The earth beneath Chizzy's hand pulsed like a heartbeat—slow, ancient, and terrifyingly aware. Her breath caught as the crack in the cliff widened ever so slightly, dust and pebbles tumbling into the churning sea below. Kiran grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back just as the edge crumbled under her touch.
"Careful!" he hissed. "Whatever's down there, it's trying to draw you in."
"I know," she whispered, staring into the crevice. "But I don't think it wants to hurt me."
"Chizzy," Kiran said, kneeling beside her, "you've said that before—right before the woods tried to consume you."
A crooked smile tugged at her lips. "Fair point."
Still, her fingers itched to touch the ground again. The whispers were clearer now, like wind brushing against the folds of her soul. She could hear words, disjointed and echoing, but full of intent.
Blood calls to blood… seal to seal… memory is the lock…
"Do you hear that?" she asked.
Kiran shook his head. "No. But your mark is glowing again."
She looked at her forearm—the coiled serpent shimmered a deep violet, its eyes flaring like embers. Suddenly, a flash of memory struck her: her mother, standing on this very cliff, her arms raised to the sky. A lullaby hummed beneath her breath. Chizzy had been a child, hiding behind a rock, watching the ritual she was never meant to see.
"It's a memory," she murmured. "This place… it remembers what happened."
Kiran's eyes narrowed. "A memory strong enough to awaken the seal?"
"Maybe. Or maybe it's trying to remind me of something I forgot."
The wind howled around them as the moon dipped lower, casting long shadows over the cracked stone. Chizzy stood and pulled the Blade of Oath from its sheath. The silver glow was steadier now, as if the blade itself approved.
She raised it toward the crevice.
The whispers screamed—suddenly loud, crashing against her skull.
You are the door. The breach is within.
Chizzy gasped and staggered back, clutching her head. Kiran caught her again, his arms steady.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I saw something… like a vision. A gateway. Not just to the Hollow—but through it."
"You mean another world?"
"Or a prison," she said, eyes wide. "One made for something worse."
The realization hit her like ice water. "That ritual from the forest—it didn't just weaken the barrier. It opened a thread, connected to this place. There's something underneath. Something bound by my ancestors."
A rumble beneath their feet silenced them.
Then, a hand emerged from the crack.
Not human.
It was pale as moonlight, fingers long and jointed oddly, almost insect-like. It clawed at the edge but didn't rise—merely held on, as if testing the strength of the seal.
Kiran stepped forward instinctively, blade drawn. "Tell me we're not seeing this."
Chizzy lifted her sword. "We are. But it hasn't fully broken through. Not yet."
As the creature's hand withdrew slowly, the crack sealed behind it—just enough to vanish from sight. Silence returned, but it wasn't comforting.
"It's waiting," she whispered. "And now it knows where I am."
They turned back toward the village, the air charged with an eerie calm.
Chizzy didn't look back.
She didn't have to.
The cliff remembered her. And now, something beneath it remembered too.