Hollow Monarch - Riftborn

The night air burned in Kael's lungs as he ran.

The ruins of Blackreach blurred past—shattered stone archways, broken towers, the skeletal remains of a once-great city. The Hollow Veil assassins pursued, their movements inhumanly fast, their shadows twisting unnaturally beneath the faint glow of Riftlight.

Something whispered behind him.

Kael didn't look back. He knew what it was.

Hollow-Eye ran alongside them, his breath ragged, his body twitching unnaturally. The Rift had taken too much from him, twisting his flesh and mind. His pale, milky-white eyes stared unblinking, yet somehow, he still saw.

He had barely spoken since the fight. But now he was whispering.

Kael couldn't make out the words.

He didn't want to.

---

A Desperate Escape

Varian cursed. "They're too damn fast!"

The assassins moved like wraiths, flickering in and out of the shadows. One leaped onto a crumbling rooftop. Another blurred between the ruins, keeping pace.

Kael risked a glance over his shoulder. Three masked figures were gaining on them. Silent, relentless. One of them leaped onto a crumbling rooftop, moving with the fluid grace of a predator. Another blurred between the ruins, keeping pace like a phantom.

They weren't just assassins.

They were Riftborn.

Kael clenched his jaw. Then I just have to be faster.

The Rift pulsed in his chest, urging him to draw upon its power. He felt it—a well of cold hunger, waiting to be tapped. But the warnings echoed in his mind.

Use too much, and you lose yourself.

Varian grabbed his arm, yanking him into an alleyway just as a blade whistled through the space where Kael's head had been. The dagger buried itself into the crumbling stone wall, quivering.

Kael's heartbeat thundered. Too close.

Varian's eyes darted around. "We need to lose them. Fast."

The Hollow Veil agents didn't speak. They simply moved. Shadows flickered as they shifted, spreading out, cutting off escape routes.

Varian hissed. "Shit. They're boxing us in."

Kael thought fast. Running wouldn't work—not against them. They needed a distraction.

His gaze snapped to a nearby dilapidated building, its stonework weak from age and Rift corruption.

That'll do.

Varian," he said. "Trust me?"

Varian shot him a look. "No. But I don't have a choice, do I?"

Kael didn't answer. He reached into the Rift.

The whispers surged. Take. Consume. Destroy.

The air twisted. Energy coiled through his veins, dark and sharp, straining against his grip. He directed it—not at the assassins, but at the foundation of the building beside them.

The stone shuddered. Cracks spiderwebbed outward.

Then the entire wall collapsed.

A thunderous roar filled the alleyway as stone and debris came crashing down, sending a thick cloud of dust billowing

through the ruins.

Kael and Varian bolted.

The assassins vanished in the cloud, their pursuit momentarily halted.

Kael didn't slow. He tore through the streets, Varian beside him.

They didn't stop until they reached the outskirts of the ruined district, breathless and covered in dust.

Varian wheezed, hands on his knees. "You really like making things difficult, don't you?"

Kael ignored him, scanning the streets. The Hollow Veil would still be coming.

They needed to move.

But first—answers.

He turned to Varian. "What the hell were those things?"

Varian exhaled sharply. "The Hollow Veil's elite. They don't just train assassins. They make them." He gave Kael a hard look. "That means we've got a real problem."

Kael frowned. "Why?"

Varian straightened, brushing dust from his coat. "Because the Hollow Veil doesn't chase just anyone. They're not bounty hunters. They don't care about nobodies."

His gaze darkened.

"They only hunt people who matter."

Kael's stomach twisted. He didn't feel like he mattered. He was just surviving.

But now?

Now, Blackreach's most dangerous faction had taken notice.

And they weren't going to stop.

Kael felt it—the pull of the Rift. It whispered to him, urging him to use its power.

But the more he listened…

The more he sounded like Hollow-Eye.

The broken man suddenly move towards kael.

Kael nearly tripped. "What the hell are you doing!?"

Hollow-Eye's mouth twitched open. His voice was wrong, layered with something else.

"They are coming," he rasped.

Kael's blood ran cold.

Behind them, the assassins moved in perfect silence—not even the sound of their footsteps echoed.

Hollow-Eye tilted his head, listening to something Kael couldn't hear.

Then he turned again said to Kael.

"…You should not be here."

Kael remembered those words. The first thing Hollow-Eye had said back at the fire.

Before he could react, Hollow-Eye lunged.

Not at Kael.

At the assassins.

His body contorted unnaturally as he sprinted toward them, moving in jerky, unnatural bursts of speed. The Rift had taken too much—but it had given him something, too.

The assassins didn't flinch. They simply adjusted.

Blades flashed.

Hollow-Eye shrieked.

Kael clenched his teeth. They didn't have time to save him.

Varian grabbed Kael's arm. "Move!"

They ran.

And behind them, Hollow-Eye's screams turned to laughter.

---

The Watchtower & The Whispering Riftborn

Hours later, Kael and Varian sat in a ruined watchtower.

Neither spoke at first.

Finally, Varian muttered, "That was… disturbing."

Kael didn't answer. He could still hear Hollow-Eye's laughter ringing in his skull.

Varian exhaled sharply. "I've seen a lot of Riftborn lose themselves. But that? That was different."

Kael knew it, too.

Hollow-Eye wasn't just losing himself.

Something else was taking his place.

The Rift Sigil on Kael's chest burned cold.

He looked at his hands.

How much longer before that happened to him?

---

A Warning in the Dark

They moved quickly after that, sticking to the deeper ruins—places even the Hollow Veil avoided.

The silence there was different. Thick. Suffocating. Kael could almost feel something unseen watching from the shadows.

Varian noticed his tension. "Relax. This place is safe."

Kael gave him a sharp look. "Safe?"

Varian grinned. "Relatively."

Kael didn't believe him.

They eventually stopped in a crumbling watchtower, its upper floors collapsed, leaving only the ground level intact. It wasn't much, but it was shelter.

Varian dropped onto a broken crate with a sigh. "We'll be safe here for a few hours. Long enough to plan."

Kael didn't sit. His mind was still racing.

The Hollow Veil had come for him. But why? What did they want?

What did they know that he didn't?

He clenched his fists. He hated this—being a step behind. Being hunted without knowing why.

Varian must've noticed. He studied Kael for a moment, then leaned forward.

"Alright," he said. "Let's talk about what you are."

Kael stiffened.

Varian's grin didn't reach his eyes. "I mean it. You're different. You felt it, didn't you? Back in the fight."

Kael stayed silent.

Varian smirked. "Thought so."

He leaned back, resting his arms behind his head. "I've seen a lot of Riftborn. But you? You're something else." His gaze sharpened. "What exactly did the Rift do to you?"

Kael's jaw tightened.

He didn't know.

All he remembered was the Rift tearing through him, the pain, the cold whisper of something ancient curling around his thoughts. He had woken up changed. Stronger. Faster. But also… less himself.

And then there was the hunger.

The ability to steal strength from others.

Was that why the Hollow Veil wanted him?

Kael met Varian's gaze. "You tell me."

Varian chuckled. "Fair enough."

But Kael could tell—Varian was wary of him.

That meant something.

---

An Unexpected Visitor

Hours passed in tense silence.

Kael sat near the crumbling entrance, keeping watch. The Hollow Veil wasn't done with them. He could feel it.

And then—it happened.

A soft tap, tap, tap echoed through the ruins outside.

Kael's grip tightened on his dagger.

Varian sat up. His expression turned grim. "We have company."

The tapping grew louder. Not footsteps. Not weapons.

Something deliberate.

Then, from the darkness, a voice.

"You're making quite a mess, Riftborn."

Kael's breath froze.

The speaker stepped into the faint moonlight. A tall man, clad in noble attire—a long black coat, embroidered silver linings, and a cane resting lightly in one hand. His face was hidden beneath a sleek white mask, different from the Hollow Veil's assassins.

Varian swore under his breath.

Kael didn't move. "Who are you?"

The masked man tilted his head. "Just an interested party."

Kael didn't like that answer.

The man took a step closer. "You survived the Hollow Veil. That makes you… valuable."

Kael's instincts screamed danger. "I don't work for anyone."

The man chuckled. "Not yet."

Something about his voice sent a chill through Kael's spine. He wasn't just some noble. He was something else.

Something worse.

The man raised his cane slightly, tapping the ground. "You have two choices, Riftborn."

Kael's muscles coiled.

"Run," the man said, "and my hounds will find you."

A shadow shifted behind him. Kael saw something moving in the darkness—tall, wrong, its shape unclear.

The man's voice softened.

"Or… you can listen."

Kael's heartbeat slowed. A new choice. A new danger.

He exhaled.

And then, quietly—

"…I'm listening."