Chapter 18
The gates of the capital stood open.
No guards.
No shadows.
Just a silence that screamed.
Elira stepped through them alone, her cloak dragging across blood-stained stones, her runes glowing hot against her skin.
Every part of her body screamed for rest.
But her heart had gone quiet.
She wasn’t walking toward battle.
She was walking toward the ending.
The City of the Hollow
The capital was unrecognizable.
Black vines crawled across every wall. Ash floated in the air like snow. Lanterns hung from nooses tied to broken arches glowing with trapped souls.
Elira passed them without blinking.
They whispered to her.
“Vessel…”
“Daughter…”
“Undoer…”
The throne room doors lay shattered.
Beyond them: the Hollow King’s true form.
The Hollow King Revealed
He sat atop a t
