Jayden stepped off the altar, the black seed pulsing in his palm like a second heart. It was warm — but not with heat. With intention.
Seraya watched him closely. "It's alive."
Jayden: "No. It's becoming."
The Hollowborn didn't stop him.
They only whispered.
> "One grows. One falls. That is the way."
Jayden ignored them.
They walked deeper into the temple. The walls darkened. The pulse grew stronger. Every step forward made the world feel less like theirs — like they were walking into someone else's memory.
Then the space widened.
They entered the Chamber of Split Truths.
A wide circle. Two thrones. One broken. One whole.
And a message scrawled in flame across the floor:
> "Two may enter. Only one will return."
Jayden clenched the seed tighter.
Seraya touched his shoulder. "Don't let them divide us."
> The thrones pulsed.
The Hollowborn returned — but now with form. Ten of them. Each wearing a face from Jayden's past.
The teacher who hurt him.
The vampire who tried to recruit him.
The boy he used to be.
They surrounded him, chanting:
> "Choose the throne. Rule the chain. Forget the pain."
Jayden didn't speak.
He dropped the seed to the ground.
It sank into the stone… and bloomed.
A black flower. Then a vine. Then roots.
The roots tore through the floor and rewrote the circle.
The thrones cracked.
The rule was broken.
> And a doorway opened behind them — made of light and blood.
Seraya whispered, "What did you just do?"
Jayden: "I chose the fifth path."
And they stepped through. Together.