White.
Not light.
Not warmth.
Not peace.
Just white — endless, blinding, empty.
I wasn't standing.
I wasn't falling.
I wasn't breathing.
I simply was.
Then the white thinned, like fog being pulled apart by invisible hands. Shapes formed. Shadows sharpened. Sound returned in fragments.
A heartbeat.
A distant howl.
A voice breaking.
"Lyra… please… open your eyes."
Rylan.
My chest tightened. I reached for the bond instinctively — and froze.
It wasn't golden.
It wasn't warm.
It wasn't even whole.
It was… muted.
Faint.
Like someone had wrapped it in cloth.
I forced my eyes open.
The world came back in pieces.
Stone.
Dust.
Broken ground.
The Ridge's arena — shattered, cracked, glowing with faint silver veins.
Wolves circled the edges, tense and silent.
Rowan stood with blood on his face.
Kade's hands shook.
Lucien was nowhere.
And Rylan—
Rylan was kneeling beside me, hands on my shoulders, eyes wild with fear.
"Lyra… Lyra, look at me."
I tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
Rylan's breath hitched. "No. No, no, no— don't do this. Stay with me."
I blinked slowly.
Everything felt… wrong.
Too sharp.
Too quiet.
Too still.
The air tasted different.
The ground hummed beneath me.
The Ridge's pulse wasn't outside anymore.
It was inside me.
Rylan cupped my face, voice cracking. "Lyra, please say something."
I opened my mouth.
A whisper escaped.
"Rylan."
His eyes flooded with relief. He pulled me into his arms, holding me so tightly it almost hurt.
Almost.
Because something else hurt more.
A cold ache deep in my chest — like a piece of me had been carved out and replaced with something that didn't belong.
Rylan pulled back, searching my face. "What happened? What did it do to you?"
I swallowed.
The words felt heavy.
"It didn't disappear."
Rylan froze.
"What?"
I lifted my hand.
Silver light flickered across my skin — but it wasn't the same as before. It was darker. Sharper. Edged with shadow.
The packs stepped back.
Rowan whispered, "What the hell…"
Kade muttered, "That's not normal."
Rylan's grip tightened. "Lyra… what's inside you?"
I looked at him.
At the wolves.
At the shattered arena.
At the Ridge.
And I told the truth.
"The Hollow didn't die."
Rylan's breath stopped.
"It moved."
Silence fell across the arena.
Rowan's voice shook. "Moved where?"
I pressed my hand against my chest.
"Here."
Rylan staggered back like he'd been hit.
"No."
I nodded.
"It's inside me."
The ground trembled.
Not from the Ridge.
From me.
A pulse of shadow rippled across the stone, faint but unmistakable. Wolves flinched. Rowan swore. Kade reached for his blade.
Rylan didn't move.
He just stared at me — terrified, heartbroken, desperate.
"Lyra… what did you do?"
I whispered,
"I bound it."
The wind stilled.
The Ridge hummed.
The Hollow stirred inside my chest — a cold, quiet presence, waiting.
Rylan's voice broke.
"Lyra… you're not the same."
I met his eyes.
"No. I'm not."
The bond flickered — gold struggling against silver and shadow.
And for the first time since stepping into the Hollow…
I felt afraid of myself.