The black book burned without turning to ash.
Flames crawled across its cover.
Daniel dropped it.
Mara kicked it away.
Michael stared.
"That's impossible."
Daniel looked at the door.
"My mother said the book lies."
Mara nodded.
"Then we need to find out what it was hiding."
Elias suddenly moved.
Daniel turned.
The old hunter opened his eyes.
"The ritual."
Everyone looked at him.
Elias slowly stood.
"There was never supposed to be a sacrifice."
Michael frowned.
"What?"
Elias looked at Daniel.
"Your father discovered the original ritual was altered."
"By who?"
"The first Hollowed."
Mara stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because they wanted a permanent vessel."
Daniel looked at the book.
"And the sacrifice?"
"A lie."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Then what's the real ritual?"
Elias pointed toward the door.
"The vessel must choose."
"Choose what?"
"Life or power."
Daniel didn't understand.
Elias continued.
"The entity offers power to every vessel. If the vessel accepts, the entity becomes part of them."
"And if they refuse?"
"The entity loses its connection."
Michael stared.
"Then why didn't anyone do that before?"
Elias smiled sadly.
"Because no one believed they could live without the power."
Daniel looked at his hands.
"What power?"
The mark on his chest began glowing.
The answer came immediately.
The lights went out.
Daniel lifted into the air.
Mara shouted his name.
Darkness wrapped around him.
Voices filled his mind.
You can end every monster.
Images appeared.
Demons disappearing.
Vampires burning.
Ghosts vanishing.
Hunters surviving.
A world without supernatural creatures.
All you have to do is accept me.
Daniel saw himself standing over the world.
Power flowing through his hands.
He could stop every death.
Every monster.
Every war.
Every loss.
Then he heard his father's voice.
You don't need to become the thing you're hunting.
Daniel opened his eyes.
"No."
The darkness tightened around him.
You could save everyone.
Daniel looked directly into the darkness.
"I don't need your power."
The entity screamed.
The mark on his chest cracked.
Black smoke poured from his body.
Daniel fell.
Mara caught him.
The entire chamber shook.
Elias stared at the door.
"It's working."
Michael grabbed the book.
"The seal is weakening."
Daniel stood.
"What do we do?"
Elias pointed toward the door.
"Now."
They placed the book before the First Door.
Daniel pressed his bloody hand against it.
The symbols ignited.
The door began closing.
The entity screamed from the other side.
YOU ARE MINE.
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
YOU WERE BORN FOR ME.
"No."
YOUR FAMILY BELONGS TO ME.
Daniel looked toward Mara.
Then Michael.
Then Elias.
"No one belongs to you."
The door slammed shut.
Silence.
For the first time in centuries, the entity was gone.
But the black book remained.
And its final page was still open.