Alina couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.
Even inside the ruined temple, with ancient magic humming faintly around them, something had shifted. The air felt thinner. Sharper. Like a storm was building beneath the surface of the Hollow.
Selene noticed it too. She stood at the edge of the altar chamber, her eyes narrowed, lips parted slightly—as if listening for a sound Alina couldn't hear.
"The forest is restless," Selene murmured.
Alina didn't move. "What does that mean?"
"It means something's coming."
They didn't have time to argue.
A howl shattered the silence—deep, guttural, inhuman. It echoed through the trees, then again, closer. Then again, just outside the temple.
Alina grabbed her dagger.
"Witchspawn," Selene whispered. "Twisted by dark magic. They're not mine."
"You sure?" Alina asked coldly.
Selene didn't answer. Her jaw tightened.
The temple door exploded inward.
A creature burst through—taller than any man, all limbs and teeth, with skin like cracked stone and eyes that glowed with crimson fire. It didn't hesitate. It lunged.
Alina moved first. She slashed upward, cutting across its chest. Black blood hissed into the air.
Selene followed with a blast of light from her palm—pure, blinding, and searing. The thing screeched, stumbled, then charged again.
Alina and Selene stood back to back now. Fighting without speaking. Moving like parts of the same body.
Another creature appeared. Then another.
"They're swarming," Selene said. "This is no accident."
Alina gritted her teeth. "Someone sent them."
Selene's eyes flicked toward the altar. "They're after the prophecy."
Alina dove for it, yanking the scroll from the stone.
A creature leapt at her. She rolled under it, came up slicing, then sprinted to Selene's side.
"We can't hold them all," she said.
Selene didn't reply. Her eyes had gone distant—like she was listening again. But this time, it wasn't fear she wore. It was realization.
"We need to run," Alina snapped.
"No," Selene said. "There's something else. Someone else."
Behind the creatures, through the broken archway, a figure appeared.
Tall. Hooded. Robed in black.
And when the wind shifted, Alina saw what he carried:
A Flamebound blade.
Her breath caught.
"That's impossible," she whispered.
Selene took a step forward. "Who is he?"
But Alina already knew.
"Someone who was supposed to be dead."
The figure lifted the blade—and pointed it directly at Alina.