The glowing eyes multiplied.
One pair became five.
Five became ten.
Then twenty.
Rohgah stood motionless, staring into the darkness between the trees.
The creatures were surrounding them.
Nicole slowly stepped forward.
"How many are there?"
Bella tightened her grip on her sword.
"Too many."
Ashbel's fingers trembled as a thin stream of water rose from the soil around her.
Sofia stood behind Rohgah.
She looked terrified.
But Rohgah wasn't looking at the creatures.
He was looking at Machir.
"They're here for me?"
Machir nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because of what happened beneath the forest."
Rohgah's eyes narrowed.
"The Hollow?"
Machir's expression changed.
"You spoke to it?"
"It spoke to me."
Machir looked genuinely frightened.
"What did it say?"
Rohgah hesitated.
"It called me child."
Machir's face went pale.
"What else?"
"It said I had returned."
Machir looked toward Sofia.
"And?"
Rohgah's voice became quieter.
"It told me to ask you who my mother was."
Machir closed his eyes.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
"Give us the boy."
Everyone froze.
Another voice followed.
"Give us Rohgah Perez."
Nicole stepped forward.
"You'll have to come through us."
A low laugh came from the trees.
"Princess Nicole."
Nicole's expression changed.
"They know who we are."
Bella raised her sword.
"That's not possible."
Three figures slowly emerged.
They wore long black cloaks.
Silver masks covered their faces.
Each mask carried the same symbol as Sofia's pendant.
Two intertwined circles.
Black and silver.
Ashbel whispered,
"The symbol."
One of the masked figures looked directly at her.
"Mermaid princess."
Another looked at Bella.
"Commander of Babylon."
Then he turned toward Nicole.
"Princess of the Vampire Empire."
Nicole's eyes narrowed.
"Who sent you?"
The masked man smiled beneath his mask.
"You already know."
Nicole's eyes flickered toward Machir.
"Machir?"
Machir shook his head.
"No."
The masked man laughed.
"The wizard knows exactly who we serve."
Rohgah stepped forward.
"Then stop hiding behind masks."
The man tilted his head.
"You have his arrogance."
"Who?"
"Your father."
Rohgah's eyes darkened.
"You know Machir?"
"We knew him before you were born."
Machir suddenly shouted,
"Enough!"
A massive magical wave erupted from his hands.
The masked figures were thrown backward.
Trees cracked from the force.
Rohgah stared at his father.
"You're afraid of them."
Machir said nothing.
The masked figures quickly recovered.
One raised his hand.
A dark spear appeared.
He pointed it at Rohgah.
"Take him."
The forest exploded into movement.
Bella charged first.
Her sword collided with a masked warrior's weapon.
Nicole disappeared in a blur.
She reappeared behind another attacker and struck him across the chest.
Ashbel lifted both hands.
Water burst from the ground and wrapped around two creatures, slamming them against trees.
Rohgah raised his hand.
Magic gathered around his fingers.
But before he could release it, Sofia screamed.
"Rohgah!"
He turned.
A masked warrior was standing behind her.
The warrior raised his weapon.
Rohgah's body moved before his mind could react.
He appeared in front of Sofia.
The weapon struck him.
But instead of blood, silver light exploded from his chest.
The attacker was thrown backward.
Rohgah stared at the silver glow surrounding him.
Sofia stared too.
"What are you?"
Rohgah looked at her.
"I don't know."
Suddenly, his magic changed.
Purple flames turned silver.
The entire forest lit up.
Every masked warrior stopped.
Even Machir stared at Rohgah.
One of the warriors whispered,
"The blood has awakened."
Another stepped backward.
"He has the mark."
Rohgah looked at his palm.
The black-and-silver symbol was glowing.
"What mark?"
Nobody answered.
Then one of the masked warriors lowered his weapon.
"We cannot fight him."
The others immediately retreated.
Rohgah frowned.
"You came all this way for me and now you're running?"
The masked man looked at him.
"You are not ready."
"For what?"
The man smiled.
"For the truth."
Then all the warriors vanished into the forest.
Silence returned.
Bella lowered her sword.
"What just happened?"
Ashbel stared at Rohgah.
"I think they were afraid of him."
Nicole walked toward him.
"They knew about that mark."
Rohgah looked at his palm.
"I don't know what it means."
Sofia suddenly stepped forward.
"I do."
Everyone turned toward her.
Rohgah stared at her.
"What?"
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
"That symbol belongs to your family."
Machir immediately interrupted.
"Sofia."
She looked at him.
"You can't keep hiding it."
Machir's voice became stern.
"Not here."
Rohgah turned toward him.
"You keep saying that."
"Because there are ears everywhere."
Rohgah looked around.
"Then we'll talk when we get back."
Machir nodded.
But Sofia grabbed Rohgah's arm.
"No."
He looked at her.
"You can't go back."
"Why?"
"Because if they found you here, they can find you at school."
Nicole stepped forward.
"She has a point."
Machir shook his head.
"The school is protected."
Sofia's eyes hardened.
"Not anymore."
Machir froze.
"What did you say?"
Sofia reached into her bag and pulled out the pendant.
The black-and-silver circles were glowing.
"The protection seal has been broken."
Ashbel stepped closer.
"How do you know?"
"Because this pendant reacts whenever the seal is damaged."
Bella looked toward the forest.
"So we're not safe."
"No," Sofia whispered.
"We're not."
A horn sounded again.
This time, it wasn't the school.
It came from far away.
Three short blasts.
Machir's expression changed.
Rohgah noticed.
"What does that mean?"
Machir didn't answer.
"What does it mean?"
Machir looked at the sky.
"The school has fallen under attack."
Everyone froze.
Nicole's eyes widened.
"What?"
Machir turned toward them.
"We have to move."
They began running.
But Rohgah stayed behind for a moment.
He looked at Sofia.
She was staring at him.
"What?"
She swallowed.
"I remembered something."
Rohgah's heart began pounding.
"What?"
Sofia stepped closer.
"When I was little…"
She stopped.
A memory flashed through her mind.
A river.
A woman crying.
A baby.
A little boy holding her hand.
A man's voice shouting.
"Take the girl!"
Sofia gasped.
Rohgah caught her.
"What did you remember?"
She looked into his eyes.
"You were there."
Rohgah froze.
"What?"
"You were the little boy."
His face went blank.
Sofia began crying.
"I remember holding your hand."
Rohgah couldn't breathe.
"And then they took me away."
A sharp pain struck his head.
He stumbled backward.
Another vision.
A little girl crying.
A baby boy screaming.
Two tiny hands reaching for each other.
Then—
A woman's voice.
"One day, they will find each other again."
Rohgah opened his eyes.
Sofia was standing in front of him.
Neither spoke.
Then Machir's voice came from behind them.
"ROHGAH!"
Rohgah turned.
Machir was staring at them with an expression of pure horror.
Rohgah slowly walked toward him.
"You knew."
Machir said nothing.
"You knew she was the girl from my memories."
Silence.
"You knew she was the one they took away."
Machir's eyes filled with something Rohgah had never seen before.
Regret.
Rohgah's voice trembled.
"Who is she to me?"
Machir looked at Sofia.
Then back at his son.
His lips parted.
But no words came.
Suddenly, the school horn sounded again.
This time, the sound was followed by a terrifying explosion in the distance.
The sky above Ravenshade High turned black.
Machir looked toward the school.
"They've begun."
Rohgah stared at the dark sky.
"Who?"
Machir's answer was barely a whisper.
"The people who have spent eighteen years waiting for you to awaken."
And somewhere far away, inside Ravenshade High, the school gates slowly opened by themselves.
Something had entered.
Something that had been waiting for Rohgah.