𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐟 𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐧

Chapter 9: Hollowspire

Hollowspire rose like a broken fang from the edge of the Graymarsh, wrapped in chains of iron and whispering mist. Thunder rumbled above it as if the sky itself wanted to keep its distance. According to the map, the third Shadow Gate would open here—unless Mira reached it first.

She and Thistle stood at the edge of the marsh, staring across dark waters that barely rippled.

“This place was cursed even before the war,” Thistle said. “It was where the first king of Elderglen tried to seal away the Shadow. But he made a mistake.”

Mira stepped onto a crumbling stone bridge. “What kind of mistake?”

“He used fear instead of light.”

Inside the tower, Hollowspire was hollow indeed—a spiral shell of stone, its walls etched with runes Mira couldn’t read. The deeper they went, the colder it got. At the heart of the spire stood a great brazier, long unlit, and above it—hanging in midair—was a c***k in reality, like a wound waiting to open.

The third gate.

Cael was already there.

He stood in silence, the shadows curling around him like a cloak. But his eyes met Mira’s—and they were full of conflict.

“You found the key,” he said softly.

“I saw what happened to you,” Mira replied. “What the shadows did. You were trying to protect her, weren’t you? The other me.”

Cael flinched.

“She was my sister,” he said. “In another world. I failed her.”

“You don’t have to fail again.”

The shadows hissed.

Cael held out his hand. “Then help me. Not to stop the gates—but to remake the mirror. To join the worlds again.”

Mira hesitated.

Behind her, the Key of Echoes pulsed in warning.

Before she could speak, the brazier burst into flame.

The gate began to open.