The world felt... quieter.
Not still — held.
Like every tree, every star, every hidden god behind the veil was watching him now.
Jayden's new mark — the quill on his forearm — pulsed not with power, but with permission.
Permission to write.
Permission to change.
Permission to defy everything written before.
---
The Return to Noctis Hollow
Graveton could no longer contain what was rising.
The mark had awakened something buried deep beneath Noctis Hollow — not the ruins, but the old skeleton beneath them. An older Hollow, one that predated even the vampires.
Jayden, Seraya, and Elira descended together.
The bones of dead towers stretched above like fangs in the dark.
At the center was a massive stone page — inscribed with millions of names.
Jayden stepped close.
> His name was missing.
Elira nodded. "This place remembers only those who follow the script."
Jayden drew the quill-mark across the stone.
And a ripple passed through it.
> New names began to form.
---
The Whispering Flame
Suddenly, a firelight glow ignited in the middle of the chamber.
Not red. Not gold.
Ink-black fire.
From it stepped a figure made entirely of script — letters swirling in the shape of a woman.
> "You rewrote the seed of all," she said.
> "You dared write outside the margins."
Seraya stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"I am the Page-Mother," she replied. "And the ink of the world bleeds through me."
She turned to Jayden.
> "The Sixth Path is not just a power. It's a responsibility."
> "Every change you make… will cost someone their truth."
Jayden: "Then I'll write carefully."
Page-Mother: "Then let your first rewrite begin."
---
The Choice
Before him appeared three scenes:
1. A vampire city, still feeding on humans in the shadowlands.
2. A hidden academy, where Hollowborn children are trained as weapons.
3. A lone Outsider general, dying and forgotten in the snow — once Jayden's enemy.
He had to rewrite one.
Not all.
One.
Jayden placed his hand on the third.
The general.
The moment shimmered… and changed.
The general no longer died alone.
He was saved by rebels.
And in the new version… he became the one who stopped a Hollowborn raid.
Jayden pulled back.
He felt it.
> A thousand stories shifted.
> A thousand more whispered: "thank you."
---
Elira's Warning
As they left the hollow chamber, Elira slowed.
"There will be others like you," she said.
Jayden: "You mean writers?"
"No," she replied. "Editors. People who want to rewrite the world… but not for freedom. For control."
Jayden tightened his fist.
> The pen was mightier than the sword.
But now he knew:
> The story was mightier than both.
And the war for it... was just beginning.