Chapter 19: The Hollowing
The scraping outside grew louder. Not footsteps something dragging across the ground.
Lyra's fingers tightened around her dagger. Kael stood frozen, his breath shallow.
The old man in the corner let out a strangled sob. "Don't look."
But it was too late.
The door creaked open.
A figure stepped inside.
At first glance, it was just a man. A townsperson someone ordinary.
But then Lyra saw the way he moved.
His head twitched at an unnatural angle, his limbs jerking as if he were a puppet on frayed strings. His mouth hung slightly open, lips forming words that never came. His eyes—
Empty.
Not blind. Not dead.
Just hollow.
Something had taken whatever had been inside him.
Kael inhaled sharply. "Gods…"
The old man pressed himself further into the corner, his sewn hands trembling. "This is what they do. When you remember too much, when you resist—" His voice broke. "They take what makes you you."
Lyra's pulse pounded.
The hollow man took another step forward. His mouth opened. This time, sound came out—
But it wasn't his voice.
It was a chorus. A layering of voices, whispering over each other in sick harmony. Some spoke in warning. Others in laughter.
And then
One voice cut through the others.
Kael.
It spoke his name.
Kael staggered back. His entire body tensed, his hands flying to his temples as if something had just burrowed into his skull.
Lyra lunged forward, grabbing his arm. "Kael, stay with me."
But his breathing had gone ragged, his eyes wide with something between pain and recognition.
"I—I remember " His voice faltered. "No. No, that's not right. That's not me."
The hollow man took another step forward.
And then he turned his head all the way around.
Bones cracked. His skin stretched. But there was no pain, no hesitation just an impossible, unnatural shift as his face twisted backward to look at them.
Lyra yanked Kael toward the door. "We're leaving. Now."
The old man didn't follow.
He just gave them one last, haunted look. "You should have never come here."
And then
The hollow man let out a sound.
Not a scream. Not a word.
Just static.
Like a hundred voices trying to speak but never quite forming words.
Lyra grabbed Kael and ran.
The static followed them.