chapter two
1152 Words
The Hollow Crown
Chapter Two — The Eastern Ruins
The eastern district began where the city stopped pretending to be civilized.
The roads became narrower there.
The buildings leaned closer together.
Windows were boarded over, doors were chained shut, and old magical lanterns hung from rusted brackets despite having gone dark decades ago.
Kael walked alone.
His boots splashed through yesterday's rain.
He kept one hand inside his coat pocket.
Not because he was cold.
Because his fingers were wrapped around his knife.
The Hollow had rules.
Most weren't written down.
Don't walk through an alley if someone is standing at both ends.
Don't stare at Wardens.
Don't display money.
Don't trust anyone who offers you something for free.
And most importantly:
Don't go into the eastern ruins after dark.
Kael had heard that one since he was a child.
He'd never understood why.
The eastern ruins weren't supposed to be dangerous.
They were abandoned buildings.
Collapsed shops.
Old homes.
A few warehouses.
Nothing worth being afraid of.
At least, that's what people said.
Kael turned down a narrow street.
A woman selling vegetables watched him pass.
"Ruins?" she called.
Kael stopped.
He looked back.
The woman was old enough that Kael couldn't guess her age.
"Maybe."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Don't go too far."
Kael almost laughed.
"Everyone keeps telling me that."
"Then maybe listen."
She turned back to her vegetables.
Kael continued walking.
His plan was simple.
Find something valuable.
Bring it home.
Sell it.
Buy food.
Maybe medicine for his father's leg.
Maybe new boots for Mara.
That was all.
Kael wasn't looking for adventure.
Adventure was something rich people paid storytellers to invent.
Kael wanted bread.
He passed through the remains of an old market.
The roof had collapsed years ago.
Rainwater had filled the basement.
Kael crouched beside a pile of broken wood.
Nothing.
He moved to the next building.
Nothing.
Then he found a locked cabinet.
His heart lifted.
Locked usually meant valuable.
He pulled his knife.
The lock was old.
Three minutes later, it opened.
Inside was a small silver cup.
Not enchanted.
Not particularly beautiful.
But silver was silver.
Kael smiled.
"Thank you."
He placed it inside his bag.
Then he heard something.
Tap.
Kael froze.
Another sound.
Tap.
Behind him.
He slowly turned.
Nothing.
The ruined room was empty.
He waited.
Silence.
Kael exhaled.
"Rat."
Probably.
He turned back toward the cabinet.
The silver cup was gone.
Kael stared.
His bag was still closed.
He checked it.
Nothing.
He looked around.
"Very funny."
No answer.
He crouched and searched the floor.
Nothing.
Then he noticed something.
A footprint.
Barely visible in the dust.
A human footprint.
Small.
Child-sized.
It was pointing toward him.
Kael followed the footprints.
They ended at a wall.
He stared at it.
There were six prints.
Then nothing.
He touched the wall.
A cold sensation ran up his fingers.
Kael immediately pulled his hand away.
His father's warning returned to him.
If you see anything strange... don't touch it.
Kael looked at his hand.
Nothing had happened.
Still...
He decided to leave.
He was halfway back toward the city when he heard screaming.
Kael stopped.
The sound came from an alley.
A man's voice.
Then another scream.
Kael's hand went to his knife.
He should keep walking.
That was another rule.
People in the Hollow learned quickly that there were some problems you survived by ignoring.
But the scream came again.
This time it was a child.
Kael ran.
He rounded the corner.
Three men were standing around a boy no older than ten.
One held a club.
Another had a knife.
The third was searching the child's pockets.
Kael stopped.
The men looked at him.
The one with the knife smiled.
"Keep walking."
Kael looked at the boy.
The boy's lip was bleeding.
Kael looked back at the men.
"Let him go."
The man laughed.
"Or?"
Kael drew his knife.
The man looked at it.
Then laughed harder.
Kael knew what he was thinking.
The knife was old.
Kael was thin.
The other man had a club.
The odds weren't good.
But Kael had learned something growing up in the Hollow.
You didn't need better odds.
Sometimes you just needed to convince someone that you were willing to make the odds worse.
He stepped forward.
The knife-man raised his weapon.
Kael threw his own knife.
Not at him.
At the lantern above his head.
The blade struck the metal bracket.
The lantern fell.
Oil exploded across the ground.
Flames erupted.
Everyone shouted.
Kael grabbed the boy.
"Run!"
They ran.
Behind them, the men screamed.
Kael didn't stop until they reached the main street.
The boy collapsed against a wall.
He was crying.
Kael crouched beside him.
"Where's your family?"
The boy shook his head.
"I don't know."
Kael sighed.
Of course.
He reached into his bag.
There was half a loaf of bread.
He handed it over.
The boy stared.
"Take it."
The child hesitated.
Then grabbed it.
Kael stood.
"Find a Warden."
The boy looked up.
"They won't help."
Kael looked toward the distant towers.
He knew the boy was probably right.
Still.
"Find one anyway."
He turned to leave.
The boy called after him.
"What's your name?"
Kael stopped.
He looked back.
"Kael."
The boy nodded.
"Thank you, Kael."
Kael walked away.
He didn't hear the boy whisper something else.
Because the boy wasn't looking at him.
He was looking at Kael's shadow.
The shadow was facing the wrong direction.
Kael didn't notice.
Not yet.
But by the time he reached home, something else had changed.
His right hand was freezing.
Not cold.
Freezing.
He held it beneath his coat.
His fingers were pale.
Almost gray.
Kael flexed them.
They worked normally.
He told himself it was nothing.
Just the cold.
Just exhaustion.
Just his imagination.
He opened the apartment door.
Mara was sitting at the table.
She looked up.
"You're late."
Kael smiled.
"Had trouble."
"Did you get anything?"
He pulled the silver cup from his bag.
Mara's eyes widened.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Found it."
"Did you steal it?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
Kael looked offended.
"Absolutely."
She stared at him.
"You're lying."
"Probably."
She laughed.
For a moment, everything was normal.
Their father was asleep in the next room.
Mara was teasing him.
Rain tapped against the window.
The apartment smelled like soup.
Kael sat down.
He didn't notice the darkness beneath the table.
He didn't notice the way it seemed slightly deeper than the shadows around it.
And he didn't notice that something inside that darkness was watching him.
Waiting.
Learning.
Remembering.
Because Kael had just made his first mistake.
He had touched something he shouldn't have.
And somewhere beneath the eastern ruins...
something had learned his name.
Kael.
The first word of a story that would eventually become legend.
The last word of a life that would never be ordinary again.
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