Rise of the Warrior Queen (Kaia and Silver) novel Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

KAIA’S POV.

By the time we reached Elder Agatha’s house, the sun had almost set. Most parts of the forest were already covered in shadows, making the twisted trees around her cottage look even creepier. If I hadn’t seen worse, I would be creeped out by now.

Silver looked at the crooked little house and shook his ho

“She always lives this far out from the rest of the pack?” he asked.

“She likes being alone, she likes her privacy.” I said.

He squinted at the door. “Or maybe she’s hiding something.”

I didn’t say anything. If only he knew the truth.

As soon as I stepped onto the porch, the door creaked open by itself.

Silver froze. “Nope. That’s definitely not normal.”

“This place isn’t normal,” I said quietly. “Come on.”

We walked in. The strong smell of herbs and smoke hit us right away–sage, burning yarrow, and something metallic, like rust or old blood. Dozens of candles were lit all around, casting strange shadows across the room. I couldn’t help but wonder for a moment what she might be up to and what in the goddess’s name we had just walked into.

Elder Agatha was in her usual spot, sitting at the table covered in goddess–knows–what–bones, old cards, and feathers. She looked up slowly as we entered.

“Well, well,” she said in a raspy voice. “Kaia with a guest. That’s rare.”

Silver glanced at me, clearly curious. I didn’t look back at him.

I already knew his head must be full of questions right now, and I wasn’t in the mood to answer any of them.

Instead, I smiled at Agatha and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it is rare. Elder, meet Silver. Silver, this is Elder Agatha. The woman I told you about.”

Silver nodded, then bowed in respect. “Nice to meet you, Elder. I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Kaia here.”

T

Agatha turned to him, and for a long moment, she didn’t say a word. She just kept looking at him in silence.

There was a look in her eyes as she stared at him, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was what felt like forever, her lips pulled into a slow, genuine smile, and she bowed slightly. “Likewise, young man. I see the spirits are quite generous today. And here I was thinking today would end like any other. Who knew the spirits had something else in store?”

Silver cast me a glance, his expression mirroring mine.

Even though I’d been dealing with this woman for years and should have been used to her already, I still had no idea what Agatha just said. Now I could imagine how confused Silver must be, considering he was just meeting her for the first time.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

I decided to Ignore it for now as my thoughts went back to the real reason we were here.

“We found something,” I said, stepping forward. I opened the book and showed her the page with the strange symbol and the words Hollow King.

But Agatha didn’t look at the book right away. She tilted her head at me.

“You were in the old library,” she said.

Silver frowned. “How’d you know that?”

“She just knows things,” I said quickly, before things got even more weird around here.

Finally, Agatha looked at the book. Her long fingers hovered over the symbol but didn’t touch it. She stared at it for a long time. Too long.

“Do you recognize it?” I asked when she didn’t say anything for a long time.

Agatha didn’t answer right away. She kept whispering something to herself, her eyes closing for a moment before opening again. Then, suddenly, she shut the book with a loud thump. It was so quick and sudden, almost as if she were afraid something dangerous might jump out of it if she left it open for too long.

“Yes,” she said finally. “Sadly.”

My stomach sank. “So it’s real.”

“Oh, child,” she said softly. “It’s very real. And very dangerous too.”

I stepped closer. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about what happened earlier. Mia was attacked this morning while she was on a run. She’s in the hospital as we speak, and I think it’s linked to the men who attacked her. She said they had this mark. Is it a cult or something?”

“It’s not a cult,” Agatha interrupted. “It’s something darker and older. Much deeper than what you think.”

Silver blinked. “You know exactly what it is?”

She sighed and turned the book toward him. “This mark has been used for several purposes back in the day. One of those purposes was soul binding. This mark ties a person’s soul to a promise–a blood oath, sworn in silence, to the Hollow King. You won’t find that name in most books. He’s been erased. Forgotten on purpose.

”

“Why?” I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion.

Agatha looked at me. “Because remembering him… calls him.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Seriously, Agatha? You just remember him and it summons him? That doesn’t make any sense. This whole thing is beginning to sound like a fairy tale.”

“Does it?” she said sharply. “So did witches. Demons. Even gods who walked among us. Perhaps even us werewolves. And yet here we are. Alive in flesh and blood. What does that tell you, child?”

I went quiet.

Well, when she goes and puts it like that, then I guess we really do have a problem.

I swallowed hard, and I could feel something inside of me shift–from doubt to fear. Agatha leaned forward. “The Hollow King, though once in flesh and blood now dwells in a place called the Veil Between. A world we’re not meant to touch. His followers don’t just serve him–they give him everything.

Their will. The name. Their testine Even fer éde

My brow arched in question. “Soule?

in th

Agaths nodded. “It this mark is showing up again, was some is opening a very old dose & drip sealed long ago with blood and death”

I nodded Yeah, okay. That’s good to know

We were silent for a moment

Silver turned to me, leaning toward me as he whispered, “Did you know something about this before today?

I shook my head. “No. At least I didn’t think I did who knows what’s going on anymore?

Silver frowned, but he didn’t say anything else.

“It doesn’t matter whether she knew or not, boy, it doesn’t change anything. Neither what happened not

what’s going to,” Agatha spoke up.

Silver looked confused. “Sorry?”

“Kaia already bears a heavy burden,” Agatha said. “Her future is full of darkness and twisted paths that only

the moon goddess herself knows where they lead. No one knows what shadows follow her. Not even her”

I tensed and gave her a warning look. “Agatha-”

But she didn’t stop. Her pale eyes locked on Silver.

“You think you’re here just by chance? You’re not. Something called you here. Whatever happened to make you end up here at this point in time was not a mistake. It was meant to happen, exactly the way it did. This mark, this story–it’s not just about what has happened. It’s about what’s coming.”

Silver and I shared a look before turning back to Agatha. “What’s coming?” we both asked at the same time.

Agatha closed her eyes and moved her hands over the cards in front of her. She laid them down quickly, one after the other. The first one was a blindfolded wolf, then a broken crown, and then a dark doorway.

When she opened her eyes, one could tell, even before she spoke, that whatever she was about to say wasn’t

good.

“The Hollow King doesn’t give warnings. He gives omens,” Agatha said finally. “And you…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes landed on me.

I frowned in confusion. “What about me?”

She smiled sadly. “You already know, Kaia. You’ve felt it–the voices in your dreams, the cold feeling in your veins. The strange presence that constantly hovers around you. You were marked before you even saw the

symbol.”

TOW

My frown deepened. I was hearing the words, but none of them made any sense to me. I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand what she meant. But one thing I knew was that she wasn’t completely wrong. I mean, I wasn’t sure about the voices she mentioned being in my dreams since I didn’t really remember any But the strange presence she was talking about–she wasn’t wrong about that one. Not if she was re…ng to what I felt last night.

Agatha pushed the book back toward us. “Take your answers and leave, child. But know this: once you’ve seen the Hollow King’s mark, you can’t forget it. And the more you speak of him, the more he listens. It is not

CHAPTER TWENTY

a journey of today. And it will not end here”

So in other words, we’re doomed. Noted.

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