Chapter 31: The Song of the Uncursed

The world outside the Hollow was colder.

Not in temperature—but in truth.

As Selene and Alina emerged from the veil, the sky above the realm cracked with color, as if the magic tethered to the Hollow had been holding the heavens in place.

Villagers gathered below, silent.

They had seen the sky break.

They had felt the tremor in the magic.

And now they looked upon two girls—no, two queens—walking back as if returning from death.

"Where is Narael?" someone asked.

Alina answered first. "Gone. Where she belongs."

"But the Hollow?"

Selene met their gaze. "Uncursed."

Gasps rose. Some wept. Some ran.

Because peace, like war, has its own terror.

Selene stepped forward, and the ground did not hiss.

No vines. No voices. No veils.

She turned to Alina, who wore nothing but scorched sleeves and a survivor's resolve.

"I don't know how to be free," Selene whispered.

Alina smiled. "Then we'll learn it together."

From the edge of the mountains, the mages watched.

From the base of the broken temple, the Hollow-born emerged.

And in the west, the sea rose.

Because the curse was undone—but the balance had shifted.

And somewhere, something new had awakened.

Far from them, in a place where no name remained, a child opened her eyes and sang.

A song none had heard since the first curse.

But this time, it was not a lament.

It was a summoning.