I woke to silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The kind that comes after something terrible has happened.
My eyes opened slowly.
Stone.
Dust.
Broken walls.
I tried to move.
Pain shot through my body.
I groaned.
"Rohgah?"
Sofia.
I turned my head.
She was kneeling beside me.
Her face was covered in dust, and there was a small cut above her eyebrow.
But she was alive.
"Sofia…"
She smiled through tears.
"You're awake."
I tried to sit up.
She immediately supported me.
"Easy."
"What happened?"
"The chamber exploded."
I looked at my hands.
Nothing.
No silver light.
No black veins.
No magic.
I stared at my palms.
I tried to summon my power.
Nothing happened.
Again.
Nothing.
My heart began beating faster.
I looked at Sofia.
"It's gone."
She knew what I meant.
She nodded slowly.
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
For years, I had been the strongest person in every room.
People feared me.
Students avoided me.
Teachers watched their words around me.
Even supernatural rulers knew my name.
Now…
there was nothing.
I looked toward the broken doorway.
Nicole, Ashbel, and Bella were standing there.
Nicole rushed toward me.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so."
Ashbel crouched beside me.
"Try your magic."
"I already did."
Bella looked at my hands.
"Nothing?"
I shook my head.
"No."
For some reason, saying it aloud hurt more than I expected.
Sofia squeezed my hand.
"You're still here."
I looked at her.
She smiled.
"That matters more."
Before I could answer, a weak voice came from behind us.
"Rohgah…"
I froze.
Mom.
I turned.
Seraya was lying against the wall.
Sofia rushed toward her.
"Mom!"
Seraya smiled faintly.
"My children."
Sofia dropped beside her.
"You're safe."
Seraya touched her face.
"I am."
Then she looked at me.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You did it."
I shook my head.
"I don't feel like I did anything."
"You surrendered your power."
I looked at my hands.
"It's gone."
Seraya nodded.
"Yes."
"Then it's over?"
Her expression changed.
"No."
My heart sank.
"What?"
She slowly looked toward the ceiling.
"The Hollow is still alive."
I stood.
Or tried to.
My legs nearly gave way.
Bella caught me.
"Careful."
I looked at Seraya.
"Then what did I surrender?"
"Your connection to it."
I frowned.
"That isn't the same as destroying it."
"No."
"Then why did Vaelor panic?"
Seraya became silent.
Sofia looked at her.
"Mom?"
Seraya whispered,
"Because you did something Vaelor never believed was possible."
"What?"
"You separated the Hollow from yourself."
I stared at her.
"So it can't use me anymore?"
"Not directly."
Relief flooded through me.
Then Seraya's expression darkened.
"But the power didn't disappear."
I froze.
"Where did it go?"
She looked at the floor.
"Into the Hollow."
A deep rumble shook the chamber.
Everyone turned.
The walls began vibrating.
Nicole stepped backward.
"Please tell me that's not what I think it is."
Seraya stood slowly.
"It has become stronger."
Ashbel's eyes widened.
"But Rohgah surrendered his power."
"Yes."
"Then why is the Hollow stronger?"
Seraya looked at me.
"Because it received exactly what it wanted."
My stomach dropped.
"You mean my power?"
She nodded.
"And now it has enough strength to break free."
Silence.
Bella tightened her grip on her sword.
"So we stopped it from possessing Rohgah…"
"And accidentally gave it his power," Nicole finished.
I looked at the ground.
"I made it stronger."
Sofia immediately shook her head.
"No."
"I did."
"You saved yourself."
"And maybe doomed everyone else."
She grabbed my shoulders.
"Don't say that."
I looked into her eyes.
"I don't have magic anymore."
"You have me."
I stared at her.
"You have all of us," Nicole said.
Ashbel nodded.
"And we still have our powers."
Bella raised her sword.
"And weapons."
A small smile appeared on my face.
"You're all insane."
Nicole laughed.
"Probably."
Then the chamber doors slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
Black smoke began entering through the cracks.
Seraya's face went pale.
"It found us."
Sofia stepped closer to her.
"Vaelor?"
"No."
Seraya whispered,
"The Hollow."
The smoke spread across the floor.
Then it stopped.
A figure emerged.
Not Vaelor.
A child.
A little boy.
He looked about six years old.
His clothes were torn.
His face was covered in dirt.
He looked at me.
"Rohgah?"
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in my memories.
My childhood.
I stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The boy smiled.
"You promised you'd come back."
My heart stopped.
Sofia gasped.
"That's him."
I turned.
"Who?"
She was crying.
"Our brother."
I stared at the boy.
"No."
Sofia grabbed my hand.
"I remember."
She pointed at him.
"That was you."
The child smiled.
But something was wrong.
His eyes were completely black.
Seraya stepped forward.
"Don't go near him."
I stopped.
The child tilted his head.
"Mother?"
Seraya's face went white.
"That's not your son."
The child smiled wider.
The voice that came from him was no longer a child's.
It was the Hollow.
I REMEMBER YOU.
The boy's body began changing.
Black smoke poured from his mouth.
His skin cracked.
His small body expanded.
The creature rose until it towered over us.
Sofia screamed.
The Hollow looked at me.
YOU GAVE ME YOUR POWER.
I clenched my fists.
"You don't have me."
I HAVE WHAT WAS YOURS.
I stepped forward.
"You'll never control me again."
The Hollow laughed.
I DON'T NEED TO.
It turned toward Sofia.
I HAVE THE KEY.
Sofia stepped backward.
I moved in front of her.
"No."
The Hollow reached forward.
A silver chain shot from its hand.
It wrapped around Sofia's wrist.
She screamed.
"Sofia!"
I grabbed the chain.
It burned my hand.
But I didn't let go.
Nicole attacked from the side.
Her vampire speed was almost invisible.
The Hollow threw her across the chamber.
"Ashbel!"
Water crashed against the creature.
Bella charged with her sword.
Seraya raised both hands.
Power exploded through the chamber.
For several seconds, the Hollow was forced backward.
Then it laughed.
WEAK.
The floor shattered.
Everyone fell.
I held onto Sofia.
"Don't let go!"
"I won't!"
The Hollow pulled harder.
Sofia screamed.
I pulled back.
But I had no magic.
No supernatural strength.
Nothing.
For the first time in my life…
I was powerless.
And the creature knew it.
NOW YOU ARE NOTHING.
I gritted my teeth.
"No."
The Hollow pulled again.
I fell to my knees.
Sofia's hand slipped from mine.
"ROHGAH!"
I reached for her.
Our fingers touched.
Then separated.
The Hollow dragged her into the darkness.
"Sofia!"
Her scream echoed through the chamber.
Then silence.
I stared into the darkness.
Something inside me broke.
I turned toward the others.
"Where did it take her?"
Seraya looked terrified.
"To the place where it was born."
"Where?"
She whispered,
"Beneath the river."
I stood.
My legs were shaking.
I had no magic.
No power.
No supernatural strength.
But I still had one thing.
My sister.
"I'm going after her."
Seraya grabbed my arm.
"You can't."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because without your power…"
She swallowed.
"The Hollow can kill you."
I looked toward the darkness.
"Then I'll die trying."
Seraya's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
I pulled free.
"I spent eighteen years without knowing I had a sister."
I looked at Sofia's empty space.
"I'm not losing her now."
I turned toward the tunnel.
Nicole stood beside me.
"We're coming."
Ashbel nodded.
"So am I."
Bella lifted her sword.
"Me too."
Seraya stared at the four of us.
Then she smiled sadly.
"My children."
She looked toward the darkness.
"Then we have one chance."
"What is it?"
Seraya's eyes hardened.
"We go beneath the river."
She pointed toward the tunnel.
"And we find out what the Hollow has been hiding for eighteen years."
I took a breath.
Then we entered the darkness.
None of us noticed the figure watching from the shadows above.
Vaelor.
He smiled.
Because Sofia wasn't the only one the Hollow had taken.
It had taken something else.
Something none of us knew existed.
And Vaelor whispered,
"Now the real game begins."