Chapter 14: A Door That Should Not Open

Some doors are meant to remain closed. Some were never meant to exist at all.

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The Gate of the Hollow

The gate stood before them, its surface rippling like oil on water. The black stone pulsed in slow, steady waves, a heartbeat in the silence of the ruined city.

Kael's breathing was uneven. The whisper of the Hollow still curled at the edge of his thoughts, but he forced himself to focus.

"This is it," Lysara had said.

"The first gate."

Kieran hadn't lowered his sword. "What the hell does that mean?"

Lysara's fingers hovered near the shifting stone, close but not touching. "I've read about this. The Astral Council had records, but they were... fragmented. Like something was trying to erase them. But the truth is—" She exhaled. "The Hollow didn't come from nowhere. It had to enter this world somehow."

Vaeloria's expression was unreadable. "You're saying this is where it began?"

Lysara nodded. "One of them, at least."

Kael's stomach twisted. "And it's still open."

"Not fully," Lysara murmured. "But if we can seal it—"

A sound rippled through the air.

Not from the gate.

From behind them.

Kael turned.

The Hollowborn were watching.

Not attacking. Not moving.

Just waiting.

Because something else was coming.

The Hollow Monarch's Shadow

The air grew heavy.

The space around them shuddered, as if something unseen had just arrived.

The first figure stepped forward.

Not Hollowborn.

Not a shadow.

Something else.

It had a form—shifting and fractured, like a reflection seen through broken glass. Pieces of faces flickered across its skin.

Kael took an instinctive step back.

Because one of those faces—

It had been his.

The thing tilted its head, its shape flickering.

"You have wandered too far."

The voice was not a voice.

It wasn't spoken aloud.

It was inside them.

Vaeloria raised her sword, but her grip was tight, too tight. She wasn't unaffected.

None of them were.

"You cannot close the door."

The figure shifted, breaking apart into smoke, reforming in an instant. Closer.

"You cannot change what is already set in motion."

Kael's pulse hammered. The whispers in his mind were growing sharper, threading through his thoughts like hooks digging into his skull.

He had felt this before.

Back when he had first seen the Hollow's corruption. Back when he had first doubted.

The figure's voice curled around the edges of his thoughts, almost gentle.

"You know the truth, Kael."

His chest tightened.

"You have always known."

The whispers were getting louder.

But then—

A flash of blue light.

Lysara's magic slammed into the figure, forcing it back.

Kael staggered, the pressure in his skull lifting just enough for him to breathe.

Lysara's voice was tight with urgency. "We don't have time for this." She turned toward the gate. "I can try to seal it, but I need time."

Kieran stepped beside her, sword raised. "Then we'll buy you time."

The figures were moving now.

Not slow.

Not hesitating.

The Hollow had waited long enough.

The Battle Before the Gate

The first creature lunged.

Vaeloria met it head-on, her sword cleaving through its flickering form. The thing shattered into mist but reformed in an instant.

Kieran was already moving. His blade cut through another, but it barely slowed.

Kael dodged a strike meant to tear through his ribs, retaliating with a slash that should have done damage. Instead, his sword passed through the creature like cutting through air.

The Hollowborn didn't die.

They didn't bleed.

They simply continued.

Lysara was chanting now, her magic pulsing in waves of blue and silver. The gate shuddered at her words, but the darkness surrounding it fought back.

Kael could feel it.

The Hollow didn't want to be closed.

It was pushing against her magic, resisting, unraveling her spells as fast as she could weave them.

Vaeloria let out a frustrated snarl. "Lysara!"

"I'm trying!" she shot back.

Kieran moved beside Kael, gritting his teeth. "We can't hold them forever."

The Hollow Monarch's voice returned.

"Then do not hold. Surrender."

A figure broke through the defenses, reaching Lysara.

Kael moved without thinking.

His blade slammed into the creature—and this time, he felt resistance.

For the first time—

One of them bled.

Black ichor spilled from the wound, but the creature didn't fall.

It turned its head.

And it smiled.

Kael's blood ran cold.

"You are already changing."

Then—

The gate exploded with light.

The Gate Breaks

Lysara screamed.

The magic lashed outward, sending the Hollowborn reeling.

The gate shuddered—cracks splintering across its surface.

Kael's breath caught.

Something on the other side was stirring.

The Hollow Monarch's voice twisted, not whispering anymore—

Roaring.

"You have made a mistake."

Lysara pushed her magic further, the light shattering through the darkness.

The gate collapsed.

The moment it did—

The Hollow reeled back.

The figures froze.

And then—

They began to fade.

One by one, the creatures dissolved, their forms unraveling into mist.

The city grew silent again.

Kael's heart hammered. He turned to Lysara, breathless.

"...Did it work?"

Lysara swayed on her feet, exhausted. "I don't— I don't know."

Vaeloria was still gripping her sword. "Then we need to find out."

Because even as the Hollow receded—

Kael could still hear the Monarch's voice.

Soft.

Lurking.

Waiting.

"You cannot undo what has already begun."

And in the distant ruins—

A second gate pulsed to life.