Where the creature at the wall had been almost regal in its stillness, this one moved with jerking, insectile motions. Its body was gaunt, limbs too long and jointed in too many places. It had cornered a young boy, Len, the carpenter's son, no more than eight years old. Len, who had proudly shown Arashi a wooden bird he'd carved just last week, saying one day he'd be as good as his father.
The Hollow One emanated a sound just below hearing, a vibration that made Arashi's molars hurt. The air around it shimmered with heat distortion despite the evening chill. The smell of burnt hair and something chemical wafted from its form.
Without thinking, Arashi broke away from Elder Takuma, charging forward with the Resonant dagger raised. His heart hammered against his ribcage, every sense heightened by fear and something else, a burning need to protect. "Hey!" he shouted. "Over here!"
The Hollow One whirled with unnatural speed, its featureless face turning toward him. Up close, Arashi could see that what he'd thought was an absence of features was actually worse, a mouth that spiraled inward like an abyss, with no eyes but dozens of small sensory pits where eyes should have been. The creature smelled of ozone and decay, a combination that made Arashi's stomach lurch.
"Arashi, no!" Takuma called from behind him.
But it was too late. The Hollow One launched itself at Arashi with frightening speed. He raised the dagger, bracing for impact, but knowing it wouldn't be enough. His mouth went dry, time seeming to stretch as the creature barreled toward him.
Time seemed to slow. The pressure behind his eyes, which had been building steadily, suddenly released in a flood of sensation. The world around him became suffused with light and color, auras blooming around every living thing. Elder Takuma shone with a silvery-blue radiance that pulsed with the rhythm of his heartbeat, while Len glowed with the pure white of uninitiated potential, his aura flickering with his terror. And the Hollow One... the Hollow One was a void, a hungry absence that pulled at the light around it, distorting the very fabric of reality where it stood.
Words rose unbidden to Arashi's lips, words in that same strange language he'd seen on the wall, yet somehow familiar as his own name. They tasted like metal and starlight on his tongue, vibrating in his chest before emerging.
"Tazria el kadesh, Raziel veketer," he whispered, and the dagger in his hand flared to life with blinding silver light.
The words themselves seemed to have physical presence, hanging in the air for a moment before dissipating into motes of light. The Hollow One shrieked as it collided with him, a sound like shredding metal that set his teeth on edge. Pain lanced through Arashi's shoulder as claws tore through fabric and flesh, burning cold where they touched him. Blood, his blood, spattered the cobblestones, each droplet glowing faintly with the same silver light that now consumed the dagger.
But he barely felt the physical pain. Energy surged through him, flowing from some deep internal reservoir he'd never known existed. It was like diving into a frozen lake, the initial shock giving way to a crystalline clarity that transformed the world around him. He could see the currents of energy flowing through the village, the nodes where Resonance collected, the tears in reality where the Hollow Ones had entered their world.
With strength he didn't recognize as his own, Arashi drove the dagger upward into the creature's torso. The blade met resistance, then sank in with a sensation like cutting through dense fog. Where the blade pierced, silver light spilled out, spreading through the Hollow One's body like cracks in glass. The creature's shriek rose to an impossible pitch, then abruptly cut off as it dissolved into ash, scattering in the crimson-tinged wind. The ash smelled of ancient things, of dust long undisturbed.
Arashi stood frozen, staring at the dagger in his hand. Silver light still danced along its edge, responding to his touch, his will. Behind him, he heard Elder Takuma's sharp intake of breath.
"The Hymnal Verse," the old man whispered, awe and fear mingling in his voice. "You spoke a Hymnal Verse without training."
Arashi turned to him, suddenly aware that his vision remained altered. Takuma's aura pulsed more vibrantly now, with threads of gold woven through the silver-blue. "What's happening to me?" Arashi asked, his voice sounding strange to his own ears, as if harmonics had been added to it.
Before Takuma could respond, more shrieks rose from nearby streets, alien voices calling to each other across the village. The silver light around the dagger flickered, responding to Arashi's sudden fear like a living thing, curling closer to the blade as if seeking protection.
"Len," he said, turning to the boy who remained pressed against the wall, eyes wide with terror. The child's aura pulsed with fear, but also with a resilience that surprised Arashi. "Run to the archive. There's a cellar there, Mei was taking children there."
The boy nodded, then bolted past them, his small feet barely seeming to touch the ground as he disappeared down the alley they'd come through. Arashi watched him go, suddenly remembering how it felt to be that small, that vulnerable in a world of towering adults and incomprehensible rules.
"We need to keep moving," Elder Takuma said, approaching cautiously. His eyes never left the glowing dagger, his expression a complex mixture of pride, fear, and something that might have been regret. "That was only the beginning of your awakening. Without proper guidance, the next surge could be... dangerous."
The word hung between them, weighted with implications that Arashi could only begin to guess at. He nodded, trying to steady his breathing. The world around him still shimmered with auras, overwhelming his senses. Every stone in the courtyard glowed faintly with accumulated memories, every plant pulsed with quiet life-energy. "What's happening to me?"
"Your Divine Fragment is awakening," Takuma explained, leading him toward the Echo Chamber once more. The old man's gait, normally slowed by age, now had a determined stride that reminded Arashi that Takuma had once been a warrior. "The stress of combat triggered what would normally be a gradual process. We need to get you to the Chamber where the resonances can be stabilized."