Kael didn't speak for the first hour after we left the outpost.
The silence between us was a living thing—bitter, heavy, crawling along our skin like static.
We weaved through rusted alleys and abandoned shipping yards, each step taking us further from what we knew, and deeper into something darker.
Smoke still hung in the sky from the earlier chaos. The government drones had pulled back, but not for long.
We were being hunted. I could feel it, not just in the way Kael watched every rooftop, but in the way my Mark pulsed in slow, warning beats against my wrist.
We passed what used to be a park. Trees long dead. Swings twisted with broken chains. I remembered what Kael said before we left: "We're heading to Black Hollow." She never explained what that meant, only that if we wanted answers, if we wanted to live, we had to find what was left of it.
I didn't realize then how much it would change everything.
Black Hollow wasn't on any map. We only knew we were there when the air changed—thicker, colder.
The buildings slumped like they were ashamed of still standing. The wind carried whispers that might've been voices or just our nerves cracking.
"This place is cursed," I said before I could stop myself.
Kael gave a humorless chuckle. "No. Curses are easy. This place is worse."
We crossed what had once been a barricade made of old steel and rebel flags. The entrance to the underground facility lay behind a crumbled statue of a resistance leader, one of the first to die when the Queen started her purge.
The plaque at the base was blackened, unreadable.
"Here," Kael said, brushing ash off a keypad hidden behind a panel. "Help me pry this open."
It took both of us to wrench the door free. Inside, a tunnel yawned open, leading into pitch black. Kael lit a glowstick and dropped it down. The green light spiraled for seconds before hitting the bottom.
"Still intact," she muttered. "Let's go."
We descended a rusted spiral staircase, step by step. The metal groaned under us, but held. At the base, the tunnel opened into a hallway lit by flickering emergency lights.
The walls were covered in handprints.
Small ones.
Children's.
I didn't ask. I couldn't.
The main chamber was buried under layers of security, most of it already torn apart. Kael moved like she'd been here before—maybe she had. She bypassed half-fried locks and swiped old IDs off skeletons wearing rebel uniforms.
We reached a control room with a cracked ceiling and a wall of monitors. Kael powered up the core generator, and the place groaned to life. One by one, the screens lit up.
"What is this place?" I asked.
Kael typed rapidly. "Before the Queen turned on us, this was one of the Marked sanctuaries. A last resort for those who heard the voice."
My Mark pulsed again, stronger.
A door hissed open behind us. We turned, blades drawn. But no one stood there.
Just an old room. Lit faintly. A single pedestal in the middle, with a circular stone set into the top—and etched into it was the exact shape of my Mark.
Kael walked forward, cautiously. "It's a trigger. Ancient tech. Something left by the first Marked. Put your hand on it."
I hesitated. "What if it hurts?"
"Everything hurts," she said quietly. "The point is to survive it."
I stepped forward and pressed my hand to the stone.
Pain lanced through my body, sharp and electrifying. My knees buckled but I didn't scream. The air vibrated around me as symbols flared to life on the walls—hundreds of them.
A voice thundered in my head:
"The seventh flame is born. The cycle spins. Beware the eyes that burn in silence."
I pulled my hand back, gasping. My Mark was glowing like a star.
Kael knelt beside me. "Did you hear it?"
I nodded.
"That confirms it. You're not the first. But you might be the last."
Outside, the sky had grown darker. The Queen's forces were close—we could feel it. We heard the faint click of drones and the distant pulse of hovercrafts.
Kael packed fast, her movements sharp. "They're coming. We need to split up."
"What? No."
"They'll follow my signal. I'll draw them off. You follow the path this place showed you. It's encoded now in your Mark. It'll guide you."
I shook my head, grabbing her arm. "Kael, we barely know what we're doing. I can't do this alone."
She touched my cheek, a rare softness in her eyes. "You won't be alone. The voice will be with you. And so will I. Always."
I didn't want to cry.
I almost did.
She leaned in, lips brushing mine—a kiss that wasn't about romance, or even comfort. It was survival. A promise.
Then she was gone.
I fled into the ruins while the sky burned behind me. My Mark pulsed like a heartbeat, leading me forward. I didn't know where I was going, but for the first time, I believed I would find out.
Not just who I was.
But who I had to become.
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To Be Continued.....
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