The crack beneath Ravenshade widened.
Rohgah felt it before anyone heard it.
A violent tremor passed through the underground chamber, shaking the stone beneath their feet. The river rose suddenly, its black surface twisting as though something enormous was moving beneath it.
Ashbel stumbled backward.
"Everyone, move!"
A second tremor struck.
This time, the walls screamed.
Not metaphorically.
The ancient stones around them released a deep, unnatural sound—like thousands of voices crying from beneath the earth.
Nicole grabbed Sofia's arm.
"What is happening?"
Sofia stared at the symbol glowing on Rohgah's palm.
"One of the seals."
Seraya's expression hardened.
"No."
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked terrified.
"The second seal."
Bella tightened her grip around her weapon.
"You said the first one was broken."
"It was," Seraya replied.
"Then why is the second breaking already?"
Seraya looked toward the river.
"Because Vaelor is not breaking them from the outside."
Silence.
"He's breaking them from within."
A deafening crack echoed through the chamber.
The ground split.
A column of black water erupted from the river, shooting toward the ceiling before collapsing over them.
Nicole screamed.
Ashbel raised both hands.
"Water shield!"
A wall of blue water appeared around the group, blocking the black liquid.
But the moment the dark water touched Ashbel's magic, she cried out.
Her knees buckled.
"Ashbel!" Bella caught her.
Ashbel's eyes widened.
"It feels like… it's eating my magic."
Seraya immediately stepped forward.
"Drop the shield!"
Ashbel released it.
The black water crashed around them.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Rohgah noticed something.
The black liquid wasn't touching him.
It was moving around him.
Avoiding him.
Almost…
Worshipping him.
Sofia noticed too.
"Rohgah."
He stared at the river.
"I know."
The black water slowly separated.
A staircase appeared beneath the surface.
Seven stone steps.
At the bottom stood a massive circular door.
And carved into that door was the same symbol on Rohgah's palm.
Seven circles.
One glowing.
Two cracked.
Rohgah swallowed.
"The second seal."
Seraya nodded.
"Yes."
Machir stepped closer.
"But it shouldn't be here."
Rohgah looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Machir's face was pale.
"The second seal wasn't supposed to awaken for another hundred years."
Nicole frowned.
"Then what changed?"
Machir looked directly at Rohgah.
"You."
The chamber went silent.
Rohgah's jaw tightened.
"I surrendered my power."
"Yes."
"So how am I responsible?"
"You didn't destroy your connection to the Hollow."
Machir pointed toward Rohgah's hand.
"You only surrendered the power you could control."
Rohgah looked down.
The glowing circle pulsed.
"What remains?"
Machir hesitated.
"Your blood."
Sofia stepped beside her brother.
"And mine."
Machir nodded.
"The Hollow doesn't need Rohgah's magic anymore."
His voice dropped.
"It has found another way."
Sofia's face changed.
"What way?"
Machir looked at her.
"You."
Sofia froze.
"No."
Seraya immediately moved between them.
"Enough."
Machir shook his head.
"Seraya, they need to understand."
"No," she whispered. "They've suffered enough."
A voice suddenly came from beneath the stone door.
"LIORA."
Sofia's entire body went rigid.
Rohgah stepped in front of her.
"Don't listen."
The voice came again.
"LIORA."
This time, it sounded like a child.
Sofia's eyes filled with tears.
"I know that voice."
Seraya stared at her.
"What voice?"
"My own."
Everyone froze.
Sofia pressed a hand against her chest.
"When I was little… I used to hear someone calling me."
Rohgah looked at her.
"You remember?"
"Not clearly."
She closed her eyes.
"But I remember standing beside water."
A memory flashed through her mind.
A little girl.
Bare feet.
A silver-haired woman.
A baby boy wrapped in white cloth.
And a black door beneath the river.
The little girl was crying.
The woman was holding the baby.
Someone was screaming in the distance.
Then a man's voice:
"Take the girl."
Sofia gasped.
Rohgah grabbed her shoulders.
"Sofia!"
She opened her eyes.
"They didn't separate us because of the prophecy."
Seraya went completely still.
Sofia looked at her mother.
"They separated us because someone was already looking for the Hollow."
Seraya's face broke.
"Yes."
Rohgah turned toward her.
"Who?"
Seraya said nothing.
"Mother."
Still nothing.
"Who was looking for it?"
A voice answered from the darkness.
"Me."
Vaelor stepped out.
Everyone immediately prepared for battle.
Nicole's eyes turned red.
Bella raised her weapon.
Ashbel summoned water around her hands.
Rohgah moved Sofia behind him.
Vaelor smiled.
"You're learning."
Seraya stared at him with hatred.
"You followed us."
"No."
Vaelor glanced toward the cracked seal.
"I didn't need to."
He spread his arms.
"The Hollow brought me here."
Rohgah's expression hardened.
"You won't get Sofia."
Vaelor laughed.
"Still protecting your sister."
"Yes."
"Good."
Vaelor's smile widened.
"Because the second seal requires exactly that."
Rohgah frowned.
"What?"
Vaelor pointed toward the door.
"The first seal required the heir's blood."
His finger moved toward Sofia.
"The second requires the key's memory."
Sofia's face went pale.
"My memory?"
Vaelor nodded.
"The Hollow was sealed seven times."
He took a step closer.
"Each seal contains a memory stolen from the first guardians."
Seraya whispered:
"No."
Vaelor looked at her.
"You remember."
Seraya's eyes narrowed.
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
Vaelor smiled.
"Ask yourself why your children lost their memories."
Rohgah's stomach tightened.
Machir stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
Vaelor laughed.
"Machir."
The two men stared at each other.
"You still pretend you're protecting them."
Machir's expression darkened.
"I am."
"You erased their childhood."
"To save them."
"You erased their mother."
"To save them."
"You erased the truth."
Machir's fists tightened.
"To save them!"
Vaelor suddenly became serious.
"And what did it cost?"
Machir said nothing.
Vaelor looked at Rohgah and Sofia.
"Ask your mother what happened on the night Kael died."
Rohgah turned.
"Mother?"
Seraya closed her eyes.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"I wasn't there."
Rohgah froze.
"What?"
"I wasn't there when Kael died."
Sofia stepped forward.
"Where were you?"
Seraya looked at her children.
"Vaelor had already taken me."
Vaelor smiled.
"And Kael knew."
Rohgah's breathing became heavier.
"Then who protected us?"
Seraya's voice trembled.
"Machir."
Everyone looked at him.
Machir lowered his head.
"Kael gave you to me."
Rohgah stared.
"My father trusted you?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you lie?"
"Because Kael told me to."
Rohgah's anger faltered.
"What?"
Machir slowly looked up.
"Your father knew he was going to die."
Sofia covered her mouth.
"He knew Vaelor would come."
Machir continued.
"He knew the Hollow had marked you both."
Rohgah stared at the ground.
"So he asked you to erase us?"
"No."
Machir shook his head.
"He asked me to make you forget him."
The chamber fell silent.
"Why?"
"Because the Hollow recognizes blood."
Machir looked at Sofia.
"And it recognizes memory."
Then the second seal moved.
BOOM.
A black line appeared across the door.
Sofia screamed.
The symbol on her wrist burned.
Rohgah grabbed her hand.
The seven circles on his palm suddenly changed.
The second circle began glowing.
Seraya shouted:
"LET GO!"
Rohgah looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because your bond is opening the seal!"
Rohgah immediately released Sofia.
Too late.
The door began opening.
Darkness poured through the cracks.
And inside that darkness…
stood a little girl.
Sofia.
She was perhaps six years old.
Beside her stood a little boy.
Rohgah.
The children were holding hands.
But behind them stood someone neither sibling had ever seen before.
A tall woman with silver eyes.
She leaned toward the children and whispered:
"When you remember me, the second seal will break."
The vision vanished.
Sofia stared at Rohgah.
"Who was she?"
Before anyone could answer, Vaelor smiled.
"You finally saw her."
Rohgah's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Vaelor's silver eyes gleamed.
"The woman who created the first seal."
Seraya whispered:
"That's impossible."
Vaelor turned toward her.
"Is it?"
The underground chamber shook violently.
Above them, somewhere in Ravenshade, students began screaming.
Windows shattered.
The school bells rang by themselves.
And beneath the river, the second seal opened another inch.
Vaelor looked at Rohgah.
"You wanted the truth."
He smiled.
"Now you're going to get all of it."
Then the darkness behind the seal reached forward…
and touched Sofia's face.
She disappeared.
"Sofia!"
Rohgah lunged toward the opening.
But the door slammed shut.
And from behind it came Sofia's terrified scream.
"ROHGAH!"
Rohgah stood frozen.
Seraya covered her mouth.
Nicole whispered, "Oh my God."
Bella raised her weapon.
Ashbel stared at the sealed door.
Machir's face had gone completely white.
Because he knew what had happened.
The second seal had not merely opened.
It had taken the key.