Chapter 21

The atmosphere was thick with tension as Allexis and Kez moved cautiously through the murk, the oppressive air of the Hollow Mother's territory pressing down on them. The clicking sound had faded for the moment, but they both knew it was only a matter of time before the creature made its next move. It was playing a game with them. A very sick game.

Kez's senses were on high alert, every muscle in his body wired with a mixture of adrenaline and the bitter satisfaction of being one step ahead. He had no illusions about his control over the situation—it was a fragile hold, one that could snap at any moment. But for now, he knew the most important thing was to keep Allexis focused and on edge, ready for whatever the Hollow Mother would throw at them.

"We're not far from the edge of its influence," Kez murmured, his voice low but steady. "We just have to keep pushing forward. If we can make it to the port ahead, we will be good."

'I think. I remember there is a port close by. In the novel, Jack did walk into this town from the port side.'

Allexis didn't respond immediately, but Kez could feel her tension, the slight shift in her posture as she processed his words. The past few hours had hardened her resolve, but even she couldn't ignore the weight of the situation. The creature wasn't just a monster—it was a force of nature, manipulating everything in its path, bending reality around it like a twisted game. And neither of them was safe.

"Port, huh?" Allexis muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're sure about this?"

Kez hesitated, his mind racing as he considered her question. He wasn't sure about anything anymore. The details of the novel he remembered had become hazy, twisted by time and stress. But the port was the best chance they had. At least, it was better than sitting around waiting for the Hollow Mother to strike.

"I'm not sure about anything," he admitted, his voice cutting through the dark air. "But I'm pretty sure that's our best shot. We'll find a way out once we're there."

Allexis shot him a look—half annoyance, half skepticism—but she didn't challenge him. She just nodded, pushing forward with the same intensity she always had. Kez couldn't help but respect her for that, even if they weren't on the best of terms.

The path through the dense, twisted woods felt endless. They were out of the town already but not out of Hollow Mother's domain. The oppressive silence was maddening, broken only by their footsteps and the distant echoes of the clicking. Kez's gut twisted at the thought of the Hollow Mother lurking nearby, its presence drawing closer with each step. He could feel it in the air—a shift, like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to snap.

They passed through a series of broken-down buildings—rusted metal skeletons and decaying stone foundations—that looked as though they hadn't seen life in centuries. Everything felt abandoned, like they were walking through the ruins of a long-forgotten place. The trees surrounding them were like sentinels, their branches clawing at the sky, as if trying to keep them trapped in the ever-thickening darkness.

Kez's senses were on edge, every muscle tense, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling with the unnerving sensation that they were being hunted. His mind raced, trying to push aside the gnawing feeling that they weren't just walking through a forest—they were walking through a nightmare. The Hollow Mother's territory wasn't just a physical space. It was something alive, something sentient, shifting the very world around them. And it was aware that they were close to leaving.

"Keep moving," Kez muttered, his voice a low hiss, barely audible in the oppressive silence. "We're close. Just a little further."

But Allexis didn't answer. Her eyes were darting around, flickering over the trees, the dark shadows that seemed to stretch unnaturally long. She could feel it too—the sensation that something was watching. The Hollow Mother was close. They were so close to the edge of its domain, but so was it, and that made everything worse.

Suddenly, the air around them shifted, a wave of cold rolling through the trees like a breath from some unseen abyss. The hairs on the back of Kez's neck stood on end. He knew it was coming.

A low, almost imperceptible hiss slid through the air, like a whisper carried on the wind, sending a shiver down his spine. Then, it happened. The world seemed to shift, bending and warping around them, and in the blink of an eye, the Hollow Mother struck.

The ground split open beneath them with a horrific crack, and from the darkness, tendrils shot forward, black as pitch and fast as lightning. Allexis barely had time to react before one of them lashed out, wrapping around her leg, yanking her off balance. She hit the ground hard, her breath knocked out of her as another tendril coiled around her waist, pulling her deeper into the choking darkness.

"Allexis!" Kez hissed, but he didn't rush to her side. Instead, he stepped back, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his poisoned knife. This was bad, but it wasn't his problem—not yet. He needed to think, to make a decision. Was saving her worth the risk?

The tendrils constricted, and Allexis let out a sharp gasp, struggling to free herself. Kez watched her, weighing the situation. The creature was closing in—he could feel it. If he didn't act fast, they both might be dragged back into the darkness.

He glanced down at his knife. It wasn't much, but it was his only weapon. The poison on it could slow the creature down, maybe even cripple it if he could get a good strike. He wasn't sure. But it wasn't enough to guarantee survival. His heart pounded. Should he cut her loose? Or let her deal with it herself? Could he even get out from here on his own?

Then Allexis screamed, her blade slashing through the air, severing one tendril, but another quickly replaced it. She was too slow—too injured—and the creature was relentless. It was beginning to drag her in deeper.

Kez cursed under his breath and made his choice.

With a grimace, he lunged forward, his poisoned knife aimed at the nearest tendril. The darkness wriggled and shifted like it was alive, but the blade sank into the shadow with an unnatural hiss, like it was tearing through something solid. The tendril recoiled, disintegrating where the poison seeped into it, but it wasn't enough to stop the others. The Hollow Mother's grasp tightened around Allexis's torso, lifting her off the ground.

Kez yanked the knife free and quickly slashed at another tendril, but his attention was split—he was only able to slice through the darkness so fast, and he wasn't getting through it in time. He could see Allexis's face, strained with pain, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she fought back.

It's not my problem, Kez thought, but the words didn't sit right in his mind. He was so close to the edge of the creature's domain, so close to escape. She could be dead weight, or she could be useful. That decision had to come fast.

In a final act of annoyance and selfish pragmatism, Kez grabbed Allexis by the arm and yanked her toward him, using his body weight to pull her away from the tendrils. She resisted, clearly too weak to move on her own, but the panic in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She wasn't going to survive much longer like this.

I'll deal with her later, Kez told himself, even as his hand moved to the back of her neck, pushing her forward as he dragged her through the slithering shadows. His poisoned knife sliced through the dark tendrils one by one, leaving the air thick with a bitter, acrid scent.

Allexis's body lurched in his grip, her feet stumbling and dragging behind her. "We need to get out of here!" she gasped, her voice full of desperation.

Kez gritted his teeth and didn't answer. He wasn't doing this for her. He wasn't doing this for anyone. But that didn't matter. They were almost there, and he had no intention of dying in this hellhole.

The final push came—he saw the edge of the Hollow Mother's territory ahead. The boundary between its grasp and the outside world was in sight. Kez moved faster, dragging Allexis with him, each step more frantic than the last as the creature let out a guttural scream, angry and relentless.

Allexis managed to push off one final tendril, but the exhaustion and injuries had taken their toll. She was slowing him down. He could feel her weight dragging him back, and the Hollow Mother's rage surged around them, but they broke through. The boundary snapped, and the dark energy of the creature recoiled, leaving them outside its reach.

Kez stopped, breathing hard, but he didn't look back at Allexis. He only stared at the dark woods behind them, his mind still racing.

Allexis had made it. But would she make it for long? He didn't know. He didn't care. She wasn't his problem.

But they had escaped.

For now.

The moment they broke free from the Hollow Mother's domain, the oppressive weight in the air lifted. For a brief second, it felt like they could breathe again, like they had found some semblance of safety—but Kez knew better. This was just another pause in the madness, another illusion of relief before the next storm hit. Still, there was something about the sight ahead that made his heart slow, if only for a second.

The port stretched out before them like a forgotten monument to time, a vast, desolate expanse of rusted metal and decaying infrastructure. The once-vibrant docks were now a labyrinth of corroded steel, the supports eaten away by saltwater and age, leaving them fragile and skeletal. Large, hulking metal crates lay scattered, half-open and left to rust, their contents long forgotten. The cranes that towered over the docks, once used to unload cargo with precision, now loomed like silent sentinels, their immense arms frozen in mid-air, as if waiting for something that would never come.

The sea itself was dark and unnervingly calm, the water reflecting the cold glow of the moon in eerie shades of silver and grey. It was unnaturally still, as if holding its breath, a deceptive calm before the chaos. The distant sound of water lapping against the rusted metal was the only noise that seemed to exist, yet it was so quiet, it felt like they were the only two living things in the world.

The place felt abandoned, and yet, there was something more—something alive about it. The crumbling docks and creaking metal underfoot seemed to whisper secrets, and the distant hum of the wind felt like it carried a warning.

The moon hung low in the sky, casting long, distorted shadows across the scene. Just then he realized it was nighttime. They spent almost over 7 hours in Hollow Mother's domain. He cautiously looked behind him but couldn't find any signs of the Hollow Mother. After a bit, he decided to focus on what was in front of him.

The air was thick with the salty scent of the ocean, mingling with something metallic and sour, like blood and old iron. Kez felt a chill run down his spine. He wasn't sure if it was the cold or something more unsettling, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The beauty of the place seemed too perfect, too still, and there was something wrong in the way the darkness wrapped around the docks like a second skin, something that whispered of forgotten things buried beneath the surface. Slowly, he built up the courage to start walking toward the port.

Even though he was moving slowly, Allexis barely managed to keep up, each step feeling heavier than the last. Her breath was ragged, her fingers weak around the hilt of her weapon. Blood trickled down her arm, staining her torn sleeve, but she forced herself forward. The pain was a dull, throbbing ache now, numbed by exhaustion and adrenaline, but she knew it wouldn't last.

They couldn't keep moving. Not like this.

She staggered to a stop near a stack of rusted shipping containers, pressing a trembling hand against the cold metal to steady herself. The entire world felt like it was swaying beneath her feet, a sickening mix of dizziness and nausea washing over her. She clenched her jaw, refusing to let herself collapse, but the weight of her wounds was dragging her down.

Kez turned back to her, eyes sharp as he scanned her over. He didn't say anything right away, just watching as she struggled to stay upright. His face was unreadable, but she could feel the calculation behind his gaze, the way he was already weighing whether she was dead weight or still useful.

She hated that.

"I need a minute," she said, her voice hoarse but steady. She wouldn't ask for help. Not from him.

Kez didn't argue. He turned away, scanning the area, his attention shifting back to the ocean. Under the silver moonlight, it seemed magnificent.

Allexis let out a slow, shaky breath, her fingers twitching slightly as she pressed them against her side. The blood was sticky and warm beneath her palm, a reminder of just how close the Hollow Mother had come to ending her. But she wouldn't let it. She wouldn't let anything end her.

The silver moonlight caught the wild strands of her crimson hair, making them glisten like fire against the cold night. Strands stuck to the sweat on her face, framing the sharp angles of her jaw and the stubborn set of her mouth. Her green eyes, though dulled by exhaustion, still held that defiant spark, the same one that had kept her alive through worse than this.

Kez still had his gaze fixed on the ocean beyond the ruined docks. The moonlight cast sharp angles across his face, accentuating the hollows beneath his eyes and the sharp line of his jaw. Kez wasn't imposing—he was lean, almost wiry, built for speed rather than strength. His raven-black hair, tousled and unkempt, fell into his face as the wind tugged at it, making him look even more ragged than he already was. There was something restless about him, like a shadow that refused to stay still, something hungry in the way his cold eyes scanned the horizon. He didn't look like a warrior, but there was an edge to him—a quiet sharpness, like a knife thin enough to slip between ribs before anyone noticed the danger.

For a brief moment, the two of them stood in silence, framed by the eerie beauty of the abandoned port. The ocean stretched endlessly before them, its surface shimmering like liquid mercury under the night sky. The massive crane loomed above them, rusted and forgotten, its long arm frozen mid-motion like a skeletal hand reaching toward the abyss.

It was beautiful. And yet, it felt… wrong.

The sea was too still. The silence too heavy. It was as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to shift, for something to rise from the depths.

Then Kez looked back at Allexis. Her fingers fumbled at the wound on her side, peeling away the torn fabric to inspect the damage. The gash was deep, a jagged tear where the Hollow Mother's attack had grazed her. It wasn't fatal, but if she didn't do something about it soon, she'd be in real trouble.

She reached into the small pouch at her belt, pulling out a half-empty vial of antiseptic and a roll of bandages. The liquid burned like fire as she poured it over the wound, her teeth grinding together as she stifled a groan. Kez watched in silence as Allexis fumbled with the bandages, her hands shaking just enough to make the process difficult. She was trying to be tough, trying to act like she didn't need anyone. He knew that act all too well. It was prime time to garner some of her trust and shove it later on her face when she decides to blame him for getting her in this mess.

Without a word, he crouched beside her, his fingers moving toward the bandages. She flinched slightly, glaring at him through the strands of her red hair, but she didn't pull away.

"I don't need your help," she muttered, her pride still intact despite the pain.

"Yeah, I can see that," Kez said dryly, watching as she tried—and failed—to tie the bandage tight enough. He sighed. "Just let me do it. Unless you wanna bleed out trying to prove a point."

Allexis's jaw clenched, but after a moment, she let out a frustrated breath and dropped her hands. "Fine. Just make it quick."

Kez didn't gloat; didn't smirk like she expected him to. Instead, his hands moved with a surprising gentleness as he secured the bandage, pulling it snug but not too tight. His fingers were cold against her skin, but his movements were steady, practiced. For someone who carried a poisoned knife, he had a strangely careful touch.

She watched him from the corner of her eye, studying the way his dark hair fell into his face as he worked, the quiet focus in his expression. Conflicting emotions rose within her.

She hated this. Hated that she had to rely on him, hated that he was helping her like this—without gloating, without mocking her weakness. What was she supposed to feel grateful? He was the reason she got hurt in the first place. He was still Stricoss's lackey. It was easier when he was just an insufferable bastard, always smirking, always scheming. But now? Now he was just... quiet. Focused. And it pissed her off even more because she couldn't shove him into the box, she'd put him in earlier today.

Her fingers curled slightly at her sides as she watched him, frustration bubbling beneath her skin. He was still Kez—still a liar, still someone she couldn't trust. But in this moment, with his dark hair falling into his face and his hands steady against her skin, she hated him just a little less. And that might've been the worst part of all.

"Done," he said after a minute, tying off the bandage. He leaned back, brushing his hands off on his coat before glancing up at her. "See? That wasn't so bad. Maybe I should've been a doctor instead."

Allexis scoffed. "Right. And I guess slapping a bandage on someone makes you a surgeon now?" Then she carefully looked at the wrapping and mumbled "I'll let you know when the infection sets in."

He smirked, standing up and offering her a hand. "You'd be lucky if that's the worst thing that happens to you tonight."

She hesitated, staring at his outstretched hand for a beat too long. Then, with a sigh, she took it, letting him pull her to her feet.

The moment passed quickly, swallowed up by the eerie silence of the port. The wind howled through the rusted metal structures, carrying the scent of salt and decay. The massive crane loomed overhead, its skeletal frame casting long, jagged shadows across the empty docks. And beyond it, the ocean stretched endlessly into the darkness, its surface rippling like black glass beneath the pale moonlight.

"This place feels... wrong," she murmured, her voice barely more than a whisper, like even speaking too loudly would disturb something lurking beneath the surface.

Kez didn't reply. He had the same feeling. The port was too quiet, too abandoned, but there was a lingering sense of presence, something watching them, waiting. His eyes scanned the horizon, the skeletal remains of the port stretching endlessly into the night, the gigantic cranes casting long, twisted shadows over the water. The emptiness was almost suffocating.

"We need to keep moving," he said finally, his voice low and controlled, though his senses were tingling with the unmistakable feeling that something was coming.

Allexis nodded stiffly, gripping her weapon tightly as she took a few cautious steps forward. The silence between them was thick, neither of them daring to speak too much, both of them feeling the weight of the unseen eyes that seemed to follow their every move.

The further they went, the more surreal the scene became. Huge shipping containers sat scattered across the pier, abandoned and rusted, their sharp edges glinting under the cold moonlight. Some were tipped over, others half-open as though hastily discarded. The eerie calm seemed to press down on them, heavy and suffocating, and Kez couldn't shake the feeling that the port had once been a place of activity—a place teeming with life and purpose. Now, it was a wasteland of metal and salt, where time had stopped, and no one was left to remember what had once been.

He shook off the creeping sensation, focusing on the task at hand. They had to get to the end of the pier. They had to make it out. But as he walked, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder, feeling like they were being followed. The air around them seemed to grow thicker, heavier, as if the port itself was breathing, waiting to inhale them into its depths.

The further they walked, the more alive the port seemed. It wasn't just abandoned—it was preserved. Something about it felt timeless, trapped in a state of limbo, as though it existed outside the flow of time itself. And yet, every part of it was a reminder of decay. Rusted steel, broken glass, warped wood—all reminders that this place, like everything else in the world, had fallen into ruin.

But for now, they had no choice but to keep moving. As Allexis stepped forward, her gaze darting over the darkened expanse, she whispered under her breath.

"Do you think it's gone? The Hollow Mother?"

Kez didn't answer immediately. His eyes lingered on the towering crane ahead, the jagged silhouette casting its long shadow over the water. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a chill running down his spine.

"I don't think it ever really leaves," he muttered, voice low and steady, as if speaking too loudly would make the whole place come alive.

The vast, dark ocean stretched out before them, an abyss that seemed to mirror the port's stillness. The cranes, the rusted steel, and the desolate piers were all silent, watching, waiting.

But even in this eerie stillness, Kez felt something shift in the air. There was no turning back now.

Kez squinted up at the towering crane to their left, its skeletal frame vanishing into the night sky. The thing was massive, stretching impossibly high, its rusted steel beams groaning softly in the wind. He could barely see its highest point through the thick mist rolling in from the ocean, but something—something—was there.

A figure.

Or at least, what looked like one.

At first, it was just a shape, a distortion against the blackness, too still to be the wind, too defined to be a trick of the light. But the longer Kez stared, the more certain he became that something was perched at the top of the crane, motionless, watching.

It was draped in tattered robes that swayed despite the still air around it. The fabric clung to its form in unnatural ways, shifting like liquid shadows, revealing glimpses of something beneath—something twisted, elongated, wrong. Kez's stomach tightened. He couldn't make out a face, but he felt the weight of its gaze pressing down on him, like cold fingers curling around his throat.

[ WARNING ??? DETECTED! ]

[ ???? encompasses your soul ]

Allexis must have noticed his sudden stillness because she followed his gaze, her breath catching the moment she saw it. "What the hell is that?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Kez didn't answer. The message flickered briefly before cutting out completely, leaving only static. Kez's pulse quickened, but he didn't move, his gaze fixed on the robed figure high above, clinging to the massive crane like a forgotten shadow. He wasn't sure if speaking would provoke it—if acknowledging its presence would make it realer. His body tensed, instincts screaming at him to move, but he couldn't. It wasn't just fear. It was something deeper, more primal, as if the thing at the top of the crane had wrapped invisible threads around him, anchoring him in place.

Then, it moved.

Not like a person. Not like anything human.

The figure tilted its head at an impossible angle, the motion too slow, too deliberate. The robes slithered as it shifted, parting just enough to reveal glimpses of jagged limbs, too many joints bending the wrong way. And then, without a sound, it took a step forward—off the edge of the crane.

Kez's breath caught in his throat.

For a moment, the figure hovered, suspended in the air, its robes twisting around it like hungry tendrils. And then it fell.

Not like something dropping from a great height, not like something bound by gravity. It descended wrong, like it was being pulled down, vanishing into the mist below in a way that made Kez's skin crawl. No sound. No impact. Just gone.

The silence that followed was worse than the sight of it.

Allexis exhaled sharply, gripping her weapon tighter. "Tell me you saw that," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kez swallowed, forcing himself to move, to breathe. "Yeah," he muttered. "I saw it."

And he had a sickening feeling that whatever it was—whatever had just watched them from above—hadn't truly left. It was still here. Somewhere in the mist. And it was waiting.