The path to the Northern Ridge was treacherous, winding through broken hills and forgotten forests. Kiran walked ahead, occasionally glancing back as though to confirm Chizzy still followed.
She did.
Though the road was unfamiliar, the sensation wasn't. The pulse beneath her skin. The hush in the trees. Darkness watching from just beyond sight.
They made camp by a river that night. Kiran started a fire while Chizzy watched the stars, her fingers brushing the worn hilt of the blade.
"You've fought before?" she asked him.
"Yes," he said. "But never like this. Never with a partner."
"We're not partners yet," she replied.
He smirked. "Fair enough."
Silence settled again.
Then he asked, "When did you know? That you were different?"
Chizzy took a breath. "When I was nine. I touched a mirror and saw my future dying inside it."
Kiran stared. "What did you do?"
"I broke it."
The fire crackled. Wind stirred the leaves. And then a whisper.
Both turned toward the trees.
Something moved just beyond the firelight. Slow. Deliberate.
Chizzy rose, blade in hand.
Kiran followed, drawing a dagger from his boot.
From the shadows emerged a shape. Not a beast. Not a person.
Something in between.
Its eyes glowed violet. Its breath sounded like rust scraping stone.
Chizzy stepped forward.
"It knows the Hollow," she said. "It came through."
"Through what?" Kiran asked.
She looked at him.
"Through me."
And the darkness smiled.