QUICK RECAP-
The awakened Vispen attacks Bexam in a brutal, titanic clash—each strike laced with ancient hatred.
As the two monsters battle, Arthur seizes their distraction to escape.
Ruby crafts a hovering Light disc, Adam propels it with Hydro-Volt bursts, and Arthur shields them with a makeshift bone barrier.
They race through collapsing tunnels, pursued by Bexam's furious screams and Vispen's retaliatory strikes.
The Hollow's terrain shifts, fearing their flight.
At a dead end, Arthur smashes through a shimmering wall—revealing light and Ether-rich air.
The trio stumbles into freedom, gasping as wind touches their skin.
Behind them, the titans' war rages on.
-RECAP ENDS
The wall broke.
Not shattered.
Split.
Cracks danced outward in silence before pressure unspooled them completely—Arthur's bone shield pierced the final fold like an idea refusing to remain trapped. The stone didn't explode—it receded. A quiet surrender.
And through it?
Light.
Not the fury of the sun.
Not the comfort of dawn.
The silver hush of moonlight bled into the Hollow.
It passed over fractured stone.
Over mist that once refused illumination.
It touched the trio's cheeks like a relic remembering its purpose.
Ruby gasped—her glyph, flickering near exhaustion, now flared in cool blue arcs as it responded to untainted Ether exposure.
Adam stumbled forward, casting a final Hydro pulse beneath the disc to keep it stable.
Arthur lowered his shield, jaw clenched, lips parted.
He didn't smile.
He exhaled.
The disc spiraled slowly past the broken wall, emerging from the cave's final mouth.
Beneath them, grass.
Actual grass.
And cliffs—uneven, jagged, pulsing upward into narrow ridges crowned with mist.
They were on a mountainside—not just outside the Hollow, but perched against the elevated spine of Dentrius' outer border. Below: flickers of distant torchlight. Guard towers. Domed rooftops.
Arthur staggered from the disc, one foot striking the ground before his knees buckled.
Ruby caught him weakly, both collapsing to the earth. Adam hovered mid-air for a second longer before his glyph released—dropping him unceremoniously beside them.
They didn't speak.
Not yet.
They just breathed.
Long, heavy, choking exhales.
Not out of panic.
But memory.
The moon was high.
Silent.
Silver.
Its light crossed Arthur's sword where it lay beside him, catching the blood-stained hilt and reflecting it across Ruby's wrist like a promise kept in pieces.
Adam rolled onto his back, palms up.
He blinked twice.
Then whispered:
"We made it…"
Arthur's chest rose slowly.
Then again.
Then stilled.
Ruby lay beside him, her glyph curled tight, humming faint light across her shoulder blades.
Arthur coughed once.
Then finally said—
"This is Dentrius."
Adam turned his head.
"Capital?"
Arthur nodded.
"Edge cliffs. Northern entry point."
Ruby squinted ahead.
"Then the moonlight…"
Arthur finished for her:
"Means Dentrius watches us."
The disc faded—Ruby's glyph releasing control as exhaustion surged through her spine. The Light shield crumbled quietly, like sand folding into shadow. Hydro filaments evaporated mid-air.
Silence.
Not Hollow silence.
Earned silence.
They didn't cry.
Didn't cheer.
Didn't whisper dreams or speak of legends.
They rested—body against mountain, face to moonlight, surrounded by stone that didn't breathe threats.
Ten seconds passed.
Then twenty.
Then—
A sound.
Distant.
Sharp.
Rhythmic.
Arthur's eyes snapped open.
Ruby sat up.
Adam groaned.
Then—
Boots.
Multiple.
Approaching fast.
From the path below, five figures surged upward—shields strapped, torches raised, swords angled with discipline. Armour gleamed silver under moonlight, marked with the emblem of Nautilus: a spiraled wing across a star.
Their pace wasn't curious.
It was tactical.
Arthur tried to stand.
His legs buckled.
Ruby summoned a Light strand—just enough to curl defensively around her chest.
Adam reached for his glyph.
Too late.
The guards reached them in seconds.
Three split left.
Two right.
One raised a signal torch—a flare shot upward in silent flame, casting orange glow against the mountain face.
Then—
Circle formation.
Weapons drawn.
Arthur raised both hands.
Palms open.
No sword.
No threat.
Just breath.
One of the guards—taller, helm slightly dented—stepped forward.
His voice was calm.
Measured.
"No sudden movements."
Arthur nodded once.
Ruby knelt beside him.
Adam sat cross-legged, eyes still adjusting.
The guard lowered his weapon half an inch.
"You're not Hollow-born."
Arthur shook his head.
"No."
"We came from inside."
The guard's eyes narrowed.
"In the Hollow?"
Arthur nodded again.
"From the basin."
The man blinked.
"You breached from within?"
Adam added, voice quiet:
"We escaped."
The guards didn't relax.
But they didn't close in.
One glanced down at the broken wall behind them—its edges still glowing faintly, pressure still evident from the blast.
Another crouched beside Adam's Hydro glyph, inspecting its fading shimmer.
The lead guard pointed to Arthur.
"Identify."
Arthur didn't flinch.
"Arthur Rubenblood."
"Detained at Hollow three days prior."
"Survived. Escaped. Completed partial mission objective."
Ruby said nothing.
Her eyes scanned the guards—not with suspicion, but calculation.
Adam rested one palm against his glyph to conserve remaining Ether.
The lead guard turned to one beside him.
"Scan perimeter. Check ripple records."
The guard nodded, retreating toward the cliff's edge.
Another pulled a small device—a flat disc engraved with Nautilus sequences—and held it toward Arthur's chest.
It blinked.
Then stabilized.
No alarms.
No corruption.
The tension thinned slightly.
Not resolved.
Not comforted.
Just thinned.
Arthur spoke again.
"We need medical."
Ruby whispered.
"Hydration."
Adam raised one hand weakly.
"I could eat three cows."
The lead guard didn't laugh.
But his lip twitched.
He signaled the others.
One by one, the guards stepped back—not fully.
Just enough to open space.
Arthur didn't move.
Not yet.
He turned toward the moonlight again—its angle slightly shifted.
Then toward Ruby.
Then Adam.
Then the path ahead.
Where Dentrius waited.
Stone arches.
Silver towers.
Whispers of Ether pulsing from defensive spires.
The first mission?
Escaped.
Survived.
Arrived.
Confirmed.
But the war wasn't done.
And Dentrius?
It had questions.
Inside Safepoint Six, the Ether warmth barely reached their bones. Arthur sat unmoving against the brazier wall. Ruby adjusted the threads binding her arm. Adam sucked down the last of the water flask like it might rewrite his exhaustion.
Captain Nolan Rhyne watched quietly.
Stage Eight Fire Ether Engine. Commander of the Thirteenth Dentrius Ridge Division.
He didn't speak right away.
Just surveyed the trio like they were misfiled in reality.
"You breached the Hollow basin?"
Arthur nodded.
"Through Vispen's pond."
One of the guards scoffed. "That serpent? Vispen? I read about it in first-year archives. Sleeps half the time, moves like melted rope. Maybe fifty feet?"
Another chuckled. "A passive swamp snake. Our scouts used to feed it moss cakes."
Adam exhaled.
"Try four hundred and fifty feet."
That shut the room up.
Nolan tilted his head.
"Four-fifty?"
Arthur nodded.
"Segmented spine. Gills fused to claws. Double tail curvature. It cast Ether from its body."
A third guard frowned. "How would something like that live in a swamp?"
Ruby sat upright.
"The Hollow isn't what your maps say."
Adam whispered, "There are gateways. We think at least three."
Arthur confirmed:
"One held Vispen. One was Bexam's test field. The third became their battlefield."
Nolan's jaw tightened.
"You're saying the Hollow restructured?"
Arthur nodded.
"It studied us. Then repurposed terrain."
One soldier muttered, "Why don't we have this logged?"
Arthur looked at him flatly.
"Because you seal things and forget what you fed them."
The room fell silent.
Nolan's flame glyph pulsed.
"What's Bexam?"
Arthur didn't answer immediately.
Then—quietly:
"A stitched aberration. Not classifiable. Trial-born."
Ruby murmured, "He's rage with memory."
Adam said, "We watched him fight Vispen. And we ran."
Nolan straightened.
"You need to speak with the king."
Arthur stood.
Ruby followed.
Adam limped once, then joined them.
Nolan gestured.
"Escort to the palace. Now."
The path to Dentrius unraveled beneath moonlight.
Spire shadows crawled across rooftops. Glyph lanterns flickered. The air thinned as Arthur counted towers, stairwells, patrol cycles. Ruby adjusted her Light flux. Adam recalibrated his gait.
Nolan led them without comment.
Arthur watched every angle.
This wasn't arrival.
It was positioning.
The gates opened at 2:14 AM.
The palace cast no welcoming glow.
Only inquiry.
Arthur smiled inwardly.
Time for phase two.
Deep below, rage clawed through stone.
Vispen shrieked mid-motion—its body now mutated, tail split thrice, scales emitting pulses of violet Ether. The serpent no longer flowed. It carved. Air bent around it.
Across the chamber—
Bexam roared.
His stitched form now colossal—limbs armored, back lined with rotating glyph gears. Flame seeped through his rib seams. His eyes glowed red—not flare.
Warning.
They collided mid-air.
Vispen struck Bexam's chest—gills blasting twin Ether bolts. Bexam twisted, slammed his knee into Vispen's spine. Stone cracked. Bone walls folded.
They landed.
Vispen slashed.
Bexam dodged—cast triple flame rings. They hit.
Vispen hissed, recoiling.
Then charged.
Bexam absorbed the impact.
Rotated.
Cast Stage Eight spiral directly into Vispen's throat.
It screamed.
Crater formed.
Water boiled.
Two pillars collapsed.
The Hollow heaved.
Vispen staggered.
Bexam surged forward—grabbed both tail limbs, spun the serpent in a cast torque, slammed it into the ground.
Ether detonated.
Bones snapped.
Vispen shrieked once more.
Then—
Stilled.
Bexam stood over it.
Bleeding.
Breathing.
He knelt.
Pressed fingers to its skull.
"You weren't meant to last."
He stood again.
Turned.
Walked through the fractured corridor.
His size shrank.
His glyphs dimmed.
But purpose?
Didn't.
He exited the final chamber.
Moonlight kissed his stitched shoulder.
He saw Dentrius.
Arthur.
Ruby.
Adam.
And—
James.
He whispered:
"I…"
Step.
"…bExAm…"
Step.
"…ThE dEaTh…"
One final pause.
Then—
"wIlL cOmE fOr YoU… jAmEs."
And he disappeared into the moonlight like he never existed.
**"When Swamp Forgets,
Monsters Remember"**
END OF CHAPTER-13
-To Be Continued-