Amara was the first to stand.
She didn't speak. Her boots shifted against the cracked stone floor, hair swaying slightly as she looked around the ruined chamber. Everything was quiet now. No shadows creeping from the walls. No bloodthirsty monsters. Just silence—and the remains of something that had once ruled this place.
Luke watched her from the ground. He was still recovering, still bleeding a little, but he wasn't rushing to move. He wanted a second to let it settle. What they'd done. What she'd become.
Or maybe what she'd always been.
Eventually, she turned to him.
"I was awake," she said quietly.
"I know."
Amara exhaled, not quite steady. "I saw everything. I remember and felt the way she moved. The way she looked at you. The way she—" She stopped.
He didn't press.
"I felt like I was watching someone else use my bones," she continued. "But not like a stranger. More like remembering how you used to be, in a life you forgot."
Luke sat up slowly, wincing. "And now?"
"She's still there. But quiet. Like someone waiting for me to figure out who I am."
Luke looked at her. "Do you know?"
She gave a small smile. "More than before."
A beat passed.
Then, softly: "Kissed you."
Luke nodded. "Yeah."
Amara's voice was quieter. "Did it mean anything?"
He stood, slowly, walking up beside her. "Yeah."
She turned to face him. Her gaze wasn't sharp this time. It was steady. A little vulnerable. A little defiant.
"So?"
Luke didn't hesitate. "I didn't fall for a second personality. I fell for you."
That got her. Just a flicker. She looked away fast, but the corner of her mouth curved up, just slightly. "That's a dangerously smooth line for someone who nearly got turned into a wall stain."
He grinned. "You like it."
She didn't answer. Which, in her language, meant yes.
The chamber began to shake behind them. Runes cracked and bled light. The Hollow was collapsing. Not violently. Just done. The throne was gone. The test was over. And whatever lived here? It knew who had won.
Luke brushed dust off his shoulder. "Think anyone else made it out?"
Amara shrugged. "Doesn't matter."
They reached the exit together, the stone gate parting automatically at their approach. Recognition runes pulsed and faded—silent proof that the system had accepted their success.
They stepped into sunlight.
The forest was quiet. Mist clung low to the ground, glowing soft gold in the rising dawn. The light felt sharper than usual. Cleaner.
Luke stretched. "So… we passed."
Amara gave a short laugh. "We broke the trial, shattered its guardian, and kissed in its ruins. I'd say we did more than pass."
He glanced sideways. "So, what now?"
She paused. Then reached for his hand—not dramatically. Just enough that their fingers brushed.
"Now," she said, "we go back."
"No hiding?"
"No hiding."
They walked the path down from the trial gate together, side by side, quiet but unafraid. A few birds stirred in the trees. Somewhere behind them, stone cracked one final time and fell into itself.
No one came to meet them.
No instructors. No overseers.
Just one line carved into the trial stone at the exit—now glowing faint silver.
Candidate: Luke Everen. Result: Complete.
Unclassified anomaly detected. Flagged for further review.
He glanced at it once, then looked ahead.
Let them wonder.
He'd already proven everything that mattered.