CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Fragments of Return
985 Words
Damien’s POV — Echoes in the Hollows
The Hollow remained still.
Too still.
Damien helped Lena sit, her body quivering from tiredness. The golden connection between them still gleamed faintly, connecting them beyond dimensions and truths.
Lyra knelt nearby, holding what remained of Arius' talisman in her hands—a shard of obsidian shattered down the middle. His sacrifice had been sufficient to keep the veil in place. But it had cost them.
The environment surrounding them pulsated like a heartbeat. The whispering shadows and clutching winds were no more. Instead, the Hollow appeared subdued.
Watchful.
Damien didn't believe it.
"Where are we?" Lena muttered, her voice husky.
"Still in the Hollow," he said. "But something has changed. I don't believe it is hunting us anymore."
Lyra stood slowly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Her magic shimmered slightly around her, but it was distinct—more refined and focused. As if going through the veil had tamed her. "We need to get out of here," she added.
"The breach has closed behind us. Whatever we did, it sealed itself.
"For now." Damien turned to face Lena. "Do you recall what happened?" "After you stabbed your shadow?"
She nodded slowly. "I remember everything. Each version of myself. Every option I did not make. And the boy—the god—is not gone. Just relaxing. Waiting." "Then we have to be aready if he wakes again," Lyra said.
They rose together and started walking. The Hollow bent around them, but not with malice. The landscape was stranger now, with mirrors imbedded in trees, clockwork vines ticking in time, and sky that shimmered between dawn and dusk without ever deciding. Then came the voices.
Not antagonistic.
Not familiar.
Just curious. "Is it over?" "They cut the thread. However, the pattern remains unchanged. "One breaks. Someone remembers. One binds.
"And one...bleeds." Damien drew his weapon automatically. "Who's there?"
The trees peeled back, revealing four individuals arranged in a perfect square. Each was shrouded and faceless, their garments moving with the celestial constellations. There were vast gaps where their eyes should have been.
"The Fractured Keepers," Lena murmured. "They're not from this earth. They keep an eye on those who try to change fate.
The person closest to Damien stepped forward. Its voice was both masculine and feminine, ancient and infantile.
"You have cracked the seal but not healed the wound. "The cycle will find another way to spin."
"We made the decision," Lena murmured, rising up despite the tiredness in her limbs.
"We severed what needed to die."
"And in doing so, I invited the fragments back into play," the Keeper replied.
Lyra's magic sprang to life.
"Speak plainly." Another Keeper came up, holding a mirror. Within it, they saw a familiar village on fire. The church tower collapsed. Children scream.
Damien recognised it. "This is my village. "The day the Hollow first touched it." But things weren't the same. In his mirror, he saw himself standing next to the fire.
Watching.
Smiling.
Lena gave a gasp.
"That's not you." "It's what could have been," the Keeper explained. "Fragments cannot die. "They find new hosts."
Another mirror appeared. This one featured Lena in the forest, not singing to calm spirits, but commanding them. Creating an army of dead eyes. Her shadow self.
"No," she whispered.
"I destroyed her."
"You delayed her," remarked the third Keeper.
"But the veil shattered. And through its cracks, previous versions leak again." A third mirror revealed Lyra, crowned in fire and surrounded by ashes.
Even her expression was incorrect: chilly. Merciless.
Lyra stepped back. "This is not prophesy.
"This is manipulation."
"It is a warning," explained the final Keeper.
"The cycle must always be balanced." You assumed authority. You refused power. Now it needs to find another vessel." Damien's hand tightened around his blade.
"Are you saying we didn't stop anything?"
"You've halted a fall. However, reality has many edges.
Suddenly, the Hollow shivered. A scream came from the east. Not supernatural. Human. They all turned.
"That sounded like—" Lena began, but the words stuck in her throat. Another shriek. A girl's voice.
They ran. The landscape altered rapidly, pushing them along a path of twisted trees and shattered reflections. Every branch appeared to whisper their names.
They burst into a clearing. At its centre is a youngster. Not more than eight. Pale hair. Hollow eyes. Floating.
Damien recognised her. "That's the girl in the breach. "The person who became the key." But she appeared younger now. And afraid.
"She was reborn," Lena explained, stepping closer gently.
"We severed her power... and it made her start again." The girl turned her head slowly. She didn't sound like herself when she spoke.
"They're coming. The Echoed Ones.
"The fragments that remember." Lyra pulled Lena back. "She's not safe." But the girl slumped unexpectedly, her body writhing in convulsions. Symbols burnt onto her skin—not heavenly, but old, deep scars from before the Hollow.
Lena touched Damien's arm. "She needs an anchor. Without one, she'll rip open the Hollow anew."
"And we'll be right back where we started," he grumbled. Suddenly, there are footsteps. Two figures came from the darkness. Damien recognised one straightaway. His blood froze.
"Sahran," he hissed. But the woman next to him was worse. She looked like Lena. However, they are older. Crueller. Her eyes were golden.
"Oh gods," Lena muttered.
"That's her."
"That's my mirror image." The shadow had located a vessel. She grinned, her lips parting with unnatural ease.
"You believed you could kill me by choice?
"Darling... I am every decision you regret." Sahran did not speak. His expression was blank. However, his hands were stained with blood. Fresh.
Damien raised his blade. "We put an end to this. "Here, now."
"No," the shadow-Lena muttered.
"This... is only the beginning." The girl on the ground opened her mouth.
They yelled.
The heavens parted.
Again.
- Writer
