Chapter 8 – The Fires of Hollowfen
The day's training finally wound down as the sun slid behind the tree line. Shadows lengthened and the moon crept up, silver and patient. Steel clattered once more as Kin and Rito sheathed their practice blades.
Blue waved from the porch. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Don't get eaten by the moon," Kin joked, grin in place to hide the soreness in his shoulders.
Rito offered a half-smile. "Try not to turn into a werewolf in front of my mom."
They left the estate together, the path to Hollowfen lit by lanterns and a sky that was losing light fast.
"Hey," Kin said after a few paces, glancing at Rito. "You okay? You've been quiet this whole walk."
Rito kept her eyes on the path. "I'm fine. Just… confused. Fae, hybrids, witches. It's a lot to take." She rubbed her arms as if the words were cold. "I don't want to believe it, but we've seen things—we can't deny it anymore."
"I know." Kin's voice was soft. "Me too. But we've got something now—training, the skills. We have to use everything we know to save Gus. To protect the village." He squared his shoulders. "Right?"
Rito let a determined smile slip through. "Right."
They picked up the pace as the air changed — a faint smell on the breeze, like smoke and iron. The closer they got, the harder that smell grew, until it burned in their noses. Screams broke the twilight: raw, desperate, close.
They ran.
By the time they crested the last rise into Hollowfen, the village was a living nightmare. Flames licked at roofs. Smoke curled into the sky and painted everything the color of soot. People cried and ran in chaos, trying to put out fires, trying to find loved ones.
At the center of the destruction, a dark hooded figure towered over a circle of black flame. Wings — not feathered but shadow-sinister and ash-black — unfurled behind the figure as ancient words curled from its lips. Buildings collapsed under bolts of dark fire that ate wood like hunger.
Kin and Rito exchanged a single look. This was it — their chance. They sprinted toward the figure, hearts racing, ready to help.
The hooded thing turned.
Under the shadowed face, a smile spread — a smile that belonged to a boy they'd known. A smile too wide, too cruel.
"Hey—" Gus's voice was soft and playful. "…my friends. You came to play with me."
"Gus—what the hell are you doing?!" Kin shouted, skidding to a stop.
Rito felt hot blood drop from her lips as if someone had slammed a fist through her chest. "So it's true," she said, stunned. "You're working with the witches."
Gus spread his hands as the flames hungrily danced along his fingertips. "They saved me," he said, teeth glinting. "They saved me when everyone else abandoned my village to die. I remember Fenerland — before humans called it Hollowfen — before hybrids burned it. The witches rebuilt it for me. Then humans moved in and claimed everything was theirs. They stole it. They stole my life. They deserve to burn."
Kin's jaw dropped. Anger and disbelief warred on his face. "Gus—this isn't true. You can't—"
"But it is," Gus said, and the pleasure in his voice made Rito want to vomit. He slammed a palm forward. Dark fire ripped from his hand, a spear of shadowed flame that cut the street. Kin and Rito dove aside — the blast shredding the ground where they'd stood only a heartbeat before.
Gus cocked his head, scanning their faces. His eyes, red and hungry, pinched on something with morbid amusement. "Where is your pet?" he drawled.
Rito and Kin blinked — the word landed like an insult forged for Blue. Rito's grip around her stomach tightened.
"Don't be surprised," Gus said. "I know what he is. I know what all of you are — even you, fairy-girl. I'll kill every one of you."
Kin stumbled to his feet, breath ragged, trying to reach through the madness. "Gus, we grew up together. You're not this—this—thing. Remember? We can help you!"
Gus laughed, and the laugh was a blade. "Help? You abandoned me. You left me to die in the ashes. The witches found me. They promised revenge. They gave me power."
He raised both hands and dark fire uncoiled into the sky, a wave of heat and black light that surged forward. Kin pushed Rito behind him; together they sprinted, ducked, rolled — dodging cinders and cracks of searing magic.
Inside the manor, twilight had become a nervous hush. Blue and Xavier were in the kitchen — a rare ordinary moment: plates, the clink of utensils. Selene moved through the house like a storm held in velvet. She didn't speak much; her fingers drummed on the counter.
Then the screams began — distant, ragged, a chorus of panic — and the smell came with them: smoke, thick and real.
Selene froze, nostrils flaring as she listened. "So many heartbeats," she said, voice tight. "They're all racing. It makes my blood rage boil."
Xavier reached for her hand, but she pushed him away with a small, involuntary hiss at the human contact. Blue, coming in from the hall, saw his mother fight the tremor in her jaw.
"Are you okay?" he asked, eyes wide.
Selene's face was a gossamer of control. "I'm—" Her mouth quivered. Her hands clasped; her lips parted. She needed blood. The moon was rising and her fangs ached. "I'm fine," she said, but the lie hung thin and wet.
Xavier moved before Blue's confused mouth could shape another question. With a speed blurred to the eye, he sprinted to the larder and returned with something wrapped in cloth — a small rabbit, pale and warm from the cold of the fridge. He tossed it to Selene.
She took it like a child given a toy. Teeth bared, she bit in deep, crimson showing, and the animal quieted her. Blue had never seen his mother feed like this before; the sight carved a hollow inside him that felt too old for his age.
"Are you okay now?" Blue whispered.
Selene swallowed, dropping what remained of the rabbit. Her expression smoothed as the hunger receded. "I'm… controlled. Something is wrong, Blue." Her eyes darkened. "I can feel it in the weave — something is breaking through."
Blue's nostrils flared. He tasted the smoke on the wind the way a bloodhound would. "I smell it. I hear the screams. It's Hollowfen. It's coming from the village."
Xavier's features hardened into the mask Blue knew too well — steady, lethal. "Then we go. Now."
Selene's fingers trembled as she reached out and touched Xavier's sleeve. Fear flickered across her face like a shadow. "You two go. I must stay and hold this back. I can't let myself lose it tonight — if I do, I'm a danger."
Xavier's voice was quiet but iron. "We have to be." He looked at Blue, pride and sorrow colliding there. "We must be."
They moved at once — a blur of motion. Without fanfare, they tore through the trees: a pair of streaks across the dark, faster than any human could measure. The estate disappeared behind a windmill of leaves.
Behind them, Hollowfen burned.