They moved in silence for a long while, their boots crunching on the gritty stone paths that linked the hanging islands. The Veil below was quieter here, but that only made the noises above stand out more.
A soft scrape.
A hollow clink.
And then silence again.
Kaelen glanced back over his shoulder. Nothing. Only the swaying bridge behind them.
"You hear that?" he asked.
Orien didn't answer, but his hand tightened on the strap of the satchel slung across his chest. That was answer enough.
They stepped onto the next island — a slanted mass of dark rock, its edges eaten away as though gnawed by enormous teeth. In the center, half-buried under stone, was a structure Kaelen had never seen before: a ribcage of metal and bone fused together, rising from the ground in an arc. The Shard pulsed hot in his hand, faster now, like a heartbeat.
"Don't touch anything," Orien said sharply.
"Why? What is it?"
"It's not what, it's who. And it's listening."
Kaelen froze. The air here felt wrong — stretched thin, as if the space between breaths had lengthened.
A shadow peeled itself away from the ribcage. At first Kaelen thought it was smoke, but it moved against the wind, pooling low before spilling forward in a slow roll. Inside the haze, faint shapes flickered — hands, faces, half-formed bodies — like reflections caught in shattered glass.
"They're not Sovereignty," Kaelen whispered.
"No," Orien said. His voice was quieter now, and the lines at the corner of his eyes had deepened. "They're what's left of those who crossed the Veil without protection. The Hollow Things."
The shadow surged, reaching toward them in a wave of black and silver. Kaelen's instincts screamed to run, but the Shard was already reacting — glowing so bright it bled through his clenched fingers. The Hollow Things slowed, as if tasting the light.
"They want it," Kaelen said.
"They need it," Orien corrected. His own voice carried an edge now. "And if you give it to them, you won't just be hollow. You'll be gone."
The Hollow Things pressed closer. Kaelen's grip tightened. For a heartbeat, he thought he heard voices inside the haze, whispering his name.