The city burned.
Not in the way fire usually consumed buildings. The flames here carried no warmth, no smoke, no smell of ash. They were black and red at once, rippling like water, climbing walls and rooftops only to sink into the stone again, leaving everything twisted but never destroyed.
Sid stood in the middle of the street, watching the fire climb into the sky. The stars above were gone, swallowed by a storm of embers that floated like dying snow. And the strangest part was… he could hear them. Each ember that touched the ground whispered faint voices, like echoes of people long gone.
"…why did you leave us…"
"…the seal is broken…"
"…the Eighth Flame must rise…"
Sid staggered backward, clutching his chest.
"This isn't real," he whispered to himself. "It's another dream. Just another dream…"
But the heat in his palm said otherwise. When he looked down, his hand was already glowing faintly, a black flame curling out of his skin. He tried to shake it off, tried to smother it against his cloak, but the fire refused to fade. It clung to him like it belonged there.
The city before him cracked apart. A massive chasm split the street open, glowing red from beneath, as if the world itself was bleeding fire. From the depths, shapes began to crawl upward — shadows without form, faces without eyes, Hollows.
Dozens of them.
"Stay back," Sid said, though his voice shook. The black flame on his hand flared higher, as if answering his fear.
The Hollows twisted and laughed, the sound like broken glass grinding together. They did not rush him, not yet. They circled, as though waiting.
Then, from among them, a taller figure stepped out. Unlike the others, this one had a face. A man's face — but stretched, pale, and burned hollow at the eyes. A crown of broken chains hung from his shoulders. His voice was like iron dragged across stone.
"Vessel."
Sid's knees nearly gave way. His chest tightened as if someone had reached into him and gripped his lungs.
"You are not supposed to be here," Sid managed. "This isn't my world."
The crowned Hollow tilted its head. "Your world? No. You stand in the Hollow reflection. Here, fire does not end things. It begins them."
Sid raised his hand, and the flame surged in answer. "Stay away from me."
The figure took another step forward. Its form blurred, flickering between human and monster, voice shifting with it. "You carry the Blackbind Flame. You are the one who will tear the seal apart. And when it breaks…"
The Hollows shrieked as if finishing his sentence. Their cries merged into one single sound that split the air like thunder.
Sid covered his ears, the fire spreading across his arm. His heart pounded. "No… I won't let it… I'm not…"
His voice faltered. The world tilted.
And then he woke.
---
Sid sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air. Sweat soaked his shirt. For a moment, he could still hear the Hollow screams echoing in his skull.
He glanced at his hand — and froze.
Black flame flickered there, faint but real. It burned gently, like an ember refusing to die.
"…no way." His throat felt dry. "It… followed me?"
He stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping over his boots on the floor. The flame didn't vanish. It moved with him, licking at his skin without burning it. He clenched his fist, trying to smother it, but that only made the fire crawl up to his wrist.
A low voice cut through the silence.
"You've seen it, haven't you?"
Sid whipped around. Professor Nox stood in the corner of the room, his cane in one hand, his expression unreadable.
"Professor—?!" Sid's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. "How… when did you—?!"
Nox's sharp eyes flicked toward Sid's burning hand. "That flame… it is no dream. The Hollow world is pressing against ours. Your seal is weakening."
"My… seal?" Sid asked, his voice trembling.
"The Blackbind Flame isn't simply yours to wield," Nox said, stepping closer. His cane tapped the floor with each step, measured and calm. "It is tethered to Ravh'Zereth. When you dream of embers, when you wake with fire still in your grasp, it means the boundaries between vessel and demon, between Hollow and world, are blurring."
Sid shook his head. "I don't… I don't understand. I've been careful. I only used the flame when I had to. Why now?"
Nox's gaze grew heavy. "Because the seals are breaking. Somewhere, something has disturbed them. And when a seal weakens, the Blackbind Flame strains against its chains. You are drawing the Hollows without meaning to."
Sid staggered back, nearly knocking over his chair. "You mean—those things in my dream… they could come here?"
"They already are," Nox said simply. His tone carried no comfort, only truth. "The Hollows you saw… they are scouts. Fragments of a deeper hunger. The city will feel their presence soon."
Sid felt his breath catch in his throat. He looked at his hand again, the fire pulsing softly like a heartbeat. "Then… I really am… the reason."
For once, Nox's eyes softened, only slightly. "You are not the reason, Arkwood. You are the battlefield. Remember that difference."
Sid clenched his fist. The flame hissed but didn't die. His reflection in the window showed not only his own face, but the faint outline of something darker behind him. For the first time, he wondered if he was truly awake at all.
Sid sat back down on the edge of his bed, his breathing uneven. The fire on his hand finally began to dim, fading into faint embers that clung stubbornly to his skin. His chest ached, not from exertion but from the weight of Nox's words.
"…a battlefield," Sid repeated quietly. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"
Nox leaned against his cane, his sharp features drawn in the dim light of the dormitory room. "It isn't meant to comfort you. It's meant to prepare you. When a battlefield is chosen, armies gather whether the land wishes for it or not."
Sid pressed his hands to his face, muffling a frustrated groan. "So what, I just… wait for more monsters to show up in my dreams? Wait for them to claw through the city?"
Nox's eyes narrowed slightly, studying him. "You misunderstand. The dream is not an illusion. It is an intrusion. The Hollows you see are testing the barrier between realms. The more you resist, the harder they will press. You must learn to resist without shattering the seal further."
Sid dropped his hands and looked up sharply. "And how am I supposed to do that, professor? You keep telling me what I can't do — what's forbidden, what's dangerous — but never how I'm actually supposed to live with this!"
For a moment, Nox didn't reply. The silence stretched, broken only by Sid's ragged breathing. Finally, Nox tapped his cane once against the floor.
"…You are right. Caution has delayed your growth enough. If the seals continue to fracture, then there is no time left for hesitation."
Sid frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You will train," Nox said simply. "Not in fragments, not in theory, but in reality. You must learn to bind the flame before it binds you. If you cannot… then the city will not survive the next breach."
Sid's heart skipped. "…the next breach? You mean—"
Nox's gaze hardened. "Yes. I've already received reports. A disturbance on the outskirts, faint but growing. The first fracture is forming. If it continues, it will open into a full Hollow breach."
Sid stood up without realizing it. His fists clenched, the ember flickering faintly again. "And I'm supposed to… fight it?"
"You are supposed to survive it," Nox corrected. "And in surviving, you will learn."
Sid's jaw tightened. He wanted to protest, to scream that he wasn't ready, that this wasn't fair. But the memory of the dream still clung to him—the voices in the embers, the crowned Hollow calling him vessel. Whether he wanted it or not, the fight was already coming.
"…I don't even know if I can control this," Sid muttered, looking at his hand. "Every time I use it, I feel like… like it's not me anymore. Like something else is breathing through me."
Nox's cane tapped again, firmer this time. "Then you will decide what it means to breathe, Arkwood. The demon may whisper. The gods may watch. The Hollows may hunger. But only you can choose what the Blackbind Flame becomes in your hand."
Sid looked at him, startled. "You make it sound… simple."
Nox's lips curved into the faintest of smirks. "It is not simple. It is impossible. That is why you must attempt it."
Sid let out a dry laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "…You're a terrible motivator, you know that?"
"I am not here to motivate you," Nox said, turning toward the door. "I am here to keep you alive long enough to become troublesome."
Sid blinked. "…That's your standard?"
"It is a generous one," Nox replied, already stepping into the hallway. His voice carried back, calm but sharp as steel. "Gather your resolve. Tomorrow, we begin. And if you dream again tonight… remember the flame is not your enemy. Fear is."
The door shut softly behind him.
The room fell silent.
Sid sat back on the bed, staring at his hand until his eyes blurred. The embers had gone, leaving only faint scorch marks on his skin, though he knew they would fade by morning.
He lay back slowly, staring at the ceiling. His chest still felt heavy, but his mind refused to rest.
The image of the burning city returned. The whispers in the embers. The crowned Hollow calling him vessel. And behind it all, like a shadow he could not escape, the voice he had tried so hard to ignore:
"…the seal weakens… and when it breaks, you will burn with me."
Sid squeezed his eyes shut. "Shut up," he whispered into the darkness. "Just shut up…"
But even as sleep began to tug him down again, he swore he felt the faint warmth of fire in his chest, like a heartbeat not his own.
And somewhere, far beyond the walls of his room, the Hollow fracture on the outskirts of the city grew wider, the air around it pulsing with an unseen hunger.
The first embers had already fallen.