Chapter Eleven
1284 Words
The search lasted three days.
Three days of tablets. Three days of scrolls.
Three days of records older than kingdoms.
The Ashen Monarch stood at the center of it all.
Watching.
Listening.
Learning nothing.
Every answer unraveled into another question.
"The Hollow Below appears nowhere on any map."
An archivist carefully set aside another stone tablet.
"It is referenced twenty-seven times and described zero."
The Monarch frowned.
"Impossible."
"That is what the records indicate."
Another archivist approached carrying a bundle of fragile parchments.
"We found a related text."
The old scholar unfolded the parchment.
Most of the writing had vanished. Only a handful of words remained.
"...born of absence..."
The Monarch's expression hardened.
The archivist continued.
"...where no law permits..."
The remainder of the sentence was gone.
Burned away by time or something far stranger.
A second record was produced.
This one even older. Its pages cracked as they turned.
"There is another reference."
The archivist cleared his throat.
"'The heavens shall fear—'"
The next line had been torn from the page.
The following page was entirely blank.
No damage.
No text.
Nothing.
As though the missing words had taken the page with them.
The Monarch felt irritation stirring.
Not at the archivists.
At the records themselves. Every trail led toward the same destination.
Every answer collapsed before reaching it.
"The Hollow Below," he murmured.
The words echoed strangely in the chamber.
"My lord."
The Monarch looked up.
The old scholar's eyes remained fixed on a newly uncovered tablet. His hands were trembling.
"What is it?" the Monarch ground out.
The archivist swallowed.
"There is a warning."
He lowered his gaze and read.
"'Do not seek the Hollow Below through distance.'"
"'It lies beneath no kingdom and beyond no border.'"
The Monarch stepped closer.
The symbols on the stone shifted slightly.
Almost imperceptibly.
The archivist continued.
"'The Hollow Below is not hidden.'"
Silence filled the chamber.
The final line appeared slowly. As if the tablet were remembering it.
"'It is forgotten.'"
The room grew cold.
For several moments nobody spoke.
The Ashen Monarch stared at the words.
Forgotten.
Not concealed.
Not lost.
The distinction unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
A forgotten place could be remembered.
A hidden place could be found.
But a place that existence itself refused to acknowledge—
What exactly was one meant to do with that?
"My lord."
Another archivist approached carrying a final document.
"This record mentions a prophecy."
The Monarch's eyes narrowed.
"Read it."
The archivist obeyed.
"'Their steps shall awaken sleeping truths—'"
Nothing followed.
The remaining half of the page had blackened into ash.
The Ashen Monarch closed his eyes. For the first time in centuries, he felt as though he was standing before a puzzle without edges.
He knew Vespera. He didn't know what she was.
He knew the prophecy. He knew the signs appearing throughout Noxareth. Yet every explanation led back to the same impossible thing.
The Hollow Below.
A place that could not be seen.
Could not be mapped.
Could not be remembered.
And somehow—
everything pointed toward it.
"Vespera, can we talk?" Cassiel said, stopping Vespera and Lyra at the door. Vespera seemed to hesitate, and then she turned to Lyra. "Give me a minute," she said. Lyra nodded and stepped away. Cassiel realised he had been holding his breath when she turned back to him.
"How have you been?" he asked. "Really, Angel?"
Cassiel shook his head, then chuckled to himself.
"You're nervous." She wasn't asking.
He really was. "Well, after having you avoid me for the past few days, I don't know where to start," he admitted sheepishly.
Vespera c****d her head, her lips tilting up in amusement. "I'd like us to be friends, Vespera, if you don't mind," Cassiel suddenly offered. He waited for her to scoff, but she didn't. She scanned his features in silence, and for a moment he was sure she would reject him.
"I know we started off on the wrong foot, and we haven't known each other for so long, but-"
Vespera cut him off. "Fine, before you start being all cute and emotional with me," she said. "Wait, really?" he asked. She nodded. "Now go on to your original friend," she added with a tilt of her chin, signalling behind him. "He won't stop glaring at me, I fear he might c***k his halo with the hostility he has." She turned away and began moving away. Then she turned back. "Oh, and Angel, stop staring at my back in class," she teased, "it's uncomfortable."
She flashed him another small smile, and turned away and left.
Inside the empty classroom, the professor stacked textbooks on the shelves that lined the walls. A book at the far end suddenly fell to the ground. Confused, he moved to where it had fallen.
He picked it up and looked at the pages it had fallen open on. Words that looked like they had been burned into the book grabbed his attention.
"And beneath hellfire, where even ash forgets its shape,
the forgotten stars shall burn again," he read, his voice barely above a whisper.
Then -
Before his very eyes, the book suddenly caught fire. He dropped it to the ground, and he watched it burn. The torches in the room began to flicker. As he looked around, a light tremor passed below the Academy. It continued for a few moments, and stopped abruptly.
He looked down at the book. It was a pile of ash now. The torches had stopped flickering as well.
The professor stared at the ash at his feet.
Something was coming.
"Now you want to be friends with the infernal girl," Kaelen accused. "Lay off, Kaelen," Cassiel replied. "I will not," Kaelen fired.
"You are an Angel, Cassiel! A Seraph, in case you forgot! You stood before the throne! How can you stand there now and tell me that this is who you want to be?"
He fixed an intense glare at Cassiel.
"Do you think I don't know that?!" Cassiel suddenly burst out, surprising Kaelen. "Do you think I could ever forget the power and yoke bestowed on me? I can't forget. I know what is expected of me. But I'm here questioning myself. I'm here asking myself 'Why are we supposed to be like this?'"
"You are questioning our existence?"
"I'm questioning what we were told. Why are we supposed to always be certain? Why can't we feel-"
"Feel? We're not allowed to just feel!"
Their voices could now be heard outside of Cassiel's room.
"Why is that? Huh? Why did it have to be us? Why are we supposed to carry composure like there are no troubles in this world?" Cassiel asked fiercely.
Kaelen scoffed. "Troubles?" He gave a bitter laugh. "You are a Seraph, troubles have nothing on you."
"So you keep reminding me," Cassiel murmured, turning away.
"You are going against everything the Primarch instilled in us. And for what? A girl who spawned from the depths of hell we don't even know about?" Kaelen spat.
Cassiel turned sharply and stalked to Kaelen. They stood facing each other, jaws set, eyes burning with righteous indignation.
"Do not call her that," Cassiel ground out, his voice a tone Kaelen had never heard. "You are going against your brethren for some unknown girl," Kaelen judged.
Cassiel turned away.
"At least with her, I felt less of the burden bestowed upon me."
Kaelen opened his mouth to respond, and then shut it. He turned in silence, and stalked to the door. Cassiel heard the door open, and then shut behind him.
He did not turn.
Just stared out of the window.
- Writer
