Chapter 38

The group stumbled upon a small cave, its entrance nearly hidden by a thick curtain of vines draped over jagged rock, shadowed by the gnarled branches of ancient oaks. Caden pushed through first, his sword drawn, his sharp eyes scanning the dim interior for any signs of danger. The cave was empty—a cramped hollow carved into the stone, just large enough for them to sit comfortably, the air cool and damp with the scent of moss. “Clear,” he said, sheathing his blade with a practiced flick of his wrist.

They filed in, their breaths ragged from the chase, grateful for the temporary shelter. Aria dropped her pack and knelt beside Torren, who had slumped against the rough wall, wincing as he stretched out his injured leg. “Let me see that,” she said, her healer’s instincts cutting through her own exhaustion. She peeled back the blood-stiffened fabric of his trouser leg, revealing a deep gash from their earlier fight in the ruins.

“It’s just a scratch,” Torren protested, though his clenched jaw and the sweat beading on his brow told a different story.

“Scratches can fester,” Aria replied firmly, dabbing at the wound with a damp cloth from her pack. “Especially in a place like this.” Her hands moved with steady precision, but her mind churned with unease. The Hollow Ones were still out there, relentless in their pursuit, drawn by the orb’s strange power.

Caden stationed himself at the cave’s entrance, peering through the vines into the darkening forest beyond. The last rays of sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting long, eerie shadows. “We can’t stay here long,” he said, his voice low and tense. “Those things are still hunting us.”

Elara, meanwhile, had already unpacked the Orb of Destiny and the crystal shard they’d found alongside it. She placed them carefully on a flat stone in the center of the cave, her brow furrowing as she studied them. “We need to understand what we’re dealing with,” she said, her tone a blend of curiosity and caution. “The orb and the shard are connected—look at this.” She held the shard close to the orb, and both began to glow brighter, their lights pulsing in a synchronized rhythm that sent faint vibrations through the air.

Torren leaned forward, intrigued despite the pain radiating from his leg. “Maybe they’re parts of a whole. Like a key and a lock.”

Aria finished bandaging Torren’s wound with a strip of clean cloth and turned to watch Elara’s experiment. “What did that stranger mean when he said the Hollow Ones are just the beginning?” she asked, her voice soft but edged with worry.

Caden’s jaw tightened, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “I don’t know, but I don’t trust him. He could be working with them—or worse.”

“Or against them,” Aria countered, her compassionate nature pushing her to see the best in people. “He didn’t attack us, and he seemed to know a lot about the orb.”

“Knowledge doesn’t make him an ally,” Caden shot back, his protective instincts flaring like a shield around the group.

Elara’s hands glowed faintly with a soft blue light as she passed them over the artifacts, her magic probing their secrets. “The orb is ancient, that much is clear. Its power is… immense, but unstable. I think it’s tied to the Hollow Ones somehow—maybe it’s what they’re after.”

Before anyone could respond, a low, guttural growl echoed from outside the cave, freezing the blood in their veins. Caden spun around, drawing his sword in one fluid motion. “They’ve found us.”

A Hollow One stepped into view at the cave’s entrance, its skeletal form draped in tattered robes that fluttered like wisps of shadow. Its eyes burned like twin coals in the gathering dusk, and it let out a piercing screech that reverberated off the stone walls. Without hesitation, it charged, its claws outstretched toward them.

Caden met it head-on, his sword clashing against its bone-like talons in a shower of sparks. Torren grabbed his daggers, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in his leg, and flanked the creature, his blades darting in to seek weak points in its unnatural defenses.

Aria scrambled back, clutching the orb to her chest. Its light flared brighter in the Hollow One’s presence, and she felt a surge of energy course through her, as if the orb itself was reacting to the threat. “Elara!” she called, her voice tight with desperation. “What do I do?”

“Use the orb!” Elara shouted, her hands weaving a hasty protective spell that shimmered faintly in the air. “It’s reacting to them—channel its power!”

Aria didn’t know how, but she thrust the orb forward, willing its energy to obey her. A burst of blinding light exploded from it, slamming into the Hollow One with the force of a battering ram. The creature reeled back, its screech twisting into a wail of agony as the light seared its shadowy form, tendrils of smoke rising from its charred limbs.

Caden seized the moment, driving his sword deep into the Hollow One’s chest. It let out a final, agonized howl and collapsed, its body dissolving into a pile of ash and brittle bone fragments that scattered across the cave floor.

Breathing heavily, Caden turned to Aria, his eyes wide with a mix of awe and disbelief. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her hands trembling as she stared at the orb, its glow now dimming to a soft pulse. “It just… happened. The orb—it’s like it knew what to do.”

Elara knelt beside the ash pile, her expression a blend of fascination and concern. “The orb’s light is anathema to the Hollow Ones. It can harm them, maybe even destroy them completely. This could be our edge.”

“Then we need to learn how to control it,” Caden said, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “And fast. There are more of them out there, and they won’t stop coming.”

Torren sheathed his daggers, his face pale but resolute. “The stranger might know how. He seemed to understand what’s going on—maybe he’s our best shot.”

Caden’s frown deepened, his distrust warring with pragmatism. “I still don’t like him, but we might not have a choice. We need to find him—or someone who can help us harness this power.”

Aria nodded, carefully tucking the orb and the crystal shard back into her pack. “There’s a town not far from here, Eldenwood. They have a library and sages who might know about ancient artifacts like this.”

“Eldenwood it is,” Caden agreed, his tone firm with resolve. “But we have to move now. I can hear more of those things approaching.”

They gathered their belongings in a rush, the distant howls of the Hollow Ones growing louder, more insistent, with each passing second. Aria shouldered her pack, her heart pounding as they slipped out of the cave and plunged back into the forest. The trees blurred around them as they ran, the promise of answers in Eldenwood and the threat of pursuit driving them onward.

As they raced through the undergrowth, the orb’s faint pulse thrummed in Aria’s pack—a silent reminder that their journey was far from over, and the true battle had only just begun.