The Hollow Abyss was awake.
A pulse, slow and rhythmic like the heartbeat of something ancient, vibrated through the black stone beneath Zyra's feet. It wasn't just the sound—it was a feeling, an awareness pressing into her skull, into her very bones.
Kieran felt it too.
His golden eyes were locked on the darkness ahead, his grip on his twin blades tightening. There was no wind, no movement—yet the space before them shifted as if something unseen was breathing.
Zyra swallowed hard. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."
Kieran didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something only he could hear. His jaw clenched.
"We're not alone," he murmured.
Zyra exhaled, forcing herself to steady her racing heart. "When are we ever?"
The ground beneath them lurched.
A massive, jagged crack split open just a few feet ahead, and from within, a mist-like shadow began to rise—dense, writhing tendrils curling upward, carrying with them a voice that was neither human nor beast.
A whisper. A growl. A presence.
"Mortal flesh… yet not bound by mortal chains… You do not belong here."
The mist solidified.
It had a form now.
Not a shadow. Not quite flesh. But a creature, tall and towering, its presence sending a primal shudder through Zyra's veins. Its eyes—if they could even be called that—were deep wells of darkness, shifting like ink, watching them.
Ancient. Hungry. Curious.
Kieran took a slow step forward, his body taut like a coiled spring. "We didn't come to fight."
The creature laughed. A deep, resonant sound that echoed through the Abyss.
"And yet… battle follows you like a curse."
The darkness around them rippled, moving unnaturally, as if responding to the thing's will.
Zyra's hand hovered over the dagger at her hip. She didn't trust this thing. It wasn't just some guardian—it was something more.
Something old.
Something dangerous.
The creature turned its unreadable gaze on her.
"You… are fire. A spark in a void that does not suffer light."
Zyra lifted her chin. "And you're standing in my way."
It regarded her for a moment, silent. Then, slowly, it smiled.
"Good."
Then it attacked.
---
A Battle of Shadows and Fire
Zyra barely had time to move before the creature struck—a shadow tendril lashing out faster than a viper. She ducked, rolling to the side, feeling the icy chill of its presence brush past her.
Kieran was already moving, his blades flashing as he slashed through the tendrils. The creature's laughter echoed, undisturbed.
"You think steel can cut the Abyss?"
The shadows thickened.
Kieran disappeared.
One moment he was there, and the next, the Abyss swallowed him whole.
"No—!" Zyra's breath caught, panic flaring in her chest.
She felt him.
He wasn't dead—she would have felt that. But he was gone, pulled somewhere else.
And she was alone.
Her fire blazed to life, casting flickering orange light against the endless black.
The creature tilted its head.
"Will you burn away the darkness, little flame?"
Zyra's fingers curled, her pulse pounding in her ears. "Watch me."
She threw her hand forward, fire exploding outward. The force of it shattered the ground beneath her feet, sending cracks rippling through the Abyss itself.
The creature let out a guttural snarl, recoiling. For the first time, it felt her flames.
Zyra pressed forward, every step igniting fire beneath her. The Abyss tried to close in, but she wouldn't let it.
"Where did you take him?" she demanded, flames licking up her arms.
The creature didn't answer. Instead, it changed.
Its shape melted, twisted, became something else.
The face it took sent a cold shock through Zyra's system.
Kieran.
Not him—not truly—but a perfect copy. Golden eyes, midnight-black hair, the strong lines of his face… but his expression was empty.
Lifeless.
The thing smiled.
"You fight for him. But does he fight for you?"
Zyra's stomach twisted. She knew what this was.
A test. A trick. A manipulation.
She wouldn't fall for it.
She lifted her chin, fire burning hotter around her. "You're going to regret trying this."
She struck first.
Her flames engulfed the false Kieran, but instead of vanishing, the thing moved with it.
Shadow and fire twisting together.
It laughed.
"He burns for you, little flame. But will he survive it?"
Zyra's blood ran cold.
Because she knew what it was really asking.
What it was warning.
Kieran's fate was already tied to hers. But if she wasn't careful… her fire would be what destroyed him.
The realization struck like a dagger to the chest.
And for the first time, Zyra hesitated.
A single moment.
But it was enough.
The shadows swarmed her.
---
Kieran's Awakening
Kieran gasped awake, his body hitting cold, hard stone.
The Abyss had taken him.
It had swallowed him whole and dropped him into a space that felt… wrong.
The air was thick, suffocating. The shadows here weren't just darkness—they were alive. They clung to him, whispering in a hundred voices, pressing into his mind.
"You are not free."
"You are bound."
"She will burn you away."
Kieran clenched his jaw, pressing his palms against the stone beneath him. His head pounded.
He could still feel Zyra. Distant. Struggling.
He forced himself up, ignoring the weight pressing against his chest.
Then, suddenly—
He saw her.
Not the real her.
A vision, shifting like smoke.
Zyra, standing over his burning corpse.
Her face twisted in anguish. Her flames consuming everything.
And Kieran, reaching for her— but she couldn't save him.
The shadows hissed.
"She will be your undoing."
Kieran's pulse roared in his ears.
Then, slowly—he smiled.
A sharp, wicked smile that sent the darkness recoiling.
"You think I don't already know that?"
He clenched his fists.
And burned through the Abyss.
---