>Luna Blackwell
The howl hadn't stopped echoing when Kai yanked me to my feet.
"Move!" he barked, already at the corridor's edge.
I bolted after him, heart slamming against my ribs. The stone under our feet trembled faintly, like something massive had stirred just beyond the surface.
We reached a heavy metal door tucked behind a false wall. Kai slammed it shut and twisted a set of rusted knobs. Click. Click. The sound echoed too loudly in the silence.
Then a sharp chime rang out, low and metallic, like a broken bell.
"What's that?" I asked.
Kai's jaw clenched. "Perimeter alarm."
Behind us, the hideout exploded into motion, footsteps, blades unsheathed, a soft crackle of magic. Lyra dashed past, muttering a spell under her breath. Ezra lit a glyph on the wall. Even Riven looked alert, weapon drawn, stance coiled like a spring.
And then… my wrist burned.
I hissed, pulling up my sleeve. The scar, no, the second one, was glowing again. Not just pulsing. It shimmered, silver laced with flickers of dark violet. The energy hummed in my bones.
Kai saw it. "They're close."
I swallowed. "Who?"
He looked at me like I wasn't ready. "The Hollowborn."
And then I saw them.
Through a crack in the outer wall, shadows bleeding into shape. Cloaked figures with blurred edges, as if the night itself had peeled off and walked toward us. Their eyes flickered, not red, not gold, just… empty. Hollow.
One of them tilted its head, sensing me.
"They're not here to kill you," Kai said tightly. "They're here to take you."
Something primal in me recoiled.
I wasn't prey.
>Later That Day
"I'm not hiding again."
Kai raised a brow. "It's not hiding. It's surviving."
I crossed my arms. "Same thing."
Silence stretched between us. Finally, he tossed me a wooden staff.
"Try not to knock yourself out."
>:Training sucked.
I couldn't focus. My body felt like it belonged to someone else, jumpy, too light, too heavy. Kai moved like he was made of instinct and iron. I moved like someone trying not to fall on her face.
"Stop thinking," he muttered. "Feel the pull. The mark isn't a curse, it's a current. Ride it."
I grit my teeth and tried again. Breathe in. Channel the heat. Push it out!
A pulse of silver light burst from my palm and blasted a wooden shelf across the room.
Kai ducked, coughing in the dust.
I stood frozen, eyes wide. "Sorry..."
He wiped grime off his cheek. "Next time, aim for the enemy."
But I saw the twitch of a smile before he turned away.
>Night Fell Hard.
And with it, so did our defenses.
The first scream came from the west tunnel. Then came the crash of steel, the scent of smoke.
"They're inside!" Lyra shouted.
We ran.
I had no idea what I was doing, but I wasn't running from this. Not anymore.
A Hollowborn dropped from the ceiling like a vulture. Kai tackled it mid-air. I barely ducked the second one.
Its eyes locked onto me. It raised a hand, and black mist coiled from its fingers.
My wrist flared.
The shield erupted before I could even think. A glowing arc of light surrounded me, Kai too. The mist hissed against it, fizzling out like water on fire.
The Hollowborn reeled back, hissing. Then it leaned closer, eyes narrowing.
"The King is waiting," it whispered.
And vanished in smoke.
>Later
We patched wounds and counted heads. No deaths. Just bruises and a broken rib... Riven, surprisingly. I think I respected him more for wincing.
Kai and I sat by the war table, a battered map stretched out before us.
He tapped four locations.
"Other marks," he said. "Flared up in the last three days."
I leaned in. "Like mine?"
"Similar. But yours is stronger. Different."
"Why?"
Kai hesitated. "Because you're not just marked. You're..."
But he didn't finish. The way he looked at me made my stomach twist.
>That Night
The dream came sharp and fast.
I stood in black water, the sky rippling above me like torn silk.
A figure loomed across the shore, tall, draped in living shadow. His eyes glowed from a face I couldn't fully see.
"The Moonborn," he said, voice like gravel wrapped in silk. "Come to me, child. Or I'll tear the truth from the ones you love."
Behind him, I saw... My mother.
Bound. Bleeding. Silent.
I woke up screaming.