CHAPTER EIGHT
WHEN KAEL DISAPPEARED
The Hollow attacked.
Kael pushed Elara out of the way.
A wall of darkness separated them.
"Kael!"
He disappeared.
Elara ran toward the darkness.
Nothing.
She couldn't feel him.
Her heart broke.
The Hollow whispered,
"Now you understand."
Elara fell to her knees.
"No."
"You are powerful because you feel."
The Hollow moved closer.
"So I will take the one emotion you cannot survive without."
Love.
Elara screamed.
Golden energy exploded around her.
She stood.
"You don't understand love."
The Hollow laughed.
"Love is weakness."
Elara shook her head.
"No."
She wiped her tears.
"Love is the reason people keep fighting."
The darkness cracked.
Behind it, Kael appeared.
He was injured.
But alive.
Elara ran to him.
He caught her.
"I knew you'd come."
She hugged him.
"I thought I'd lost you."
"You didn't."
The Hollow watched them.
And for the first time, it looked afraid.
* * *