Within a Hollow Heart

Chapter 131: Volume 2, Chapter 75: "A World Unraveling"

The silence in the chamber was deafening, the absence of the heart's light filling the air with an oppressive, almost suffocating weight. Cole's heart raced as his eyes strained to adjust to the darkness. The faint outline of the altar was barely visible, the stone still pulsing faintly with the remnants of the power that had once filled the room.

"Elara, are you okay?" Cole asked, his voice rough as he tried to push himself up.

"I'm... I'm fine," Elara responded weakly. She sat up slowly, her hands still trembling from the shockwave that had torn through the room. "But the heart... it's gone."

Marcus groaned from where he had landed, a few feet away. He rubbed his shoulder, wincing in pain as he stood. "What the hell happened?"

Cole shook his head, his mind still spinning. "The Severed... they touched the heart. And then..."

"And then everything went dark," Selene finished, her voice cold and tense. She had already regained her footing, her blade still in hand as she surveyed the room with narrowed eyes.

The dark figure of the Severed that had touched the heart was nowhere to be seen, as if it had vanished into the void itself. The rest of the Severed, too, had disappeared, leaving behind only the strange, unsettling quiet that seemed to press down on them.

"The heart was holding," Cole said, his voice filled with frustration. "We were stabilizing it, and then... they ruined everything."

Elara's expression was grim as she moved toward the altar, her fingers brushing the cold stone. "It's more than that," she murmured. "The heart wasn't just destabilized—it's been taken."

Marcus frowned, his sword still drawn. "Taken? What do you mean?"

Elara stood still for a moment, her brow furrowing in concentration. She closed her eyes, reaching out with her senses to feel the threads of the Veil around them. But instead of the steady hum of energy she had come to expect, there was only a faint, erratic vibration—one that seemed distant, as though the heart's presence had been entirely removed from this place.

"I can't feel the heart anymore," she said quietly, her voice filled with disbelief. "It's gone. Completely. Like it was... pulled out of the Veil itself."

Cole's stomach churned with unease. The heart of the Veil was the very core of everything they had been fighting to protect. Without it, the Knots that held the void at bay were vulnerable—every thread of reality was now exposed, fragile, and at risk of unraveling.

"Can the void take the heart?" Selene asked, her eyes narrowed. "Can it just... absorb it like that?"

Elara shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. The void doesn't work that way. It destroys, it consumes... but it doesn't steal. The heart has been... displaced, maybe. But not destroyed. There's something else going on here."

Marcus' jaw clenched, frustration clear in his voice. "Then where did it go? And who took it?"

"The Severed," Cole whispered, his mind flashing back to the moment when the dark figure had touched the heart. "It wasn't just about destabilizing the Veil. They wanted the heart for something. They took it."

The reality of their situation began to sink in. The Severed had succeeded in their goal—whatever dark plan they had in mind for the heart of the Veil was already in motion. And now, with the heart gone, the balance between their world and the void had been thrown into chaos.

"We have to find it," Cole said, his voice filled with urgency. "We can't let them use it. If the Severed are trying to merge the void with our world, the heart is the key to doing that."

Elara nodded, her expression somber. "You're right. The heart is the center of the Veil. If they control it, they could tear the entire Veil apart, letting the void flood in completely."

"We don't even know where they've taken it," Marcus said, his voice laced with frustration. "How are we supposed to track them down?"

"We'll have to follow the signs," Elara replied, her voice firm. "The Severed are manipulating the Veil. Every Knot, every tear in reality, will leave a trace. We'll find them by following the threads they've pulled."

Cole nodded, though the weight of the task ahead felt almost unbearable. The Severed had already proven themselves to be dangerous, unpredictable, and relentless. And now, they had the heart of the Veil in their possession. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

"We'll have to move quickly," Selene said, her voice calm but determined. "The longer they have the heart, the more damage they can do."

Marcus sheathed his sword, his expression grim. "We're not giving up. We've come this far. We'll find them, and we'll stop them."

Elara's gaze swept the darkened chamber, her eyes lingering on the spot where the heart had once been. "I'll need time to track the energy they left behind. It's faint, but there's a trail. We can follow it."

Cole glanced at the others, his chest tightening with a mixture of fear and determination. "We don't have much time. The Severed aren't going to wait."

Elara took a deep breath, gathering her focus as she extended her senses once more. "We'll need to be careful. The threads of the Veil are fragile right now, and if we make one wrong move, we could tear them apart ourselves."

Selene stepped forward, her expression unreadable. "Then we move carefully. But we move."

They gathered their belongings and left the chamber, their footsteps echoing in the oppressive silence. The weight of the missing heart seemed to follow them, a constant reminder of how close they had come to losing everything.

As they stepped out into the cold, desolate landscape beyond the sanctuary, Cole felt a strange tension in the air. The sky above them was dark, the clouds thick and heavy, and there was an unnatural stillness that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Do you feel that?" Cole asked quietly, glancing at the others.

Elara nodded, her face pale. "The void is closer. Without the heart, the Knots are weakening faster. We don't have much time."

The wind picked up, swirling around them as they continued their journey, the shadows of the Severed always lurking just out of reach.

And as they moved further from the sanctuary, Cole couldn't shake the feeling that something darker was waiting for them. The Severed had the heart of the Veil now, and whatever they planned to do with it, it would change everything.

The world was unraveling. And they were running out of time to stop it.

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