The Hollow Star

The dreams returned.

Celeste woke with a sharp breath, drenched in sweat, her heart pounding like war drums. Flames roared behind her eyelids, but this time they weren’t hers. They were colder. Hungrier. And above it all—a star, black and empty, pulsing in the void.

Kael stirred beside her, his arm instinctively reaching for her.

"The same dream?" he asked.

Celeste nodded. "Worse. It’s not the Devourer this time. It’s something deeper. Something… older."

She rose and crossed to the balcony, gazing into the Infernal sky. Since the sealing of the Fourth Seal, the stars had returned. But tonight, a patch of darkness spread like ink, swallowing starlight. Her breath caught.

"Kael?" she whispered.

He followed her gaze. His eyes narrowed. "That’s no ordinary void. That’s a Hollow Star."

---

The Forgotten Texts

Astraea summoned them to the Archive—an ancient library hidden beneath the ruins of the old Celestial Spire, once used to record forbidden histories.

"The Hollow Star is a sign of awakening," Astraea said, her expression grim. "Not of the Devourer—but of the Forgotten One."

Kael frowned. "You mean the being even the Devourer feared? I thought it was a myth."

Astraea shook her head. "The Hollow Star marks its return. Before there were realms, before the war between light and dark, there was the Prime Flame. And before that flame… there was the Hollow."

Celeste ran her fingers along the aged parchment. "And this Hollow wants to return."

"It never left," Astraea whispered. "It merely slept."

---

An Alliance Tested

Celeste called an emergency gathering of the Council of Flames. But this time, there was resistance.

Vakthros, once humbled, stood defiant. "Every time we bow to prophecy, we bleed. Why follow another shadow dream?"

Celeste stood firm. "Because this isn’t about dreams anymore. Look at the sky. Look at the magic breaking down. You think it coincidence that crops rot, water turns bitter, and spells misfire? The Hollow Star is poisoning reality."

Some still doubted. But Kael stepped forward.

"Let her lead us. Or fall to something that doesn't care about demons or angels. Only void."

Reluctantly, the council agreed.

Preparations began.

---

The Return of the Soulforger

To face the Hollow, they needed weapons—ones forged in ancient fire. Celeste, Kael, Nyra, and Astraea ventured beyond the Scorched Peaks into the Maw of Elandor, where the last Soulforger was said to slumber.

The journey was perilous. Nightmares came to life. Reality bent in cruel ways. Kael nearly lost himself in a mirror maze where his worst selves battled him with truth-laced words.

Celeste found the Soulforger buried in obsidian, a creature of living metal and molten light. It awoke with a thunderous roar.

"The Hollow stirs, and you seek flame?"

"We seek hope," Celeste said.

The Soulforger saw her heart and agreed—on one condition.

"Flame must be earned. Through sacrifice. Through pain. Through fire."

---

The Trial of Flame

Celeste entered alone.

Inside the chamber, she faced her past—her mother’s dying screams, her father’s abandonment, the betrayal she still feared from Kael. Every emotion burned her, stripped her, left her raw.

But she did not run.

She accepted it all.

When she emerged, she carried not a blade, but a heart of flame—pure, radiant, and alive. The Soulforger smiled.

"You are ready."

---

The Hollow Approaches

As the stars flickered and the Hollow grew, Celeste returned to the tower. Her flame pulsed brighter than ever.

But across the sky, a voice echoed.

Not a scream.

Not a roar.

But a lullaby.

And somewhere in the dark, something opened its eyes.