The walls were collapsing.
Stone crashed around us as the chamber shook violently. Dust filled the air, making it difficult to breathe. The mirror that had shown our mother was completely shattered, its pieces scattered across the floor like frozen tears.
Sofia grabbed my arm.
"Rohgah!"
"I'm here."
Another crack split the ceiling.
A huge piece of stone fell between us.
"Sofia!"
She jumped backward just before it smashed into the ground.
I looked around desperately.
There had to be another way out.
There had to be.
Then I heard him.
A slow clap.
I froze.
Vaelor stepped out of the darkness.
He wasn't affected by the collapsing chamber. Not even slightly.
His silver eyes glowed through the dust.
"That," he said calmly, "was beautiful."
Sofia moved behind me.
"What do you want?" I demanded.
Vaelor smiled.
"I already told you."
His eyes moved toward me.
"I want you."
My stomach tightened.
"Then come and get me."
Sofia grabbed my arm.
"Rohgah, don't."
Vaelor laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
He raised one hand.
The entire chamber went silent.
The falling stones stopped in midair.
I stared.
Vaelor slowly turned his wrist.
Every stone began floating backward.
They returned to the ceiling as though time itself had reversed.
Sofia's face went pale.
"He can control time?"
"No," Vaelor said.
He looked directly at her.
"I control stolen magic."
My heart pounded.
"Stolen from our mother."
His smile disappeared.
"Careful."
"You stole her power."
"I borrowed it."
"You chained her!"
For the first time, anger flashed across Vaelor's face.
"You know nothing about Seraya."
Sofia stepped forward.
"I know she is our mother."
The room became completely silent.
Vaelor looked at her.
Then at me.
"Our mother," he repeated.
His smile returned.
"That word will become very important soon."
I stepped forward.
"Where is she?"
Vaelor didn't answer.
"Where is my mother?"
He tilted his head.
"You sound just like her."
My chest tightened.
"You knew her."
"I knew her better than Machir ever did."
Sofia's eyes hardened.
"What did you do to her?"
Vaelor looked at her for several seconds.
Then he whispered,
"She refused to give me what I wanted."
"What?"
"The Hollow."
A cold shiver moved through me.
Vaelor continued.
"Seraya possessed something no magical being should have possessed. A connection to the ancient force beneath this world."
"The Hollow," I said.
He nodded.
"She could communicate with it."
Sofia's face changed.
"Our mother could control it?"
"No."
Vaelor smiled.
"She could silence it."
That sentence frightened me more than anything else.
"Then why did you need her power?"
"Because silence is not control."
He stepped closer.
"I wanted control."
I clenched my fists.
"And now you want our blood."
Vaelor's eyes gleamed.
"Not exactly."
He pointed at me.
"I need your power."
Then he pointed at Sofia.
"And her blood."
Sofia stepped closer to me.
"You won't touch him."
Vaelor laughed.
"You still don't understand your role."
"My role?"
"You are the key."
Sofia's expression hardened.
"I am not your key."
Vaelor's smile faded.
"You will be."
Suddenly, my palm burned.
I screamed.
Black veins spread across my hand.
Sofia rushed toward me.
"Rohgah!"
I dropped to my knees.
The pain was unbearable.
Something was moving beneath my skin.
Something alive.
I could hear whispers.
Brother.
Brother.
Brother.
Sofia grabbed my hand.
"Look at me!"
I couldn't.
My eyes filled with silver light.
The floor beneath me cracked.
Vaelor stepped backward.
"Yes."
His voice trembled with excitement.
"That's it."
Sofia tried to pull me up.
"Fight it!"
"I am!"
"No!"
She held my face between her hands.
"You're stronger than it!"
The black veins reached my wrist.
I screamed again.
Power exploded from my body.
Sofia was thrown backward.
"Sofia!"
She hit the wall.
I stared at her in horror.
"No…"
Vaelor smiled.
"Beautiful."
I stood slowly.
My body felt different.
The air around me vibrated.
Silver light surrounded my hands.
But beneath it was something darker.
Something hungry.
The Hollow.
It was inside me.
I could feel it.
Vaelor looked almost pleased.
"Eighteen years."
He walked toward me.
"Eighteen years of waiting."
I stared at him.
"What did you do to me?"
"I did nothing."
He stopped directly in front of me.
"Your father did."
"My father?"
Vaelor smiled.
"Ask Machir what he placed inside you."
My blood ran cold.
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
He lifted his hand.
A small black sphere appeared above his palm.
Inside it, images moved.
I saw Machir.
Younger.
Standing beside a river.
Holding a baby.
Me.
My breath stopped.
Then I saw another child.
A little girl.
Sofia.
Machir was crying.
I stared at the image.
"What is that?"
Vaelor's voice became quiet.
"Your first memory."
The image changed.
Machir placed his hand over my chest.
A silver symbol appeared.
Then darkness.
I stumbled backward.
"No."
Vaelor smiled.
"He didn't erase everything."
He pointed toward my chest.
"He sealed it."
Sofia slowly stood.
"What did he seal?"
Vaelor looked at her.
"The power that belongs to the Hollow."
My heart stopped.
Sofia shook her head.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
Vaelor laughed.
"Why do you think Machir feared his own son?"
I remembered all the warnings.
Leave the girl alone.
If you remember everything, you will hate me.
There are truths about your birth that I buried for a reason.
My father had been afraid.
Not of the Hollow.
Of me.
I looked at Vaelor.
"What happens if the seal breaks?"
His smile widened.
"You become what you were born to be."
I swallowed.
"And what is that?"
Vaelor whispered,
"The vessel."
The chamber shook.
Sofia immediately moved toward me.
"No."
Vaelor watched her.
"Your brother was never meant to be ordinary."
I looked at Sofia.
Brother.
The word still felt strange.
But somehow it also felt right.
She came closer.
"Rohgah, listen to me."
My breathing became uneven.
"I don't know what's happening."
"You don't have to know."
She took my hand.
"Just stay with me."
The moment our hands touched, something extraordinary happened.
Silver light burst between us.
The black veins disappeared.
The Hollow screamed.
Vaelor's smile vanished.
"No."
The chamber shook violently.
Sofia stared at our joined hands.
"What did we do?"
Vaelor's expression changed from anger to fear.
"You awakened the bond."
"What bond?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
The silver light grew brighter.
I saw memories.
Not mine.
Sofia's.
A little girl running beside a river.
A little boy chasing her.
Their mother laughing.
Seraya kneeling beside them.
The necklace around her neck.
Then the image changed.
Vaelor appeared.
Seraya stood between him and the children.
"Take me," she said.
Vaelor raised his hand.
Seraya screamed.
The children cried.
And then Machir appeared.
He took the children.
Separated them.
Erased their memories.
But before he left, Seraya looked directly at me.
"My son…"
I felt tears on my face.
Then she looked at Sofia.
"My daughter…"
The memory shattered.
I fell to my knees.
Sofia fell beside me.
"She was protecting us," she whispered.
I nodded.
Vaelor stood silently.
"You saw it."
I looked up at him.
"You were there."
"Yes."
"You attacked our mother."
"Yes."
"You took her power."
"Yes."
I stood.
My fear was gone.
"You hurt my family."
Vaelor smiled.
"And now you understand why I need you."
I raised my hand.
Silver energy gathered around my fingers.
Vaelor's smile widened.
"Finally."
He spread his arms.
"Show me what you can do."
I released the magic.
The chamber exploded with light.
Vaelor disappeared beneath the blast.
Sofia covered her face.
The walls trembled.
Then everything went silent.
I lowered my hand.
Nothing.
No Vaelor.
No Hollow.
I looked around.
"He's gone."
Sofia shook her head.
"No."
She pointed behind me.
I turned.
Vaelor stood there.
Unharmed.
But he wasn't smiling anymore.
He looked at my hand.
Then at Sofia.
Then he whispered,
"Now I understand."
"What?"
He stepped backward.
"The prophecy was wrong."
I stared at him.
"What prophecy?"
Vaelor's silver eyes darkened.
"It isn't the Hollow that will destroy the kingdoms."
He smiled.
"It is you."
Before I could respond, the floor beneath us split open.
A massive black hand rose from beneath the chamber.
Sofia screamed.
The Hollow had awakened.
And this time…
it wasn't calling for Sofia.
It was calling for me.
"ROHGAH."
I looked into the darkness.
The voice whispered again.
"COME HOME."
And somewhere far away, inside a place I had never seen before, my mother opened her eyes.
"Run," Seraya whispered.
"Before he finds you."
Then the darkness swallowed her voice.