LOGINRAVENI didn’t go back inside after the elder finished speaking.I stayed outside Blackridge longer than I should have, standing near the edge of the upper walkway. Everything he said kept repeating in my head in a way I couldn’t shut off.The Hollow was never hunting your bloodline. It was waiting for it to awaken completely.It didn’t feel like information anymore.It felt like something inside me had been waiting to hear it spoken out loud before it could finally move. I turned back toward Blackridge after a while, but even inside the building it didn’t feel quieter. It felt worse. Too many corridors. Too many eyes. Too many people who now looked at me like I was the next thing they were going to misunderstand.Theo tried to speak to me near the entrance.I walked past him.Jax said something under his breath that sounded like a joke meant to soften the tension.I didn’t answer.Dominic didn’t say anything at all, which somehow felt heavier than the rest. By the time I reached the
JAXBy this point, I genuinely believed Blackridge was incapable of giving us normal days anymore. Every morning started with somebody uncovering ancient psychological damage beneath the mountain and every evening ended with the realization that history had somehow been lying harder than the people currently alive.Honestly, impressive consistency.I was standing near the lower archive entrance watching engineers carry recovered records upstairs when Theo approached holding another stack of documents against his chest.“You disappeared,” he said.“I was avoiding responsibility.”“That’s not a real task.”“It is if you commit to it emotionally.”Theo looked exhausted enough that he didn’t even argue properly. That was concerning because usually he enjoyed arguing with me far more than was medically reasonable.The lower tunnels beneath Blackridge had become significantly busier over the last two days. Territory leaders kept arriving after hearing about the discoveries underground and a
DOMINICIt started without warning. One second I was still in Blackridge trying to process what Raven had said, and the next I was standing somewhere that made me confused as hell.It looked like a council chamber.Stone polished smooth in a way that suggested control more than design. Tall pillars lined the room, carved with symbols I didn’t recognize. People were speaking before I even fully realized I was inside it.“The outer territories are destabilizing faster than expected.”“We cannot maintain narrative consistency if they continue asking questions.”“The child cannot remain referenced even indirectly.”That last line made something in my chest tighten immediately.Child.I turned toward the sound without meaning to. A long table stretched across the center of the chamber. Advisors sat on both sides, leaning forward like the weight of their own decisions was physically pressing them down.At the far end sat the First King and he didn't look like the portraits. He looked tired
RAVENBy the time I got back to Blackridge tunnels, I already knew something had gone wrong without anybody saying it out loud.It was in the way people looked at me again.It was not hostile or worshipful either. Something worse than both because it sat in the middle where nobody had to admit what they were thinking.Expectation.Like I was supposed to walk in and fix whatever mess the world had decided to become just because I happened to be standing in the middle of it.I pushed through the main hall without stopping. Guards moved aside too quickly. Too practiced. Like they’d been told exactly how to react to me now.Theo was the first person I saw. He was standing near the stairwell with Jax beside him, both of them talking to one of the engineers about something I didn’t care enough to follow. The moment Theo noticed me, his entire expression shifted like he was trying to decide what version of himself I needed.That was already annoying.Jax saw me next and immediately straighte
THEOAfter Marek’s last sentence, nobody really knew how to move forward.You don’t just hear that the Hollow wasn’t destroying things but actively maintaining a cycle and then go back to normal conversation like someone commented on the weather.So we did what everyone does when reality becomes too heavy to hold properly.We kept working.The archive chamber stretched deeper than any of us had originally mapped, and now that we were actively looking instead of just reacting, the place started feeling less like ruins and more like something carefully buried. Not destroyed. Not lost.Hidden.The engineers spread out along the walls again, running their hands over stone seams and old shelving structures that looked decorative until you noticed they didn’t align naturally with the architecture. Jax followed one of them for about ten seconds before stopping at a section of wall that looked no different from the rest.Then he tapped it.Twice.“It’s hollow,” he said.One of the engineers l
DOMINICThe painting stayed on the table between all of us like it had personally decided to ruin everybody’s mental stability.Nobody spoke for a while after Raven pointed out the child’s hair because there honestly wasn’t much to say. The entire underground archive room had gone weirdly quiet now. Even the workers nearby looked uncomfortable like they knew they had accidentally uncovered something they weren’t supposed to see.Jax leaned against one of the old shelves with both arms crossed tightly.“I hate ancient people,” he muttered. “Every single thing they did was dramatic and emotionally destructive.”Theo rubbed a hand across his face tiredly. “You say that like our generation is any better.”“We’re at least emotionally destructive with modern communication skills.”“That is not the improvement you think it is.”I barely heard them.My attention stayed fixed on the portrait while something ugly kept turning over slowly in my chest.The child in the painting looked too familia
COLEI have always been a man of the ice. I like the sound of skates cutting through the rink. I like the smell of sweat and the cold air of the arena. I am used to being in the spotlight, but usually, I am wearing pads and a helmet. I am used to people cheering for a goal, not staring at my tie.T
DOMINICThe sky was the color of a bruised plum when I finally shook myself awake. I hadn't really slept; I had just drifted in and out of a light doze, my ears twitching at every floorboard creak in the hallway.Raven was still tucked against my side. In the gray light of dawn, she looked small.
RAVENThe morning started with a strange kind of beauty.I was standing on the porch of the main house, a cup of hot tea in my hands.The sun was just starting to peek over. It was beautiful, but it made the hair on my arms stand up."Dominic," I called out.The screen door creaked open and Domin
DOMINICThe sun was hot and it did not feel good. It felt like we were standing too close to an open oven.I stood in the middle of the training field with a broom in my hands. All around me, the wolves of the Iron Howlers were working. We were not training with swords or shifting into our beas







