Empty all along

The Abyss

There were so many empty shells of the king's children that they had to make new area bigger than the city just  to throw the shells, this area was only known to the king, the queen and a Great knight that overheard the conversation.

Some time  passed and the infection had evolved again it started to "upgrade" the ones that got infected by giving them explosions or more speed, even some workers in a mine that got precious cristals started to get these same crisals in their skin.

With this information the king started to hurry things up, before he was going slow because he was worried that the queen didn't want to keep going, the queen felt used and despaired her only grasp on to reality was her knight Drya, after the "solution" was completed the queen had planned to escape the castle with her knight, to a place that the king would never reach. But first it had to be done.

after some time more and more "Vessels" completed the task, every one of them had the ability to retain the infection for some time, but the king didn't want that he wanted that the infection dissapeared once and for all. but these would fail as the king chose a new training ground the Vessels would be thrown into the Abyss and the ones that made it would be chosen as the saviour of hallownest.

And so finally they made it. Two "Hollow" vessels but only one made it in time one was faster than the other, when he made it he just saw his own brother leave him behind with the king.

As they were leaving the Abyss the other vessel looked back at his brother and walked away.