Within a Hollow Heart

Chapter 14: Volume 1, Chapter 14: "Shattered Knowledge"

The old man's mutterings echoed off the stone walls of the archive, each word heavy with the weight of madness and fear. Cole felt a cold dread settle in his chest as the man's voice drifted between half-formed sentences about the void and the breaking threads of the Veil. It was clear that whatever had happened to him, it had driven him past the point of reason.

Marcus kept his sword drawn, his sharp eyes never leaving the old man, while Selene moved silently to the far side of the room, her gaze sweeping over the shelves of ancient tomes and scrolls. The chamber was vast, and despite its age, the air felt dense with the history that had been left behind. It was a place that had once held knowledge—answers to the very questions they had been searching for.

But now, it was filled only with the echoes of failure.

"We need answers," Cole said quietly, stepping forward. His voice was steady, though the tremble in his hands betrayed his nerves. "Whatever drove him to this, it's tied to the void. There has to be something here that can help us."

Elara knelt beside the old man, her eyes soft with compassion as she reached out to him. "Can you tell us what you know?" she asked gently. "What happened to the Guardians? How did the void break through?"

The man's wild eyes flickered to her, a brief moment of clarity passing over his face. But it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by the same mutterings, the same frenzied whispers. "The Knots are breaking," he repeated, his hands clutching the tome tighter. "They tried to hold it back, but the void... it's too strong."

Cole felt a shiver run down his spine. This man had been a Guardian once—one of the last, it seemed. He had been here, watching as the Knots began to unravel, powerless to stop it. The void had consumed him, just as it had the woman they had fought earlier. But this was different. The madness that had taken him was deeper, more insidious, as though the void had burrowed into his very soul.

"Maybe there's something in the books," Selene suggested, her voice a low whisper as she ran her fingers over the spines of the ancient tomes. "The Guardians must have left behind records of what they were trying to do."

"We'll have to find out," Elara said, her expression grim. She glanced at Cole, her eyes filled with determination. "If we can understand what they were doing—how they tried to hold the void back—we might be able to finish what they started."

Marcus stepped closer, his eyes never leaving the old man. "I'll keep watch over him. He's unstable, but he's not a threat. Find what we need."

Cole nodded, grateful for the respite from the man's unsettling presence. He joined Selene and Elara at the shelves, his eyes scanning the titles of the crumbling tomes. Most of them were too faded to read, their pages yellowed and fragile from centuries of decay. But there were a few that remained intact, their spines stiff with the weight of forgotten knowledge.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Selene asked as she pulled down a large, leather-bound book. "A way to fix the Knots? Or something to stop the void?"

"Both," Elara replied, her voice tight with concentration. "The Guardians were studying the Veil for centuries. They must have found something—some way to hold the void at bay. We just need to find it."

Cole reached for a thin, dust-covered volume that seemed out of place among the larger tomes. Its cover was plain, the title faded beyond recognition, but something about it caught his attention. He carefully opened it, wincing as the pages crackled under his fingers.

The writing was dense, filled with intricate diagrams of the Veil and the Knots. But as Cole flipped through the pages, he began to notice something strange. The diagrams weren't just of the Knots—they were of the void itself. Detailed sketches showed the tendrils of shadow, the dark energy that twisted and tore at the threads of the Veil. And beneath each drawing, there were notes, written in a language Cole couldn't read.

"Elara," he called, his voice soft but urgent. "I think I found something."

She hurried over, her eyes widening as she saw the diagrams. "That's... that's the void," she whispered, her fingers tracing the lines of the sketches. "The Guardians must have been studying its movements—trying to understand how it interacts with the Veil."

"But there's more," Cole said, turning the pages carefully. "Look."

Elara's breath hitched as they reached the final pages of the book. There, drawn in careful detail, was a Knot unlike any they had seen before. It was massive, its threads wound tightly together in an intricate pattern, but it wasn't complete. There was a gap in the center, a space where something had been torn away.

"This must be one of the Knots the Guardians created to hold back the void," Elara said, her voice filled with awe. "But something broke through it."

Selene stepped closer, her brow furrowed in thought. "The fragment," she said quietly. "The one we fought—it must have come from this Knot."

Cole's heart raced as the pieces began to fall into place. The fragment had been part of a larger Knot, one designed to contain the void. But when that Knot had been torn open, the fragment had broken free. And now, it was unraveling everything.

"This Knot," Cole said, pointing to the gap in the diagram. "It's still out there, isn't it? If we can find it, we might be able to stop the void."

Elara nodded, her eyes blazing with determination. "If we can find this Knot and repair it, we might be able to stabilize the Veil. But we'll need to move quickly. If the void is already breaking through, we don't have much time."

Marcus, who had been standing watch over the old man, glanced back at them. "Do we know where this Knot is?"

Elara shook her head, her brow furrowed in frustration. "The Guardians didn't leave a clear map, but there are references in these notes—coordinates, markings. We'll need to decipher them, but I think I can figure it out."

"We don't have the luxury of time," Marcus said, his tone grim. "The longer we wait, the more the void spreads. We need to act now."

"We'll figure it out on the way," Selene added, her voice sharp with urgency. "But first, we need to get out of here. This place feels... wrong."

Cole couldn't help but agree. The air in the archive had grown heavier, thicker with the presence of the void. He could feel the threads of the Veil trembling beneath the surface, as though the very walls of the building were being stretched thin.

"We'll leave at first light," Elara said, her voice firm. "I'll study these notes tonight and see if I can find any clues about the location of the Knot. In the meantime, we need to rest. We'll need our strength for what's coming."

The group settled into a tense silence as they made their way back to the entrance of the archive. The old man had fallen quiet, his eyes distant as he stared blankly at the walls. Cole couldn't shake the feeling that they were leaving him behind, abandoning him to the madness that had consumed him.

But there was nothing they could do for him now.

As they stepped into the cool night air, the weight of the archive's forgotten knowledge still heavy on their shoulders, Cole glanced back at the crumbling building. The Guardians had left behind their wisdom, but they had also left behind their failures. And now, it was up to them to finish what had been started centuries ago.

The void was growing stronger, but they had a chance—however slim—to stop it.

And they couldn't afford to fail.