent a murmur of hope rippling through the group.

Each fall shattered it all over again.

At some point, I realized I’d stopped watching.

“Hey sister”

The cool voice sliced through the moment like a dagger made of ice.

Kaelia stood at the edge of the Veil like she belonged to it. Her cloak billowed in the wind, her chin lifted with unshakable certainty.

“See you on the other side, sister,” she said smoothly. “Try not to die.”

Before I could reply, she stepped onto the bridge.

Not a second of hesitation.

Her boots met the magic with perfect precision. The Veil shimmered beneath her weight, rippling like silk, but it held. She moved forward like she’d done it a hundred times in dreams. Steady and elegant.

And then she was across. Just like that. The crowd murmured in stunned silence.

I looked ahead at the bridge that shimmered like liquid glass, at the mist below that never stopped shifting, waiting.

So many had already crossed. Too many had fallen.

And now…. It was my turn to move

The moment my foot touched the Veil, my breath hitched in my throat.

Below, the mist writhed and churned, hiding whatever ancient, hungry thing might wait in the shadows. It didn’t look like fog anymore...it looked like something alive, something that wanted to pull me down and keep us there forever.

Just ahead of me was a girl. I didn’t know her name. Her cloak was deep navy, her long braid swinging gently with each step. She walked carefully, too carefully..shoulders stiff, movements cautious.

She was afraid. I could see it in every shaky breath, every hesitant footfall. We all were.

I tried to copy her pace. One step. Then another.

And the Veil moved with me.

The bridge didn’t creak or sway like a rope or a boardwalk...it rippled. The ground beneath me wasn’t ground at all but a weave of shifting magic, light twisted into threads suspended over nothing.

A faint tremor rolled underfoot, and I froze.

I looked to the side and it was a fatal mistake

There was no bottom. No safety net. Just mist and shadow and the echo of the screams that had come before.

The Veil reacted.

A sharp flare of light cracked beneath me. The shimmer fractured, the weave of magic recoiling from my doubt. I gasped and staggered, arms out, fighting for balance.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down.

Too late.

Panic surged like a tide, dragging reason under. This is it. This is where I die. This is where I fall. This is where I die. Just like that girl with the golden curls who vanished before we reached the platform. Just like the boy who never screamed because he didn’t even have time.

I wasn’t supposed to be here. I wasn’t built for this.

Every lesson, every whisper behind closed doors had made that clear:

Aeris can’t. Aeris won’t.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood. My limbs refused to move. Why keep pretending?

This bridge knows. It knows what I am.

A disappointment.

A fluke

A magical mistake stuffed into a trial meant for champions.

I blinked furiously as tears gathered in my eyes.

The light below flickered again...sharp and warning and I almost welcomed it. A part of me wanted to step forward just to get it over with. One more failure added to the list. No more pressure. No more pretending.

Just fall.

Just vanish.

Just—

“I’m going to fall!!!”

The voice snapped through the fog like a thread yanking me back from the edge.

I blinked. My vision cleared just enough to see the girl a few steps ahead, frozen mid-step, her back rigid with tension. Her arms were lifted slightly for balance, but I could see the tremor in them from here.

She turned her head, her expression pale and drawn. “I—I looked down,” she said, her voice shaking like a loose string. “I shouldn’t have looked…”

My fear didn’t vanish but it shifted.

I knew that look. The wide, glassy stare. The breath caught in her throat.

I knew it because it lived inside me, too.

She took another step and the Veil twisted sharply beneath her, almost like it was testing her weight.

“Don’t stop!” My voice cracked against the wind. “It will only get worse once you stop"

She turned slightly, startled. Her face was pale, her eyes wide. “What?”

Her foot hovered for a moment, then slowly pressed forward and for a moment, I didn’t know if she would listen. But then she nodded...small, barely a tilt of her head and lifted her foot to take another step.

The bridge surged beneath her.

And then something clicked.

I looked at the shimmer of the Veil, the threads of magic twisting through it. They weren’t random. They moved with rhythm..no, not rhythm. Emotion.

When the girl hesitated, when I looked down, the light had fractured. The moment doubt filled us, the Veil became volatile. But when that boy...the first studenthad walked with confidence, the light had been calm, stable. When Kaelia stepped forward without a single break in her stride, the bridge hadn’t even trembled.

This thing was alive.

It responded to our fear.

I slowed, watching closely. I placed my foot gently ahead...steady, no rush. I held my breath, cleared my thoughts.

The Veil responded.

The light beneath my feet glowed faintly but firmly. Solid. Not a shimmer, not a pulse. Just light.

I took another step. Same thing.

Then I hesitated, heart skipping.

The shimmer snapped. The light beneath my foot stuttered. The bridge pitched just slightly.

My breath rushed out in a panicked gasp, and I stumbled again, just barely catching myself.

No. Focus.

I inhaled deeply. Centered myself. And moved forward.

This time, the Veil held.

A pattern. There was a pattern.

“Heyy,” I called out to the girl , keeping my voice low but urgent. “I think I’ve figured it out.”

She looked up, her expression tight.

“When the bridge shakes, don’t stop moving,” I told her, carefully choosing each word. “The Veil—it reacts to us. When we hesitate, it becomes unstable. But when we move with purpose… it solidifies.”

She didn’t answer, but I saw her lift her foot. Slowly. Carefully. The light beneath her shimmered—and this time, it didn’t fracture. It pulsed strong.

Her lips parted in awe. She took another step and the bridge held.

I exhaled shakily. “That’s it. Follow the strongest glow. Trust your step.”

And then I moved too.

One step. Then another.

And then it was done.

The Veil rippled once more behind us and stilled.

We had made it.