Valerie's POV
The guard's hands were rough as they dragged me from my cage.
I stumbled through the corridors, my bare feet scraping against the cold stone. The silver bars had burned my palms, my wrists, my shoulders—everywhere I had touched them in my desperate attempts to escape. The wound on my shoulder had reopened, and blood trickled down my arm, leaving a dark trail behind me.
The Hollow stretched around me like a living thing—walls pulsing with dark energy, corridors that twisted and turned in ways that defied logic. The guards moved in silence, their eyes empty, their grip unyielding.
They stopped at a massive door, carved with runes that glowed faintly. Moon-Touched symbols. Centuries old.
The door swung open, revealing a ritual chamber.
The walls were covered in runes—my ru
