The air was thick with tension as Kael, Aurenya, and Silas moved away from the clearing. The child's cryptic words echoed in Kael's mind, each syllable more unsettling than the last. His pulse still thrummed with the strange energy that had passed between him and the girl, the touch lingering like an unshakable fever. His thoughts were scattered, a million questions racing through his mind, but one thing kept repeating itself over and over.
Who was he really?
The forest around them seemed to grow even darker, the trees closing in on them like silent sentinels. The night felt suffocating now, a weight pressing down on Kael's chest, suffusing the air with an oppressive, almost tangible dread. Something was watching them. Something was hunting them.
"We need to keep moving," Aurenya said, her voice breaking through Kael's spiraling thoughts. "We're not safe here."
"Safe?" Silas's voice was laced with disbelief. "Do you honestly think there's anywhere safe when he's coming for us?"
Aurenya's eyes flicked to the ground, her expression unreadable. "The Hollow King won't stop until he has what he wants. And he's not alone."
Kael's grip tightened on his sword as he turned to face her. "You said you were created. But who created you? Why?"
Her silver eyes met his, but she remained silent. The weight of her gaze held him, but still, she didn't speak.
"We don't have time for this," Silas cut in, his tone sharper now. "We need to get to higher ground. If he's really sending out his forces, it's only a matter of time before we're cornered."
Aurenya nodded slowly, then turned and began walking, her movements fluid, almost unnatural in the moonlight. Kael followed, his heart heavy with more questions than answers.
They didn't speak again until they reached a clearing at the base of a high ridge, a place where the trees parted and the ground rose sharply toward the sky. Silas immediately started setting up camp, his usual levity gone, replaced by an alert, calculating focus.
Kael stood at the edge of the clearing, staring into the dark abyss of the forest. He could feel it now, an oppressive presence—an ancient power, ancient and terrible, moving through the trees like a shadow. It was closer than it had been before.
A low growl of a distant creature echoed through the woods, the sound carrying on the wind. Kael's muscles tensed in response, but Aurenya did not flinch. She stood beside him, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
"He knows we're here," she said, her voice soft. "He's always known."
Kael frowned, the confusion in his mind only deepening. "Who is this Hollow King? Why is he after you?"
Aurenya finally turned her gaze toward him, her expression distant. "He's the one who created me. I was meant to be a vessel, a perfect container for a god's essence. But something went wrong. I was never supposed to feel. Never supposed to be alive like this."
The revelation hung in the air like a thick fog. Kael's eyes narrowed. "You're saying you're... a weapon?"
Aurenya's lips pressed together in a thin line. "No. I'm not a weapon. I'm something worse. I'm a mistake."
Kael took a step closer to her, his voice gentler now. "You're not a mistake."
She shook her head, her expression unreadable. "I wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't supposed to want anything. But I do. I want everything. And it's destroying me."
Kael's thoughts spun, his mind racing to understand. "What does he want with you?"
"He wants me back," Aurenya answered, her voice cold. "The Hollow King wants to complete what he started. He wants to take me back to his domain and finish what he started: to bind me fully to his will."
A shadow passed across the clearing, something too quick for Kael to catch. His hand instinctively moved to his blade, but Aurenya raised a hand, stilling him.
"Don't," she whispered, her gaze fixed on the darkness beyond. "He's watching."
The world around them seemed to grow impossibly still, the air thick with anticipation. Kael's heart pounded in his chest as he strained to hear any sign of movement. Nothing.
Then, in the silence of the night, a voice spoke—a low, mocking voice that seemed to reverberate in the very air around them.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?"
The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, a dark laugh trailing in its wake. Kael's blood ran cold, and Aurenya stiffened beside him. Silas immediately began to gather his weapons, his body coiled like a spring, ready for action.
"Hollow King," Kael murmured under his breath, the name carrying a weight far darker than he had imagined.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward—tall, shrouded in a cloak of tattered black, with eyes that glowed a sickly green. His skin was like ash, his face an impossible mask of shadows and bone. A creature of darkness, a manifestation of death itself.
"You've come a long way," the Hollow King purred, his eyes fixed on Aurenya. "But you cannot escape what you are."
Kael stepped forward, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, the cursed fire in his blood rising at the sight of the creature. "You'll never have her."
The Hollow King's lips curled into a twisted smile, though there was no warmth in it. "You are mistaken, broken sword. You are already mine."
With a wave of his hand, the shadows around them thickened, coiling like serpents. Kael's body tensed, the fire in his veins sparking to life as he prepared to fight. But even as he drew his sword, the Hollow King's voice rang out once more.
"You don't even know who you are, do you?" the Hollow King taunted, his laughter echoing in the dark. "You don't know what you've been made for."
Kael froze, his heart skipping a beat. There it was again—the hollow words that had followed him throughout his life. The hints of something far greater than he could understand. The Hollow King was toying with him, testing him.
"You're right," Kael said, his voice low and dangerous. "I don't know who I am. But I'll make sure you don't get to find out."
The air around them crackled with tension, the flames of Kael's curse igniting in his palms, and the fight that had been looming on the horizon was now upon them.