The Hollowing

Chapter 6

The cold air cut through me like a blade. It wasn’t the kind of cold you could fight off with warmth, nor was it the biting chill of winter. This was something deeper, something that gnawed at the very core of who I was. The moment my fingers brushed against the mirror’s surface, everything shifted.

The reflection around us distorted, twisting like ink dissolving in water. I felt the ground beneath my feet give way, as if I was no longer tethered to the world I knew. For a split second, I thought I saw Riven beside me, but then— nothing.

I gasped, my breath coming out in sharp, icy bursts, but there was no air. My lungs burned, and I struggled to find my footing. The world was wrong. Everything was wrong. Shadows stretched too far, and the sky above twisted into an unnatural hue, a sickly green.

I was alone.

I blinked, trying to steady myself, only to find the reflection of myself in the shattered mirror before me, standing still, unmoving. There was no version of me that stood by Riven anymore. No version that reached for the door in the mirror.

What just happened?

"Riven?" My voice cracked as I called out, the sound swallowed by the thick silence around me.

Nothing.

I didn’t dare look back. I couldn’t. My feet felt like lead, each step dragging me further into the nightmare we’d just walked into. The whispers were back, clawing their way into my skull, mocking me. Each whisper—no, each word—sounded like his voice.

“Where are you?” I whispered to the air, as though it might answer. But it didn’t. I stared at the mirror, at the door I had foolishly touched, and for the first time since we entered this place, fear gnawed at my insides.

I had no idea where I was. Or where Riven was.

I hadn’t even seen him fall. There was nothing.

I turned away from the mirror, my heart pounding harder with each thudding step. I couldn’t stay here, not like this. Whatever twisted version of reality I’d just stepped into had no mercy, and the further I went, the deeper the fog crept into my mind.

That’s when I heard it.

A sound. It was distant at first, barely noticeable. But it grew louder. The scrape of metal against stone. The heavy footfalls. Someone—something—was walking toward me.

Riven?

I spun around, every muscle in my body tensed. I thought I saw a shadow in the distance, a figure cloaked in darkness. My breath caught in my throat, and I took a hesitant step forward. But before I could get any closer, the figure stepped into the light—and it wasn’t Riven.

The man who stood before me wore a crown of shattered glass. His clothes were torn and tattered, a dark, ragged silhouette. His eyes were empty, black pits, like the void, and as he grinned, his teeth gleamed in the dim light—a twisted, jagged mockery of a smile.

I froze.

“Do you know where you are?” His voice was low, a rasping sound that slithered under my skin.

“Get away from me.” The words tumbled out in a shaky breath, but I stood my ground. Sort of.

He c****d his head, the smile growing. “You’re lost, aren’t you? We’re all lost here.”

“Who are you?” I asked, the words thick in my mouth. “What is this place?”

The man’s laugh echoed, sending chills through my spine. He stepped closer, his steps dragging like chains on stone. “I am everything and nothing, just like you. Just like him.”

“Riven?” I whispered, my heart skipping.

His laugh became more sinister. “You think you’ve lost him? He’s never far away. Just another reflection. Just another version of what you think you know.”

“What do you want?” The question barely left my lips before I wanted to take it back. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want him near me.

His gaze lingered, heavy. “I want what you want. To be free. But freedom comes at a cost, doesn’t it? You know that.”

I took another step back, my mind racing. Is this a trap? Is this some illusion?

“Where’s Riven?” I demanded again, my voice sharper this time. My hand instinctively hovered near the hilt of my blade, but I didn’t draw it. Not yet. The man’s smile faded, replaced by something colder, something darker.

“You’ll find him, if you’re lucky. If he hasn’t already found you.” He stepped into the shadows again, his voice trailing off into the void. “But be careful, girl. You don’t know who’s watching.”

Before I could react, he vanished, his presence slipping away like smoke, and I was left standing in an eerie silence.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to break something. But instead, I took a steadying breath, trying to focus, trying to remember that Riven was out there. Somewhere.

Somewhere.

I wasn’t alone, not entirely. But I wasn’t sure what was real anymore.

I spun around to face the mirror again, the reflections in it warping and shifting as if mocking me. And there, in the fractured glass, I saw it.

Riven. Or at least, a version of him. His face was no longer the stoic mask I knew, but twisted, eyes burning with something I couldn’t place. His reflection moved without him, a dark, shadowy figure mimicking his every action.

My pulse quickened. This was no longer just a mirror. It was a window. A window into something far worse than I could imagine.

I stepped closer, my heart pounding in my chest, and the reflection of Riven—no, that thing—smiled. But it wasn’t his smile.

It was a warning.

Then, as if the world had heard my thoughts, the ground beneath me cracked. I stumbled back, barely keeping my footing as the shadows surged forward. A black hand shot out from the mirror, reaching for me.

And then, a voice. A familiar voice, distant and strained, calling my name.

“Juniper!”

It was Riven. But where was he? Was he still…?

Before I could answer, the mirror shattered.

And everything went black.