The Hollowed Ring

The trees ended without warning.

One moment, Shoto and Elizabeth were walking through thick brush, ducking beneath tangled branches — the next, they stepped into a wide, silent clearing that felt like a wound in the earth.

The Hollowed Ring.

It wasn't just a landmark. It was a monument to something ancient… and angry.

Massive stones, each carved with worn runes, stood tilted in a perfect circle. The earth between them dipped downward into a shallow basin, overgrown with black vines and glowing moss. At the center of the ring was a low pedestal — cracked but still pulsing faintly with energy.

Elizabeth stepped forward cautiously. "This is it. The place on the map."

Shoto's hand hovered near the key in his pack. "It doesn't feel right."

"It's not supposed to."

They walked slowly to the center, each footstep echoing louder than it should have. No birds. No wind. Even the sky above them seemed to dim the closer they got.

When they reached the pedestal, Shoto pulled out the stone key.

The moment it left his bag, the runes on the stones flared to life — red, then white, then a deep violet that made Elizabeth flinch.

She looked to him. "Are we ready for this?"

"No," Shoto said honestly. "But we don't have a choice."

He slid the key into the pedestal.

It locked in place with a loud click — and for one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the ground trembled.

A deep pulse rippled out from the pedestal, knocking dust from the stones around them. The glowing runes lit up in sequence, forming a spiral pattern that raced across the ring.

The moss shriveled.

The vines recoiled.

And the earth began to split.

"Shoto!" Elizabeth grabbed his arm, steadying herself as the clearing trembled harder. "Something's opening—"

The pedestal cracked open down the middle, and a slow, hissing mist began to rise from beneath it.

From deep below the surface, a groan echoed up — low, guttural, ancient.

Not just a machine.

A voice.

A presence.

"It has begun."

The sky above the Hollowed Ring darkened completely, like someone had poured ink across the clouds. Shoto felt his power flare — wild, unstable — as if it was reacting to something else.

Elizabeth's grip tightened. "We need to move. Now."

But the key wouldn't come out.

It pulsed.

And beneath their feet… something shifted.

Massive stone gears rotated far below the surface.

A heartbeat.

A gate.

A prison.

And it was opening.