5. The Old Witch's Truth
1568 Words
Chapter 5 –
(Malikye’s POV)
The door shuddered under the next impact.
Wood splintered inward with a dull crack, the hinges groaning as though the building itself were trying to hold the creatures back.
I stared at it.
Then slowly turned to Selene.
“I feel like you said that last part with far too much confidence.”
“They should fear you,” she replied calmly.
“Right now,” I said, “I feel like I should fear them.”
Kael stepped closer to the door, blade angled slightly downward but ready. His posture had changed entirely—earlier he had seemed like a calm traveler.
Now he looked like a soldier.
“They’re testing the barrier,” he said quietly.
“What barrier?” I asked.
Selene lifted her hand.
Only then did I notice the faint shimmer in the air near the doorway.
A thin line of silver light ran across the frame like invisible thread, pulsing faintly.
“Protection spell,” she said. “Temporary.”
Another slam hit the door.
The wood bowed inward.
Cracks spread through the frame.
“How temporary?” I asked.
Selene didn’t answer.
I took that as a bad sign.
Outside, the voices grew louder.
“He is inside…”
“The Moon Son…”
“Take him alive…”
Something heavy scraped along the roof above us.
I felt my pulse hammering harder in my chest.
My hand tightened into a fist.
The mark in my palm pulsed again.
Kael glanced at it.
“Your magic is reacting.”
“Great,” I muttered. “Because I’m definitely controlling that.”
Selene turned toward me.
“You must try.”
“I’ve had it for approximately ten minutes.”
“You have had it your entire life.”
I blinked.
“That feels like a technicality.”
The door shook again.
The silver barrier flared brighter for a moment before dimming.
Selene stepped closer to me.
“Malikye,” she said quietly, “listen carefully.”
“I’m listening.”
“You cannot keep running from what you are.”
“I’ve been doing a fairly good job of it so far.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You’ve been surviving. That is not the same thing.”
The distinction settled heavily between us.
I looked down at my hand again.
The crescent mark glowed faintly beneath my skin.
“What exactly am I?” I asked.
Selene studied me.
“You are the Moon-Born Son.”
“Yes, everyone keeps saying that like it’s supposed to mean something helpful.”
“It means you were born with power tied to the lunar spirits themselves.”
Kael added quietly, “And Damon knows it.”
I swallowed.
“Which brings us back to the question of why he needs me alive.”
Selene sighed softly.
“Because your power is not only yours.”
That sentence made my stomach tighten.
“What does that mean?”
Selene moved to the table and spread several old scrolls across it.
Symbols covered the parchment.
Ancient ones.
Moon sigils.
Blood runes.
“Damon spent years studying forbidden magic,” she said. “Magic older than kingdoms.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “None of it was used for baking bread or healing children.”
“Correct.”
She tapped one of the symbols.
“This ritual requires three things.”
Kael spoke the next words grimly.
“Blood.”
Selene nodded.
“Power.”
My hand tingled again.
“And a vessel.”
The meaning hit me instantly.
“Oh no.”
Selene met my gaze.
“Yes.”
I leaned back in the chair slowly.
“You’re telling me Damon wants to use me as a magical battery.”
Kael grimaced.
“That’s… not entirely inaccurate.”
“And the sacrifices?”
Selene’s voice grew quieter.
“They were attempts to recreate your power.”
Cold crept into my spine.
“You mean the children he killed…”
“…were experiments.”
My stomach twisted.
“Did any of them work?”
Selene shook her head.
“No.”
I exhaled slowly.
“So I’m the only one.”
“Yes.”
Outside, something heavy slammed against the door again.
The barrier flickered.
Cracks spread through the wood like spiderwebs.
Kael stepped forward.
“They’re getting stronger.”
Selene didn’t look surprised.
“They always do when the moon rises higher.”
I frowned.
“Why does the moon matter?”
Selene gestured toward the ceiling.
“Your power grows with it.”
“That doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”
“It isn’t.”
Kael turned toward me.
“Your birth was aligned with the Blood Moon.”
“I’ve heard that phrase several times tonight and I still don’t like it.”
Selene rolled up the scroll.
“It means your magic is strongest under moonlight.”
“That explains the hotel incident.”
“Yes.”
Another violent crash struck the door.
Wood splintered.
A long black claw punched halfway through the frame.
I jumped.
“Okay, I feel like we’ve reached the point where planning should happen faster.”
Kael slashed the claw with his blade.
The creature shrieked and yanked its limb back.
“We won’t hold them here long,” he said.
Selene walked to a nearby shelf and began gathering objects quickly.
Silver charms.
Small vials.
A leather satchel.
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
“We are.”
I blinked.
“We?”
“You cannot stay here,” she said simply.
“That part I understand.”
Another voice outside the door whispered.
“We smell his blood…”
“He is close…”
“Break the door…”
I rubbed my face.
“They’re very enthusiastic.”
Kael extinguished another lantern.
The room dimmed further.
“Selene,” he said quietly, “how many?”
She closed her eyes briefly.
“Six.”
I groaned.
“Of course there are six.”
“Possibly more,” Kael added.
“That was unnecessary information.”
Selene finished packing her bag.
Then she turned back to me.
“There is something else you must understand before we leave.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“You are not the only one Damon created.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“There were others.”
“I thought you said the sacrifices failed.”
“They did.”
“But Damon’s experiments didn’t stop.”
A chill ran through me.
“You mean there are more people like me?”
Selene hesitated.
“Not exactly like you.”
“Define ‘not exactly.’”
“Less stable.”
“That’s… comforting.”
Kael stepped closer.
“They’re called the Hollow.”
The word felt wrong the moment I heard it.
“Hollow?” I repeated.
Selene nodded.
“Damon twisted their magic during his rituals.”
“What does that do?”
Kael answered bluntly.
“It destroys their humanity.”
My chest tightened.
“And he sends them after me.”
“Yes.”
The claw slammed through the door again.
This time it tore a large chunk of wood free.
Through the opening I saw something move.
Dark.
Tall.
Too thin.
Its eyes glowed like embers in smoke.
“Heir…” it whispered.
I shivered.
Selene looked at Kael.
“Time.”
He nodded.
Then he turned to me.
“Malikye.”
“Yes?”
“When we open that back door, we run.”
“That part I can manage.”
“The Hollow will follow.”
“I assumed as much.”
“You cannot hesitate.”
I sighed.
“You really know how to motivate someone.”
Selene grabbed a handful of silver powder and threw it across the door.
The barrier flared brightly.
The creatures outside shrieked.
“That will hold them for a moment,” she said.
Kael moved toward the back entrance.
I followed.
Before we left, I glanced once more at the front door.
The creatures were clawing through the splintered wood now.
One of their faces pressed against the gap.
Its mouth stretched wide in a twisted smile.
“Heir…” it whispered again.
My palm burned.
Something inside my chest stirred.
Not fear.
Something deeper.
Anger.
Cold and sharp.
Before I realized what I was doing, I stepped toward the door.
“Malikye,” Kael warned.
But I ignored him.
I raised my hand.
The crescent mark blazed with silver light.
The Hollow creature froze.
Its glowing eyes widened.
For a moment we simply stared at each other.
Then I spoke.
And once again the words didn’t feel entirely like my own.
“You should not have come for me.”
The silver light surged forward.
The creature screamed as the magic struck it.
Its body dissolved into drifting black ash.
The other Hollow outside recoiled.
Selene stared at me.
Kael looked both impressed and concerned.
“Well,” I said, lowering my hand, “that felt slightly more intentional.”
Kael grabbed my arm.
“Now we run.”
Selene opened the back door.
Cold night air rushed inside.
Somewhere in the distance the moon hung high above the city rooftops.
Bright.
Watching.
Behind us, the front door finally shattered.
The Hollow poured into the shop.
And we ran into the night.
- Writer
