CHAPTER 11: THE WOMAN BEYOND THE ARCH

The voice came from inside the arch.

“Elara…”

I froze.

My injured ankle throbbed beneath me, but I barely felt the pain anymore. The creature was somewhere behind me, crashing through the forest, yet the ancient arch in front of me seemed to pull at something deep inside my chest.

The symbol carved into its centre glowed beneath the vines.

The same symbol burned on my wrist.

I should have turned around.

Instead, I stepped through.

Cold swept over me.

The forest vanished.

For one breathless moment, there was nothing but darkness.

Then a woman appeared several feet ahead.

She stood beneath a pale light that seemed to come from nowhere. A dark cloak covered her body, and long silver-grey hair fell over her shoulders. Her face was calm, but her eyes were fixed on my wrist.

“You finally came,” she said.

My heart hammered.

“Who are you?”

She didn't answer.

“How do you know my name?”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I know what you carry.”

My fingers closed around my wrist.

“The Hollow?”

Something flickered across her face.

Recognition.

Fear.

Perhaps both.

“So they have told you.”

“Who are they?”

She took one step closer.

“You are asking questions that should have been answered before you were born.”

My breath caught.

“What does that mean?”

She looked at me strangely.

“You shouldn't have survived.”

A sharp pain suddenly tore through my wrist.

I cried out and dropped to one knee.

The mark beneath my sleeve burned like fire.

The woman didn't move to help me.

Instead, she whispered something I could barely hear.

“Still sleeping…”

“What?”

She looked towards the darkness behind me.

“They woke it too soon.”

Before I could ask what she meant, the darkness around us began to shift.

Images appeared.

A village surrounded by flames.

People running through smoke.

A man standing before a black banner, his face hidden.

Then a woman holding a baby against her chest.

I couldn't see her face.

But the moment I saw her, something inside me broke.

I knew that feeling.

Not recognition.

Something deeper.

Loss.

The image disappeared.

Two babies appeared in its place.

Two small bundles lying beside each other.

A hand reached towards them.

Then the vision shattered.

I gasped and stumbled backwards.

“What was that?”

The woman's expression had hardened.

“Your past.”

“My past?”

“Or what remains of it.”

I stared at her.

“Who were those babies?”

She said nothing.

“Was one of them me?”

Her silence answered more than words could.

My heart began racing.

“Who was the other one?”

The woman stepped backwards.

“You are not ready.”

“Stop saying that!”

My voice echoed through the strange darkness.

“Everyone keeps telling me I'm not ready. The hunters. The wounded man. Cassian. You. But nobody tells me anything!”

For the first time, the woman looked almost sorry.

“Then perhaps you should ask why your blood was hidden.”

My anger disappeared.

“My blood?”

She nodded.

“Your blood is the reason they fear you.”

“Who fears me?”

Her eyes shifted towards my mark.

“Those who remember what the Hollow can do.”

A distant sound echoed through the darkness.

The woman turned sharply.

“They are coming.”

“Who?”

She looked at me one final time.

“And this time, they aren't following the creature.”

Before I could understand her words, the darkness collapsed.

I fell forward.

My hands struck damp earth.

The forest returned.

I gasped and looked around.

The arch stood exactly where it had been.

But the woman was gone.

The creature was gone too.

Only the silence remained.

Then I heard footsteps.

Fast.

Heavy.

Someone was coming through the trees.

I reached for the small blade at my waist.

“Don't.”

The familiar voice stopped me.

Cassian emerged from the darkness.

His clothes were torn. Blood stained one side of his shirt, and his breathing was uneven. His hair was dishevelled, and there was a fresh cut across his cheek.

He looked like he had fought his way through half the forest.

His eyes immediately found me.

“Elara.”

I lowered the blade slightly.

“What happened to you?”

He ignored the question.

“Where have you been?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

His jaw tightened.

“I've been looking for you.”

“How?”

He glanced behind him.

“The hunters left a trail.”

I stared at him.

“You followed them?”

“I followed you.”

That answer caught me off guard.

Cassian stepped closer, but his attention suddenly shifted to the ground around the arch.

He crouched.

His fingers brushed against the soil.

His expression changed.

“What?”

He didn't answer.

“What did you find?”

“Three sets of tracks came through here.”

I looked down.

I hadn't noticed them.

Cassian's eyes moved across the ground.

“Two belonged to the hunters.”

“And the third?”

He stood slowly.

“I don't know.”

His gaze lifted towards the arch.

“But whoever made them wasn't afraid of the hunters.”

A chill ran through me.

“You know this place.”

His eyes met mine.

“I know what it is.”

“Then tell me.”

He hesitated.

That hesitation told me everything.

“You've seen that symbol before.”

Cassian's expression tightened.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Records. Old reports. Places I was never supposed to have access to.”

I stepped closer.

“And the woman?”

He went completely still.

“You saw her.”

It wasn't a question.

“How do you know?”

Cassian looked at the glowing symbol.

“Because the last time I heard stories about her, she appeared near someone carrying the Hollow.”

My stomach twisted.

“Who is she?”

“I don't know.”

“You recognised her.”

“I recognised the description.”

“That isn't the same thing.”

“No,” he said quietly. “It isn't.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Cassian's eyes dropped to my wrist.

The mark was glowing again.

His face changed.

“What did she tell you?”

I wanted to answer.

But I remembered her warning.

Ask why your blood was hidden.

So I said nothing.

Cassian studied my face.

He knew I was hiding something.

And I knew he was doing the same.

Then, from deep within the forest, a howl echoed.

Cassian immediately reached for his weapon.

“We have to go.”

I looked back at the arch.

The symbol had stopped glowing.

But beneath it, hidden in the stone, a single word had appeared.

DROWNED.

I stared at it.

Cassian followed my gaze.

His face went pale.

“The Drowned Shrine,” he whispered.

And suddenly, I understood.

Whatever had begun in that forest wasn't finished.

It had only shown us where to look next.