The fissures beneath the arena still glowed with lingering light, pulsating like a heartbeat in the silence that followed. Dust and loose stones rained down as instructors struggled to maintain order, but Kael barely noticed.
All his focus was on the void that had opened beneath him. The Hollow Veyra thrummed inside him, echoing with a strange familiarity, like a memory that belonged to someone else yet felt undeniably his.
Rienne tightened her grip on her blades. "Kael… what was that?" Her voice carried awe, fear, and a hint of exasperation all at once.
"I don't know yet," he admitted, his eyes fixed on the fissure. "But it's responding… to me."
Marin stepped closer, eyes wide but steady. "To you? But… what is it, really?"
Kael didn't answer. He couldn't. Not yet. The Hollow Veyra's pulse was growing stronger, and with each beat, it seemed to reach deeper into the chamber, awakening more than just the colossi.
1. The Ground Below Awakens
A low rumble ran through the arena. Dust fell from the walls. The fissure widened slowly, revealing a tunnel of black stone veined with glowing silver runes.
"The Subterrane chamber… it's opening on its own," Rienne whispered. "That should be impossible."
Kael's hand twitched. Something inside him—a dormant memory buried beneath centuries of sealing—stirred. A name flickered in his mind: Veylorn. He shook it off. That name didn't belong to him… or did it?
He realized then that the Hollow Veyra wasn't just a power. It was a key, and somehow, he was the lock.
2. A Test of Control
Head Examiner Vaaris raised a hand, signaling the other students to halt. "Kael, step back," he ordered, voice tight with an edge of fear. "You don't know what's happening down there."
Kael hesitated. He felt the Hollow thrumming in his veins, as if urging him forward. The colossi had stopped moving, now kneeling like obedient guardians of a tomb. Every instinct screamed caution, but the pulse within him demanded action.
Rienne frowned. "Kael, wait—don't—"
Too late.
Kael stepped toward the fissure, each footfall syncing with the pulse beneath. Light spiraled up from the tunnel, tendrils of energy weaving around his legs. The air thickened, charged with the weight of something ancient and waiting.
Marin reached for his arm. "Kael! Be careful!"
He looked at her, then at Rienne. Neither of them would understand what was about to happen. Not yet.
3. The Awakening of the Sleeping Curse
From the depths of the fissure, a low voice echoed—not words, but resonance. Kael felt it vibrate in his chest. It was a call, a recognition.
"The Hollow… it's not just a power," he murmured to himself. "It's… a curse."
He remembered the first time he had touched the seal in the dungeon months ago, the moment that had unlocked the first fragment of this energy. Until now, it had been silent, restrained. But now it was awake—and it was hungry.
With a flick of his wrist, Kael projected a pulse of energy toward the fissure. The runes along the stone walls flared, responding to him with a speed and precision he had never managed before. The fissure widened further, revealing shadows of something massive… something that had been waiting for centuries to recognize him.
4. Tensions in the Arena
Rienne's voice cut through the hum. "Kael! If you push it too far—"
"I have to see," he replied evenly. The Hollow Veyra flowed through him like molten silver. His eyes glinted with an unnatural light as the pulse expanded outward.
Marin clutched his sleeve, her hand trembling. "Please… be careful. I can't lose you here."
Kael glanced at her and Rienne in turn. Neither knew the truth of the Hollow, the curse, or his hidden lineage. And he couldn't tell them—not yet. Not until he understood it himself.
From the fissure, the shadows coalesced into shapes—towering silhouettes carved of black stone and silver veins, their runes aligning to Kael's presence. The arena's floor shook violently.
Head Examiner Vaaris barked orders, but even he could not stop what had been set in motion.
5. The First Echo of Veylorn
A single colossus, taller and more intricately carved than the others, stepped forward from the shadows. Its eyes glowed with silver fire.
Kael froze. The pulse of the Hollow Veyra inside him throbbed in recognition. He had seen the sigil before—etched in his earliest memory, connected to the name Veylorn, the bloodline whispered in fragments of dreams he could never place.
"It's… reacting to me," Kael whispered, voice barely audible even to himself. "It knows me."
Rienne and Marin exchanged terrified glances. Talyssa's face, previously set in smug superiority, was pale and tense.
Kael's hand went to his chest, feeling the familiar and alien energy of the Hollow. He understood something fundamental, something terrifying: the Hollow Veyra wasn't merely a power. It was alive, tied to his bloodline, and it had been waiting… waiting for Kael Veylorn.
He took a deep breath. The Hollow's pulse intensified.
And then, as the arena's lights flickered and the ground quaked beneath them, Kael realized:
The trial had just begun.