The crack widened.
Not slowly.
Not gradually.
But violently — splitting across the arena floor like the mountain itself was being torn open from the inside. Shadows poured upward in thick, writhing waves, twisting into shapes that weren't wolves, weren't human, weren't anything that belonged in this world.
The Hollow was no longer rising.
It was emerging.
Lucien stood at the edge of the crack, shadows clinging to him like armor, his chest rising and falling with sharp, frantic breaths. His eyes — pure void — flickered with something dangerously close to desperation.
He whispered, "It's almost here."
Rylan stepped in front of me, golden fire blazing around him. "Then we end this now."
Lucien laughed — a broken, hollow sound.
"You can't end the Hollow."
He pointed at me.
"You can only feed it."
Rylan roared and lunged.
Lucien didn't block.
He didn't dodge.
He simply raised his hand.
The Hollow obeyed.
A tendril of shadow shot upward, slamming into Rylan's chest and throwing him across the arena. He hit the stone hard, rolling to a stop.
"RYLAN!"
He groaned, pushing himself up, golden fire flickering weakly.
Lucien turned toward me.
"You're the conduit. The Ridge chose you. But it didn't choose you to win."
He stepped closer.
"It chose you to contain."
The Ridge pulsed beneath my feet — a violent, urgent thrum.
Not fear.
Warning.
Rylan staggered to his feet, blood on his mouth, eyes burning.
"Lucien — stop this."
Lucien froze.
For a moment — just a moment — something human flickered in his expression.
Pain.
Memory.
Regret.
Then it vanished.
He whispered, "I can't."
Rylan stepped forward. "You can."
Lucien shook his head violently.
"You don't understand what the Hollow is."
"Then tell me."
Lucien's voice cracked.
"It's everything we were supposed to be."
Rylan stiffened. "No. It's everything you let yourself become."
Lucien's jaw clenched.
"You think I wanted this?"
Rylan didn't answer.
Lucien stepped closer, shadows swirling around him.
"You think I chose to be the cursed one? The broken one? The one the moon rejected?"
Rylan's breath shook. "Lucien…"
Lucien's voice rose — raw, furious, aching.
"You were always the chosen one. The golden one. The one they loved. The one she loved."
Rylan froze.
"She?"
Lucien's expression twisted.
"You don't remember her, do you?"
Rylan's eyes narrowed. "Lucien… who are you talking about?"
Lucien laughed — a sound that cracked like glass.
"Of course you don't."
He stepped closer.
"She was mine. Before the curse. Before the moon. Before everything."
Rylan's breath hitched. "Lucien—"
Lucien's voice broke.
"And she chose you."
The arena fell silent.
Even the Hollow paused.
Rylan whispered, "Lucien… I didn't know."
Lucien's eyes burned with void.
"You never know. You never see. You never notice what you take."
Rylan stepped forward. "I didn't take anything from you."
Lucien's voice dropped to a whisper.
"You took everything."
The Hollow surged.
Lucien didn't move.
He let it rise behind him, shadows curling around his shoulders like wings.
Rylan whispered, "Lucien… please."
Lucien's jaw trembled.
"You can't save me."
Rylan's voice cracked.
"I have to try."
Lucien's eyes softened — for the first time since the curse twisted him.
"You're still the same."
Rylan swallowed. "And you're still my brother."
Lucien flinched.
The Hollow shrieked.
The crack widened.
Lucien whispered,
"Then you'll die with me."
He raised both hands.
The Hollow obeyed.
A massive wave of shadow surged toward Rylan — fast, violent, unstoppable.
Rylan didn't move.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't shield.
He stepped forward.
"Lucien — look at me."
Lucien hesitated.
Just enough.
Rylan reached him.
He grabbed Lucien's wrist.
The bond between brothers — buried, broken, forgotten — sparked.
Lucien gasped.
Rylan whispered, voice shaking,
"You're not alone."
Lucien's eyes widened.
The shadows around him flickered.
The Hollow shrieked.
The Ridge pulsed.
And for the first time…
Lucien's hand trembled.
He whispered,
"Rylan… I'm scared."
Rylan pulled him closer.
"I know."
Lucien's voice cracked.
"I don't want to be this."
Rylan's breath shook.
"Then don't."
Lucien closed his eyes.
The shadows around him wavered.
The Hollow screamed.
The crack shook.
And Lucien whispered the words Rylan had been waiting years to hear.
"Help me."
Rylan grabbed him.
Held him.
Anchored him.
The Hollow surged.
The Ridge roared.
And the mountain chose again.