The Hollow did not speak.
Not in words.
It spoke in feelings—in memories that did not belong to her, yet tasted like her own.
In whispers that curled around her soul like vines, asking her to look, to see, to remember.
Eira stood in the clearing with her brother. The sky above them was dark and endless, no stars—only long, bleeding scars of red.
"I don't belong here," she whispered.
Her twin stepped closer. "But it knows you. You feel it, don't you? This place... it recognizes you."
"I won't become what it wants."
He touched her cheek. "But what if it only wants you to become what you already are?"
---
A History Buried in Fire
The Hollow showed her everything.
Her birth—not in a castle, but beneath a crimson moon, in a stone temple now drowned by time. Her mother screaming not in fear, but in incantation.
Two babes born of fire.
One marked by light.
One cloaked in shadow.
The Council had decided, in their great terror, that only one could live.
But her mother had lied. Split the prophecy. Hid her son in a realm between breath and silence. Gave Eira the name meant for both.
Yreyth'ael.
Not her title.
Her true name.
The Hollow hissed it through her blood, over and over.
Yreyth'ael. Flame-born. Gate-keeper. Queen of the Last Dawn.
---
Back in the Mortal World
Kael was burning.
Not with fire—but with need.
He paced the cliffs above the sea tower, his sword half-drawn, his veins aching with the magic Eira had kissed into him.
Naima approached slowly. "You'll die if you follow her."
"I'll die if I don't."
"You can't survive the Hollow's gate."
Kael stopped. "Then I'll tear it down."
She narrowed her eyes. "You'd break the world for her?"
"No." He looked toward the west. "But I'd break myself."
Naima touched his chest. "Then take this. It's the last spell I'll ever craft for a fool in love."
He blinked.
A shard of light sank into his ribs, just over his heart.
Then the wind screamed—and Kael was gone.
---
The Hollow's Temptation
Eira stood before a black mirror.
Her twin beside her. His reflection rippled.
"Look into it," he said. "See what you could become."
She looked.
And saw herself… crowned in fire. Not gold.
Her eyes were molten. Her skin glowed. Behind her, armies burned cities to ash. Before her knelt kingdoms, bleeding.
She tore her gaze away.
"I don't want to rule through fear."
"But you already do," her brother whispered. "Every time you touch flame, the world fears you. This isn't evil, Eira. It's honesty."
She clenched her fists.
"No. That's your truth. Not mine."
He smiled sadly. "Then we are no longer twins."
---
A Shatter in the Dark
Suddenly—a scream tore through the Hollow.
Not from a mouth.
From the realm itself.
Eira's breath hitched.
Kael burst through the black wall of the forest, eyes wild, sword alight with Naima's spell. His armor flickered with runes he did not understand.
He saw her. She saw him.
And her brother saw both.
"So," he said softly, "you chose."
Eira ran.
Straight into Kael's arms.
He caught her like she was the only thing left in the universe, burying his face in her hair, hands fisting her cloak.
"I found you," he breathed.
She pulled back, tears streaking ash.
"And now you have to help me stop him."