CHAPTER 93 — THE HOLLOW SIGN
The storm had not eased with the fall of the creature. If anything, it raged harder, as though the sky itself was reacting to its presence being erased. The clouds churned overhead in violent spirals, pulling the lightning into strange, crooked shapes that flickered across the ruins.
Kael stood at the edge of the shattered bridge, the dust of the creature still drifting like grey snow at his feet. Titanbound and Shadowblades watched him carefully, as though waiting for a signal he hadn't yet given.
Something in the air — a subtle pressure, a faint throb beneath the wind — told Kael the encounter wasn't over.
It was only the beginning.
Shadowblades sheathed one blade but kept the other in hand, her eyes narrowing.
"What is it?" she asked.
Kael didn't answer immediately.
He tilted his head slightly, listening.
There it was again — a distant hum, so faint it could have been imagined. But Kael knew better. His Ironroot senses, sharper than most, picked up vibrations that didn't belong to the normal rhythm of the world.
Titanbound crossed his thick arms.
"You're hearing something, aren't you?"
Kael nodded.
"It's below us. Deep."
Shadowblades stepped closer.
"Another creature?"
"No," Kael whispered.
"Something older."
The ravine trembled again, more violently this time. Dust rained from the rocks overhead. Crooked fissures splintered across the ground like black lightning.
And then — silence.
Not the natural silence of a dead forest.
This was heavier.
A silence that felt placed, as if something had commanded the world to stop making sound.
Even the wind died.
Titanbound finally exhaled, breaking the quiet. "Alright. I hate silence. What now?"
Kael walked forward until his boots touched the edge of the ravine drop. He looked down — but there was nothing. Just darkness swallowing itself.
Shadowblades tapped her blade lightly.
"This feels like the calm before something very unpleasant."
"No," Kael said softly.
"This is the calm after something has already entered."
She froze.
Titanbound frowned.
"You mean that faceless scout? Or something worse?"
Kael closed his eyes briefly.
"Worse."
The word hung between them like a ghost.
Suddenly — a faint metallic clink echoed from somewhere behind them.
Titanbound spun instantly.
Shadowblades vanished into the shadows at the same moment.
Kael turned slowly — calmly.
Something had been placed in the center of the bridge, as if dropped deliberately.
A symbol.
A circular piece of bone-like stone, etched with deep lines carved in spirals that seemed to move when stared at for too long. At the very center was a small hollow — empty, yet somehow radiating a feeling of pressure, as though it demanded to be filled.
Shadowblades reappeared beside Kael.
"It wasn't here a moment ago."
Titanbound scowled. "Someone is playing games."
Kael crouched, examining the symbol without touching it.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"This isn't a threat," he murmured.
"It's a message."
Shadowblades leaned closer. "Meaning?"
Kael stood again. The storm behind him cracked open with another surge of thunder.
"It means we're being summoned."
Titanbound shook his head. "Nope. Not going. Last time someone summoned me, I ended up fighting a thing with three jaws."
Shadowblades smirked faintly. "And you survived."
"Barely," Titanbound grunted.
Kael picked up the symbol at last — and immediately, the air around them shifted. A pulse traveled across the bridge, warping the edges of the fog. A wave of dread swept over them, unfamiliar but not overwhelming.
"This hollow in the center," Kael said, tapping gently at the depression.
"It's a seal. Or… a placeholder."
Shadowblades nodded slowly.
"A lock."
Kael didn't respond, but his silence was enough.
A lock waiting for a key.
A key that clearly hadn't reached them yet.
Titanbound scratched the back of his neck. "So let me get this straight — someone sent a faceless thing to scout us, then dropped this bone-circle here to tell us they need a key. Why not just attack us?"
Shadowblades' eyes drifted to the dark ravine below.
"Because whatever wants this lock opened… doesn't need to fight us."
Kael's expression tightened. "It only needs us to keep walking forward."
The thought settled into them like cold ash.
The storm rumbled louder, flattening the treetops with wind.
Then — a roar.
Not from the ravine.
Not from the skies.
From the forest behind them.
A roar so deep it shook the cracked stones beneath their feet.
Titanbound's eyes lit with adrenaline.
"Oh good," he said. "Finally a problem I can hit."
Shadowblades shot him a dry look, but she drew her blade anyway.
Kael pocketed the hollow symbol and faced the forest.
The trees were twisting.
Not swaying — twisting.
Branches coiled together, bark folding like skin. Leaves merged, darkening into a massive shape that pulsed as though breathing.
Shadowblades took one step back.
"That's not natural."
Kael's Ironroot energy rose beneath his skin like molten pressure.
"No. Something is controlling it."
Titanbound slammed his fists together.
"Then we break the controller."
The creature formed fully — a towering mass of wood, roots, and shadow, shaped vaguely like a giant but moving like a puppet jerked by invisible strings. Its head, if it was a head, was covered in bark that split open only when it roared again.
But Kael wasn't looking at the creature.
He was looking past it — at the faint, humanoid silhouette standing behind the trees.
The silhouette didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't breathe.
Shadowblades noticed Kael's focus.
"You see someone."
"Yes."
Titanbound squinted. "Where?"
But before Kael could answer, the wooden giant lunged.
Titanbound met the charge first, planting his feet and slamming his shoulder into the creature's chest. The impact shook the entire bridge, scattering fragments of bark in all directions. The creature swiped back with a massive arm of twisting roots, but Shadowblades darted beneath the swing, slicing clean lines across its limbs, severing entire tendrils.
Kael inhaled sharply — and launched upward, Ironroot power exploding from his muscles as he struck the giant across the torso. His blow sent cracks ripping through the creature's body, but it didn't collapse.
It reformed.
Instantly.
Titanbound cursed. "Oh come on—"
Kael's eyes sharpened. That wasn't regeneration.
It wasn't healing.
It was being rebuilt by something else.
He looked at the silhouette behind the trees.
"Ignore the creature!" Kael shouted.
"Go for the figure controlling it!"
Shadowblades didn't hesitate. She vanished from sight, melting into the darkness and reappearing near the treeline. Titanbound tried to disengage, but the wooden creature wrapped vines around his arms, pulling him back.
Kael charged forward, dodging roots that slammed into the ground behind him. The silhouette stepped backward — calmly, silently — as though unbothered by the chaos around them.
Kael reached the treeline and thrust his hand forward, Ironroot energy bursting outward in a shockwave meant to disable the controller.
But the silhouette flicked its hand.
The air bent.
Kael's force shattered before it touched him.
Shadowblades reappeared beside Kael, breathing hard.
"That wasn't a deflection," she whispered. "It… erased your attack."
The silhouette finally spoke.
Its voice was hollow, echoing from too far away to match the distance between them.
"You carry the lock."
Kael stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"Not your enemy," the silhouette replied.
"Not yet."
Titanbound roared behind them, ripping free of the vines.
The wooden giant stumbled, weakening as the controller's attention shifted.
The silhouette tilted its head slightly.
"The one who comes will not warn you," it said.
"He will not test you. He will not spare you. I advise you to be ready."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"You keep talking in riddles."
"They are not riddles," the silhouette said quietly.
"They are preparations."
And then—
It dissolved into the wind.
Not smoke.
Not shadow.
Wind.
Titanbound finally broke the giant completely, shattering its torso with a final blow that sent wooden fragments raining across the clearing. The creature collapsed, lifeless now that its controller was gone.
Shadowblades exhaled.
"That thing wasn't meant to kill us."
Kael nodded slowly.
"It was meant to slow us down."
Titanbound grumbled. "Well, it failed."
Kael reached into his cloak and pulled out the hollow symbol again.
The storm above them darkened even more, as if reacting to the object.
"We're getting closer," Kael said.
Shadowblades looked at him.
"To what?"
Kael stared at the hollow center.
"To whatever the lock opens."