The laughter lingered long after it ended.
Not in the air.
In Amara's mind.
A distant echo that refused to fade.
The mountain continued trembling beneath them.
Stone cracked.
Dust poured from the cliffs.
The fracture in the seal spread wider with every passing second.
The stranger pushed himself back to his feet, breathing heavily.
His silver light had faded considerably.
For the first time, he looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Anciently.
Like someone carrying a burden far older than he should.
"We have to move," he said.
The young man stared at the widening fracture.
"What about that?"
"We can't stop it here."
The answer came too quickly.
Too honestly.
Amara noticed it immediately.
The stranger had stopped pretending they could win.
That frightened her more than anything.
A thunderous crack echoed across the mountains.
The enormous hands pushed farther through the broken seal.
Reality warped around them.
The sky twisted.
The stars vanished.
Even the air felt wrong.
As though the world itself was struggling to contain what was emerging.
"Move!" the stranger shouted.
This time nobody argued.
They ran.
The mountains behind them groaned like living things.
Every few moments another shockwave rolled through the landscape.
The fracture was growing.
The prison was opening.
And something inside was becoming stronger.
Hours passed before they finally stopped.
Dawn was beginning to creep across the horizon.
Gray light spilled over the distant peaks.
Amara collapsed onto a flat rock, exhausted.
The young man wasn't in much better shape.
Only the stranger remained standing.
Silent.
Watching the eastern sky.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Amara broke the silence.
"Who are you?"
The stranger didn't turn around.
The young man looked up.
Apparently he wanted that answer too.
The wind swept through the valley.
Finally, the stranger sighed.
"I've been avoiding that question."
"Yes."
"For a reason."
Amara folded her arms.
"I'm tired of reasons."
A faint smile touched his lips.
Then disappeared.
"My name is Kael."
The name felt surprisingly ordinary.
After everything.
After the seals.
The prison.
The Hollow King.
She had expected something grander.
Older.
More mysterious.
Kael sat across from them.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then the young man raised an eyebrow.
"That's it?"
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know."
Kael laughed softly.
Neither of them joined him.
The amusement faded quickly.
"Seraphine said we need to find the Seventh Lock," Amara said.
Kael nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
A shadow crossed his expression.
"I know where it should be."
The young man frowned.
"'Should be'?"
Kael looked toward the horizon.
"After this long, nothing is certain."
Amara's patience was disappearing.
"Then tell us."
Kael's gaze settled on her.
"The Seventh Lock was hidden at the First Ruin."
The name meant nothing to her.
The reaction from the young man, however, was immediate.
His face paled.
"No."
Kael nodded grimly.
"Yes."
Amara looked between them.
"What is the First Ruin?"
Neither answered immediately.
Then Kael spoke quietly.
"It's where the world broke."
Silence.
The phrase sounded impossible.
Yet somehow familiar.
As though she had heard it before.
"In what way?" she asked.
Kael's eyes darkened.
"A war."
The wind grew stronger.
"A war so devastating that entire civilizations vanished."
Amara listened carefully.
"The mountains were shattered."
"The seas changed course."
"The sky burned for twelve days."
A chill ran through her.
"You're serious."
Kael nodded.
"That war created the seals."
The realization struck her instantly.
"The Hollow King."
"No."
Again.
That answer.
No.
Always no.
Always something worse.
Kael stared into the distance.
"The Hollow King was part of it."
The young man's expression tightened.
"And the thing beneath the prison?"
Kael's silence was answer enough.
Amara suddenly wished she hadn't asked.
The morning sun finally crested the mountains.
Golden light spilled across the valley.
For the first time in days, everything seemed peaceful.
Normal.
Then the shadow appeared.
It stretched across the ground.
Far too large.
Far too dark.
The three of them looked up simultaneously.
Something enormous moved across the clouds.
Not flying.
Gliding.
Watching.
Amara's stomach dropped.
"What is that?"
The creature disappeared into the clouds before she could get a clear look.
Only a massive silhouette remained.
Then even that vanished.
Kael's expression hardened.
"They're already searching."
"The Watchers?"
He nodded.
"The fracture alerted everyone."
The young man stood.
"Then we're out of time."
"Exactly."
Kael reached into his coat.
For the first time, he pulled out an object he had been carrying.
A compass.
Ancient.
Silver.
Covered in symbols Amara didn't recognize.
The needle spun wildly.
Then stopped.
Pointing east.
Toward distant lands hidden beyond the mountains.
Kael stared at it.
"The path is open."
Amara looked at the compass.
"What does it do?"
"It finds locks."
Her eyes widened.
"You had that the entire time?"
"Yes."
The young man groaned.
"Of course he did."
Kael ignored him.
For the first time in hours, genuine concern appeared in his eyes.
"The Seventh Lock isn't our only problem anymore."
The atmosphere shifted.
Amara felt it immediately.
"What do you mean?"
Kael slowly lowered the compass.
His gaze drifted toward the distant mountains behind them.
Toward the fractured seal.
Toward the prison.
Then he spoke.
"The prison wasn't holding one prisoner."
Silence.
Cold silence.
The same realization Amara had begun to fear.
The same possibility she had been trying not to consider.
Kael's voice became quieter.
"There were three."
The world seemed to stop.
The young man's face went white.
Amara's heart pounded.
Three.
Not one.
Three.
The Hollow King.
The prison.
And something else.
Something that laughed.
Something waiting in the dark.
Kael looked at both of them.
His expression was grim.
"The Hollow King may not be the enemy."
Far away, somewhere beyond the mountains, a deep horn echoed across the world.
Ancient.
Powerful.
A call to war.
The sound rolled across valleys and cliffs.
Across forests and ruins.
Across the broken lands.
And for the first time—
Amara realized the awakening wasn't a secret anymore.
The world knew.
And it was already responding.
The race for the Seventh Lock had begun.