Chapter Forty-Five: The Hollow Awakens
The mountain altar stood shattered, the ground cracked open like a wound.
Rina could feel the darkness before she saw it — thick, suffocating, ancient. It wasn't just evil; it was emptiness, as though the earth itself had forgotten how to breathe.
Kael stepped beside her, sword in hand, flame runes etched into the steel by Elara's magic. "This is it."
Elara's voice was tight. "The Hollow One doesn't destroy. It consumes. Souls, memories… even names."
Below them, the crater pulsed with a dull red glow. From the center rose a towering figure — no face, only a gaping hole where its mouth should be. The wind screamed through it, carrying voices that did not belong to the living.
The raven woman stood beside it, her form flickering like shadow caught in firelight. "You were too late," she said. "The age of flame ends tonight."
Rina stepped forward, her body lit with gold fire, brighter than it had ever burned.
"Then I'll burn brighter than the night can hold."
The Hollow One moved — not fast, but inevitable, dragging despair with every step.
Kael bared his teeth in a low snarl. "Together."
Rina turned to him, her voice soft but unshaking. "I'm going to need you to trust me."
"Rina…"
But she was already stepping forward.
The flame inside her no longer just burned — it sang. And she realized then:
This was what the spirits had prepared her for.
Not to wield the flame.
But to become it.
She would not let her pack be consumed.
Even if it meant burning herself away.