Chapter 108: The Edge of Thunder
—One Does Not Steal from a Mother—
The outer threshold of the Veil was not visible to the naked eye.
It was a fold.
A fracture in space veiled in the breath of the Abyss.
And for most Soulbornes—touching it was death.
But Muna Ikemba was not most Soulbornes.
She stood at the lip of an ancient cliff face on the far northeastern coast of Soul Island.
Winds howled.
The sea below churned like it remembered something cruel.
Her aura was dimmed, every movement wrapped in precision.
The Soul Compass at her wrist blinked once—then died.
She no longer needed it.
She could feel Cassandra's essence now.
Like an ember in a forest of cinders.
Still alive. Still burning.
Trapped in a place between—not quite another dimension, but a construct of intent and domain.
She drew her breath.
And exhaled lightning—not from her mouth, but from her will.
Not the raw storms of her younger years.
Not even the black fury she'd once unleashed against Michelle.
This was something colder.
Sharper.
Soul-Refined lightning.
Compressed and silent.
It spiraled around her like wire drawn through the fabric of godhood.
She stepped forward—
And touched the veil.
A ripple danced across the invisible field.
It hissed. Shuddered. Resisted.
But it recognized her.
Not because of her name.
Not because of her power.
But because she came carrying a truth more ancient than war:
a mother's fury.
The ripple parted.
Only slightly.
Enough.
Muna vanished through the breach.
---
Inside the Veil's outer perimeter—
alarms flared.
Not mechanical. Not digital.
They were felt.
The walls pulsed.
The air curled.
A whisper darted through the dark halls.
"She's breached it."
At the top spire of the Watch—Mirex stood still, his cloak unmoving.
"So the thunder strikes alone."
Nyel stepped forward.
"Should I intercept?"
"No. Not yet."
"She's dangerous."
Mirex turned, and for the first time in weeks—his voice sounded almost amused.
"She's a mother. That makes her predictable."
But even as he said that, the shadow beneath his feet trembled.
T`halem was no longer in his quarters.
---
Elsewhere—beneath the blackbone sanctum—
Cassandra stirred.
She snapped her gaze upward.
"...She's coming."
Karen raised a brow. "Who?"
Cassandra smiled faintly.
"My mother."
And somewhere deeper still, T`halem opened a passageway that bent sideways through space and sighed.
"So you followed us here, Muna."
He didn't sound surprised.
He sounded…
pleased.
---