The moment the shadow spoke, the clearing felt different.Like the night itself got colder.Not normal cold.The kind of cold that sneaks inside your ribs and stays there.
"She is marked."
The voice was wrong.
Not loud.Not angry.
Just… certain.
"She is ours."
Sylvera's breath caught.
Her whole body froze like it forgot how to move.
And her collarbone—
the mark—
it started to pulse under her skin.
A sharp ache. Then heat. Then cold.
Like it was waking up.
She took a step back.
Her heel hit something hard.A stone. A root.She almost tripped.
Her hands lifted without thinking, like she could protect herself from a thing made of darkness.
But then Lorian moved.
Fast.
One second he was beside her.
The next, he was already in front of her.
Like a wall.Like a shield.Like a blade.
His sword appeared in his hand as if it had always been there.
Black,So black it didn't even reflect moonlight.
"You will not touch her," he snarled.
The shadow lunged.
It didn't run.
It snapped forward, its body stretching like spilled ink, forming claws mid-air.
Sylvera couldn't even scream.
Her heart slammed against her chest so hard it hurt.
Lorian met it head-on.
His sword cut through the shadow's chest in one brutal motion.
A clean slash.
The shadow's arm flew off—
and dissolved into mist .No blood ,No bone ,Just smoke.
But the shadow laughed.
A sick sound.
Like someone cracking bones in an empty grave.
"Foolish king," it hissed.
"You cannot kill what does not live."
Lorian's jaw clenched.
His eyes looked darker.
Colder.
"Then I'll bind you," he said.
He didn't hesitate.
He stabbed his sword into the earth.
BOOM.
The ground cracked under the impact.
The clearing shook so hard Sylvera felt it in her teeth.
Then the runes on the sword lit up.
Blue flames, Cold light, Ancient magic.
A glowing circle spread out from the blade—fast, like a trap slamming open.
The air warped.
The statues surrounding them groaned.
Stone scraping against stone.
Like they were waking up after centuries.
Sylvera swallowed.
Her skin prickled.
The Hollow… it remembered.
The shadow screamed.
Its body twisted as the blue ring reached it.
It thrashed like it was being pulled apart.
Sylvera raised her arm to block the light.
But even with her eyes half-closed, she felt the mark on her collarbone react, It burned, It stung, It hurt so badly it felt like the pain went straight into her blood.
She dropped to one knee.A small, broken sound left her mouth. She hated it, But she couldn't stop it.
Cold ripped through her veins like knives.
Her teeth clenched.
Her fingers dug into the dirt.
Lorian didn't even look back.
He stepped closer to the trapped shadow.
Violet magic flickered off him, spilling from his body like smoke.
His eyes looked dangerous.
Not human.
"You were never the First King," he growled.
The shadow writhed, screaming.
"You were what was left of him."
Lorian's voice got lower.
Sharper.
"His greed."
Another step.
"His madness."
His sword trembled in the earth like it was alive.
"And you don't get to wear his crown anymore."
The runes snapped shut.
The blue circle collapsed inward.
The shadow shrieked.
Its limbs sliced apart like smoke being cut by glass.
It tried to flee.
But it couldn't.
The Hollow held it down.
"This place remembers," Lorian said.
His voice shook slightly. Not fear or Anger.
"And it remembers what you did."
Then the shadow dissolved.
Not dying, Not vanishing peacefully. It was like the earth swallowed it.
Like the Hollow ate it alive.
The clearing went silent. Too silent.
Sylvera stayed on her knees, breathing like she was suffocating.
Her arms shook.
Her stomach churned like she might throw up.
Then a whisper remained, Soft, Venomous.
"He will send more soon."
Sylvera froze.
Her blood turned cold again.
More??...More of that thing?
Her arms wrapped around her body automatically.
Her nails pressed into her sleeves. She couldn't stop shaking.
Then Lorian dropped to one knee.
Sylvera flinched.
Because for one terrifying second she thought he was dying.
But he wasn't.
He was just breathing hard.
His back was shredded with claw marks.
Blood soaked through his clothes.
It steamed in the cold air.
And his wounds—
they glowed violet.
His magic stitched him back together right in front of her eyes Fast, Violent, Unnatural.
Sylvera stared.
Her mouth went dry.
It didn't look like healing.
It looked like his magic refused to let him stay broken.
Lorian lifted his head.
His eyes were wild. Not with madness. With something old.
Something that didn't know mercy.
His lips were stained black.
Ichor dripped from his chin slowly, like it was deliberate.
"Now you see," he rasped, "why they call me monster."
Sylvera couldn't speak.
Her throat was locked.
Her heartbeat was loud in her ears.
It wasn't like watching someone fight.
It was like watching death wearing a crown.
She finally managed to whisper, "Why…?"
Her voice shook.
"Why did it say he'll send more? Who…?"
Lorian stood slowly.
Like the pain didn't matter.
Like wounds didn't matter.
He turned toward the trees.
The cursed forest had gone still again.
"He's aware," he said.
Sylvera's chest tightened.
"He knows you're here."
Sylvera swallowed.
Her voice came out small. "Who knows I'm here…?"
Lorian's jaw tightened.
The violet glow in his eyes darkened.
"Lyria's former fiancé."
Sylvera blinked.
Her heart skipped.
"Fiancé…?" she whispered.
She didn't know.
Why didn't she know?
Why did she always find out things like this when it was already too late?
"He sent this shadow creature," Lorian said.
"And he will send more."
Then his voice got bitter.
"He wants to take you from me too."
From me. The words made Sylvera feel sick.
Like she was something owned.
Like she was a prize.
Like she didn't have a choice.
"You never told me she had a fiancé," Sylvera whispered.
She stepped back instinctively.
Anger rose in her chest, fast and burning.
"What else are you hiding from me?" she demanded.
Her voice cracked.
"Tell me everything."
Lorian looked away.
His jaw clenched so hard the muscle jumped.
"Sylvera…" he said quietly.
Almost pleading.
"It's not that simple."
"Don't," she snapped.
"Don't you dare."
She pressed her hand to her collarbone.
The mark pulsed under her fingers like a heartbeat.
"I have this now. I'm already trapped in this."
Her eyes stung.
"I saw what you did. I saw what you are capable of."
Her voice dropped.
"I need to understand what I'm caught in."
She lifted her gaze.
"What you are."
Lorian stared at her.
For a moment he looked… tired.
So tired it scared her more than his violence.
"It's a lot," he said.
"Too much for one night."
Sylvera laughed once.
A sharp, ugly sound.
"Try me," she said.
"Because I'm already carrying it."
Lorian dragged his blood-stained fingers through his hair.
His shoulders sagged.
Then he finally spoke.
"Lyria's fiancé was once my friend."
Sylvera went still.
Her chest tightened.
"Before he turned on her," Lorian continued.
"Before he made me a monster."
Sylvera swallowed.
Then she whispered, "Then show me the rest."
Lorian hesitated.
Then he nodded once.
"You'll see everything," he said.
His voice was heavy.
"But after that…"
His eyes hardened.
"There's no turning back."
Sylvera's stomach twisted.
Something about his words felt like standing on the edge of a cliff.
One step forward and everything would change.
Then—
The air thickened again, Not cold or Heavy.
Like something unseen pressed down on the clearing.
The wind stopped.
The trees went silent.
Sylvera's skin prickled.
Then the whisper came.
Soft and cruel.
"You aren't saying anything to her…"
Sylvera spun.
Her breath broke.
Shadows poured from the tree line. Not one. Not two. Many.
They rose and twisted into human shapes Men, Armored, Faceless, Wrong.
Dozens, Then more. Hundreds.
Sylvera couldn't move.
Her mind went blank.
Lorian stepped in front of her instantly.
His sword lifted.
His violet magic flickered like a storm ready to explode.
"Back," he warned.
But the whisper grew louder.
From every direction.
"Liar."
"Traitor."
"Monster."
Then the shadows lunged.
Everything happened at once.
Lorian roared.
His magic erupted outward violently.
The first wave shattered under the force.
He struck like a demon. Fast. Savage.
Cutting through them in brutal arcs.
But they kept coming. Endless. Hungry.
They swarmed him.
Claws tore.
Blades grabbed.
Sylvera screamed.
"LORIAN!"
And still—Still he fought. Alone.
Like a king drowning in darkness.
Like a monster refusing to fall.
Sylvera stood behind him, shaking so hard her teeth hurt—
watching him vanish under a sea of shadows.
And in her chest, the only thought left was—
This is not the end.
This is only the beginning.