Volume II - Episode 85 Where: Cologne, Germany When: 1 months and 13 days after E-Day, 1:46 am A light filled the APC, casting its occupants in an eerie blue glow. “What’s that?” the boy asked. The Ancient said nothing, staring through the windshield at the awe-inspiring sight only half a block ahead of them. His body was rigid, trembling with anticipation. “Sir?” the driver, a young French soldier with close-cropped hair and intense green eyes, said. “We’re almost there.” “Very good,” the Ancient replied, his voice strained, barely able to contain his excitement. They could hear it now. A strange buzzing, crackling sound that grew steadily louder as they approached. “What is it?” the boy asked again, tugging at the Ancient’s sleeve. “A Veil,” the Ancient answered. “Just like the one over Gorod Drevnih itself.” “A Veil?” The Ancient looked up at the swirling vortex of blue clouds stretching up into the distance high above him. “A powerful spell,” he said. “A very powerful spell. Designed by a very powerful necromancer a long, long time ago.” “Wow,” the boy said. “Has it always been here?” “No,” the Ancient said. His fingers twitched restlessly. He wanted to get to work. “So who put it here?” The Ancient clucked his tongue impatiently, but answered the young boy’s question. “When the young lady died, her spirit would have been torn in two directions. Part of her would have been pulled back towards her body, but she also would have been drawn towards Gorod Drevnih far, far to the east. There, her spirit would have been sensed by the other necromancers, and they will have come here to help re-bind her spirit to her body. But Cologne is riddled with war and filled with curious, meddlesome minds; so they have put up the Veil to allow them to work in peace.” A loud crack echoed through the city. A bolt of lightning raced up the length of the apartment building ahead. “Of course, I shouldn’t be telling you any of this,” the Ancient said, mostly to himself. “It is strictly forbidden to share these secrets.” “So...why are you telling me?” the boy asked. The Ancient’s features stretched into a wide, somehow unpleasant grin. “Because soon it will no longer matter.”