23.

Eric and Cassia are already waiting for us in the treeline, their eyes glowing through the thick fog. We're a significant distance from the underground. The closer trees are still only stumps, damaged from the last timer Elias lit this place on fire.

Emotions war within me as I join them and perch beside a bush. On one hand, I'm anxious to get out of here. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back to Elias' village to rest. But deep down, I know there won't be much relaxing for a long time, at least until the hollowers are stopped and Cynthia is dead. If anything, our lives will only become more complicated; we'll have an entire village to protect.

"How long?" I whisper. Eric's beside me, on his knees.

He narrows his eyes at the fog. "I can hear them. Any second now..."

I smell it before I see it—the acrid stench of smoke. It thickens the air, lingers towards us, camouflaging with the fog. Then, the fog starts to glow, only a little at first, until orange burns through, emanating from the entrance of the tunnel.

"They're here," Eric murmurs.

I take a deep breath, straining my ears, but I can't hear anything, and my eyes are no good. In the back of my mind, panic sets in. Elias was supposed to light the fire and then hide behind the entrance, jamming it on them after they go in. But what if Elias didn't get out? What if he's still down there by the time the hollowers go in? I shake my head and push away the panic. Elias knows what he's doing.

"Get out of there, Elias," Cassia whispers. "Come on."

Voices filter towards us only seconds later, closer and closer, Garret's low tone reminding me of what he did to that boy. I squeeze my fists and bounce on the balls of my feet in anticipation. It feels like hours before they finally appear in front of the entrance, barely even hesitating before stepping inside, their weapons raised. We sit and wait. They would've smelled the smoke by now, would've realised it's a fire. Elias should've jammed the doors shut behind them. Why hasn't Elias come out?

I look to Cassia, rolling on the balls of her feet. To Malik, over my shoulder, Elias' backpack with the shadow safely in his grasp. To Eric. His red eyes are trained on the entrance, narrowed as if he can pierce through the thick fog. There's a twist to his lips, tension in his jaw. 

"Eric." He turns to look at me, slow and calculated. Raising a finger to his lips, he shakes his head. But the quiet is disrupted by a low-pitched shout piercing through the air.

Shadows materialize in the entrance. One, two, three. More hollowers stream in as if they'd been waiting around the edges, hiding. My blood runs cold. There were only two when Elias and I saw them. Where did the others come from?

"We have to get out of here." Malik looks over his shoulder as if there are more of them, watching us from the fog. "We have to go now."

Eric drops his backpack to the ground and spins around to face me, red eyes urgent. "Go. Get out of here. Elias and I will meet you at the cliff face. But if you come across any of them, run, run and don't stop till you get back."

I grab his wrist. "Eric—"

It's too late, he tears from my grip and leaps into the air, landing once again on all fours as he darts to the entrance. It swallows him whole. I turn to face the others. They've both dropped their bags and are frantically fiddling with their clothes.

"What're you doing?"

"Shifting," Malik says without looking at me. He tosses Cassia a weapon. "We'll be faster that way. Here, take the bags, I'll carry you."

"We can't just leave—"

"You heard Eric. We have to get out of here."

"Cassia?" I ask. She looks up at me but nods, agreeing with Malik. "There are too many of them, Cassia, they can't take them all alone."

"Eric said to—"

"So now you choose to follow orders?"

She flinches. I shake my head, stepping back. We can't run. Eric and Elias are trapped down there with a growing fire and at least six immortal hollowers. Images twist in the smoke swirling around us, pictures of Elias lifeless on a table, his blood and memories torn away from him.

"Quick, we're wasting time. You'll have to carry all three backpacks." Malik steps towards me, his hand raised, but I step back, shaking my head. "Milena—"

"Those hollowers are immortal, Malik."

"We have no choice."

"But—"

"What are you going to do about it, Milena?" He shakes my shoulders, glacial eyes blazing into mine. "If you stayed, and they're immortal, what help are you going to be?"

Hopelessness stabs at my chest. He's right. You can stab an immortal hollower, render it helpless and in pain for a few seconds, maybe even minutes, at most. But you can't kill it. I can't kill it. I drop my head and Malik sighs, stepping back. The bag at his feet topples over, the hilt of the shadow poking out the top. I freeze. The shadow. It's our only weapon against them. Malik's already looking at me when I raise my eyes, and he must see something in my face, because he reaches for the bag at the same time I do, but he's too slow. I snatch it from beneath him and sprint towards the tunnel entrance into the flaming furnace.

~

The smoke outside was pungent; inside, it's unbearable, snaking its way into my throat and choking around my lungs. The further I walk, the thicker the air is to breathe. The passageways are lit up around me, flickering with the fire further into the tunnel, ravishing the halls I once called home. I pull the neckline of my shirt to cover my mouth and wipe the back of my hand across my stinging eyes. The backpack with the shadow feels a million tonnes on my back.

I wish I could ditch the bag and just take the knife, but I can't touch it. I have to get the shadow to Elias.

The tunnel winds to the social room. My clothes stick to my skin, a layer of sweat gathers on my brow. There's no one in here. The tunnels get hotter by the second, the orange glow growing. If I stay down here too long, the smoke will choke me. I pause, duck down low and crawl along the ground, a layer of dirt sticking to my skin. There are three connecting tunnels to the social room. Elias was supposed to light a fire in all three of them, but the passage to the personal quarters is the only one that's dark. A shout comes from that direction. I quicken my pace, keeping my body low to the ground until I reach the hallway just before my quarters. The smoke is not as thick, and the further I get, the less light the fire from other passageways give off.

"Nowhere to run, wisper." It's Garret. "Hand it over and we'll let you go."

I freeze, pressing my body into the wall. I wait a second before peering around the corner, into the darkness. Two pairs of glowing eyes, red and gold, pierce the room. They stand on the opposite side to me, exit blocked by the five figures, standing with their machetes raised.

"I told you," Elias says, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Garret marches up to him and grabs him by the collar of his shirt. Within seconds, he shoots across the room, hitting the wall with a thud. The other hollowers raise their machetes as Garret tries to catch his breath, clambering to his feet. The room starts to buzz. I can't look away from Elias as his skin begins to glow, like sunlight is trying to break through his body.

Garret laughs, unafraid of the way Elias' hands start to burn. "You cannot kill us with your fire, wisper. Or did you forget how we fed on you already?"

"Maybe I can't kill you, but I can definitely hurt you." Before Garret can respond, Elias hits one of the hollowers again, only this time, he doesn't touch him. The boy goes flying across the hall, his clothes on fire. His scream of pain pierces my ears as he rolls around on the ground.

Furious, Garret marches over to Elias and presses him against the wall, his machete against Elias neck. "Give it to us or I'll kill you."

Elias stares back evenly, not trying to break free. "You and I both know Cynthia would have your head if you killed me."

An irritated growl escapes Garret's chest and he steps back and looks at Eric. "But nothing is stopping me from killing your friend." Eric growls, pressing his body low to the ground and narrowing his red eyes. "Give us the shadow."

"I said," Elias says, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The back of my neck prickles with warmth. In the back of my mind, alarm bells ring. Down this passage, the fire doesn't feel like a threat, simply a warmth lingering closer and closer from behind. But there's only one way out of this place, and if we're down here too long, it will be blocked by flames that neither Eric nor I can make it through.

"Kill the creature," Garret orders.

Three of the hollowers step towards Eric. He snaps into action, latching onto one of their arms and eliciting an agonising scream. I can't pull apart what's happening between them as Eric darts around the hall, ducking under swinging machetes and leaving deep bites into the wounds of hollowers who fall to the ground only to get back up thirty seconds later. He's fighting a losing battle.

To the side, Garret is trying to secure Elias' wrists with a thick rope. I almost scoff. Elias could burn through that rope in seconds. So why isn't he?

I have to get the shadow to Elias.

I rise to my feet, reaching for my dagger and stepping around the corner. They're all too busy trying to get Eric to notice me, but I feel Elias' stare when he notices me over Garret's shoulder, his eyes filling with horror. Before he can say anything, I launch my dagger into the fight, aiming for the neck of one of the hollowers. It hits his chest; close enough.

He falls to the ground, grabbing at the hilt of the dagger, face pale with pain. The rest of the hollowers have noticed me now, spinning with shock written on their faces.

"Milena?" Garret gapes.

Eric takes their shock as an opportunity to leap over them towards me, landing in a protective stance in front of me. I pull another knife and face Garret. He looks just like the man who used to teach children in the meadow, but there's a new side to him now, the one that tortures children in the forest.

"Hi, Garret."

"You were... we... we killed you—"

I don't think before sending my dagger flying through the air towards him. It lodges in his stomach and he doubles over, grasping the hilt. "Thought I'd come to repay the favour."

"You little—"

Elias' entire body starts to blaze, engulfing around both him and Garret. "Eric! Get her out of here!" Elias shouts through the fire. The hollowers panic, starting towards us.

Get on my back, Eric orders.

I hold up the bag. "I have to give Elias—"

Eric's eyes widen. Get on my back now. You won't make it through the flames. Do not let that bag go.

I throw my leg over one side. A hollower grabs my wrist and yanks me backwards. Eric swings around, biting hard into the hollowers arm till it lets go. And then we're off. I bury my face in Eric's fur as he bounds through the tunnel, straight towards the burning flames ahead. Behind, Elias sprints after him, shouts and orders following him. A trail of fire blazes behind him.

Hold on, Eric says. Cover your skin with your clothes.

The best I can while he's moving, I tug my shirt over my head and shove my face into his fur. His heart pounds in his back, thudding at the same rhythm to his paws as they pound against the earth. I can't see the fire, but I feel the blaze as we reach it, making my eyes water. The smell of burning hair fills the air, but Eric doesn't stop, bounding on through the flames and leaping through the air till we're metres away from the entrance.

We spit out onto the ground, rolling around on the earth to stamp out whatever flames clung to us. My clothes are singed and patches of Eric's fur are burnt. I drag myself across the ground, eyes on the entrance as Elias comes bounding towards us, eyes wide. Hollowers stream behind him.

"Shut the door!" He shouts. "Start to shut the door!"

Eric's still writhing on the ground. I drag myself to the door, the metal like ice against my fingers and it drags across the ground. It was always heavy, but the fire has melded metal against metal, making it difficult to budge. It slides painfully slow, and Elias seems so far away. I keep pushing. Beside me, Malik appears, and Cassia, helping me shove it closed. I meet Malik's wide eyes as we push it shut, just a slither open for Elias to slide through.

The hollowers are only seconds behind him when he emerges. We shove the last gap closed. Fists pound against it, tugging it open. 

"Hold it shut!" Elias shouts. He puts his hands where the two metals connect and lights up, the area around him burning bright as the metal starts to meld together from the heat of his hands. He works all the way around but I don't let go, as if my little strength is somehow singlehandedly stopping the hollowers from sliding it open.

Finally, Elias steps back, hands by his sides. His clothes are black, his sleeves straggly and burnt. He meets my gaze, golden eyes blazing the way they did in the caves when he'd lit me on fire. And despite the danger, what I just saw him do, I can't look away. Because he's never looked so alive.

"Eric!" Cassia rushes over to Eric. I look away from Elias to Eric. He's back in human form, body littered in blistering burns as he groans and pulls himself to a sitting position. Where I could cover myself, Eric was completely exposed to the flames. Cassia sheds her coat and wraps it around him.

"I'm fine, Cassia."

"You're burnt—"

"I'm fine." He struggles to his feet, holding her coat around himself before looking at Elias. "We need to go. That'll keep them in there for a while, but you can see the smoke. Any hollower within a ten-mile radius might see it and come looking."

Elias nods, chest rising and falling as the golden glow slowly seeps from his skin. "Let's go."

I haven't even caught my breath by the time we're heading back into the forest.

~

DISCUSSION:

1. Why do you think the hollowers want the shadow?

2. What do you think might happen next?

3. Anybody watch Shadow and Bone on netflix? I couldn't stop myself from binge-watching!