I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same image.
A little girl.
She stood beside a river with tears streaming down her face, her tiny fingers wrapped tightly around the hand of a little boy.
Rohgah.
The boy was crying.
The girl was crying harder.
And somewhere behind them, a woman was screaming.
Then came the fire.
Then Machir.
Then the voice.
Separate them before the prophecy begins.
I opened my eyes suddenly.
My breathing was heavy.
The room was dark, but I could still feel the strange pressure surrounding me.
"Liora."
The name escaped my lips.
I froze.
I didn't know why I had said it.
I didn't even know who Liora was.
Yet somehow, the name felt like home.
I sat up slowly.
There was a knock on my door.
Before I could answer, Elena entered.
She closed the door behind her and stared at me.
"You remembered something."
It wasn't a question.
I swallowed.
"I remembered a name."
"What name?"
"Liora."
Elena's face changed.
For a moment, she looked terrified.
"You shouldn't have remembered that."
My heart began pounding.
"Why?"
She didn't answer.
"Elena."
She walked toward me.
"Liora wasn't just a name."
"Then what was she?"
Elena lowered her voice.
"It was the name you had before Sofia."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"You were called Liora when you were a child."
My mouth fell open.
"Who called me that?"
"Your mother."
I felt something break inside me.
"My mother?"
Elena nodded.
"She was the one who gave you that name."
I looked down at my hands.
Images suddenly flashed through my mind.
A woman's arms.
A silver necklace.
A warm voice.
A lullaby.
Then a little boy laughing.
I gasped.
"Rohgah."
Elena immediately grabbed my shoulders.
"What did you see?"
"He was there."
"Who?"
"Rohgah."
Her face went pale.
"We were children," I whispered. "We were together."
Elena said nothing.
"Why were we together?"
She looked away.
I stood.
"Elena, tell me the truth."
"You aren't ready."
"I am!"
"No."
Her voice was firm.
"You think knowing the truth will make everything easier. It won't."
I stepped closer.
"Then why do I feel like my entire life has been a lie?"
She didn't answer.
A tear slipped down my cheek.
"I remember him."
Elena closed her eyes.
"I remember holding his hand."
Silence filled the room.
Then Elena whispered,
"You weren't supposed to find him."
My blood went cold.
"Why?"
She looked directly at me.
"Because somebody went to extraordinary lengths to make sure you never did."
Before I could ask another question, a loud bell rang throughout the school.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Elena turned toward the window.
"The council."
"What council?"
"The supernatural council."
My stomach tightened.
"Why would they come here?"
Elena's expression hardened.
"Because the school barrier was broken."
She looked at me.
"And because Rohgah's power has awakened."
Across the school, Rohgah stood inside the empty headmaster's office.
Machir stood opposite him.
Neither spoke.
The room was filled with magical symbols glowing faintly on the walls.
Rohgah held the silver pendant in his hand.
"I want answers."
Machir stared at him.
"You aren't ready."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
Rohgah slammed the pendant onto the desk.
"I saw her."
Machir's expression tightened.
"The girl from my memories."
Machir said nothing.
"I saw Sofia."
Still nothing.
"And I saw myself."
Machir finally looked at him.
"You should forget what you saw."
Rohgah laughed bitterly.
"That's convenient."
"Rohgah—"
"You erased my memories, didn't you?"
Machir froze.
Rohgah stepped forward.
"You erased something from me."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
Machir's jaw tightened.
"There are things buried beneath your past that should remain buried."
"Why?"
"Because digging them up will destroy everything."
Rohgah stared at him.
"Who is Sofia?"
Machir looked away.
Rohgah's voice dropped.
"Who is Liora?"
The room went completely silent.
Machir's face lost its color.
Rohgah noticed.
"You know that name."
Machir slowly looked back at him.
"Where did you hear it?"
"So you do know."
Machir moved toward the window.
"That name should have disappeared with the past."
"Who is she?"
Machir closed his eyes.
"Someone you must never find."
Rohgah's heart pounded.
"Is she connected to me?"
Machir didn't answer.
"Is she?"
Still silence.
Rohgah grabbed his father's shoulder and turned him around.
"Tell me!"
Machir's eyes flashed with ancient magic.
The room shook.
Rohgah didn't move.
For the first time, Machir looked afraid of his own son.
"You have no idea what you are asking."
"I want the truth."
"The truth will make you hate me."
Rohgah stared at him.
"Maybe I already do."
Machir's face crumbled for half a second.
Then a voice echoed from the corridor.
"Rohgah!"
He turned.
Nicole stood at the doorway.
Ashbel and Bella were behind her.
Nicole's eyes immediately went to Machir.
"What happened?"
Rohgah didn't answer.
Nicole walked toward him.
"We heard the council had arrived."
Ashbel looked nervous.
"Something is wrong."
Bella's hand rested on the sword at her waist.
"Very wrong."
Machir looked at the three girls.
"The three royal heirs should return to their dormitories."
Nicole stepped forward.
"We're not leaving him."
Rohgah looked at her.
Nicole's eyes softened.
"We're his friends."
Machir studied them carefully.
"Friendship will not protect you from what is coming."
Bella frowned.
"What is coming?"
Machir didn't answer.
Then the school doors below opened.
A powerful wave of magic swept through Ravenshade.
Every candle in the hallway went out.
Ashbel gasped.
"The water."
Rohgah looked at her.
"What?"
She pointed toward the windows.
Rain had begun falling.
But it wasn't normal rain.
The droplets were black.
Nicole's expression changed.
"That's impossible."
Bella drew her sword.
Students began screaming outside.
Machir whispered,
"They're here."
Rohgah looked toward the entrance.
"Who?"
Machir's eyes darkened.
"The council."
The great hall was filled with supernatural rulers.
Vampire elders stood beside mermaid nobles.
Werewolf leaders stood opposite Babylonian commanders.
Wizards occupied the center.
At the front stood three ancient figures wearing silver robes.
The Council of Seven.
The oldest supernatural authority in existence.
The headmaster stood before them.
"What do you want?"
The eldest councilor raised his staff.
"The boy."
Rohgah entered the hall.
Everyone turned.
Nicole, Ashbel, Bella and Machir followed.
The councilor stared at Rohgah for several seconds.
Then he whispered,
"So it is true."
Rohgah stepped forward.
"What is true?"
The councilor looked at Machir.
"You failed."
Machir's eyes narrowed.
"Choose your words carefully."
"You separated the children."
The hall fell silent.
Rohgah's heart stopped.
Children?
The councilor continued.
"You erased their memories."
Rohgah turned toward Machir.
"What children?"
Machir didn't speak.
The councilor raised his staff.
"The son has awakened."
A second councilor stepped forward.
"And the daughter has remembered."
Rohgah felt the silver pendant burn against his chest.
He grabbed it.
The pendant glowed.
Somewhere in the school, Sofia screamed.
Rohgah immediately ran.
"ROHGAH!"
Nicole followed.
Ashbel and Bella ran behind her.
They reached the corridor just as Sofia emerged from the opposite side.
She was crying.
Her hands were shaking.
Rohgah stopped.
"Sofia?"
She stared at him.
Then she whispered the name.
"Liora."
Rohgah froze.
Sofia walked toward him.
"I remember."
His heart pounded.
"Remember what?"
She touched her chest.
"I remember my mother."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I remember the river."
Another tear.
"I remember you."
Rohgah couldn't breathe.
Sofia looked directly into his eyes.
"You were my little brother."
The world seemed to stop.
Nicole covered her mouth.
Ashbel stared in disbelief.
Bella lowered her sword.
Rohgah couldn't move.
"Say that again."
Sofia's voice broke.
"You were my brother."
The silver pendant suddenly cracked.
A deep rumble shook the school.
The floor beneath them split slightly.
And from somewhere far below Ravenshade came a sound that none of them had ever heard before.
A heartbeat.
Boom.
Everyone froze.
Boom.
The walls trembled.
Boom.
Machir looked horrified.
"No…"
Rohgah stared at him.
"What is that?"
Machir whispered the words he had spent eighteen years trying to prevent from becoming reality.
"The Hollow."
Then the lights went out.
And beneath the school, something ancient opened its eyes.