The Ashrun Wastes weren't marked on any map.
And yet, every vampire knew the legend.
A dead land.
Banished land.
Where blood burned black and secrets grew like thorns.
Jayden felt it the moment he crossed into it — the shift. The air was heavier. Like walking through memory and fire.
Beside him, Veyna whispered, "They say this place is cursed."
Jayden's eyes scanned the horizon.
"No," he murmured. "It's angry."
---
The City Appears
At first, there was only red dust and shattered bonewood trees. But as they crested a ridge, a city rose before them — crumbling towers, stone bridges held by bone spires, and smoke coiling upward from torchlit walls.
Not made of marble or silver, like the Hollow.
This place was built of ash, ruin, and rebellion.
A figure stood waiting at the gates. Cloaked. Hooded.
Jayden tensed until Veyna murmured, "Relax. That's her."
The figure stepped forward and pulled back her hood — revealing obsidian-black eyes and braids laced with fire-dyed threads.
"I'm Serith," she said. "Welcome to Sorrowhold — the heart of the Outsiders."
---
Sorrowhold
The city buzzed with life, but not the kind Jayden knew. Vampires walked openly beside witches, werefolk, and even humans marked by old blood pacts. Children laughed in alleyways. Guards bore no sigils — only scars.
Serith led them through the streets, past crumbling statues and fire pits, toward the city's center: a tower of bones, taller than anything Jayden had ever seen.
"Is that…?"
"The Tower of Whispers," Serith answered. "It's alive. Built from the remains of the Bloodbound — those the Hollow branded and broke."
Jayden shivered as they passed it.
He could feel it humming.
Calling his name.
---
The Blood Council
At the base of the tower, Serith brought them to a wide hall. There, five figures sat — not on thrones, but jagged seats made from broken weapons and melted chains.
One stepped forward — a pale man with tattoos made of blood and fire.
"I am Vaelen," he said. "Speaker for the Blood Council."
Jayden held his gaze. "You were once in the Hollow."
Vaelen nodded slowly. "They tried to Brand me. I burned the seal into my own chest instead. To remind me of what freedom costs."
He looked at Jayden with unreadable eyes.
"You carry the Hollow's scent… and something deeper."
Jayden opened his hand — revealing the insignia Caziel had given him.
Vaelen's expression didn't change. But Serith inhaled sharply.
"Where did you get that?" she asked.
"Caziel gave it to me."
Vaelen turned. "Caziel is missing."
---
Voices in the Bone
That night, Jayden couldn't sleep.
The Tower of Whispers pulled at him.
So he went.
Alone.
Inside, the walls were made of skulls — thousands of them. Each whispering. Each echoing with memories.
When he touched the central column, he saw:
The Hollow in flames
Veyna kneeling in chains
Caziel… bleeding out on stone… betrayed
And finally — a sigil glowing red. The same one carved in his dreams.
Ashkarin.
A voice spoke, ancient and layered:
> You were never meant to serve. You were meant to burn the path. Blood is not a curse. It is a key.
Jayden pulled his hand back, panting. Behind him, Serith stood silently.
"You heard it," she said. Not a question.
Jayden nodded. "What is Ashkarin?"
She looked at him with quiet dread.
"It's not a name. It's a command."
---
The Burning Moon
Just as dawn neared — a cry rang out from the northern watchtower.
Fire.
Not natural.
Soulfire.
Jayden and Veyna rushed to the walls to see black riders tearing across the Ashrun border — Hollow Hunters, cloaked in silver flame, their weapons forged to pierce even rebellion.
Jayden turned to Vaelen. "You said this place was hidden!"
"It was," he growled. "Someone told them."
Jayden's blood went cold.
Caziel.
But why?
The moon overhead shifted red. A burning eclipse.
The first seen in centuries.
Vaelen shouted, "To arms! Protect the young! Prepare the glyph cannons!"
Serith touched Jayden's shoulder. "The Tower called you here for a reason."
And he knew it.
> This wasn't just a war.
It was his trial.
To survive, he would have to choose:
Blood. Power. Or both.