The wind howled over the vast, ancient lands of Maruji Village, a place hidden in the folds of time and map. Unlike ordinary villages, Maruji held a terrible secret—one that lay buried beneath the soil, guarded by tradition and bloodlines bound by oath. And at the center of that oath was Rekha Hitari's family.
Rekha's home was not like any other. Built with weather-worn stone and protected by sacred charms, it stood beside a craggy cliff that overlooked a forest of red-leafed trees. Deep in that forest was a sealed gate known only to a few across generations—The Crimson Veil Gate.
Her father, Rael Hitari, was not just a warrior. He was the Last Guardian of the Veil.
Rekha grew up watching him perform sacred rituals near the gate, drawing runes on the ground while whispering forgotten words in a tongue only the old sword-keepers understood. She never knew the full truth. Not until that day when Kai Hitari's father—a man known as Raizen Hitari, wielder of Tenrai—arrived at their doorstep with blood on his clothes and a wound that bled crimson and black.
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Raizen stumbled through the village gates, his body weakened, his energy fractured. Rekha, barely thirteen at the time, remembered the moment vividly. She had never seen a man like him—his presence radiated both nobility and pain. Her father rushed to help him, and together they dragged Raizen into their old ceremonial hall.
There, as rain poured outside and thunder shook the mountains, the truth spilled out like a wound too long untreated.
"They've taken Tenrai..." Raizen rasped. "The creatures... from beyond the Veil. They've broken the seal... they've found a way to breach the cracks."
Rael's eyes widened in horror. "You mean... the sword? The ancestral blade? How?"
Raizen clenched his jaw. "They set a trap. Lured me into the lowlands. I fought them—demons cloaked in human skin, monsters with no soul. But there were too many. And Tenrai was... stolen."
Rekha had never seen her father's face pale like that.
"But we sealed the gate centuries ago," Rael said. "It was supposed to be unbreakable."
"They didn't come through the gate," Raizen replied. "They were born outside of it."
Rael's breath caught in his throat. "Born? How?"
"I don't know," Raizen admitted. "But I do know this: Tenrai holds power far greater than any of us knew. And if they master it—" He paused, eyes burning. "—they'll unseal the gate entirely."
Rael's voice turned harsh. "You want me to open the Veil? You want to go inside?"
Raizen nodded. "There is no other way. I must go through… recover the blade… and destroy whatever awakened on the other side."
Rael stood in silence for a long time. The rain intensified, as if the skies themselves listened.
"This is madness," he said finally. "The last time the Veil was touched, it nearly consumed the continent. Your father, your grandfather… they warned us never to break that seal again."
"And look where that silence brought us," Raizen snapped. "We became complacent. The creatures evolved while we slept. I need that sword back. If I don't stop them now—my son… our world… all will burn."
At the mention of his son, something changed in Rael's expression. Perhaps it was fear. Perhaps it was duty.
He turned to Rekha, who had been hiding behind the ceremonial curtain, her eyes wide with fear and curiosity. He said gently, "Child, this will be your burden someday."
Rekha didn't understand then. Not fully. But she would.
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The next morning, Rael led Raizen to the base of the Veil Gate—a massive stone arch buried in twisted roots and carved with celestial glyphs. It pulsed faintly, as if something on the other side breathed in waiting.
He placed his hand on the seal, murmured the Ancient Words of Passage, and light shot across the arch, tearing the fabric of space between the living world and the realm beyond.
Raizen didn't hesitate. He stepped into the crimson fog that appeared behind the gate and vanished.
He never came back.
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Years passed.
Rekha kept the truth close to her heart. No one in the village spoke of that day. Rael continued guarding the gate, though he aged faster than normal. Something about keeping the seal drained his life. Eventually, he passed the duty to Rekha.
She was eighteen when she inherited the Guardian Mark—an engraving burned into her palm during the Binding Ceremony.
The villagers said she was cursed. They feared the gate and what slept beyond it. But Rekha knew one thing: Raizen Hitari had gone in to save the world—and failed.
Or so she thought.
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Now, years later, she stood once again at the hilltop shrine, facing Kai Hitari, Raizen's son—the boy born to the warrior who sacrificed everything.
Herin stood beside him, equally shocked.
"You knew my father?" Kai asked, his voice low.
Rekha nodded. "He came to my village. My father and I… we opened the Veil for him."
Kai's hands clenched into fists. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because your family swore to bury the truth. To protect you. They didn't want you walking the same path."
"I deserve to know everything," Kai whispered. "That sword... Tenrai… it's not just a weapon. It's a curse."
Rekha looked into his eyes and said, "No. It's hope. The sword will choose again. And when it does, it must be wielded by someone who understands not just war… but sacrifice."
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To Be Continued in Chapter 10…