Chapter 3: Greythorn Hollow

The skies above the Scottish highlands hung low with clouds as the obsidian Concord transport touched down in a clearing overgrown with thistle and creeping vines. The air was sharp, ancient with the kind of silence that didn't come from solitude, but from memory.

Kaela Veyne was the first to step off the vessel.

Her boots crunched against the frostbitten earth. She adjusted her coat, the wind tugging at the crimson lining. Ahead lay the ruins of Greythorn Hollow, or what remained of it. A fractured stone arch jutted from the earth like a broken rib. The ground was saturated with lingering enchantments, long faded but still stubborn, like scars that refused to fade.

Torren landed beside her with a sigh. "Well, it's definitely haunted. I can taste regret in the air."

Seris wrinkled her nose, already conjuring a protective shimmer over her skin. "Regret and mildew."

Ilara moved silently, eyes narrowed as her fingertips brushed the stone. Her spectral resonance spell revealed flickers of movement echoes of the past, trapped in time.

Kaela turned to her squad. "Keep your wards up. Don't touch anything unless I say so. This place was part of the battlefield during the fall of the First Concord. That means death, magic, and more death."

Verran scanned the area with glowing eyes. "There's layered illusion and memory traps. The area was locked deliberately. Someone didn't want anyone snooping around."

Kaela nodded. "Let's disappoint them."

-----

The group advanced into the ruins. Thorn-covered brambles parted unnaturally as they passed, disturbed by their presence. Strange glyphs shimmered against the rock wards older than the current magical dialect. Kaela recognized them from one of the First Concord's sigil schools specifically Lifebinder's design. Healing magic, but also barriers woven from memory and emotion.

"She's not just hiding," Kaela murmured. "She's sealing something."

"Or someone," Verran added.

They descended a cracked stairwell into what remained of a sanctum, half-buried beneath time and soil. Here, the power pulsed more clearly. Ilara placed her hand against the wall, and her banshee magic activated, revealing a spectral vision.

A war raged before them.

Shadowed figures, massive and clawed, surged against an outnumbered line of Concord soldiers. In the center stood a woman cloaked in green-white light, hair braided with vines, her arms glowing with radiant glyphs. She pressed her hands to the ground, then a great seal erupted, swallowing the battlefield in blinding gold.

And then.... darkness. Silence.

The vision faded.

Seris exhaled shakily. "That was Aelira."

"No doubt," Kaela said. "But what was she sealing?"

Ilara pointed forward, toward a stone dais. On it rested a petrified tree stump with a hollow core. At the center: a stone vial, held in place by braided iron roots.

"Careful," Kaela said, stepping forward. Her magic hovered in her palm a soft violet glow. The vial pulsed faintly.

Verran's eyes narrowed. "It's not a container. It's a beacon."

"A beacon for what?" Torren asked.

The answer came in the form of a growl.

From the shadows beyond the chamber, a massive figure emerged stone-like skin, rooted in plant-like armor. Its head bore the skeletal remains of an elk, antlers spread wide. Its eyes glowed green.

"Back!" Kaela shouted, throwing up a shield just as the creature lunged.

The force cracked the floor beneath them.

Ilara screamed—not in fear, but as a weapon. Her wail disoriented the creature, causing it to stumble. Torren darted in, slashing with a silver dagger along its side, sparks flying.

"Guardian construct," Mirex shouted, pulling an enchanted chain from his belt. "Lifebinder tech! Very old-school!"

Kaela flung a curse-seal at its chest. The spell flared but only slowed the guardian momentarily.

"It's protecting the beacon," Verran said. "That means we're close."

Kaela nodded. "Ilara, keep it distracted. Seris, focus on weakening its emotional link. Mirex, you're with me we're taking the beacon."

The team split into motion, trained and focused.

As the others fought, Kaela and Mirex approached the dais. Runes tried to repel them forcing back their steps but Kaela twisted her fingers into a spell-knot, unraveling the bindings like thread.

"One wrong move, this thing could explode, you know," Mirex muttered, sweat forming at his temples.

Kaela smirked. "Then make no wrong moves."

She reached forward and pulled the beacon free.

Instantly, the guardian froze.

A voice filled the chamber, ethereal and exhausted.

"If you are hearing this… then the seal is crumbling."

It was Aelira. A recorded echo.

"This guardian will not harm those who seek restoration. But beware… not all roads lead to salvation. The Hollowborn stirs. I cannot stop what is coming. Only guide those willing to pay the price."

The beacon pulsed in Kaela's hand.

"Find me. I am not whole. My soul was fractured to fuel the seal. I live… in pieces."

The light faded.

The team stood in stunned silence.

Seris spoke first. "...She broke her soul to seal the Hollowborn?"

"No wonder she vanished," Torren said quietly. "She's not hiding. She's lost."

Kaela stared at the beacon. "And we have to put her back together."

-----

Back at the transport, the beacon was locked in a containment ward. Kaela stared at it as the skies above roiled.

"We're not just chasing a ghost," she said to Lucien over the comm-crystal. "We're chasing a shattered god."

Lucien's voice was grim. "Then you'd better start picking up the pieces."

Kaela turned to her team.

"This was just the first step. There are more fragments out there. And each one is protected, hidden, maybe even cursed. But we must find them. All of them."

Torren grinned. "You say that like we have a choice."

Kaela smiled, faint and dangerous. "We don't. Not if we want to survive."

The beacon glowed in her hands. Somewhere far away, a fragment of Aelira stirred.

And deep in the earth, something ancient… listened.