The wind howled through the broken teeth of the cliffs outside the sanctuary. Mist clung to the jagged rocks like breath held too long. The sun was gone now—swallowed by a curtain of unnatural gray. No birds. No beasts. No signs of life.
Only silence.
And the shadow moving beneath it.
Sarive stood at the entrance, armor cold against his skin, eyes sharp as he scanned the terrain.
"It's quiet," Diana murmured behind him. "Too quiet."
Jorin snorted. "Don't say that. That phrase always gets people killed."
Sarive raised a hand. "Something's wrong."
Mia emerged from the corridor, flanked by Kael and Hope. The child had gone silent again, her glowing blue eyes fixated on the mountain ridge.
"They're already here," she said.
The air shifted.
The stone beneath their feet cracked.
A blast of violet light erupted from the earth—and the ground beneath the sanctuary shattered.
They fell into darkness.
Stone gave way to a hollow cavern buried beneath the world, a place even the old gods had forgotten. Crystal veins pulsed like arteries through the walls. Ancient symbols—older than the Pantheon—glowed with faint red light.
Diana hit the ground first, rolling to her feet with a grunt. She pulled Sarive up next.
"You okay?"
He winced. "Landed on something sharp."
"That was my sword," she said flatly, pulling it from under him.
Jorin dropped beside them, groaning. "Ugh. Where's Hope?"
"I'm here," came the soft voice.
Mia helped the girl up, then turned in a full circle, blades drawn.
"That wasn't a natural quake."
"No," Sarive said. "It was a trap."
The light flared at the far end of the cavern.
Out of the shadows stepped a tall figure clad in flowing black robes, etched with symbols that twisted like living serpents. His skin was pale gray. His eyes were pits of endless black.
"Welcome," he said, "to the Hollow Womb of Thal'Zorak."
Diana whispered, "I know that name."
"It's not a name," Mia said grimly. "It's a prison. A breeding pit."
Sarive stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The figure bowed. "I am Vaeneth, Keeper of the Forgotten. Once a high priest of the gods… now discarded. Like so many of us who touched forbidden truths."
Hope's hand tightened around Mia's. "He smells like rot."
Vaeneth grinned. "She knows me well. The child of god and Ascendant. The Echo of Power. You were always meant to return here."
Sarive stepped in front of Hope, fists clenched. "Back off."
But Vaeneth only raised a hand—and the cavern trembled again.
Dozens of figures rose from the shadows. Twisted creatures of bone, crystal, and smoke. The remnants of dead gods. The cursed children of failed unions.
"This," Vaeneth said, spreading his arms, "is what the Pantheon fears. Not her power. Her potential. Every god who dared love a mortal birthed something the Council could not control. So they buried them."
He stepped closer.
"Hope is not alone. She is the last… of a lineage buried in silence."
Up above, Diana, Kael, and Jorin held the high ground near a collapsed tunnel mouth.
"Demons incoming!" Jorin shouted.
Diana drew her blade, eyes narrowing. "Protect the exit."
Kael lit his hammer with divine fire. "How do they always find us?"
Diana gritted her teeth. "They're not after us. They're after her."
Back in the hollow, Sarive's aura flared.
"You want to use her," he said to Vaeneth. "Just like the Council."
"No," Vaeneth said. "I want to free her. Show her the truth."
Hope stepped out from behind Mia.
Her voice was low. "You're lying."
A pulse of blue energy radiated from her feet. The walls cracked.
Vaeneth's smile vanished. "She's awakening…"
Hope's eyes shone like twin stars. "Stay away from my uncle."
She raised a hand—and a beam of divine energy shot from her palm.
Vaeneth was thrown backward, crashing into a column.
Sarive grabbed her hand, shocked. "How did you—"
"I saw it in a dream," she said. "I remembered."
The walls began to collapse.
Mia scooped Hope up. "Time to go."
Sarive and Jorin led the retreat as the ceiling began to fall, bringing down pieces of forgotten history with it. Crystals burst like glass stars. Screams echoed behind them as the creatures Vaeneth had summoned were buried in fire and stone.
They climbed, breathless, back into the sanctuary above just as Diana and Kael sealed the entrance with a collapsed archway.
Silence fell again.
Later, they rested in a moonlit grove miles away. Injuries were treated. Meals shared. No one spoke of what they'd seen in the hollow.
Sarive sat apart from the others, watching Hope sleep beside Mia under a blanket of stars.
Diana approached. "You okay?"
"I don't know," he admitted.
"She saved you down there."
"She shouldn't have had to," he said.
Diana sat beside him. "She's not a normal child."
"I know. But she's still a child."
They were quiet for a moment.
"She trusts you," Diana said softly.
Mia walked past them then—just a glance. Her eyes locked with Sarive's. He looked away.
Diana noticed.
And said nothing.
But in her silence, the first thorn of the love triangle began to root itself.
And far away, in a realm where stars burned black and gods whispered forgotten laws, a new hunter was born—crafted not of flesh, but time itself.
It would be sent next.
And it would not miss.