I couldn't move.
The man standing among the forgotten looked exactly like me.
Same eyes.
Same face.
Same golden mark.
Even the same scar above the eyebrow.
Shawshank stepped in front of me.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled.
"That's the question she should be asking."
I pushed past Shawshank.
"Who are you?"
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said,
"I'm the first."
My heart pounded.
"The first what?"
"The first Bjei."
The chamber shook again.
I stared at him.
"That isn't possible."
He laughed softly.
"You've been told so many lies that the truth sounds impossible."
Nerath stood behind him, watching.
I pointed at the man.
"If you're me, then why don't I remember you?"
"Because they erased me."
"Who?"
He looked toward Nerath.
"All of them."
Nerath's expression remained unreadable.
The man continued.
"When I was born, I wasn't human."
I swallowed.
"I was power."
He touched the golden mark on his chest.
"The first vessel."
Shawshank stepped closer.
"Then what happened?"
The man looked at him.
"You happened."
Shawshank froze.
"What?"
"They created you because I refused to obey."
My stomach tightened.
"What did I refuse to do?"
The man looked directly at me.
"Rule."
I frowned.
"They wanted me to rule the three worlds."
He pointed toward the darkness above us.
"The sky."
Then toward the ground.
"The land."
Finally, toward the unseen ocean beneath us.
"The sea."
I shook my head.
"But why would I refuse?"
His expression became sad.
"Because you saw what they were doing to people."
A memory suddenly flashed through my mind.
Villages burning.
Sea creatures chained.
Children crying.
Armies fighting.
Queens sitting on thrones while ordinary people suffered.
I grabbed my head.
"Stop!"
The memory disappeared.
Shawshank caught me.
"Bjei."
I looked at him.
"I saw it."
"What?"
"I remember."
The first Bjei smiled.
"Only a little."
Nerath finally spoke.
"You were always too emotional."
I turned toward it.
"No."
My voice was steadier now.
"I was compassionate."
Nerath laughed.
"And that weakness destroyed everything."
The first Bjei stepped between us.
"Don't listen to it."
Nerath's eyes darkened.
"You are still protecting her?"
The first Bjei smiled.
"I've been protecting her for centuries."
My heart stopped.
"Centuries?"
He nodded.
"When they separated our lives, they thought they had destroyed me."
He touched his chest.
"But they only trapped me here."
I looked around at the forgotten.
"You've been here all this time?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you escape?"
His eyes moved toward Shawshank.
"Because I was waiting."
"For what?"
"For you."
The Hollow shook violently.
Cracks spread across the walls.
Shawshank looked around.
"We have to leave."
The first Bjei shook his head.
"You can."
I stared at him.
"You're coming with us."
"I can't."
"Why?"
He looked at Nerath.
"Because I'm holding something here."
"What?"
"The original power."
My breathing stopped.
He opened his hand.
A tiny golden light appeared.
It was brighter than anything I had ever seen.
The moment I saw it, my entire body reacted.
The golden mark on my chest burned.
Shawshank's mark burned too.
The light flew toward us.
I reached for it.
Nerath suddenly attacked.
A wave of darkness slammed into the first Bjei.
He screamed.
"RUN!"
I refused.
"No!"
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"Bjei, we have to go!"
I looked at the first Bjei.
He was struggling against the darkness.
His eyes met mine.
"Remember who you are."
Then he smiled.
"And don't become what they wanted."
The golden light shot into my chest.
Everything went white.
I screamed.
Memories flooded through me.
My birth.
The three children.
The first war.
Shawshank protecting me.
The sky queen watching.
Seraphina making a terrible decision.
Marina crying.
Angela carrying me away.
And finally…
my own voice.
A voice from centuries ago.
"If I cannot rule them with love, I will destroy the throne."
My eyes opened.
The Hollow was collapsing.
Shawshank was holding me.
The first Bjei was gone.
Nerath was gone too.
But something had changed inside me.
I could hear the sea.
I could hear the sky.
I could hear the land.
All three were calling my name.
Shawshank looked into my eyes.
"What did you remember?"
I looked at him.
"The truth."
"What truth?"
I swallowed.
Then I whispered,
"I wasn't created to rule the three worlds."
The ground stopped shaking.
I looked toward the darkness.
"I was created to end their war."
Shawshank stared at me.
"And if they refuse?"
My golden mark changed.
A second symbol appeared inside it.
A crown.
I looked toward the exit.
"Then I'll make them choose peace."
Behind us, a terrible roar shook the Hollow.
Nerath's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Then let the war begin."