Seraya stood before the gate, breath steady, hand glowing faintly with the Unity Flame.
The entrance wasn't built of stone.
It was grown — twisted roots, pulsing veins of dark amber, and carvings that predated language.
> The Temple of the Hollowborn.
Behind her, a small team of rogue blood-walkers and reformed Hollow vampires waited in silence. They felt it too — this wasn't just another lost ruin.
This was where gods feared to tread.
---
The Awakening Door
Jayden arrived just as the moon disappeared behind clouds, and the ground gave a soft hum.
Seraya didn't turn. "You came alone."
Jayden: "Didn't want anyone else near this place."
Seraya raised a hand toward the twisted door.
> "This isn't a temple. It's a cage."
He stepped beside her. "And something inside it is waking."
She nodded. "And it's ours."
---
Inside the Hollow
The door opened by itself.
No sound.
Only pressure — like walking into a heartbeat.
Inside, the chamber was vast and living. Walls pulsed like lungs. Glowing sigils moved across the floor like shadows in water.
In the center stood an altar. But not a holy one.
It was a lock.
And above it hovered a name written in light:
> "ASHKARIN-EXILE"
Jayden's breath caught. "It was him. This is where they locked him after he refused to betray us."
Seraya stared. "Not just him."
A second name faded into view beneath the first:
> "VELMIRA-BOUND"
"They didn't just punish the rebels," she said. "They erased their history."
---
The Whisper That Follows
As they stepped forward, the air whispered in dozens of voices — some childlike, some ancient:
> "Welcome, forgotten children."
> "We've been waiting… since the stars blinked."
Jayden raised a glowing hand. "Show yourself."
The altar cracked.
The air thickened.
A shape began to rise — not flesh, not spirit, not entirely real.
A Hollowborn.
It had no face — only mirrors.
And every mirror showed a different version of Jayden.
In one, he was a tyrant.
In another, a broken boy.
In the last, he was... gone.
> "We are the roots beneath choice," the being said.
"And you... you are the branch that should never have grown."
---
A Challenge
The Hollowborn raised one long, blackened arm.
> "Only one of you can open the seal."
Seraya stepped forward.
"No," the being whispered. "Only the one who has seen the end of all things."
Jayden's Unity Flame flickered.
He stepped onto the altar.
> "Then show me."
---
Visions of the End
The room exploded in light.
Jayden fell into time itself — and saw possible endings:
A world where vampires ruled with fire.
A world where Seraya died in his arms.
A world with no gods, no names, no love.
A world… where he became a god, and forgot who he was.
Each one carved pain into his bones.
But he didn't stop.
> "I choose none of them," he said.
And just like that—
The altar broke open.
Inside it was not a weapon. Not a soul. But a seed.
Black as night. Beating like a heart.
---
Message to the Reader
> You don't have to accept the endings others give you.
Even if they're gods. Even if they're your fears.
Even if they're you.
You can choose again.
---