Echoes of Hollow

Watching from a distance, standing among some trees, Hye observed Hilary interacting with the wolves, specifically Eudora. The girl’s nervousness was evident, but little by little, with each exchanged sentence and thanks to Hilary’s persistence, it seemed to be gradually dissipating. Eventually, she even allowed herself a small smile as Hilary placed the lollipop in her mouth.

“...” His eyes scanned the area, focusing on each werewolf present, especially those around Hilary's age. “Call the others, but let the children stay where they are.”

Lykos hesitated. But in his mind, a sharp pain spread at the mere thought of not following the request, leaving him no choice but to obey, even though he detested it.

“Yes...”

As he walked towards the mountain, with his path lit by various strings of small lights wrapped around the trees' trunks and the moonlight shining above, Hye felt the fire in his blood begin to subside. His veins relaxed, his heart's pulse slowed, and physically, he returned to his usual state.

However, his mind wandered as his gaze drifted toward the stars twinkling in the sky. Suddenly, floating before his eyes, the following messages appeared:

[Warning!] [The egg of the void's servant in the Realm of the Void is about to hatch]

***************

“Lykos, I...” Andreas murmured, clenching his teeth, his claws unintentionally digging into his arm. “Is this my fault...?”

Glances turned toward him, watching quietly and carefully, trying not to be noticed. The weight of his guilt pressed heavily on his shoulders, growing with each passing moment as he blamed himself for creating this problem.

“So, I... if I...”

“Aren’t you ashamed?” Arche questioned, shifting the focus of the glances around. “Judging others with such confidence when, without even giving yourselves the chance to be chosen, all of you hid in the most cowardly way possible, not even allowing them to look directly into your eyes.”

“Ha!” A sneer formed on one of the men’s faces before he spat on the ground. “Says the one who didn’t...”

A heavy force pushed his head down toward the ground. With Arche’s foot pressed against his head, he looked around at those nearby, while Arche glared intensely at each one of them.

“Aaahh...!” She sighed deeply, shaking her head in disapproval. “It seems some of you still don’t get it and continue acting just as irritating and opportunistic as before. Do you really think that after lifting a few blocks when he’s here, you can just sit in a corner and chat with each other as soon as he leaves? That doing just that counts as having done your part?”

Increasing the pressure she applied, her claws extended slowly, and though she wasn’t fully aware of it, black fur started to sprout on different parts of her body. A dark, dust-like aura began swirling around her and her glowing eyes, which became more intense by the second.

“We’re not in that forest anymore, so accept that your false sense of freedom has become even more restricted. Unless you already have everything, no one is capable of doing something out of pure kindness. Many of you have children, too, so stop being useless! Otherwise, if any of you dares...”

“It’s fine,” Lykos interjected, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. “I think they’ve understood.”

As Lykos led Arche away, a small, sharp click of her tongue echoed, reaching Andreas and snapping him out of his distracted state. After scanning the surroundings and seeing the heavy glares now directed at him and those around him, he grabbed the hand of the woman beside him and left the scene, leaving the others behind.

“Don’t you think that was a bit...,” Lykos murmured as they walked, his hands massaging Arche’s shoulders delicately, “...excessive?”

“No... they’ll be shocked, but after that, I believe some of them will return to their senses... at least a few.”

“And what about the others?”

“...”

A cold breeze rustled their hair and the leaves in the trees around them. Sighing, Arche turned after glancing briefly at the starry sky, where an almost full moon shone—a sight that, just days ago, would have been her greatest nightmare. Not for her own sake, but because, even though she was so young, Eudora had to endure her bones breaking and then reconstructing repeatedly—a process so painful that, in her memories, she could recall each one of her transformations until the pain had become somewhat bearable. Now, looking back, Arche realized that with all the random, fast-moving thoughts in her mind, there was a name for this kind of thing in the world they were now in... trauma.

“We don’t have time for this...” she said, noticing at the last moment, as their eyes met briefly, that Andreas was approaching from behind. “We have all left so much behind, so whether they will be able to hold on will depend on themselves... Eudora is all that matters to me... and it should be the same for you.”

“No, it’s not the same for me...”

Those few words were enough to earn him a sharp, intense glare from Arche, her expression twisted in discontent as her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed.

“After all, I have you, too.”

Her eyebrows shot up, her eyes wide in surprise. Left speechless, she turned, leaving Lykos behind as she walked ahead, a strange, warm feeling filling her chest.

Letting out a small smile, Lykos briefly looked back at Andreas before following her. Continuing onward, he realized that brief moment of happiness had thankfully calmed him, though perhaps more than it should have. After all, what reason was there to smile when he didn’t even know what was coming next?

“Are you okay, love?” the woman asked, worried as she felt Andreas’s hand tremble, his grip tightening painfully around hers.

“Yes...” he replied, watching Lykos and Arche’s figures disappear into the distance. “Let’s keep going.”

The four of them arrived where Hye was waiting almost at the same time. Together, they all froze, unable to describe what they were witnessing. Standing before them was an enormous black egg, nearly twice their size, surrounded by a strange, dark dust. Despite being the ones observing it, somehow, they all instinctively felt as though they were the ones being watched.