Chapter 11 - The King Who Stole a Child's Body
Toby opened his eyes, smiled at the girl holding him, and spoke in a voice that belonged to something seven hundred years old.
"Hello, little sister."
Mira stopped breathing.
The boy in her arms had Toby's face, Toby's messy brown hair, and the same small scar above his chin from the time he had fallen against an iron bucket in the armory.
But his eyes were completely black.
And his chest was no longer moving.
"Toby?" she whispered.
The boy smiled again.
"I'm afraid he cannot answer you."
Mira's hands began trembling.
"Get out of him."
"Such an impolite greeting."
The Hollow King slowly raised one hand.
His fingers moved experimentally, opening and closing as though he were testing a new pair of gloves.
"A remarkable vessel," he murmured. "Small, admittedly. Fragile. But perfectly prepared."
Mira released him and stumbled backward.
The possessed boy rose without effort.
His feet hovered several inches above the bloodstained stones of the ruined bridge.
Captain Lysandra drew her sword.
"Your Majesty," she said coldly, "release the child."
The Hollow King turned toward her.
"Another guardian of the Last Watch."
He studied the silver dragon symbol on her palm.
"How disappointing. I thought your order had died out centuries ago."
Lysandra stepped between him and Mira.
"We have survived worse than you."
The Hollow King laughed.
"Have you?"
He lifted one finger.
The surviving rider beside Lysandra suddenly collapsed.
His armor twisted inward with a terrible metallic shriek.
"NO!" Lysandra shouted.
She lunged toward him.
But the soldier was already motionless.
The Hollow King lowered his hand.
"One."
Mira stared at the body.
Her stomach turned.
The man had survived the attack of the Crown Eater only to die because the creature wearing Toby's face wanted to demonstrate its strength.
Lysandra's expression hardened into something beyond anger.
She raised her sword.
The Hollow King tilted his head.
"Would you like me to count higher?"
"Stop!" Mira screamed.
The black eyes turned toward her.
For a moment, the cruel smile disappeared.
Something strange crossed Toby's face.
A flicker of hesitation.
Mira saw it.
And hope struck her so suddenly that it hurt.
"Toby?"
The Hollow King blinked.
Then his smile returned.
"Interesting."
He touched his chest.
"Even without a beating heart, the child refuses to become quiet."
Mira stepped forward.
"He's still in there."
"For now."
"Then he can fight you."
The Hollow King looked genuinely amused.
"Little Seraphine, you have no idea how long I have waited for this moment."
He extended his arms.
Black clouds gathered above the valley.
The distant bells of the Ashen Forge rang again.
"The seventh vessel has survived what the first six could not. My prison is broken, my enemies are scattered, and the final dragon oath belongs to me."
His voice deepened.
"At the third sunrise, I will no longer need this child's soul."
Mira's blood ran cold.
"What happens to him then?"
The Hollow King leaned closer.
"He disappears."
Lysandra attacked.
Her silver sword flashed toward Toby's throat.
Mira screamed.
"NO!"
At the last instant, the Hollow King raised one hand.
The blade stopped an inch from his skin.
Lysandra strained against the invisible force.
The Hollow King looked at the sword with mild interest.
"Dragonsteel."
He smiled.
"I remember when your ancestors knew how to make these."
He twisted his wrist.
The weapon shattered.
Lysandra staggered backward.
Before she could recover, black chains erupted from the bridge and wrapped around her arms.
The Hollow King lifted her into the air.
"Now, Captain, tell me where your remaining soldiers are hiding."
Lysandra spat at him.
He sighed.
"I had hoped we might be civilized."
The chains tightened.
Lysandra cried out.
Mira rushed forward.
"Leave her alone!"
The Hollow King looked at her.
"Why should I?"
"Because Toby wouldn't want this!"
Something flickered in his expression again.
His hand trembled.
The chains loosened.
Lysandra fell to the ground, gasping.
The Hollow King stared at his fingers.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked at Mira with renewed interest.
"You are more troublesome than I expected."
Mira swallowed.
"Good."
The possessed boy smiled.
"Do you know why Elara created you?"
Mira's expression tightened.
"To protect Toby."
"That was the story she told you."
He stepped closer.
"Would you like to hear the story she told me?"
Mira remained silent.
The Hollow King continued.
"Six vessels died because their souls rejected my power. Elara believed a seventh might survive if it possessed something the others lacked."
"What?"
"An anchor."
Mira looked toward the satchel containing the golden-crowned skull.
The Hollow King shook his head.
"Not that kind."
He pointed at her.
"You."
Mira went still.
"You were created to make him love living."
The words struck with unexpected force.
The Hollow King continued.
"A child who had been recalled from death could not remain whole through magic alone. He needed memories, attachments, desires, fears. He needed a reason to resist oblivion."
Mira stared at him.
"So she gave him a sister."
"Not exactly."
The Hollow King smiled.
"She made a guardian who would stay beside him, protect him, and give him a reason to cling to his own identity."
Mira's eyes filled with tears.
The Hollow King leaned closer.
"The more he loved you, the stronger his soul became."
"Then why would she do that if you wanted his body?"
"Because she believed a strong soul might eventually destroy me."
Mira looked toward Toby's black eyes.
"And can it?"
The Hollow King's smile faded.
"Not anymore."
But Mira had noticed something.
For the first time, he had answered too quickly.
Deep within the darkness of Toby's body, a boy stood alone in an enormous room filled with doors.
There were seven of them.
Six were broken.
The seventh was locked.
Toby did not remember how he had arrived.
He remembered the bridge.
The Crown Eater.
Mira standing between him and death.
Then the terrible coldness spreading through his chest.
And finally, silence.
Now he stood barefoot on a black stone floor.
Above him hung a sky without stars.
"Hello?" he called.
His voice echoed.
No one answered.
He approached the nearest door.
Its surface was carved with a child's face.
His own.
The second door bore the same face.
So did the third.
All six broken doors were marked with golden crowns.
Toby remembered the ghostly children.
The first six vessels.
He touched the nearest door.
A memory exploded through his mind.
A small boy sitting beside Queen Elara.
She was reading to him.
The boy laughed.
Then suddenly began screaming.
Black veins spread across his arms.
The queen tried to hold him.
But his body dissolved into golden dust.
Toby stumbled backward.
He touched the second door.
Another memory.
Another child.
Another death.
By the fourth door, he was crying.
By the sixth, he could barely stand.
Every child had loved Elara.
Every child had believed she would save him.
And every child had died.
Toby pressed his forehead against the final broken door.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
A voice answered.
We know.
He spun around.
Six ghostly children stood behind him.
Their empty chests glowed faintly.
The oldest stepped forward.
"You finally found us."
Toby wiped his eyes.
"Where am I?"
"Inside the place where he keeps the souls he cannot destroy."
Toby looked toward the seventh door.
"That's mine?"
The ghost nodded.
"Not yet."
"What does that mean?"
"The Hollow King has taken your body. But he has not taken your name."
Toby frowned.
"My name?"
The oldest child approached.
"A true name is more than the word people call you. It is everything you have chosen to become."
Toby looked down.
He had spent his life believing he was nobody.
A servant.
An orphan.
A mistake.
Now he wondered whether even his memories belonged to him.
"I don't know who I am."
The youngest ghost took his hand.
"Neither did we."
Toby looked at him.
The child smiled sadly.
"But we remember what you did."
"What?"
"You hugged Mira instead of fighting her."
Another ghost stepped forward.
"You protected the people in the city."
A third said, "You refused to let the soldiers hurt that little boy."
The oldest placed a hand against Toby's shoulder.
"Those were your choices. Not Elara's. Not the Hollow King's."
Toby began to cry.
"Then why can't I move?"
The ghosts looked toward the seventh door.
"Because someone has locked you away."
"How do I open it?"
The oldest child's expression darkened.
"With the one thing the Hollow King cannot create."
"What?"
"A promise he intends to keep."
Back on the ruined bridge, the Hollow King turned toward the northern mountains.
The Ashen Forge glowed like a golden wound beneath the morning sky.
Lysandra struggled to her feet.
Mira stood beside her.
Neither dared approach Toby's possessed body.
The Hollow King looked toward the mountains.
"At last. The first dragon flame."
He extended his hand.
The golden-crowned skull floated from Mira's satchel.
She reached for it.
But the skull shot through the air.
It settled in the Hollow King's palm.
Its eyes opened.
For the first time, both skull and boy smiled together.
"Seven vessels," the Hollow King murmured. "Seven attempts. Seven centuries of waiting."
Lysandra drew a dagger.
"Whatever you intend, the Last Watch will stop you."
He looked at her.
"You still don't understand."
The mountains began to tremble.
A deep roar echoed beneath the earth.
The Hollow King smiled.
"The Ashen Forge was never meant to restore dragons."
Mira froze.
"What?"
"It was built to create them."
Lysandra's face drained of color.
The Hollow King continued.
"The First Dynasty forged seven dragon guardians using fragments of my original power. Each guardian was bound to a royal oath."
He looked toward Toby's blackened wrist.
"Vaelthar was the last."
Mira whispered, "Then the forge..."
"Can restore him, yes."
The Hollow King smiled.
"But it can also restore what the dragons were created to contain."
The wind grew colder.
Lysandra stared toward the mountains.
"If you reach the forge..."
"I will reclaim every fragment of myself."
"And Vaelthar?"
The Hollow King looked almost pleased by the question.
"He will cease to exist."
Mira stepped forward.
"No."
The Hollow King turned toward her.
She raised her chin.
"You won't reach it."
He laughed.
"Will you stop me?"
Mira's silver eyes began glowing.
"If I have to."
The Hollow King studied her.
Then he reached inside Toby's tunic.
He withdrew the copper pendant.
Mira's breath caught.
The little charm she had seen around Toby's neck for years.
The pendant Queen Elara had given him.
The Hollow King held it between two fingers.
"Do you recognize this?"
Mira nodded.
"Of course."
"Do you know what it really is?"
"A royal pendant."
"No."
He crushed it.
Mira screamed.
A burst of golden light erupted from the broken copper.
For an instant, the image of Queen Elara appeared between them.
She looked directly at Mira.
Her voice trembled.
Seraphine, if the seventh vessel falls, remember the promise.
Then the image vanished.
The Hollow King stared at the broken pendant.
His smile disappeared.
"What promise?"
Mira stood motionless.
Something had awakened inside her memory.
A room filled with golden roses.
Queen Elara kneeling before her.
A tiny silver dagger.
And a promise spoken by a frightened little girl.
If Toby ever loses himself, I will bring him home.
Mira's eyes filled with tears.
Then she remembered the rest.
The queen had not asked her to kill Toby.
She had asked her to find him.
Even if his body was taken.
Even if his heart stopped.
Even if the darkness swallowed his name.
Mira slowly looked up.
"I know how to save him."
The Hollow King stepped backward.
For the first time, fear entered his eyes.
"No."
Mira raised her right hand.
The silver star upon her pendant ignited.
A circle of ancient symbols appeared beneath her feet.
Lysandra stared.
"The Guardian's Oath..."
Mira nodded.
"The original one."
The Hollow King snarled.
"That oath was destroyed!"
Mira's expression hardened.
"Not destroyed."
She looked directly into Toby's black eyes.
"Hidden."
Inside the darkness, Toby heard someone calling his name.
Not the Hollow King.
Not Queen Elara.
Mira.
Toby.
He turned toward the seventh door.
A silver light appeared beneath it.
Toby, can you hear me?
He rushed forward.
"Mira!"
The door trembled.
A familiar voice answered.
I'm here.
Toby pressed both hands against the wood.
"I can't get out!"
I know.
"I'm scared."
The voice softened.
I know that too.
He closed his eyes.
For one moment, he was seven years old again, sitting beside Mira behind the armory.
She had stolen two potatoes.
He had promised her seven chickens.
And the world had seemed small enough to survive.
"Mira?"
Yes?
"Did you remember our promise?"
A quiet laugh came through the door.
Every word.
The silver light brightened.
The six ghosts gathered behind Toby.
The oldest smiled.
"She's found you."
Toby looked at him.
"What happens now?"
The ghost's expression became serious.
"Now you must decide whether to return."
Toby stared.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because your body has already died."
Silence.
The ghost continued.
"Returning will not restore what the Hollow King took from you."
Toby touched his chest.
He could not feel a heartbeat.
"What does that mean?"
The youngest ghost began crying.
The oldest answered quietly.
"If you return, you will have only one final chance to stop him."
"How?"
"By opening the seventh door."
Toby looked toward the silver light.
"And what happens if I do?"
The ghost lowered his eyes.
"The six of us will disappear."
Toby froze.
"Disappear?"
"We have remained here because our souls were bound to the first six vessels."
"Then I'll find another way."
"There isn't one."
Toby shook his head.
"I won't sacrifice you."
The oldest ghost smiled sadly.
"You aren't sacrificing us."
He approached the seventh door.
"We have been waiting for someone to let us go."
One by one, the six children placed their hands against the wood.
Golden light spread across its surface.
Toby began to cry.
"Wait!"
The youngest ghost looked back.
"Will you tell Mira we were brave?"
Toby nodded desperately.
"Yes."
"Even though we were scared?"
"Especially because you were scared."
The child smiled.
Then the six ghosts dissolved into golden flames.
The seventh door opened.
And Toby stepped into the light.
On the bridge, the Hollow King screamed.
His body convulsed.
Black veins spread across Toby's face.
Mira fell to her knees, maintaining the silver circle beneath her.
Lysandra rushed toward her.
"Princess!"
"Don't touch me!"
Silver fire erupted around Mira.
The Hollow King staggered backward.
"No!"
His black eyes flickered.
Hazel.
Black.
Hazel again.
Mira cried out.
"Toby!"
The boy's lips trembled.
For one brief moment, his familiar voice returned.
"Mira..."
She began sobbing.
"I'm here!"
His hand reached toward her.
Their fingers nearly touched.
Then the Hollow King seized control again.
A blast of darkness shattered the silver circle.
Mira screamed as she was thrown backward.
Lysandra caught her before she struck the ground.
The possessed boy collapsed.
For several seconds, he lay motionless.
Then his fingers moved.
His chest rose.
Once.
Twice.
A heartbeat thundered through the valley.
Mira stared.
"He's alive."
Lysandra looked toward him.
Toby slowly sat upright.
His eyes were hazel.
He looked confused.
Frightened.
Human.
"Mira?"
She rushed toward him.
"Toby!"
He caught her in his arms.
They held each other tightly.
For one precious moment, the nightmare seemed over.
Then Toby looked down.
His hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From something moving beneath his skin.
He pulled back his sleeve.
The black dragon mark had vanished.
In its place was a golden crown surrounded by seven stars.
Lysandra saw it.
Her expression changed from relief to horror.
"No..."
Toby looked up.
"What?"
The captain slowly lowered her head.
"That is the mark of the First Sovereign."
Mira frowned.
"Isn't that good?"
Lysandra shook her head.
"The First Sovereign did not command dragons."
She looked toward the Ashen Forge.
"He created them."
Toby felt a strange warmth beneath his ribs.
Then a voice spoke inside his mind.
Not the Hollow King's.
Not Vaelthar's.
His own.
Yet older.
Deeper.
The seventh door is open.
Toby froze.
A memory flashed before his eyes.
Seven dragons kneeling before a throne of fire.
A man wearing the first golden crown.
A terrible war.
And a child standing alone before the Ashen Forge.
The child turned.
He had Toby's face.
But he was not one of the six dead vessels.
He was older.
Perhaps seventeen.
His eyes burned with golden light.
He smiled.
You finally remembered me.
Toby stumbled backward.
Mira grabbed his arm.
"What's wrong?"
He could barely speak.
"I saw someone."
"Who?"
Toby looked toward the mountains.
The Ashen Forge blazed beneath the rising sun.
And from deep within its flames, an enormous golden dragon began to emerge.
Its wings stretched across the sky.
Its roar shook the valley.
Lysandra fell to her knees.
"The First Dragon..."
Mira stared upward.
The creature's golden eyes fixed directly upon Toby.
Then it spoke.
Its voice echoed across the entire kingdom.
"THE SEVENTH VESSEL HAS AWAKENED. BRING ME THE BOY WHO CARRIES MY SON'S SOUL."
Toby stood motionless.
The golden dragon lowered its enormous head.
And whispered a name that had been erased from every royal record.
"Aurelian."