A S H R I E L

The moment her scream hits the bond, I’m already moving. It’s instinct—violent, bone-deep, older than this academy and older than the Rift itself. One second I’m in the shadow of the curtain, the next the hallway cracks around me in a whip of cold air, and I’m standing in front of Elowen.

Luke’s hand is clamped around her waist, trying to pull her back, but she’s anchored to the floor by frost that shouldn’t be spreading that fast. And the thing crawling out of the locker, half-formed, gray, starving—turns its hollow face toward her like she’s the first breath of air it’s smelled in years.

“Elowen…” Her name spills out of its cracked mouth, dragged like a dying exhale. Her whole body jolts. Mine does too. Luke tries again, yanking her harder, but the frost snaps up her legs in a sudden burst. It isn’t random. It’s reacting. Claiming. Protecting her from something, or tying her to it. I can’t tell which yet.

The Hollowed tilts its head at me then, like it’s trying to understand why something in the hallway doesn’t fit its hunt.

“Elle! come on,” Luke begs, voice splitting. “Please. Move.” She can’t. I feel it through the bond, her panic like a brittle vibration under my ribs, her pulse stuttering, her breath clouding too fast. The frost tightens around her so sharply she flinches.

The moment Luke touches her, the frost flares, quick as a heartbeat and bites at his skin. He jumps back, stunned. He stares at her then, horrified, like he’s losing her right in front of him.

“Elle, what… what’s going on?” he whispers. She’s shaking, eyes glassy, too pale. The cold in her is spiraling without her control, and the creature senses it. Its limbs twitch in jagged, eager little movements.

“Do not touch her again,” I tell him.

“Like hell,” Luke snaps, breathless and terrified. “You think I’m letting you..”

“This isn’t me,” I say, stepping closer to her. “It’s responding to that.” I point at the Hollowed, and the thing reacts, its whole torso twisting toward her again, drawn like metal to a magnet. Something sharp curls cold and violent in my chest. It wants her.

I move without thinking. One step puts me fully between her and the creature, between her and everything that would tear her apart if I failed for even a breath. Luke shoves my shoulder. He puts everything he has into it. I don’t move.

“Get out of the way,” Luke growls.
“No.” My voice stays flat, steady. “Don’t come closer.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“She’s my responsibility.”
Luke flinches like I slapped him. His fear twists, turning into anger and something a lot like heartbreak. “She called for you,” he says, voice cracking on the last word. I feel her pulse spike behind me. I don’t look back, I can’t afford to but her fear hits me like a second heartbeat.

The Hollowed shifts again. Its spine cracks audibly.

“Final Seal…” it whispers. Luke pales.  I feel him staring at me like I’m the one who said it.

Her breath stutters.  A soft, pained sound slips out of her throat. I turn just enough to see her knees buckle. Luke lunges toward her. The frost reacts again, violent, protective and throws his hand back before he can touch her.

“Elowen,” I breathe.

I catch her before she hits the ground. Her fingers twist in the front of my coat like she’s drowning and I’m the only solid thing left in the room. She’s shaking, hard enough that her teeth chatter once against a soft inhale. Her magic is overloading. She’s burning cold.

Luke’s voice breaks. “Don’t touch her!”

“She’ll fall,” I snap.

“You don’t get to decide!”

“No one is deciding anything,” I say through my teeth. “She’s collapsing.” The Hollowed drags itself farther out, scraping metal. Fog curls along the floor, reaching for her like fingers. She tries to stand on her own, tries to pull away, but her legs give out and she sags into me. I feel the bond squeeze under my ribs like someone twisting a hook.

“Hold on,” I tell her. Her forehead presses into my shoulder for half a second, barely anything but the creature snarls at the contact.

I feel her pain. Not fully, but enough that it threatens to break my composure. Too sharp. Too cold. The cost of her magic is tearing through her system in uneven bursts.

Her breath hits my collarbone in a shaky rhythm, and for a terrifying moment, I think she might faint. My wings pull at reality, half-summoned under my skin, dangerous and uncontrolled, but I force them down.

“Stay with me,” I tell her. Her eyes lift to mine, unfocused but reaching.  The bond punches through the air between us, a hot-cold snap that steals my breath. She’s terrified.  Of the Hollowed. Of herself. Of hurting him.

I angle her behind me again, keeping one hand at her waist just long enough to steady her. She’s shivering so hard I can feel it through my coat. Luke sees it. Everything. And the expression on his face breaks something in me that has no name.

Luke shoves himself between me and the creature, like he intends to take the hit.

“You want her?” he spits, voice shaking. “You go through me.” The Hollowed twitches, head jerking in his direction.

“Luke.. move,” I warn.

“No. She needs me.” A pulse of frost slams through the hallway. Elle gasps.  Luke stumbles back, clutching his arm where the frost struck him. He looks at her like he’s watching his worst nightmare unfold.

I step forward. “Luke..” He backs away from both of us, eyes wild. “Every time he’s near you, this happens. Every single time.” Elle reaches for him weakly “Luke, please..” The Hollowed’s voice rasps:“Sunlight…flame… break…”

Luke’s shoulders shake. I feel the bond respond to her fear, her guilt, her heartbreak, sharp and overwhelming. My hands clench. The Hollowed shifts.  Its entire body goes still in a way that means only one thing..

It snaps toward him. Luke doesn’t understand the danger. He thinks it’s bravery. He thinks stepping between her and everything that wants to hurt her is enough.

“Come on,” he begs her, voice torn. “Get behind me. I can get you out..”

“You can’t,” I say. He rounds on me. “Shut up.” But the Hollowed hears that fear. That crack. That opening. Its head tilts, jaw unhinging slightly.

“Flame…” it whispers. Luke stiffens.
“What does that mean?”

Elle tries to answer, but she doesn’t get a sound out. Her breath fogs too fast, her fingers trembling as frost spirals up her wrist.

“She’s reacting to you,” I tell him. “To your fear.”

“To me?” His voice cracks. “No.. no way..” The Hollowed moves again, faster this time, body coiling like a spring.

“Choice…” it hisses. Then it launches.

A scream behind us, someone down the hall finally understands what they’re looking at. Rowan stares at Elle like he’s watching prophecy unfold in real time. The second-years are shaking, whispering things about curses, about frost, about the girl who makes lockers crack open. Luke hears them. Every word stabs deeper.

“This is what they think of you,” he whispers to her, voice cracking in the middle. “This is what he brings into your life.” The Hollowed’s limbs scrape the tile. It is done waiting.

The hallway drops ten degrees as the creature springs.

“LUKE!” Elle’s scream rips down the hall. She tries to run to him, but the frost snaps tight around her legs, yanking her back like a chain. She pushes against it until her voice breaks, hands reaching out, fingertips already coated in frost.

Luke doesn’t move. Not because of the creature. Because he’s finally realized the thing he’s been trying not to see, when Elle collapsed, she didn’t say his name. She said mine. That split second destroys him. And that’s the opening the Hollowed takes.

It swings for his throat, arm whipping forward in a blur, wrong angles, wrong speed, everything about it built for killing. Luke yells and throws up his arm, but the frost lining his skin splinters under the hit. I lunge, the air ripping at my back as my wings try to break through. Still too slow.

Elle screams my name like she’s breaking in half. The Hollowed’s claws catch Luke’s skin— and the world goes brutally, painfully silent.