Rowan's POV:
The ground trembled again — a deep, pulsing shudder that rolled through the clearing like a heartbeat gone wrong.
The Oracle gasped.
His glow flickered once.
Twice.
Then went out.
His body went limp in my arms.
"Hey— hey!" I caught him before he hit the ground, panic slamming into my chest. "Stay with me. Look at me. Look at—"
He didn't respond.
Aeris dropped beside us instantly, wind spiraling around him in frantic bursts. "What happened? He was fine— he was talking— why isn't he—"
"He's not breathing right," I snapped, trying to steady him, trying to steady myself. "Give me space."
Aeris didn't move. His hands hovered uselessly, shaking. "No, no, no— he can't— he just got here—"
Noctis knelt on the Oracle's other side, wings folding around us like a shield. His voice was low, controlled, but the crack beneath it was unmistakable.
"He's overwhelmed. The Hollow's call is too strong for him in this state."
Aeris rounded on him. "Then DO something! You're supposed to be the shadow prince or whatever—fix it!"
Noctis didn't even look at him. Shadows curled around his fingers as he hovered a hand over the Oracle's chest.
"I can steady him," he murmured. "But only if you stop screaming."
Aeris's wind surged. "I'm not screaming—"
"You are," Noctis said softly. "And you're scaring him."
"Both of you—stop," I said, tightening my grip on the Oracle's cold body. "Please."
For a moment, they did.
Aeris's breath hitched.
Noctis's wings trembled.
The Hollow wailed again — louder, closer.
The Oracle's fingers twitched weakly against my chest.
"Rowan…" he whispered, barely audible. "It hurts…"
My heart cracked. "I know. I've got you. I'm right here."
Aeris leaned in, panic rising. "He spoke—he's waking up—Rowan, let me—"
Noctis's hand shot out, blocking him. "Don't touch him."
Aeris's expression snapped into something sharp and furious. "He's not yours."
"And he's not yours either," Noctis said quietly.
Wind against shadow.
Jealousy against jealousy.
Before I could force them apart, the forest answered the Hollow's wail with a sound that made my blood run cold.
A low, resonant growl.
Not from a creature.
Not from the trees.
From everywhere.
The Oracle's body arched violently in my arms, a burst of blinding light flashing beneath his skin before dimming again.
Aeris stumbled back.
Noctis's wings snapped open.
My grip tightened around the boy made of moonlight.
Something was coming.
And this time… it wasn't stopping at the edge of the clearing.
The trees bent inward as if bowing to an unseen force. The air thickened, humming with ancient magic. The ground pulsed beneath us — once, twice, like a heartbeat syncing with the Oracle's fading one.
Then—
The Oracle's eyes fluttered open.
But they weren't his eyes.
They glowed with a pale, distant light — unfocused, unseeing — as if he were staring through me, past me, into something far beyond this world.
His lips parted.
A whisper slipped out.
Not in his voice.
"Find me."
The light vanished.
His body went still.
Completely still.
Aeris choked on a breath. "Rowan—"
Noctis's wings tightened around us. "He's gone under."
The ground split open at the edge of the clearing.
A shadow rose from it.
Tall.
Twisted.
Waiting.