Chapter Thirty-Three: Fire in the Shadows
The Hollow was alive with the hum of evening. Lanterns flickered along the paths, their warm glow mingling with the smell of roasting meat and freshly tilled soil. Kael stood apart from the bustle, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the last light of the sun bled into violet twilight.
He heard her before she spoke—Lyria moved like a shadow herself, but Kael's senses were attuned to her presence in a way that no one else's could be.
"You've been brooding again." Her voice was soft, teasing, yet threaded with a quiet concern.
Kael didn't turn. "Brooding keeps me alive."
She stepped beside him, her silver hair catching the lantern light, her bow slung across her shoulder. "No," she said, eyes scanning the horizon with him. "Fighting keeps you alive. Brooding just makes you colder."
A faint smile tugged at his lips, but it faded quickly. "If I grow too warm, I'll burn everything around me."
Lyria tilted her head, studying him with the patience only an elf could have. "You think that, but I've seen you with the people. With the children." She paused, letting the words sink. "You don't burn them. You light them."
Her words struck deeper than he wanted to admit. For a long moment, Kael was silent, his crimson eyes softening as he looked at her. The firelight painted her features in warmth, and he felt something stir—something he hadn't let himself feel since the night his parents died.
"Lyria…" His voice was low, uncertain.
But she smiled faintly, breaking the heaviness. "Don't look at me like that unless you mean it."
Kael exhaled, a sound halfway between a laugh and a growl. "You're dangerous."
"Coming from you?" She chuckled softly. "That's a compliment."
For a time, they stood together in silence. The Hollow's noise softened behind them. In that quiet, Kael felt the pull of something larger, something fragile but undeniable. He didn't act on it—not yet—but the distance between them had shrunk, and both knew it.
The moment shattered when Thalos' booming voice broke across the settlement.
"Kael! Council convenes. Urgent news."
Kael's jaw tightened. He and Lyria exchanged a glance—hers steady, his reluctant—and then they moved together toward the longhouse.
Inside, the council fire blazed hot, throwing restless shadows over the gathered leaders. Thalos stood with arms crossed, Fenrik pacing like a caged wolf. The dwarf master looked grim, his broad hands resting on the table.
Lyria slid into her seat at Kael's side, her earlier softness replaced with sharp focus.
Fenrik was first to speak, his tone bristling. "Humans. Adventurers. A band of them was spotted just beyond the southern border."
The word hit like a hammer.
Kael's voice was quiet, but it carried through the chamber. "How many?"
"Six," Lyria answered, picking up the report from her scouts. "Armed well. Steel, not iron. They weren't hunting beasts—they were mapping, taking notes, moving with purpose."
The dwarf spat into the fire. "Scouts. That means more will come."
Thalos rumbled low, fists clenching. "Shall we kill them before they return?"
The chamber stirred with debate, voices rising—kill them, drive them off, watch them, send a message.
Kael let it build, then slammed his palm against the table. Shadows flared, dancing along the walls like grasping hands. The room fell silent.
"We will not act in fear," Kael said, his crimson eyes sweeping across them. "We are strong because we are united. If humans are testing our borders, we will show them discipline, not chaos. We will know their movements, their purpose—and then we will decide."
Fenrik growled. "And if they bring word of us back to their kingdom?"
"Then we make sure what they bring back terrifies their king into leaving us alone." Kael leaned forward, voice steady but edged with iron. "We are not prey. Not anymore."
The fire cracked, filling the silence his words left behind.
Lyria's hand brushed Kael's beneath the table, just enough for him to feel it. For her, it was reassurance. For him, it was fuel.
The Hollow stood on the edge of something greater—and far more dangerous.
And Kael knew the shadows of men would be unlike any monsters they had faced.