The eastern road had become dangerous.
Leo and Marcus knew that before they reached it.
The tracks were obvious.
Something large had dragged its claws through the frozen earth.
Trees had been knocked down.
A wagon lay overturned beside the road.
Leo crouched beside the wreckage.
"Anyone inside?"
Marcus checked.
"Empty."
"Good."
Marcus examined the tracks.
"Four legs."
"How big?"
"Big enough."
Leo smiled faintly.
"That's becoming a theme."
Marcus looked toward the forest.
"Stay alert."
They continued forward.
Neither noticed the faint black mark burned into the bark of one of the trees.
It was the same symbol that had appeared beneath their well.
They found the creature shortly before sunset.
It was unlike anything Leo had seen before.
It had the body of a bear, but its head was covered in thick horns. Dark plates covered its shoulders, and smoke poured from its nostrils.
Marcus stopped.
"That's a Hellhorn."
Leo frowned.
"Never heard of one."
"They're rare."
"How rare?"
Marcus drew his weapon.
"Rare enough that I don't want to fight one."
The creature roared.
Leo smiled.
"Too late."
It charged.
Marcus moved first.
He struck the beast's leg.
The impact barely slowed it.
Leo unleashed lightning.
The Hellhorn staggered.
Then it turned toward him.
Leo's smile disappeared.
"Uh-oh."
The creature charged.
Leo jumped.
Its horns passed beneath him.
He landed on its back.
"Marcus!"
"Working on it!"
Marcus attacked from the side.
Leo gathered fire.
Lightning.
Then plasma.
He drove the energy into the creature's armored back.
The Hellhorn roared.
The forest shook.
Then it collapsed.
Leo jumped clear.
Marcus approached cautiously.
"It's dead."
Leo breathed heavily.
"Good."
Marcus looked at him.
"That was close."
Leo nodded.
Then he noticed something.
A black symbol had been carved into the creature's hide.
His blood ran cold.
"Marcus."
His father looked.
"What?"
Leo pointed.
Marcus's expression changed.
"The Hollow."
They returned home after dark.
Catherine knew something was wrong before they spoke.
She was sitting at the kitchen table with Celine when the door opened.
"You found something."
Leo stopped.
"How did you know?"
Catherine turned toward him.
"I felt it."
Marcus placed the creature's hide on the table.
Catherine reached toward it.
"Don't."
Leo caught her hand.
She frowned.
"Why?"
"We don't know what it is."
"I need to know."
Leo hesitated.
Then released her.
Catherine touched the symbol.
The moment her fingers made contact, she gasped.
Her entire body stiffened.
"Catherine!"
Leo caught her.
Her eyes were unfocused.
Her breathing became rapid.
She whispered:
"The forest."
"What forest?"
"The black trees."
Celine moved closer.
"Catherine?"
"There are thousands."
She shook.
"Something is walking between them."
"What?"
"A man."
Leo's heart began pounding.
"Silas?"
"No."
Catherine's voice became frightened.
"Not Silas."
She grabbed Leo's shirt.
"He's looking for us."
"Who?"
Catherine's expression suddenly changed.
"He found the house."
Every candle in the room went out.
The family froze.
Then came a knock.
Three slow knocks.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Leo stepped in front of Celine and Catherine.
Another knock.
Elara whispered:
"Who is it?"
No answer.
Leo approached the door.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
The knocking stopped.
For several seconds, there was silence.
Then a voice came from outside.
"Leo."
Leo froze.
He knew that voice.
His father's.
"Lawrence?"
Marcus went pale.
"Don't open that door."
The voice came again.
"Leo, please."
Leo's eyes filled with tears.
"Father?"
Catherine suddenly shouted.
"Don't listen!"
Leo stopped.
Catherine was trembling.
"That's not him."
The voice outside changed.
It became deeper.
Older.
Something almost human.
"Very good."
A laugh followed.
"You've learned."
Leo's hands began glowing.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then:
"Someone who remembers your family."
The door shook.
Marcus moved beside Leo.
"We're not afraid of you."
The voice laughed.
"You should be."
The pressure vanished.
The candles reignited.
When Marcus opened the door, there was nobody outside.
Only snow.
And a single black feather lying on the porch.
Nobody slept much that night.
Catherine's visions continued.
She saw the house surrounded by darkness.
She saw something underneath the ground.
She saw the Hollow.
But most frighteningly, she saw Leo.
Alone.
Standing before a massive black door.
And behind him stood Celine and Catherine.
Both were crying.
Both were calling his name.
Leo couldn't hear them.
Catherine woke screaming.
Celine was beside her immediately.
"What happened?"
"Leo."
"He's here."
"No."
Catherine shook her head.
"In the vision."
She reached for her sister.
"Something is going to separate us."
Celine swallowed.
"Did you see when?"
"No."
"Where?"
"Somewhere underground."
Celine's expression hardened.
"Then we find it first."
The next morning, Leo and Marcus rode into town.
They expected trouble.
Instead, they found nearly a dozen people waiting for them.
Edwin stepped forward.
"There's something you need to know."
Leo dismounted.
"What?"
"The beasts are getting worse."
Marcus frowned.
"How many?"
"Seven attacks in three days."
Leo looked at him.
"That's impossible."
Edwin shook his head.
"That's what we thought."
Another farmer stepped forward.
"They aren't behaving normally."
"What do you mean?"
"They're moving toward the town."
Marcus became serious.
"Animals don't do that."
"Exactly."
Leo exchanged a look with him.
Something was driving the creatures.
Something was pushing them toward the valley.
Toward their home.
Their reputation had changed by then.
They were no longer simply the family that had left the clan.
They were hunters.
Protectors.
People the townsfolk trusted.
So when the attacks increased, people came to them.
Not because they were the strongest warriors in the region.
Because they knew the Vales would come.
Leo felt the weight of that trust.
He also understood the opportunity.
The hunting work had stabilized their finances.
They could afford food.
Medicine.
Repairs.
Special equipment.
But now the danger was increasing.
Marcus looked at him.
"We may need help."
Leo nodded.
"I know."
"We can't handle everything ourselves."
Leo looked toward the mountains.
"No."
He thought about Catherine's vision.
"But I think I know where to start."
That evening, the family gathered around the table.
Leo explained the attacks.
Catherine listened.
Then said:
"The creatures aren't attacking randomly."
Marcus nodded.
"They're being driven."
"Toward us."
Celine asked:
"Why?"
Catherine was silent.
Then she answered.
"Because something wants us to leave the house."
Leo frowned.
"Why?"
"So we'll go somewhere."
"Where?"
"The Hollow."
The room became silent.
Marcus shook his head.
"We still don't know where it is."
Catherine smiled faintly.
"Maybe we don't need to."
Everyone looked at her.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
She placed her hand on the table.
"I think it wants us to find it."
Leo understood.
"It can't reach us."
"Not directly."
"So it's sending creatures."
"Yes."
"To force us toward it."
Catherine nodded.
Leo looked toward the window.
"Then we don't go."
Three days later, the attacks stopped.
That frightened Leo more than the attacks themselves.
There were no beasts.
No strange tracks.
No sightings.
Nothing.
The valley became completely silent.
Catherine's visions stopped too.
For the first time in months, she couldn't feel the Hollow.
She couldn't hear its voice.
She couldn't sense its presence.
She was terrified.
"It disappeared."
Leo sat beside her.
"Maybe that's good."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't gone."
She turned toward him.
"It's hiding."
Leo frowned.
"From us?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Catherine reached for his hand.
"Because I think it's afraid."
Leo stared at her.
"Afraid of what?"
She smiled faintly.
"You."
That night, Leo practiced the body-strengthening technique.
He stood in the field.
Breathing slowly.
Energy moved through his body.
Fire.
Lightning.
Plasma.
But beneath all of them was something else.
Something he couldn't name.
The energy suddenly surged.
Leo dropped to one knee.
The earth cracked beneath him.
He looked at his hands.
For a moment, silver light surrounded his fingers.
Then it vanished.
Marcus had seen it.
"What was that?"
Leo shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You felt it?"
"Yes."
"What did it feel like?"
Leo looked toward the house.
"Like something waking up."
Inside, Catherine suddenly screamed.
Celine rushed toward her.
"What?"
Catherine was clutching her head.
"I see it."
"What?"
"The door."
"Where?"
Catherine's breathing became frantic.
"Under us."
Celine froze.
"What?"
"The Hollow."
She pointed toward the floor.
"It's underneath the valley."
Celine stared.
"How far?"
"I don't know."
"Can you see the entrance?"
Catherine closed her eyes.
Her face went pale.
"Yes."
"Where?"
Catherine whispered:
"Under our house."
The floor trembled.
Leo and Marcus rushed inside.
"What happened?"
Celine looked at them.
"Catherine found the Hollow."
Leo stared.
"Where?"
Catherine pointed down.
"Here."
Another tremor shook the house.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Marcus grabbed his weapon.
"Everybody outside."
They moved quickly.
Leo carried Catherine.
Marcus helped Celine.
Elara followed.
They reached the yard.
The ground continued shaking.
Then the well began glowing.
The black symbol appeared again.
But this time, it spread.
Lines of dark energy traveled from the well through the earth.
They moved beneath the house.
Toward the forest.
Toward the mountains.
Catherine stared.
"I can feel it."
Leo looked at her.
"What?"
She swallowed.
"It's opening."
Marcus tightened his grip on his weapon.
"Then we have to move."
Leo shook his head.
"No."
Marcus looked at him.
"No?"
Leo stared at the glowing ground.
"For months, it's been trying to find us."
His hands began glowing.
"Now we know where it is."
Celine's expression hardened.
"Leo."
He looked at her.
"We aren't going into the Hollow."
Catherine finished the thought.
"We're making it come to us."
Leo nodded.
For the first time, the three of them understood the same thing.
They had spent years running from the darkness.
Maybe it was time to stop.
Maybe it was time to make the darkness afraid of them.