The air was electric with a charged silence as Chizzy stood atop the ridge overlooking the village. Below, the rooftops lay cloaked in morning mist, but in her veins, a storm raged louder than any thunder.
For weeks, the Hollow had been quiet—too quiet.
She tightened her grip on the Blade of Oath, the weight in her hands heavy but familiar, humming faintly with power. Beside her, Kiran scanned the horizon, his jaw clenched and eyes sharp.
"Something's coming," he said grimly, voice barely a whisper.
Chizzy didn't need him to say it. She could feel it — a ripple beneath the calm, a dark pulse echoing from deep within the earth, beneath the village's roots.
"Last night," she said, "I heard whispers again. Not from the Hollow… something else. Something new."
Kiran nodded. "I saw tracks near the old forest. Larger than any creature we know. Something ancient."
Before she could answer, the ground beneath them trembled violently, a deep rumble rolling through the ridge. Birds erupted from the trees in a frantic, discordant chorus.
"Get down!" Chizzy shouted.
They scrambled to cover behind a cluster of boulders as the earth cracked open along the ridge's edge. From the fissure, black smoke curled upward, thick and choking. Shapes emerged — twisted, malformed, their eyes burning violet like the Hollow's seal but corrupted, wild.
Demons. Not like the shadow creature they had faced before — these were free. Unbound.
Chizzy's heart pounded, breath ragged, as she raised the blade. It flared to life, casting sharp silver light that cut through the smoke like a beacon.
The creatures snarled, advancing with unnatural speed. Kiran drew his dagger, stepping to her side.
"We fight," he said fiercely.
"Together," she agreed.
The clash was brutal and swift. The demons moved like shadows made flesh — flickering, vanishing, only to reappear with cruel intent. But Chizzy's blade sang with power, each strike burning their forms with searing light.
Still, they came in waves, relentless and growing.
A screech pierced the chaos — shrill and agonizing. Chizzy turned to see a young girl standing at the fissure's edge, eyes wide with terror.
"Run!" Kiran yelled, but she didn't move.
Chizzy felt a strange pull toward the girl, an echo of her own past—innocence caught in the storm.
"No!" she shouted and dashed through the fray.
As she reached the girl, a shadow beast lunged, claws extended. Chizzy threw herself in front of the child, the blade flashing, severing the beast midair. The girl stumbled but caught herself.
"Who are you?" Chizzy asked urgently.
"Talia," the girl whispered. "I'm… from the village. But I wasn't supposed to be here."
"What do you mean?" Chizzy pressed.
Talia's lips trembled. "I was taken. By them. The shadows. They wanted me to open the Hollow."
Chizzy's blood chilled. "Why?"
"They said if the Hollow opens fully, the darkness will rise and drown the world."
Kiran lowered his dagger. "We've been fighting a war in the dark, and the front line just moved closer."
The girl's eyes shone with something fierce despite her fear.
"Then we fight," Chizzy said, voice steady. "No matter what comes."
The demons regrouped, a thunderous roar rolling out of the fissure as more poured forth, their numbers swelling like a tidal wave.
Chizzy raised her blade high, its silver light exploding into a radiant shield around them.
"We stand here," she declared. "And we do not fall."
The battle for the village — for the world — was far from over.
But tonight, the light still fought back the shadows.
And so did she.