The elders’ fires cast long shadows across the Hollows, but they couldn’t chase away the cold dread gripping my heart. I sat on a stone bench, the dagger clutched in my trembling hands, its symbols dim but still warm, like a heartbeat. Lucian stood beside me, his hand on my shoulder, the bond a steady pulse—his strength, my fear, our defiance woven tight. But it wasn’t enough to silence the echo of her voice—my voice—claiming me, unraveling me. The mirror, the spiral, the flashes of a ritual I didn’t remember—they weren’t just threats. They were pieces of a truth I couldn’t outrun.
Killian paced nearby, his staff tapping restlessly, his bruises stark in the firelight. “So, what—she’s you? Some evil twin? How do we even fight that?” His voice was sharp, frayed, like he was trying to joke b
