Hollow Hollow Novels & Stories

“If this is about Mira No. Mira remembered. But only pieces. You bring shape to her echo. She was not the first. You are not the last. Kaima reached out. The ghost stepped forward. And then it opened the core beneath them. The floor dissolved into translucent light, revealing a chamber far below a vault of memory. Hundreds of suspended glyphs hovered in midair runic systems older than any Pact, some formed from pure tone, others from physical motion, and one that shifted shape as it was observed. Ari whispered, “This isn’t from our world.” Kaima pointed downward. The ghost guided them both. The Hollow is not a place. It is a memory. A resonance discarded by early shapers. Too unpredictable.

The words hit like sunlight piercing endless winter. The Hollow convulsed. Its massive black eye fractured visibly. Cracks spread through the darkness itself. The creator whispered in realization: “It cannot survive where grief and love coexist.” Because the Hollow only understood two states. Attachment. Or emptiness. It could not understand carrying pain while still choosing connection. The alternate Silas took one slow step toward the sky. Not angry. Not hateful. Just honest. “I’ll miss her forever.” The Hollow recoiled. The city lights brightened again.

But one of them—high above the others—flickered. Not dim. Not fading. Empty. A hollow sphere of pale light. “Do you see that?” Luna whispered. Kael stepped beside her, following her gaze. “…Yeah,” he said slowly. “That’s new. And I don’t like it.” Mira moved closer, her expression tightening the moment she saw it. “The Hollow Moon,” she said quietly. Aeron blinked. “We’re naming moons now?” Mira ignored him. “That shouldn’t exist,” she continued. “Not here. Not now.”

I replied, my fingers digging into the rough stone as a massive, gray wolf with milky white eyes and a jaw that hung loosely from its hinges stepped into the light of the cave entrance. ​"They’re Hollowed, they’re what happens when the shadows we saw at the gate catch a wolf and peel the soul right out of the skin, leaving nothing but a hungry shell that doesn't feel pain and doesn't stop until it’s shredded to pieces," Kael explained, his voice flat and grim as three more of the creatures scrambled over the rocks, their movements jerky and unnatural.

The forest fell silent once more. “The First Covenant was never forged to win wars.” He looked directly at me. “It was forged to preserve hope after defeat.” I took a cautious step forward. “What is the Hollow?” “A memory.” His answer only deepened my confusion. “A city remembers those who build it.” “A forest remembers those who protect it.” “The Hollow remembers promises.” The silver patterns beneath my skin suddenly burned. Not painfully. Like recognition. The same warmth spread through Leo. Ace. Maya. The ground beneath our feet answered.

But the habit of caring about him hadn’t faded yet. “Almost there,” Fen said. “You keep saying that.” “I keep meaning it.” Then the trees opened up, and I stopped. The Hollow wasn’t what I expected. I’d pictured something gloomy, like the rest of the Growth, full of rot, murk, and things with strange eyes. But this was different. The trees here were old, older than anything I’d seen, with trunks as wide as houses and roots rising from the ground in arches tall enough to walk under. In the center was a pool, still and black, perfectly round, as if someone had pressed a coin into the earth. The air shivered with a faint hum, so low I felt it more than heard it, vibrating somewhere in my bones.

“It’s not physical. It’s in his soul.” I thought as much... But unfortunately, that makes it more difficult to even do anything now. A whisper rides in the wind. I don’t know who speaks it first. Maybe one of the old fae who linger at the edges of the battlefield. Maybe one of the dying spirits. "The Hollow has taken him." My blood goes cold. The Hollow. It’s not death, not exactly. It’s the space between, a veil-thin plane where souls are neither here nor gone. Where time frays and memories decay. Where you forget who you are.

And then— My eyes caught it. A heading. “Hollow.” My heart thudded. I leaned closer. The first line read: Hollow: A power channeled from beyond the living. The air heavier. Elara?!

Hallow Words Ayame Filling the hollow inside. One so deep and endless, it takes him pulling out and slamming it in over and over until every fiber of my being coils around it. Until I find the apex that brings my soul to life, unleashing the chains I’ve kept on my heart.

“We should be nearing the next town by now.” I refused to look at him. My focus remained on the road. And then, the sign appeared again. “Welcome to Greystone Hollow.” A sharp intake of breath filled the car. Althea’s voice was barely above a whisper. “This… this isn’t real.” I parked the car in the exact same spot I had the first time, staring at the glowing letters on the sign as nausea twisted my stomach. “We’re trapped,” I said. Sophie clenched her fists. “Okay. Alright. Let’s think logically. Maybe we’re in some kind of illusion? A spell?”