15.

I'm halfway through scrubbing the mud from my body when the screaming begins. It echoes through the cave like a haunting ghost, shrill and agonisingly loud. I try to ignore it, I try to focus on removing the caked mud from my skin and hair. But it rattles through my body and I can't take it anymore. I dry myself off in the tub and pull on the clothes Malik gave me before venturing back into the tunnel.

Back underground in the hollower village, my footfalls echoed through the tunnels. It was a man made structure, metal walls and steel pipes that leaked water. The cave is different, natural, winding tunnels as hallways carved from stone, compacted dirt across the walls. But down here, in the depths of the earth, my footfalls don't echo. Water doesn't leak from the ceiling. I can't hear the sounds of laughter wafting towards me. All I hear are the screams, rattling the cave walls. I still haven't seen anyone since we got here, aside from the man on the beach.

Malik said this was an elder village—does that mean it's only the elder's that live here? Is it much of a village at all?

I follow the lanterns through the hall till I reach the entrance of the cave and sit on the shore, my ankles dangling off the edge of a rock that was once submerged in the tide, toes embracing the water. The water has calmed since we arrived, small waves lapping now exposed sand. But even out here, with the hollow sound in the wind and rippling of the water, I hear the screams, sailing through the tunnel as an echo. My chest feels hollow but I try to block it out, try not to imagine the excruciating pain Elias must be in, try not to remember the vacant look in his eyes when he first woke up.

What if he doesn't remember me when he wakes up for real? What if something is wrong with him?

I dig my toes into the sand and rest my chin against my knees, staring at the water. I never thought I'd see the ocean, but I dreamt of it sometimes. When we were kids, Charles would read us stories of children swimming, of warm weather, of sunshine. But I never imagined it to be wide, stretching far beyond the eye can see. And in the midst of all this chaos, it makes my problems feel so much smaller.

"Milena?"

I turn to face Malik coming towards me, hands shoved in his pockets, and relax. "Hi, Malik."

"Eric know you're out here?"

"Eric doesn't get to dictate what I do."

The left side of his mouth tilts up and he sits beside me, resting on his arms as he leans back and stares at the ocean. The setting sun softens his sharp eyes, but his midnight hair and angled face are a stark contrast.

"How long will it take?" I ask when another scream echoes around us.

He exhales slowly, turns to look down at me. "I thought they'd be finished by now."

I swallow the lump in my throat. It's been hours since I left that room, but the screams haven't subsided.

"Eric's with him, and Cassia's waiting outside. He's not alone," he says softly. And yet the screams sound so lonely.

Part of me thinks I should be there to hold his hand. Be there for when he wakes up, to comfort him. Because it's been three months since I've seen him, and that yearning in my chest hasn't gone away. But fear keeps me on the beach. Fear that he won't wake up. Fear that he won't recognise me. Fear of change. Because no matter what happens, I know things can never be the same again.

I turn to face Malik, trying to push Elias from my mind. "This is an elder's village, right?"

He nods. "The elders used to reside in the mountains, but as you know, when I was six they relocated here. Ana was the only one who stayed."

I remember Elias mentioning the same thing, and when I'd asked why, he mentioned a conflict he didn't know about. "But Ana was an elder, why'd she stay?"

 "There was a... disagreement."

"About what?"

"Ana's choices." He seems to think about it. "I was only a kid, so I've only heard whispers. I'm sure you'll hear more when you talk to the elders here."

Elias had mentioned long ago that a conflict between Ana and the elders had been the catalyst that tore them apart. He said he didn't know what happened, that it didn't seem that important. But I wonder if the reason why Ana never told him why was because it had to do with him in the first place. He didn't need another thing to weigh on his conscience.

I stare out at the water, closing my eyes and tuning into the sounds around us. The bird calls, the ocean waves. The screams have died down, but the hollow feeling in my stomach prevails as I sit on the beach next to Malik.

"Do they know we're here?" I ask nervously.

I haven't met one before, since the only elder we tried to see was Ana, but from the way the shifters talk about them, they're incredibly important to shifter culture. They're the oldest of them all, holding onto the rich history of the race. And they're the most respected, they hold a lot of power.

Malik nods. "Tomorrow, after Elias has woken, they would like to meet you."

"Me?"

"All of you," he corrects. "But they've met Elias before, they knew what he was. You, however, are of great interest."

"Why?" 

"You grew up with the hollowers," he explains. "You might know important information about them without even knowing it."

I take a shaky breath, turning to look back at the water. We still haven't gotten a moment to talk about our escape from the island. "What happened to you?" I ask. "When I left the shack, you were fighting with Cynthia. I thought something bad might have happened to you."

"I managed to break free. She's immortal so there was no use trying to kill her. I just had to disarm her in time for me to get away," he says. He notices me looking at his chest, where'd there's been a huge gash yesterday. "She got a good hit on me, but I managed to get out of there before more of them arrived."

"And the shadow?" I ask. "Was it there?"

A small smile tugs at his lips. "Yes."

To me, finding Elias was the priority, no matter how difficult. But when Malik came to us claiming he could help, he'd been so adamant the shadow would be there too—the weapon that could kill the immortal hollowers.

I didn't know what to think about the shadow. Eric and Cassia thought it was just a myth, but when I saw Malik talk about, when I heard the conviction in his voice, I wanted to believe it was more than that. That it really would be possible to reverse the effects of the immortalia sacrificium.

"Come here," Malik says. I shift closer to him, so close that our knees brush, and stare up at him with wide eyes. He reaches into his pocket and brings out something wrapped in cloth. Gently unwrapping it, he reveals a dagger—so small it fits in the palm of his hand.

"That's... that's it?" 

He turns it over gently. Aside from being small, it's beautiful. The hilt is onyx black, but tiny speckles of blue gem litter the actual blade. They seem to glow. "One small stab with this, and a wisper would be powerless." He turns it over before wrapping it back up carefully. "The shadow is the most powerful weapon on the planet."

"Shouldn't you be wrapping it in a lot more than that?"

He smiles. "It hasn't been activated. For now, it's just a dagger."

"How do we activate it?"

"Elias," he says. "Only a wisper can create a shadow and only a wisper can activate it."

I take a shaky breath. It's a scary thought—that Malik holds the answer to destroying the immortal hollowers for good in his hands. When I look up, he's already staring at me, eyes bluer than the ocean. He reaches forward, fingers brushing my cheekbone. I freeze, surprised. His fingers are so soft, like velvet compared to Elias' calloused finger beds. I flinch backward out of instinct.

"Sorry," he murmurs, "you had an eyelash."

I bite my lip and stare out at the water. It laps against the shore, leaving the crystal sand a shade darker. The sun is setting and creates an orange glow along the horizon, but it's still so warm. And then someone bursts out from behind us, puffing and spluttering. It's Cassia.

"Elias is awake," she says, trying to catch her breath.

I push to my feet, heart pounding. Before I can rush past her, she grabs my arm. "You have to wait. He's with the elders. They wanted to see him right away."

Suddenly, my fear of the elders melts into nothing. "Where are the elders?"

"Milena, you can't just burst in on the elders—"

"I want to see him." I shake her grip. "Is he okay? Is he—"

"Come with me," Malik interrupts, stepping between us. "I'll take you to him."

"Wait!" Cassia reaches for me again but I shove past her, on Malik's tail towards the cave entrance.

~

The seconds it takes to wind through the cave feel like hours. Nerves spiral in my stomach as I follow Malik, shoving through my hesitation. It's been three months of searching, three months of dwindling hope. It's hard to believe Elias is so close. Awake. Alive. Here.

Malik leads me deeper into the cavern—deeper than I've been before. The light can't reach down here, and neither can the warmth. It's so cold I can see my breath wafting in front of me. I shiver in my thin shirt. Finally, we reach a fork in the path and Malik stops. To his right, the path leads deeper into the cave. To his left, a wooden door built into the stone blocks off the rest of the path.

But guarding the door is Eric. He quickly masks his surprise and straightens his back. "What're you doing here? I told Cassia to tell you to wait."

"I want to see Elias," I say.

"Well you'll have to wait a little longer," Eric says. "He's with the elders."

"But—"

"Eric is right, Milena," Malik says. "It might be difficult to understand, but in shifter community, the elders are the most important in our hierarchy. You can wait here till they're done, but we must respect their time with Elias."

I frown. "But I—"

The door budges, cutting the rest of my sentence off. I hold my breath as it creaks behind Eric, and finally, a small, frail man stands in the entranceway.

"Elder Troie." Eric lowers his head in respect, stepping back. Malik does the same.

The man—Elder Troie—doesn't say anything for a few moments, eyes brushing over each of us. When they land on me, I lower my head the same way Eric did. He's a few inches shorter than Eric and me, and miles shorter than Malik. Physically, he looks like he'd break at the sound of a glass smashing. But I feel his power beneath my skin—the same hum of energy I feel around shifters, only stronger.

"You have brought a guest," he comments, eyeing me up.

"You'll have to excuse Milena," Eric says, sounding genuinely sorry. "She is human; she does not understand our customs."

His eyes spark with interest, and he tilts his head sideways. "Milena... yes, we have heard of you," he trails off. "Come in, child."

He steps away, leaving the door open. Nerves coil in my stomach, the fear coming back. The power radiates off Elder Troie like a buzz. I shoot a look at Eric, he's scowling, and grabs my arm. "Please," he says, "don't do anything stupid."

I gulp. Malik takes the first step inside, confident. Eric drags me in behind him, not letting go of my arm. Secretly, I'm glad. Inside, the doorway widens to accommodate a medium-sized room. It's more decorated than any of the rooms I've been through so far—lanterns strung all along the walls to wrap the room in light, a thick rug laid across the floor.

Along the far wall, the elders sit. Five chairs mounted to the wall facing out, inhabited by five shifters—three men and two women. The healer is here too, standing silently against the wall, most likely to monitor Elias. Six pairs of eyes are on us as soon as we're in the room, but only one pair burns.

I forget how to move when I meet Elias' eyes. He stands in front of the elders' chairs, in the center of the room, but his back is turned to them to face us. Even across the room, his gaze is sharp, nothing like the distant look he gave me yesterday. I stand completely frozen waiting for him to smile, to frown, to do something that indicates he knows who I am. But he just stares.

"Splendid," Elder Troie claps his hands together. He's seated on the side of the woman in the middle, the one with the chair plated in gold. "We are all here."

I snap my gaze to them, on edge. I don't know how to act. The way the shifters speak of their elders is like royalty, and I stand barefoot and speechless in front of them.

"Milena," he says, "it is wonderful to finally meet you."

Eric still hasn't lessened his grip on me, tightening when I haven't responded. I clear my throat. "Likewise, uh... sir."

He chuckles, and the other elders exchange glances. The woman in the middle is the only one who keeps a straight face, her steely gaze on me."Elder Troie would be just fine, Milena."

Warmth rushes to my cheeks and I duck my head so my hair cascades across my cheeks. "You are of great interest to us. It is not often that we meet one who has been amongst the hollowers for so long." He tilts his head to the side. "Tell me, dear, which village were you in? Ana never told us. "

I open my mouth, then close it, coming up empty. "The village in the southeast, a couple of miles from my territory," Elias answers, eyes still on me.

"So close to the mountains?" Elder Troie comments, glancing at the woman beside him. "Interesting." I keep my mouth shut, Eric's reminder in my head. "Elias, were you aware of Milena's existence?"

He shakes his head. "Not until they captured Eric."

"So Ana kept it from you, too," he notes. "And where is she now?"

His jaw twitches. "Dead."

A murmur rolls across the bench of Elders. The one in the middle raises her index finger. "My condolences."

Elias simply nods.

Elder Troie leans to the one in the middle, and she murmurs something too low for me to hear, her eyes on me. Then, he nods. "Thank you for coming today, Elias," he says. "We will leave you to rest for now. It appears it is time for your next treatment."

Treatment? Eric leans closer. "The silver is still in his system," he says in my ear. "It takes several treatments to get it out fully."

I stare at him. His frame is still so large, but he's lost a lot of muscle, and his skin is paler. He catches my eye, amber burning brightly. The healer steps beside him and puts a hand on his arm, murmuring something low to him. He nods.

As he moves to exit the room, I automatically follow, on autopilot. Eric lets me go ahead, ushering me out quickly. Malik stays behind, speaking to Elder Troie. Nobody speaks as we move back down the hall. Elias moves slowly, movements less sharp and more sluggish. I stare at his back, the space between his shoulder blades where my eyes reach. The healer leads us all back to the infirmary and forces Elias to sit on the bed. She has her back turned to me while she fiddles with something in the cabinet. Blood stains the ground beneath the bed where Elias lies. A lot. I hover in the doorway, watching as Eric says something to Elias.

They both look at me, then at the healer. "Can we have a moment?" Elias asks.

The healer frowns. "I need to monitor—"

"He'll be fine for a few moments," Eric says sharply.

She sighs in resignation as he steps away from Elias and towards me in the doorway, nodding slightly before stepping out. The healer stares at me.

"Make sure he doesn't try to stand," she orders, "and don't get too close. His abilities are very sensitive right now; the last thing we need is another incident." She shoots Eric a sour look.

She steps away, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to ask her to stay. Because no matter how many times I've dreamt of this moment happening, I don't know how to act. In my dreams, I wrapped my arms around him and cried. I brushed his scar, I felt his hair through my fingers. But I stand on the opposite side of the room to him and he can do nothing but stare.

"How do you feel?" I ask hesitantly.

"You have a scar on your arm."

"What?"

"That wasn't there before."

My hand instinctively raises to cover the pinched skin on my upper arm. It's from the stab wound Cynthia gave me in that kitchen shack where Elias' heart stopped beating. It's completely healed now, but it won't ever look the same. Still, it seems a funny thing to bring up given the circumstances.

"It doesn't matter," I say. "I'm okay."

"I..." he shifts, the movement causing him to wince. I rush towards the bed but pause when he looks at me. The healer told me not to touch him, but every instinct in my body goes against her orders. "I'm... I'm struggling to know if this is real."

The doctor mentioned the hallucinations he would have had, and I'm brought back to the island, where he'd begged me to let him die.

"This is real," I say, and reach out to touch his arm. His skin is ice cold, robbed of the warmth it used to hold. "I'm real."

He breathes shakily as his calloused fingers brush mine. We're barely touching but I feel so warm. "Milena... You have to be careful, I... I can feel it beneath my skin, the fire."

I don't say anything; I don't move away. Because as foolish as it is, I don't care, all I can think about at this moment is him—the feel of his skin, the warmth in his eyes. His body is just a shell of what it once was but it doesn't matter to me, he's still the most beautiful person I've ever seen.

We settle into silence, wrapped in the mere presence of one another. There are so many things I want to say to him, questions I want to ask, emotions I want to confess, but I can't bring myself to voice them. I don't want to think about how trivial my feelings must seem to him after everything he's been through the past few months. And as I stare at him, I ache to see his mind. How much have the past three months changed him?

"What're you thinking?" I ask.

"I'm wondering if I'm in a dream." He squeezes his eyes shut, drawing his hand away so mine drops to my side. "The last time I saw you we were in that cabin with Cynthia. When I woke up, she was strapping me to a table. I thought—" He shakes his head. "She told me you were dead."

A pit forms in my stomach. I want to reach out, to feel his skin, but I don't move. "She lied to you. I'm okay."

"She didn't hurt you?"

"Bastian and Aliyah got there in time, but not before Charles—" I grab his hand without hesitation, needing to remind myself that he's here, Charles didn't win. He sucks in sharply but doesn't pull away. "It doesn't matter. We found you. You're safe now."

"All this time I thought it was my fault." His fingers tighten around mine, and somehow, the warmth returns to them. "I didn't know what happened to Eric, and you... I thought you were dead because of me and—" The sheet catches fire. Instinctively, Elias hits me in the chest and I fly backward, hitting the wall with a thud.

I gasp for breath. It doesn't matter how weak he looks, his strength still doubles mine. The door bursts open and the doctor rushes in, scowling under her breath.

"I told you not to get too close," she says, grabbing the sheet and stamping the fire out.

I scramble to my feet. Elias stares at the ground, clasping his hands together. "Elias—"

He doesn't look at me. The doctor intercepts my path. "You should give him some space." When I don't move, she grabs my arm. "Now."

~

surprise extra update!

DISCUSSION:

1. Why do you think the elders had a fight?

2. Did you expect Elias to have thought Milena was dead?

3. What do you think might happen next?