Chapter 14: A Warning from the Future

Caius sat frozen on his cot, the weight of the vision still pressing against his chest. His breath was ragged, his hands trembling.

"That wasn't normal."

He had seen glimpses of the future before—flashes, fragmented moments of seconds ahead—but this?

This was different.

This wasn't just a possible future. It felt inevitable. A fixed point in time, impossible to escape.

The burning kingdom.

The fallen bodies.

The shadowed figure who had seen him.

Caius clenched his fists. That was the worst part. It had seen him.

Had it always been able to? Or had he somehow gone too far, pushed too deep?

A knock on his door nearly made him jump.

"Caius?"

Elias.

Caius exhaled, forcing his voice to stay steady. "Yeah."

The door creaked open, and Elias stepped inside. His sharp eyes flicked over Caius, noting his sweat-drenched clothes, the way he clutched his sheets like a lifeline.

"You had a vision."

It wasn't a question.

Caius hesitated, then nodded.

Elias sighed, closing the door behind him. "How bad?"

Caius swallowed hard. "Bad."

Elias didn't press him for details—not yet. Instead, he sat on the edge of the cot, studying him. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"

Caius ran a hand through his hair, trying to steady himself. "This one was different." He hesitated. "It felt… real."

Elias frowned. "Real how?"

Caius exhaled slowly. "Like it's going to happen. Not a possibility. Not a warning. A fixed point." He hesitated before adding, "And something was there. It saw me."

Elias's expression didn't change, but something in his posture stiffened. "Describe it."

Caius did. The black armor. The warping presence. The voice that had rumbled like the cracking of the earth itself.

Elias didn't speak for a long time. When he did, his voice was grim.

"The Hollow King."

A chill crawled up Caius's spine. "You've seen him before?"

Elias shook his head. "No one has. Not directly. The Hollow Legion follows a leader, but he's always been more myth than man." His expression darkened. "Until now."

Caius's pulse pounded. "If he's real, then that means…"

Elias finished the thought for him. "Your vision wasn't just a warning." His gaze locked onto Caius's. "It was a glimpse of the war to come."

The war Caius was supposed to stop.

But how?

His grip tightened around his sheets. He could barely control his powers. He could barely fight without them. And yet, the future was set.

Evernight would fall.

Selene. Garran. Elias.

All of them would die.

Unless he did something.

Caius forced himself to take a breath. "We need to move faster."

Elias arched an eyebrow. "Faster?"

Caius nodded. "Training. Plans. Everything. We don't have time to wait."

Elias studied him for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"I hope you're ready for what that means."

Caius wasn't. But he couldn't afford to hesitate.

Because if his vision was right…

Time was running out.

The next morning, the underground hideout buzzed with tension. Elias had called a meeting, and every major figure in the rebellion was gathered. Garran, Selene, the scouts, the tacticians—everyone who had a say in what happened next.

Caius stood near the center, arms crossed, as Elias addressed the room.

"The Hollow Legion is preparing to move on Evernight. Their forces are growing, and if we wait too long, we'll be overrun."

A murmur spread through the room.

One of the tacticians, a woman named Lyra, frowned. "We don't have the numbers for a direct war."

Elias nodded. "Which is why we need to strike first."

Silence.

Selene arched an eyebrow. "You're suggesting an offensive?"

Caius spoke before Elias could. "We don't have a choice." He scanned the faces in the room. "If we wait, they will destroy us. I've seen it."

A ripple of unease passed through the rebels. Not all of them trusted his visions. Some thought his powers were dangerous.

But it didn't matter what they believed.

It was the truth.

Garran sighed, rubbing his temples. "You're saying we go to war."

Elias nodded. "Yes."

The room was silent. Then, slowly, Selene grinned. "Finally."

Caius exhaled. It had begun.

The battle for Evernight was coming.

And this time, he would be ready.