Chapter 24: Liora
The name echoed in Kael's mouth like a curse.
"Liora."
He stared at the mural, hand still against the crumbling brick. The paint was ancient, but there was no mistaking the girl in it. Her eyes were Lyra's sharp and burning with something untamed. But the name beneath it was not.
Lyra stood frozen in the street, her shadow long and still in the mist. She didn't deny it.
Didn't even flinch.
"You've been lying to me," Kael said quietly. "This whole time."
She stepped forward, her boots crunching over gravel. "It's not a lie. It's a name I left behind."
Kael turned to face her, rage and confusion boiling beneath the surface. "You said the town erased people. Erased names. But you erased yours. Why?"
Lyra no, Liora lifted her chin. "Because Liora died the night this town chose silence over salvation."
The fog shifted overhead. A low moan of wind crawled through the alley like the town itself was listening.
Liora folded her arms across her chest. "I was born here, Kael. Whisperwood was home until it wasn't. Until they did something that couldn't be undone."
Kael stepped back, his voice cracking. "You let me think you were just a hunter. A wanderer who came looking for answers. But you were a piece of the puzzle the whole time."
"I didn't remember at first," she said. "Not clearly. The curse took parts of me, just like it took you. But I chose to let Lyra live so I could survive long enough to come back."
"You could've told me."
"You wouldn't have believed me."
He laughed bitterly. "Try me."
Her expression turned icy. "Like you believed me about the Hollow Saint? About the voices? About the mimic? Or do you only believe things once they tear out someone's soul in front of you?"
Kael stepped forward, closing the distance. "I believed in you. That's what hurts."
A long silence fell.
Then he whispered, "So what else aren't you telling me, Liora?"
Before she could answer, the fog behind them shifted fast.
Kael spun just in time to see a figure dart from behind the old chapel.
Liora grabbed his arm. "Run."
They sprinted down the alley. Shadows peeled off the walls three figures, cloaked in black, their faces hidden beneath cracked porcelain masks.
Each mask had no mouth.
Only eyes.
Watching.
They ducked into an abandoned bookshop, the glass already broken, the air thick with dust and rot. Liora slammed the door shut and barred it with a splintered table leg. Kael crouched low, knife drawn.
"They weren't townfolk," he hissed. "They didn't move like them."
Liora shook her head. "They aren't part of Whisperwood anymore. They belong to something underneath it."
Kael glanced at her. "What do you mean?"
She pulled a faded cloth from her bag and unwrapped it.
A sigil burned into leather. Jagged. Ancient.
Kael's stomach turned. "What is that?"
"They call themselves the Hollow Circle," she said. "They're not cursed. They chose the Saint. Made deals with it. Gave it names to feed on ours."
Kael looked toward the broken window. The fog outside was still. Too still.
Liora continued, "They've been watching us since we started digging. Rourke wasn't the only mimic in this town. Some don't just copy voices they wear faces."
Kael's skin crawled. "You mean they're already among us?"
"They are the us we trusted," she said.
They waited in silence for an hour. The shadows outside shifted, but no one came.
Kael stared at the sigil, then at her. "If you're really from here… then you know how this ends."
Liora's voice was flat. "Yes. With the town consuming us. Or with someone breaking the cycle."
"And what's the cost of that?"
She met his eyes. "Someone doesn't get to leave."
They made their way out just before dawn, when the fog began to thin like retreating breath. The town was quiet again but too quiet. No birds. No wind. Just buildings watching like sentinels.
At the edge of the square, Kael froze.
Someone stood at the fountain.
A young girl. Pale dress. Long hair.
Liora's breath hitched.
The girl looked up.
It was Seren.
Or her ghost
Seren lifted a hand. Her voice was hollow and too clear, like it came from a tunnel.
"You left me in the well."
Then she vanished.