The forest was silent when Leo vanished.

Ava didn’t hear the door open. Didn’t hear his footsteps crunch the fallen leaves. But when she woke and saw his empty bed, she *knew*. The forest had whispered to him again.

She bolted into the woods barefoot, the morning mist curling around her like fingers. “Leo!” she called. “Leo, answer me!” But the trees said nothing. Even the birds had stopped singing.

Back in the glen, the fairies were in disarray. Elderhoof stamped anxiously. Thistle lay weak in her nest of moss and light. “He’s crossed the veil,” she said in a trembling voice. “The Hollowing has him now.”

Ava’s heart pounded. “Where is it taking him?”

Thistle’s wings twitched. “To the forgotten part of the forest. The place we do not name.”

“Then tell me how to get there,” Ava said, her voice steady.

“It’s not a path,” Thistle replied. “It’s a memory. One you must *choose* to lose.”

Ava didn’t understand. But Elderhoof stepped forward. “There’s a way,” he said. “But it’s not without cost.”

With the help of the forest's oldest beings, Ava was given a seed—dark as obsidian, pulsing with warmth. “Swallow it,” said the frogs in unison. “It will take one memory and give you sight in the dark.”

“Whichever you cherish most,” Thistle whispered.

With trembling hands, Ava swallowed the seed. Pain lanced through her head—flashes of laughter, birthday candles, her mother singing by the fireplace. One blink… and her mother’s voice was gone. She knew she had a mother. She could remember the shape of her face. But her voice was lost.

The trees grew thinner, twisted. Shadows moved against the light. Shapes flickered in the corners of her vision. Whispers curled like smoke around her ears.

She found footprints—Leo’s—leading to a fallen arch of roots. As she passed through it, the light dimmed to a dull amber. The trees bent away from the path, forming a corridor of hollow trunks.

“*Ava…*” his voice called faintly.

She broke into a run, heart slamming against her ribs. And then she saw him—standing in a clearing, eyes wide, face pale.

Towering behind him was a creature like nothing Ava had ever seen. It was built of branches and bones, with vines for tendons and hollow sockets where eyes should be. Its presence drained color from the world.

“Go back,” Leo whispered. “It says it can give us everything. It says it can fix the village. Make the magic last forever.”

“It lies,” Ava said softly, stepping closer.

The Hollow One turned its empty gaze toward her.

“Little light,” it rasped. “You’ve brought me what I needed.”

Its arm of bark stretched forward. Ava stood her ground.

“You want to protect your brother?” the creature said. “Then *trade*. One light for another.”

Before Ava could respond, the ground cracked beneath them. Vines shot up around her feet. The world spun into shadow.

Arcane is your path —
Let some light
guide your way.

Simon Berger

Into the Hollow

The Whispering Grove Part 3





The forest was silent when Leo vanished.



Ava didn’t hear the door open. Didn’t hear his footsteps crunch the fallen leaves. But when she woke and saw his empty bed, she *knew*. The forest had whispered to him again.



Into the Hollow

The Whispering Grove Part 3

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Shai Anderson

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The Hollowing

Into the Hollow

The Whispering Grove Part 3

This is an Exclusive Story for supporters of .css-13w9qce-Text{display:inline-block;color:var(--text-accent);}Shai Anderson

About the Creator

Shai Anderson

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The Hollowing

This is an Exclusive Story for supporters of Shai Anderson