"KING."
The word rolled through the darkness like thunder.
Rohgah stood completely still.
He could feel the voice inside his chest.
Not in his ears.
Inside him.
His heart began beating painfully fast.
"No," he whispered.
The darkness moved closer.
"KING."
Rohgah stepped backward.
"I am not your king."
The creature behind Elyra opened its enormous eyes.
Seven circles burned within the darkness.
Two were glowing.
Five remained black.
Elyra smiled.
"You can deny it all you want."
Rohgah looked at Sofia.
She was standing beside Elyra, her silver eyes glowing.
"Sofia."
Her expression softened.
"I'm here."
"Then come back."
"I can't."
"You can."
She shook her head.
"You don't understand what I've remembered."
"Then tell me."
Sofia looked at Elyra.
Elyra gave a small nod.
Sofia closed her eyes.
And suddenly—
Rohgah saw everything.
A village.
Thousands of years ago.
Before vampires ruled the night.
Before mermaids built their kingdoms.
Before Babylon's warriors existed.
Before Ravenshade had ever been built.
A young woman stood beside a river.
Elyra.
But she looked different.
She was smiling.
Happy.
Alive.
Around her stood people from different supernatural races.
They were not enemies.
They were united.
Elyra held a small black stone.
It pulsed with silver light.
"This stone will protect us," she told them.
But someone betrayed her.
A man approached from behind.
He drove a blade into her back.
Elyra fell.
The black stone shattered.
Magic exploded across the land.
The supernatural kingdoms began fighting.
Fear spread.
And from the stolen magic…
the Hollow was born.
Rohgah gasped.
The vision disappeared.
He stared at Elyra.
"You created it."
Elyra nodded.
"I created the beginning of it."
"You killed thousands."
"I never wanted that."
"Then why?"
"Because someone stole my magic."
Rohgah's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Elyra looked toward Vaelor.
Everyone turned.
Vaelor stood at the entrance.
For once, he wasn't smiling.
Elyra's expression became cold.
"Vaelor."
Vaelor's jaw tightened.
"You know nothing about me."
"I know exactly who you are."
She looked at Rohgah.
"He was the first to steal from the Hollow."
Machir stepped forward.
"That is impossible."
Elyra laughed softly.
"Is it?"
She pointed at Vaelor.
"He did not create the darkness."
Vaelor's eyes flashed.
"He learned from it."
Rohgah stared at him.
"You stole magic from the Hollow."
Vaelor said nothing.
Seraya's face filled with horror.
"So that's why you were obsessed with it."
Vaelor finally spoke.
"I wanted what was denied to me."
"Power?"
"Yes."
His voice was bitter.
"Every kingdom had something. Vampires had immortality. Mermaids had water magic. Wizards had ancient spells. Werewolves had strength."
He looked at his hands.
"I had nothing."
Elyra interrupted.
"So you stole."
Vaelor's silver eyes hardened.
"I survived."
"You murdered."
"I became powerful."
"You became a monster."
Vaelor smiled.
"And yet you still fear me."
Before anyone could respond, the darkness behind Elyra moved.
A massive hand emerged from the blackness.
Sofia screamed.
Rohgah ran toward her.
"SOFIA!"
Elyra stepped aside.
The hand reached for Sofia.
Rohgah grabbed his sister.
The moment their hands touched—
BOOM!
Silver light exploded through the chamber.
The darkness recoiled.
Elyra's eyes widened.
"The bond."
Machir stared.
"What happened?"
Seraya whispered:
"They're resisting it."
Rohgah pulled Sofia toward him.
"Come with me."
Sofia looked at him.
"I want to."
"Then come."
"I can't."
"Why?"
She looked down at her wrist.
The black mark had spread.
It now covered almost her entire arm.
"It has connected to me."
Rohgah's face hardened.
"Then we'll break the connection."
Elyra shook her head.
"You can't."
Rohgah looked at her.
"Watch me."
He pressed his palm against Sofia's mark.
Pain shot through his body.
He screamed.
The seven circles on his palm ignited.
One.
Two.
Three.
The third circle began glowing.
Machir shouted:
"ROHGAH! STOP!"
Rohgah ignored him.
The darkness began pouring into his body.
His veins turned black.
Nicole screamed.
"Rohgah!"
Bella rushed forward.
Seraya stopped her.
"Don't touch him!"
"Why?"
"Because if you interrupt the bond, the Hollow may enter both of them."
Ashbel stared in horror.
"So what do we do?"
Seraya shook her head.
"I don't know."
Rohgah fell to one knee.
Sofia grabbed his shoulders.
"Let go!"
"No."
"You're dying!"
"I don't care."
"I do!"
Rohgah looked up.
"You're my sister."
Sofia's tears fell.
"And you're mine."
The silver light grew stronger.
For one moment, the darkness disappeared.
Then a voice spoke.
Not the Hollow.
Not Elyra.
Not Vaelor.
A man's voice.
Deep.
Familiar.
Rohgah froze.
"My son."
He looked around.
"Father?"
Seraya gasped.
"Kael."
The voice came again.
"Do not fight the Hollow with power."
Rohgah's eyes widened.
"Then how?"
"With choice."
The light around them flickered.
Kael's voice continued.
"The Hollow feeds on those who surrender themselves to it."
Rohgah breathed heavily.
"So I should resist."
"No."
Rohgah froze.
"No?"
"You must choose what it cannot take."
Rohgah looked at Sofia.
"What can't it take?"
Kael's voice softened.
"Love."
Silence.
Then the darkness screamed.
Rohgah understood.
The Hollow wanted fear.
It wanted control.
It wanted him to believe he belonged to it.
But he didn't.
He belonged to himself.
Rohgah stood.
"I choose my family."
The darkness recoiled.
"I choose my friends."
The third circle flickered.
"I choose my own life."
The black veins disappeared from his arm.
Elyra stared.
"You're stronger than I expected."
Rohgah looked at her.
"I don't want your throne."
Elyra smiled.
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Then why does the Hollow keep calling you?"
Rohgah didn't answer.
Elyra walked toward him.
"Because you are the only person who can break it."
Sofia looked at her.
"And I'm the key."
"Yes."
"What happens if I die?"
Elyra's expression changed.
"The seal opens."
Everyone froze.
Seraya immediately stepped forward.
"No."
Elyra continued.
"But if you willingly give yourself to the Hollow…"
She looked at Rohgah.
"…the seal can be broken from within."
Rohgah understood.
"You want Sofia to sacrifice herself."
"No."
Elyra shook her head.
"The Hollow wants that."
She looked toward the darkness.
"And it will do everything possible to convince her."
Sofia stepped backward.
"So that's why it showed me those memories."
"Yes."
"And why it brought me here."
"Yes."
"Then what does it want from Rohgah?"
Elyra looked at him.
"The same thing it wanted from Kael."
Rohgah's blood ran cold.
"What?"
"His choice."
Suddenly, the chamber shook.
The enormous creature behind Elyra roared.
The third circle on Rohgah's palm turned completely black.
Machir stared at it.
"That's not possible."
Seraya's face went pale.
"What?"
Machir whispered:
"The third seal."
Rohgah looked down.
The third circle was no longer dark.
It was glowing.
But unlike the first two…
it was glowing red.
Vaelor smiled.
"The third seal has chosen him."
Rohgah looked toward him.
"Chosen me for what?"
Vaelor's smile widened.
"To become what your father refused to become."
The Hollow's voice thundered through the chamber.
"KING."
The floor beneath Rohgah split open.
A crown of black fire rose from the darkness.
It floated directly above his head.
Sofia screamed:
"ROHGAH, DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU!"
Rohgah stared at the crown.
He could hear whispers.
Power.
Strength.
Revenge.
Everything he had lost.
Everything he had once been.
The crown slowly descended.
Rohgah closed his eyes.
Then he whispered:
"I choose nothing that belongs to you."
He raised his hand.
And instead of touching the crown—
he let it fall.
The crown struck the ground.
CRACK.
It shattered.
The Hollow screamed.
Vaelor's smile disappeared.
Elyra looked shocked.
And somewhere far above them, inside Ravenshade High…
every supernatural student suddenly heard the same voice.
"THE HEIR HAS REFUSED THE CROWN."
Then another voice followed.
"BEGIN THE HUNT."
The school doors slammed shut.
Every window turned black.
And across Ravenshade…
hundreds of red eyes opened.
The supernatural kingdoms had just been warned.
The Hollow was no longer waiting for Rohgah to become its king.
It had decided to hunt him instead.