Hollow Mountain Photos Novels & Stories

He did not have any other choice but to sit dejectedly under a tree. He knew this was his only chance to get the Lightning Wood and he shouldn’t give up so easily, but there was nothing he could do right now. Finn and the others were preparing to go up the mountain. However, he felt a little bit strange when he saw the blood on the ground. “This is strange. Why is there blood on the ground? And the people who used to guard the mountain aren’t around either.” Qiana was confused as well. “You’re right. This is strange.”

“Piano. Something slow. I think you played it once.” “I did. Before Eidolon, I taught for a while.” “That makes sense,” he said softly. “There’s something about your hands. Like they know both creation… and destruction.” That brought a tight laugh to my throat. “You don’t forget some things.” He didn’t answer, but when our fingers brushed as I handed him the canteen, he didn’t pull away. Small miracles. The Hollow was a concrete scar in the mountains. Once, it had relayed global signals through an array of underground servers. Now, it was dead—except for the chamber Paladin had marked in red ink. There, behind layers of steel and rock, lay a terminal unlike any I’d seen before.

Raina worried Leif’s back couldn’t handle the ride, but he just kept bearing it silently. Leif replied, “I’m fine. No need.” After confirming several more times and checking his back again, Raina finally felt reassured enough to keep driving. They passed a winding national road, crossed a pitch-black river, and finally entered the boundaries of Crimson Hollow. All around were tall mountains, but the landscape was bare and black—not a hint of green in sight. Occasionally, a tree stood, long dead and lifeless, stripped of any vitality, leaving only a bleak, harrowing presence.

Noah's photos were on the matting table in the center of the space, having not been framed by Nicole yet. Raven picked up the first shot, an eleven-by-nine of her from behind while she sat on the boulder halfway down the valley on their island. The mist in the background gave the mountains a mysterious quality. It was the pop of color that was most intriguing. Her black hair falling down her back, white snow dusting the ground, the red blanket-all mesmerizing.

And somehow, it did. I looked back out across the valley. Snow covered the mountains in endless waves of white and silver while the morning sunlight spilled across the highest peaks. A frozen creek wound through the trees below like a long ribbon of glass. The view felt untouched. Ancient. It felt like the mountains had existed this way long before Black Hollow was built, and would continue existing long after all of us were gone. "It's beautiful," I whispered, the words barely feeling big enough for the sight. Takoda stepped closer beside me near the wooden overlook railing. "My grandfather used to bring me here," he shared quietly.

The Hollow was feeding. By dusk, we reached the ruins. The air there was heavier, charged with the kind of power that made your skin crawl. Half-buried stones jutted out of the earth and were etched with old carvings. I brushed my fingers over one, tracing the shape of a wolf kneeling before a tall figure with eyes carved like suns.

Even the wolves pacing alongside the caravan moved with ears low and fur bristled. “Stay sharp,” Kael whispered, his hand never straying far from the hilt of his blade. “This fog isn’t just weather, it's a warning.” As they reached the base of the Highland slope, the fog parted abruptly. Like a mouth opening. They entered. The Hollow Basin was a wound in the land. A perfect circle of blackened earth, ringed by ancient stones etched with runes that shimmered faintly under the red sky. At its center was a spiraling pit, no bottom in sight, filled with a humming sound that was neither alive nor mechanical. It simply *was.*

I looked up and froze. "Sam? Sam Mitchell?" "Zoe!" My childhood friend, Zoe Cameron, laughed and pushed her glasses up on her nose. She pulled out her equipment and started examining me. When she saw the damage down below, she couldn't help but gasp. "Sam, that's pretty bad. But your tubes aren't completely necrotic yet. Leave it to me. There might still be a sliver of hope." I quickly pulled my pants back on and subtly wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.

Swinging his sleeves, he revealed a huge formation encasing twelve mountains in it like an upturned glass bowl. The shortest mountain was Trinity Summit, where Hollowlight Sect was located. Unlike the other mountains that exuded a divine energy, this mountain was more plain. A little too simple, even. It was decked with lush forests, and its lakes had pristine waters with fish swimming freely. Over there by the lake rested an herb field that was especially delightful to look at. Comparing Hollowlight Sect with the other sects' halls, Aria couldn't help but find her sect to be poor and underfunded.

The storm above stilled. The red clouds froze in place, suspended like a held breath. The silence that followed was deafening. Delph slowed. “What just…” He didn’t finish. Because they saw it. The mountain opened before them. A vast, jagged clearing carved into the stone, as though something had torn the earth apart long ago and left the wound exposed. At its center, An entrance. Not a door. Not a structure. A tear. The air itself seemed split open, a vertical fracture of shimmering light and shadow that pulsed with a deep, unnatural glow.