Page 53

The Hollow Calls

W ell past midnight, there was a knock at the door that roused me from my sleep. Actually, what woke me was Sky sitting suddenly straight up, his ears erect and on high alert.

“Someone’s at the door,” he whispered, already reaching for his spear propped against the wall.

I sat up beside him, heart pounding as I fumbled for my staff. The knock came again, softer this time, almost hesitant.

“It’s just one person,” Sky murmured, his new Feral Senses clearly at work. “Standing alone. Not armed heavily.”

Across the room I heard the boy’s door open, and I could see Kuro and Kai were awake too, silently preparing their weapons. Kai nodded toward the door, gesturing for Sky and me to stay back while he approached.

“Who’s there?” Kai called, his voice steady despite the tension that filled our small home.

“Jeremy,” came the hushed reply. “I need to speak with you. It’s urgent.”

Sky and I exchanged glances. The RSB soldier’s sudden appearance in the middle of the night couldn’t be good news. After his warning the day before, this sudden arrival twisted a knot of dread in my stomach.

Kai looked back at us, eyebrows raised in question. I nodded slightly, and he unlatched the door, opening it just enough to reveal Jeremy’s face, pale and drawn in the moonlight.

“May I come in?” Jeremy asked, glancing nervously over his shoulder .

Kai hesitated, then stepped aside. Jeremy slipped through the narrow opening, and Kai immediately closed and latched the door behind him.

“This better be important,” Sky growled, his tail bristling as he kept his weapon at the ready.

Jeremy’s eyes darted around the room, taking in our defensive postures and drawn weapons. “It is,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You can’t go to Ivros Hollow tomorrow.”

“Why?” I asked, lowering my staff slightly. “We already know it’s a trap. Is there something else there we should know about?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Jeremy admitted, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “But I overheard the captain talking with someone... someone important. They mentioned a binding ritual and...” He swallowed hard. “And waking something that shouldn’t be woken.”

The room fell silent as we processed his words. My mind flashed to the ancient guardian in the ruins, how it had nearly killed us. If something worse awaited at Ivros Hollow...

“The first team,” Kai said finally. “What happened to them?”

Jeremy’s expression darkened. “They weren’t sent to retrieve anything. They were sent to prepare the site. And only one returned, barely alive. He died in the infirmary, babbling about shadows that moved on their own and voices in the walls. As far as I know, he never said anything logical.”

Mira and Rhia appeared in their doorway, awakened by our conversation. Mira’s face paled at Jeremy’s words.

“Why are you telling us this?” Rhia demanded, always the skeptical one. “Why risk yourself?”

Jeremy looked down at his hands. “Because I joined the RSB to protect people, not sacrifice them. And because...” He hesitated. “Because the captain mentioned using you as vessels for something. I don’t know what that means, but nothing good follows when he talks like that.”

A chill ran through the room. Sky moved closer to me, his protective instinct obvious in the way his body angled between me and Jeremy.

“What else did you hear?” I asked, my voice steadier than I felt.

Jeremy reached into his tunic and pulled out a folded packet of papers. “I stole these from the captain’s private quarters. It was risky. If anyone had seen me...” He shook his head, not needing to finish the thought.

Kai took the papers, unfolding them carefully. His eyes widened as he scanned the contents. “These are maps,” he said, spreading them on our small table. “And notes... some kind of ritual instructions.”

We gathered around the table, peering at the documents in the dim light.

The maps showed what must be Ivros Hollow.

It was a sprawling complex built into a mountainside.

But it was the other papers that made my blood run cold.

There were detailed sketches of ancient symbols, fragments of incantations in a language I didn’t recognize, and diagrams showing what looked like energy flow patterns similar to what I’d seen in Mira’s spellbooks.

Clearly there was something magical going on, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t read it.

“What is all this?” Mira whispered, her fingers hovering over one particularly complex diagram.

One page caught my eye, a journal entry with a sentence circled in red ink. “ If the god is still sleeping, do not wake it. ”

“They’re trying to resurrect something,” I said, the realization hitting me like a physical blow. “Or summon it. Something ancient.”

“And they need us to do it,” Sky growled, his blue eyes flashing in the darkness. “As vessels, like Jeremy said, whatever that means.”

Rhia slammed her fist on the table. “So we’re supposed to be sacrifices? Again?”

“Not just sacrifices,” Kai said grimly, studying another page. “There’s some notes here from the captain. According to this, they need living conduits to channel the energy. People with specific magical signatures.” He looked up at me. “Like a cleric with healing abilities.”

My heart sank. The Twilight’s mark on me… could they somehow sense it? Was that why Boromia had been so insistent on sending our party specifically?

“This changes everything,” Kuro said, speaking up for the first time. “We can’t go. Trying to survive was one thing. But being used as a sacrifice to summon some ancient god? We should leave Selas tonight.”

“And go where?” Sky challenged. “The wildlands beyond the reach of the RSB? We’d be dead in days. And every settlement in Cindersea would return us to the RSB for the bounty they’d put on our heads.”

“We have to go,” Kai said suddenly, his voice cutting through the argument.

We all stared at him in disbelief.

“Have you lost your mind?” Kuro snapped.

Kai shook his head, his eyes fixed on the documents. “This ritual poses quite a bit of danger to the captain himself. If Boromia wants what’s in there badly enough to risk his own life, then we need to get there first.”

The room went silent.

“We already know what the captain is capable of,” Kai continued.

“And that he’s willing to sacrifice everyone and everything to get his way.

But if he’s willing to put himself on the line for this…

then it must be truly da ngerous. Far more dangerous than the biggest skill book hoard Cindersea has seen in centuries. ”

“Or truly powerful,” I said, the realization dawning on me. “Something that could tip the balance of power in Cindersea completely. Enough that he might be able to overturn the king himself.”

“Exactly,” Kai nodded, his eyes still fixed on the documents. “This isn’t just about us anymore. What about all those other newbies that have no idea what’s going on? What they’ve gotten into? We can’t let them get caught up in all this.”

Jeremy shifted nervously, glancing toward the window. “I should go. If they discover I’m missing?—”

“Wait,” I moved toward him. “These papers mention a binding ritual. Do you know anything else about it?”

He shook his head. “Only fragments I overheard. Something about channeling energy through five points, and vessels being needed for each element.” His eyes darted between us. “I think that’s why he wants your whole party.”

Sky’s tail bristled. “Five elements, five of us. How convenient.”

“Six,” I corrected, counting our group. “There are six of us now that Sky’s joined.”

A heavy silence fell as we all realized the implication. One of us was expendable in the captain’s plan.

“We need to know more,” Rhia said firmly. “About this ritual, about Ivros Hollow, about whatever’s sleeping there.”

Mira nodded, her blue hair falling across her face as she leaned over the documents. “Some of these symbols... I’ve seen similar ones in the restricted section of the Mage’s Guild. They’re ancient binding magic, used to contain powerful entities.”

“Or release them,” Kai added grimly.

Jeremy edged toward the door. “I’ve risked too much already. They’ll be checking rooms soon?—”

“Go,” Kai told him. “And... thank you.”

The soldier paused, his hand on the latch. “If you do go to Ivros Hollow... be careful. The captain isn’t going to just send you. He’s following behind with his elite guard. Don’t let them catch you.”

After Jeremy slipped out, we gathered closer around the table, our voices dropping to whispers despite the closed door. The soldier’s warning still echoed through the small house, the fear and anxiety still prickling at my skin .

“So, what’s the plan?” Kuro asked, looking to Kai. “Because walking into a ritual sacrifice with our eyes open still seems like suicide.”

“We go,” Kai said firmly. “But we prepare differently than they expect.”

“How?” Mira’s voice trembled slightly.

Kai tapped the documents. “These give us an advantage. We know what they’re planning, at least partially. And if we study these ritual fragments, maybe we can disrupt it.”

“Or complete it ourselves,” Sky muttered darkly.

All eyes turned to him.

“What?” he growled defensively. “If there’s power there, why should Boromia be the only one to claim it?”

“Because it’s dangerous,” I countered, though part of me understood his reasoning. “Whatever’s there was sealed away for a reason.”

“And the alternative is letting the captain gain even more power?” Sky challenged.

“The same man who stabbed me and threatened to kill all of us? You think he’ll use whatever’s there for the greater good?

Who’s to say it wasn’t sealed away for the wrong reason?

You said the god of the Twilight wants you to bring balance to the world, maybe this is the way. ”