The Academy was chaos.
Students crowded the halls, professors barked orders, and the bells rang without pause. Whispers turned to shouts, shouts to panic. Alaric sat slumped against a wall, his chest still burning, his eyes faintly glowing with eclipse fire.
He heard them. Every word.
"…He's becoming one of them…"
"…His eyes weren't human…"
"…What if he's the one opening the rifts?"
Clem knelt beside him, her hand firm on his shoulder. "Ignore them. You're here, you're alive, and that's what matters."
Darvin crouched on his other side, his voice steadier than usual. "They'll see the truth, brother. Just give it time."
But Alaric shook his head, his voice hoarse. "Time's running out. Every day, the rifts open wider. Every day, more of them bow. I…" He gripped the amber stone so tightly his knuckles whitened. "I don't know how much longer I can hold it back."
Clem's eyes softened, her voice low. "Then we'll hold it with you. That's what friends do."
Darvin grinned faintly. "Besides, if you ever go full Hollow King, I'll just smack some sense into you."
Alaric almost laughed. Almost.
Then the torches flickered.
The air grew cold. Too cold.
Shadows rippled across the walls, stretching, twisting, forming long arms and faceless heads.
Hollow Ones.
"Not now," Clem hissed, rising to her feet, dagger in hand.
Darvin stood too, his blade flashing. "Come on then. Let's finish this."
But these Hollow Ones didn't attack Alaric.
They surged past him.
Straight toward Clem and Darvin.
"No!" Alaric shouted, leaping to his feet, but the chains inside him rattled weakly. His body still ached from the Eclipse fire, his limbs heavy. He reached for his power, but it sputtered, unstable.
The Hollows wrapped around his friends like living smoke. Clem slashed, Darvin struck, but their blades passed through shadow. The Hollow Ones tightened, dragging them toward a rift splitting open in the hall.
And then he saw them.
Figures emerging from the rift — not Hollow Ones, but humans. Hooded, cloaked, their eyes glowing faintly red. Followers of Eryndor.
One stepped forward, his voice low, mocking. "The king has chosen his knights. The rest are just distractions."
Clem spat at him, fury burning in her eyes. "You'll never touch him!"
Darvin snarled, struggling against the shadows. "Alaric! Don't let them—!"
Alaric screamed, unleashing a blast of golden-black fire. The hall shook, the floor cracked, professors shouted in panic — but the rift swallowed his flames like water devouring sparks.
The Hollow Ones tightened their grip. Clem and Darvin were dragged backward, their screams echoing.
Alaric ran, his hand outstretched. "No! Take me instead! Leave them!"
The hooded man's crimson gaze flicked to him. He smiled. "You'll follow soon enough. When you're ready to kneel."
The rift snapped shut.
Silence crashed down. The hall was empty. Clem and Darvin were gone.
Alaric fell to his knees, his scream ripping through the Academy. His fire flared wildly, scorching stone, shattering glass. Students shrank back in terror, professors raised wards to contain the blaze.
But he didn't care.
His friends — his only anchors — were gone.
Taken by the very shadows that bowed to him.
Eldrin appeared through the chaos, his staff glowing, his face grave. He forced the wards tighter, pushing the wild fire back into Alaric's chest until the boy collapsed, trembling and broken.
"Where…" Alaric gasped. His voice cracked. "Where did they take them?"
Eldrin knelt, his voice calm but heavy. "Into the Rift. Into Eryndor's realm."
Alaric's vision blurred with tears and rage. "Then I'll go after them."
"You cannot," Eldrin said firmly. "Not now. You barely returned alive. If you follow again without control—"
"I don't care!" Alaric roared, his fire flaring. "They're all I have left!"
The Headmaster's gaze softened, but his voice remained steady. "Then you must be ready. Or you will lose them and yourself."
Alaric's chest heaved. He gripped the amber stone, its faint pulse echoing his fury.
Clem. Darvin.
The chains rattled violently, shadows whispering promises of power if he only let go.
Eryndor's voice coiled through his mind, smooth, mocking. "…See how easily they fall. See how weak your light truly is. Come, Alaric. Claim what is yours, and I will return them to you."
Alaric shut his eyes, trembling, his heart tearing apart.
For the first time, he realized the truth.
The final battle wasn't just about stopping Eryndor.
It was about saving his friends.
And he would burn through every shadow, every chain, every doubt to do it.