Within a Hollow Heart

Chapter 143: Volume 2, Chapter 87: "Shadows of the Next Move"

The silence in the chamber after the battle was suffocating, broken only by the soft crackling of energy that still pulsed faintly from the Knot. The Severed lay defeated, but their dark magic had left a scar in the air—one that Cole could feel, like an echo of the void lingering in the space between moments.

Elara sat slumped against the wall, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. Her strength was spent, the toll of using the amulet to stabilize the Knot evident in the pale hue of her skin. Cole knelt beside her, concern etched in his features.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, his voice carrying the exhaustion they all felt.

Elara nodded weakly. "Just need... a moment. The Knot... it was more damaged than I thought. We barely held it together."

Marcus stood over one of the fallen Severed, his face unreadable. He nudged the lifeless figure with the tip of his boot, frowning. "They're getting bolder, more aggressive. They knew we were coming. This wasn't just about tearing the Knot apart. They were trying to lure us here."

Selene, who had been wiping the blood from her blade, looked up sharply. "You think this was a trap?"

Marcus nodded grimly. "I don't think they expected to win this fight. But they wanted to slow us down—make us waste time, energy, resources. And we've given them exactly what they wanted."

Cole felt a pit form in his stomach. The Severed had always been cunning, but the idea that this entire battle had been orchestrated just to delay them made everything feel even more precarious. If this was a trap, what were they buying time for?

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"We need to regroup," Marcus said, his tone hardening. "Find out where they're going next. We can't afford to be reactive anymore—we have to get ahead of them."

"But how?" Selene asked, her brow furrowed. "We don't even know where the next Knot is. They could be tearing it apart right now."

Elara raised a trembling hand, pushing herself up against the wall for support. "There are still Guardian archives we haven't accessed. Some of them hold maps—records of where the Knots are located. But they're scattered, and finding them won't be easy."

"Then that's our next move," Marcus said firmly. "We go to the archives, gather what we can, and start making a plan. We can't keep running from Knot to Knot, always one step behind."

Cole looked over at the Knot, still pulsing faintly but now stable, for the moment. "And what about the Severed? They're not going to stop. If we spend too much time searching for answers, they'll unravel everything before we even know what hit us."

"We have no choice," Elara said, her voice steady despite her exhaustion. "The Severed are working on a larger plan. These Knots are part of it, but they're not the endgame. If we can figure out what their ultimate goal is, we might be able to stop them before they complete whatever it is they're trying to summon."

Marcus sheathed his sword, his eyes hard with determination. "Then we go. We gather what we need and put an end to this before the void consumes everything."

Selene stood, slipping her blade back into its scabbard. "We've wasted enough time here already. Let's get moving."

The group took a moment to gather themselves, each of them weighed down by the exhaustion of the battle and the heavy knowledge that this was only a temporary victory. As they made their way back through the narrow corridors of the sanctuary, Cole couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched—that the Severed, or something worse, was still lurking just beyond the edges of his perception.

The snow outside had stopped falling, but the world was still cold and quiet as they stepped out into the open air. The mountains loomed above them, jagged and unforgiving, and the path ahead was steep and treacherous. But they had no other choice. If they were going to stop the Severed, they had to keep moving.

The journey down the mountain was slow, each step carefully placed to avoid slipping on the snow-covered rocks. The air was thin, and every breath felt like a struggle as they descended toward the valley below.

As they walked, Cole fell into step beside Marcus, his mind heavy with thoughts of what lay ahead. "Do you really think the archives will have the answers we need?"

Marcus glanced at him, his face as unreadable as ever. "It's our best chance. The Guardians built those archives for a reason. They knew the void better than anyone else. If there's any knowledge left that can help us, it'll be there."

Cole nodded, though he couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty that clung to him. The Severed had been relentless so far, always one step ahead of them. Would they even have enough time to find the answers they needed before the next Knot began to fray?

As if reading his thoughts, Marcus spoke again, his voice quieter now. "I know it seems impossible. But we've come this far, and we've survived. We'll keep surviving. That's what we do."

Cole offered a small, tired smile. "We'll have to do more than just survive."

They reached the valley by midday, the sun high overhead, casting long shadows across the snow-covered landscape. The air was crisp, but the cold was less biting here, and they made their way toward a small cluster of trees where they could rest.

As they sat down to catch their breath, Elara pulled out a map, her fingers tracing the lines of the mountain range. "The nearest archive is still a few days' journey from here," she said. "But it's well-hidden, deep within the forest to the west. The Severed shouldn't know about it, but we'll need to be careful."

Marcus nodded. "We'll move at first light. No stops until we reach the archive."

Selene stretched her legs, her eyes scanning the horizon. "I'll take the first watch."

As the group settled in for a brief rest, Cole leaned back against one of the trees, his eyes drifting up to the sky. The clouds had cleared, revealing a stretch of blue, cold and distant but a welcome reprieve from the storm.

But even as he stared up at the sky, his mind couldn't escape the weight of what was coming. The Severed were growing stronger, more determined, and the void was always waiting, just beyond the edges of their reality.

They had held the line so far. But the next battle was looming, and Cole couldn't shake the feeling that the real war had only just begun.