Winter settled over the valley slowly.
Snow covered the fields.
The trees became bare.
The small house grew quiet beneath the white landscape.
But the family had learned that quiet did not necessarily mean peace.
Something had awakened beneath the earth.
Something that had spoken through the well.
And Catherine’s visions had returned.
They were different now.
Before the accident, her visions had been pictures.
Brief flashes.
A few seconds of possible futures.
Now they came as sensations.
Sounds without voices.
Images without sight.
Memories that weren’t hers.
Sometimes she would wake in the middle of the night knowing that something had happened hundreds of miles away.
Sometimes she would touch a person and feel an event that had not happened yet.
And sometimes she heard the same voice.
Find the blood.
She never knew what it meant.
She only knew that the voice was searching.
And somehow, it was searching for them.
The first warning came from the forest.
Marcus and Leo were splitting firewood when the animals began behaving strangely.
The newly bought horses became agitated.
Birds fled the trees.
Then the dogs began barking.
Marcus stopped.
“Something’s coming.”
Leo reached for his weapon.
“How many?”
“Don’t know.”
A roar shook the forest.
Leo smiled grimly.
“That answers that.”
A creature burst through the trees.
It looked like a massive wolf.
But it was much larger.
Its body was covered in black scales.
Its eyes burned red.
Marcus immediately recognized it.
“A Grimfang?”
Leo’s expression hardened.
“I thought they lived farther north.”
“They do.”
The beast charged.
Leo met it head-on.
Lightning exploded from his hands.
The creature recoiled.
Marcus struck from the side.
The battle lasted less than five minutes.
When it was over, the Grimfang lay dead in the snow.
Leo stood over it.
Marcus looked at him.
“You all right?”
“Yeah.”
Leo looked toward the forest.
“But why was it here?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
The question stayed with them.
The next morning, someone knocked on their door.
Marcus opened it.
Three villagers stood outside.
One of them looked nervous.
“Are you the Vales?”
Marcus nodded.
“My name is Edwin.”
He pointed toward the forest.
“We heard you killed a Grimfang.”
Leo came downstairs.
“We did.”
Edwin swallowed.
“There’s been a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Beasts.”
Marcus frowned.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Edwin explained.
For months, creatures had been appearing near the town.
At first, they had been ordinary predators.
Then stronger monsters began appearing.
Grimfangs.
Stonebacks.
Ash serpents.
A few creatures nobody could identify.
The town guard had struggled to deal with them.
“We don’t have enough fighters,” Edwin said.
Marcus looked at Leo.
Leo already knew what was coming.
“How much?”
Edwin blinked.
“What?”
“How much are you paying?”
Marcus looked at him.
Leo shrugged.
“We need money.”
Edwin smiled.
“We can pay.”
Their first contract was simple.
Three Stonebacks had been attacking livestock farms outside town.
Leo and Marcus tracked them.
The creatures were enormous.
Their hides were almost impossible to penetrate.
Marcus drew their attention.
Leo climbed onto a nearby rock.
He concentrated.
Lightning gathered around his body.
Then fire joined it.
The two elements merged.
Plasma formed.
Leo released it.
The Stoneback collapsed.
Marcus stared.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
Leo smiled.
“I’ve been practicing.”
The second and third creatures fell shortly afterward.
The farmers paid them generously.
Then word spread.
Within a month, Leo and Marcus had become the valley’s unofficial hunters.
They weren’t mercenaries.
They weren’t soldiers.
They simply dealt with problems that the town guard couldn’t handle.
A monster in the northern woods?
Call the Vales.
A pack of Ash Hounds near the farms?
Call the Vales.
A wyvern nesting near the trade road?
Call the Vales.
The work was dangerous.
But it paid.
And for the first time since leaving the clan, the family wasn’t constantly worried about money.
The house was repaired.
The barn was finished.
Medical supplies were stocked.
Celine received new equipment for her chair.
Catherine received specialized tools designed to help her navigate despite her blindness and impaired hearing.
They could afford good food.
They could save money.
The pressure began to ease.
One evening, Marcus looked at the ledger.
“We’re actually ahead.”
Leo smiled.
“Really?”
Marcus nodded.
“Really.”
Elara kissed Marcus on the cheek.
“Good.”
Leo smiled.
“We’re going to be okay.”
Celine looked at him.
“We already are.”
The townspeople began to know them.
Children waved when Leo entered the market.
Farmers greeted Marcus.
Shopkeepers gave them discounts.
They became familiar faces.
The same people who had once been strangers now knew their names.
It felt good.
It felt normal.
But Catherine remained uneasy.
Her visions had become more frequent.
One evening, she dropped a cup.
Leo immediately came running.
“What happened?”
Catherine stared into nothing.
“I saw it.”
“What?”
“The forest.”
Leo knelt beside her.
“What about it?”
“Something is looking for us.”
Celine moved closer.
“Again?”
Catherine nodded.
“I saw trees.”
“Which trees?”
“I don’t know.”
She pressed her fingers against her temple.
“There was something underneath them.”
Leo frowned.
“A creature?”
“No.”
“What then?”
Catherine’s face went pale.
“A door.”
Leo remembered the symbol beneath the well.
“The Hollow?”
“I don’t know.”
She shook her head.
“But something was behind it.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t see.”
Leo gave her a sad smile.
“You can’t see.”
“No.”
Catherine shook her head.
“That’s not what I mean.”
Leo became serious.
“I couldn’t see it because it was hiding.”
That night, the family gathered around the kitchen table.
Catherine explained everything she remembered.
“A door.”
“Black stone.”
“Roots growing around it.”
“Something breathing behind it.”
Marcus frowned.
“Did you hear anything?”
Catherine nodded.
“Three words.”
“What?”
“Not just yet.”
Leo looked at her.
“Not just yet?”
She nodded.
“It sounded disappointed.”
Marcus leaned back.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Celine frowned.
“Could it be waiting?”
Catherine nodded.
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Catherine turned toward Leo.
“He’s still not ready.”
Leo’s blood ran cold.
“Silas.”
“No.”
Catherine shook her head.
“Not Silas.”
“Then who?”
She hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Far away, beneath the northern mountains, Silas stood before the Hollow.
The ancient door remained closed.
He placed his hand against it.
“Not yet.”
The same words echoed from within.
Silas smiled.
“You understand.”
Something moved behind the stone.
“Not yet.”
Silas stepped back.
“The boy is growing stronger.”
Silence.
“The bloodline is beginning to mature.”
A low rumble answered him.
Silas’s expression became thoughtful.
“But there is another problem.”
He turned.
“The girl.”
Catherine.
“The seer.”
The Hollow remained silent.
Silas smiled.
“She can feel you.”
The stone trembled.
“And eventually, she’ll find you.”
Back at the house, Leo woke before dawn.
He couldn’t sleep.
He went outside.
The sky was dark.
Snow covered the ground.
He walked toward the well.
The water was still.
Then he heard something.
A whisper.
Leo froze.
“Who are you?”
Nothing.
Then—
“Brother.”
Leo’s heart stopped.
The voice sounded like Lawrence.
“Father?”
The water rippled.
A face appeared beneath the surface.
Not Lawrence.
Not Corrine.
Something else.
A pale face.
Ancient eyes.
Leo stumbled backward.
The face smiled.
Then disappeared.
Leo ran inside.
Catherine was already awake.
She sat upright in bed.
“Leo.”
He stopped.
“How did you know?”
“I heard it.”
“What?”
“The voice.”
Leo’s face went pale.
“What did it say?”
Catherine swallowed.
“It called you brother.”
Silence.
Leo looked toward the window.
Snow continued falling.
Something in the Hollow knew him.
Something believed he belonged to it.
And now it was trying to reach him.
The next morning, another villager arrived.
“There’s a problem near the eastern road.”
Marcus grabbed his coat.
“What kind?”
“A creature.”
“How dangerous?”
The man looked at Leo.
“Very.”
Leo smiled.
“Then let’s go.”
Celine called after him.
“Be careful.”
“I will.”
Catherine reached for him.
Leo took her hand.
She held it tightly.
“Come back.”
“I will.”
Leo kissed her forehead.
Then Celine’s.
He looked at both sisters.
“I promise.”
Marcus stepped outside.
“Ready?”
Leo nodded.
“Ready.”
They disappeared down the road.
Celine watched them go.
Catherine sat beside her.
“Something’s wrong.”
Celine looked at her.
“What?”
Catherine touched her chest.
“I can feel it.”
“What’s coming?”
Catherine closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
She paused.
Then whispered:
“But whatever is in the Hollow...”
Her hand tightened.
“It isn’t looking for Leo anymore.”
Celine’s face changed.
“What is it looking for?”
Catherine turned toward the forest.
“All of us.”