—The Mirror of Shadows—
The Hollow King stood at the edge of the crater, wearing Kael's face like a mask. His eyes were voids, his smile too wide, too sharp.
Kael's grip tightened on the Stormblade. "Who are you?"
The Hollow King tilted his head. "You already know."
A whisper in the wind—voices, countless voices, murmuring a single name:
*The First Stormblood.*
Kael's blood ran cold. "That's impossible."
The Hollow King stepped forward, his bare feet leaving no prints on the blackened glass. "Is it? You shattered the Godspike. You woke the Vein. You *unmade* the rules."
Behind him, the shadows *twisted*, forming figures—faceless, hollow, watching.
Kael's lightning flickered, unstable. "What do you want?"
The Hollow King's grin widened. "What all dead things want."
He raised a hand.
*"To live again."*
---
The Hollow King's form *rippled*, his features shifting like smoke.
For a heartbeat, he wore Lysara's face.
Then Sera's.
Then—
The Emperor's.
Kael *flinched*.
The Hollow King laughed. "Faces are just masks, Kael. And I have worn *so many*."
Then—
He lunged.
Kael barely raised the Stormblade in time. Their blades clashed, black lightning meeting shadow. The impact sent shockwaves through the crater, cracks spiderwebbing across the glass.
The Hollow King's voice slithered into Kael's ear:
*"She was right, you know."*
Kael snarled. "Lysara?"
*"The world *is* worth more than you."*
Kael *roared*, shoving him back. The Stormblade *erupted*, a storm of black lightning tearing
The Hollow King *dissolved* into smoke—
And reappeared behind him.
"But don't worry," he murmured. "I'll make sure they remember your name."
His hand *plunged* into Kael's back.
And *pulled.*
*Agony.*
Kael *screamed* as something vital was *ripped* from him—not flesh, not blood, but *memory*.
His first storm.
His sister's laugh.
The weight of the Stormblade in his grip.
The Hollow King *drank* them in, his stolen face flickering with satisfaction.
"Mmm. *Powerful.*"
Kael *collapsed*, gasping, his vision swimming.
The Hollow King crouched beside him. "You should have died in the Godspike's collapse. But the Emberguard kept you alive."
His fingers traced the molten veins in Kael's chest.
"A pity. It would have been *cleaner*."
Then—
A *twang*.
An arrow *slammed* into the Hollow King's throat.
He *gurgled*, shadows leaking from the wound—
And *laughed*.
"Ah. The huntress returns."
Kael turned.
Sera stood at the crater's edge, another arrow nocked, her face grim.
"Get away from him," she hissed.
The Hollow King *smiled*.
And *vanished*.
—The Survivors—
Sera hauled Kael to his feet. His body felt *hollow*, his thoughts sluggish.
"Lysara—" he croaked.
Sera's jaw tightened. "Gone."
Kael's stomach twisted. "Dead?"
"Worse." Sera's voice was raw. "The Hollow King took her."
Kael's breath hitched.
Sera met his gaze. "We have to move. The Emperor's forces are closing in."
Kael forced himself to stand. "Where?"
Sera nodded toward the horizon.
Where the sky was bleeding.
Where something *old* was waking.
"The Vein's heart," she whispered. "Where this all began."