The fall seemed endless. Ethan's stomach twisted as the darkness swallowed him whole. Wind howled in his ears though there was no air, no sky—only the suffocating descent into the Hollow City's core. Beside him, Selene's scream was torn away by the void. For a moment, it felt like they were no longer falling but suspended in black ink, drifting between fractured realities.
And then—impact.
Ethan hit solid ground with bone-rattling force. His vision exploded with stars. The book clutched in his arms cushioned the worst of it, though its pages burned hotter now, as though furious at his hesitation. He gasped, dragging in air thick with the scent of rot.
Slowly, his eyes adjusted.
They had landed in a chamber unlike any he had seen before. The walls weren't stone—they pulsed, fleshy and alive, as if they were standing inside the body of something colossal. Veins glowed faintly within the living walls, carrying a sickly red light deeper into the abyss.
Selene lay several feet away, her knife still clutched in her hand. She groaned, rolling onto her knees, her face pale with both pain and exhaustion.
The Hollow City had brought them deeper. Into its veins. Into its heart.
Ethan staggered upright, clutching his shoulder. "Selene… are you—"
"Don't," she hissed, cutting him off, though her voice cracked. She wasn't looking at him; her eyes were fixed on the throbbing chamber around them. "It's not done with us. This is another test. Another layer."
The ground beneath their feet quivered as though in agreement. From the fleshy walls, a voice began to bleed through—not words, but vibrations that pressed against their skulls. Ethan nearly doubled over from the pressure, his vision blurring again.
One must remain. One must fall.
The chorus was clearer than ever.
Selene squeezed her eyes shut, her hand shaking violently around her blade. "Do you hear it too?"
"Yes." Ethan's jaw tightened. "But it's not the truth. It's manipulation. The city wants us broken."
Her laugh was bitter. "And it's succeeding."
They stood in silence, the chamber pulsing like a living lung. Ethan wanted to reach for her, to say something—anything—that would pierce through the wall the city had forced between them. But when she finally turned toward him, her face was twisted by something rawer than anger.
Desperation.
"You don't get it," she whispered, stepping closer. "All my life, Ethan… all my life I've been nothing. Forgotten. A shadow no one cared about. And now—now the city chose me. Do you know what that means? For once, I'm not disposable. For once, I matter."
Her words trembled like a confession torn straight from her soul. Ethan's heart clenched. He wanted to tell her she mattered already. To him.
But before he could speak, the chamber shifted.
The walls convulsed, veins bursting open, spilling black ichor across the floor. From the wound, shapes began to emerge—tall, skeletal figures wrapped in shadow. Their faces were masks of bone, their mouths stretching open with endless screams.
The Choir had taken form.
Selene's eyes widened, but instead of fear, a strange fervor sparked within them. She raised her knife, its runes glowing blood-red. "This is it. The city is testing us. Testing me. If I prove myself here, it'll acknowledge me as the true Chosen."
Ethan stepped between her and the advancing shadows. "No! That's not what this is! It's trying to push you further under its control!"
But she shoved him aside, fury flashing across her face. "Why are you fighting this, Ethan? Why can't you just accept it?"
The Choir closed in, their screams vibrating the walls. Ethan gritted his teeth, lifting the cursed book. Its pages flared open on their own, spilling out streams of fire and shadow that coiled around him like armor.
The book wanted blood. The city wanted a victor.
And Ethan wanted to save Selene—even if it meant destroying himself.
The first shadow lunged, claws outstretched. Ethan swung the book forward, unleashing a torrent of searing flame. The creature dissolved with a screech, its body collapsing into ash. Another attacked from the side, but Selene met it with her knife, carving through the shadow's chest in a burst of crimson light.
For a moment, they fought side by side again. The way they used to.
But every strike Selene made only seemed to feed the mark on her chest, which glowed brighter with each kill. The more she fought, the deeper the city bound itself to her.
Ethan realized with dawning horror that this wasn't just a test of survival—it was a competition. The more she gave in, the more the Hollow City would favor her. And the more he resisted, the weaker his claim would be.
It was turning them into rivals, blow by blow.
"Selene!" Ethan shouted, blocking another clawed swipe with the book's burning shield. "Stop! You're letting it win!"
She didn't answer. Her face was twisted with grim determination as she cut down another shadow, her movements fluid, almost ecstatic. She was no longer fighting to live—she was fighting to prove herself.
Ethan felt a knot of dread in his gut. If she kept going like this, he would lose her forever.
He struck out desperately, sending a wave of black flame across the chamber that obliterated a cluster of shadows. But as the flames died, he saw Selene staring at him, eyes wide, chest heaving.
For a split second, he saw something break through the haze of her obsession. A flicker of the girl he had once trusted.
"Ethan…" she whispered. Her knife trembled in her hand.
The ground shook violently, cutting her off. From the far end of the chamber, something colossal stirred.
The living walls split open, revealing a titanic eye. It blinked once, the sound like mountains grinding together. The pupil narrowed, locking onto them both.
The true Heart of the Hollow City was watching.
Every shadow froze, then collapsed into the ground, absorbed by the living floor. A silence heavier than death filled the chamber.
Ethan and Selene stood side by side, but the gulf between them had never felt wider.
The eye pulsed with light, and the voice came again, clearer than ever, resonating inside their skulls.
One must remain. One must fall.
Selene's breathing quickened. She raised her knife again, though her hand shook violently. Ethan stared at her, his own resolve solidifying.
He couldn't kill her. He wouldn't.
But he knew now—the Hollow City would make sure she tried to kill him.
The chamber convulsed, the ground splitting between them. The flesh-like floor rose, tearing them apart until they stood on two separate platforms above a swirling abyss.
The eye blinked once more.
And the platforms began to drift apart.
Selene's gaze locked on his, her lips trembling. For a moment, Ethan thought she would drop the knife, that she would fight back against the city's will.
Instead, she whispered:
"I'm sorry."
And then she leapt toward him.