Something changed during the night.
Instinct noticed it in the elf’s breathing first.
It had grown shallow, each breath weaker than the last.
The fever burning through her had intensified, and the dark veins surrounding the wounds on her shoulder had spread farther beneath her deep brown skin.
He watched her for several moments.
His plan had been simple.
Wait for daylight.
Hunt.
Reach Level Five.
Then enter her Inner Realm.
Looking at her now, Instinct knew he might not have that time.
“Nyx.”
” I KNOW.
”
“How long?”
A brief silence.
” I CAN’T TELL.
BUT SHE’S DETERIORATING FASTER THAN BEFORE.
”
Instinct rose and moved toward her.
“Then I’m going in.”
” INSTINCT— ”
“We already discussed the risks.”
That silenced her.
He was Level Two.
Nyx had recommended Level Five at minimum.
But none of that mattered if the elf died before sunrise.
” IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG IN THERE, I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU.
”
“I know.”
” AND YOU’RE STILL GOING.
”
“Yes.”
A pause.
” …OF COURSE YOU ARE.
”
Instinct knelt beside the elf.
Firelight moved across her deep brown skin and caught in the long black waves of hair spread around her shoulders.
Her face was tight with fever, her breathing barely audible.
He took her hand.
“Tell me what to do.”
” FIND HER PRESENCE.
DON’T FORCE YOUR WAY THROUGH.
ONCE YOU FEEL THE CONNECTION, FOLLOW IT.
”
Instinct closed his eyes.
He reached inward.
At first, there was only darkness.
Then Nyx.
Her presence was familiar now, woven somewhere through his consciousness.
Instinct reached beyond her.
Searching.
Waiting.
For several moments, there was nothing.
Then—
something brushed against the edge of his awareness.
Faint.
Distant.
Not him.
Instinct reached toward it.
Resistance met him.
His first impulse was to push through.
He stopped.
Don’t force it.
Instead, he waited.
The resistance shifted.
Weakening just enough.
Instinct followed.
And the cave disappeared.
⸻
He found himself standing in a space between spaces.
Not quite real.
Not quite a dream.
Swirling mist and shadow surrounded him, threaded with strands of silver light.
Before him stretched a dark ocean.
Its black waters disappeared into the distance beneath a sky without stars.
Instinct stared at the endless expanse.
So this was her Inner Realm.
And for her, it had taken the form of an ocean.
The water was turbulent.
Restless.
“Nyx?”
Her reply came faintly, as though reaching him across an impossible distance.
” I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU, INSTINCT.
BUT I CANNOT ENTER HER MIND.
YOU ARE ALONE NOW.
”
Instinct took a breath.
Then stepped into the water.
The moment it touched him, he felt her.
Not as a voice.
As a presence.
Formidable.
Even weakened by whatever was consuming her body, there was tremendous strength within her consciousness.
Instinct moved deeper.
The water climbed past his knees.
Then his waist.
Images flashed around him.
Memories that weren’t his.
A tower of white stone.
Gone.
A garden beneath twin moons.
Gone.
The face of someone she loved, twisted in anguish.
Gone.
Then pain.
Claws tearing through flesh.
Instinct staggered as the sensation struck him.
Darkness.
Trees rushing past.
Branches striking her skin.
Blood.
Her lungs burning as she ran.
Something spreading through her body, hot and vicious.
Then another memory surfaced.
Dim.
Fragmented.
Her legs giving way.
The ground rushing toward her.
Then—
arms caught her.
Darkness.
The memory vanished.
Instinct stood waist-deep in the black water.
He forced himself to focus.
He wasn’t here for her memories.
He was here for her.
“Can you hear me?”
The ocean shifted.
Something had noticed him.
Far across the water, a point of light appeared.
Small.
Distant.
Steady.
Instinct felt it immediately.
Her.
Not a memory.
Not an emotion.
The woman herself.
Or some part of her that remained aware beneath the fever and pain.
Instinct moved toward it.
The reaction was immediate.
The ocean erupted.
A wave rose before him and crashed into his body.
Instinct was thrown backward.
Black water swallowed him.
For a moment, he lost all sense of direction.
Memories and emotions rushed through him.
Fear.
Grief.
Anger.
Pain.
None of them belonged to him.
For one terrifying instant, the distinction began to blur.
Instinct clenched his jaw.
Instinct.
That was his name.
He had awakened alone in a forest.
He had fought a wolf.
He had found a wounded elf.
He had come here to help her.
The thought anchored him.
Instinct broke through the surface and dragged in a breath.
The ocean raged around him.
The distant light burned brighter now.
Focused on him.
Instinct understood.
She was rejecting him.
He steadied himself and raised his hands.
“I’m not here to harm you.”
His voice carried across the water.
The waves slowed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Instinct remained where he was.
“There is a way to heal you.”
The ocean shifted.
“A bond.”
The light flickered.
“It requires your consent.”
The next wave never came.
“Not command.
Not domination.”
The water continued to churn around him.
“I won’t take your freedom.”
The distant light trembled.
“I only ask for your trust.”
Silence.
The ocean gradually settled.
Her presence remained fixed upon him.
Suspicious.
Wary.
But listening.
Instinct could feel it.
Then the light flickered again.
Weaker this time.
The water around him grew colder.
She was slipping away.
Instinct wanted to move closer.
He stopped himself.
“Think on it.”
His words traveled across the dark water.
“When you wake, I’ll explain everything.”
The light trembled.
“And the choice will be yours.”
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the violent current around him weakened.
Instinct didn’t know whether that meant she understood him.
He didn’t know whether she trusted him.
It was enough that she had listened.
He stepped back.
Now he had to leave.
“Nyx.”
Nothing.
Instinct concentrated on the faint connection beyond this place.
“Nyx.”
” INSTINCT.
”
Her voice was distant.
But it was there.
He reached for it.
The Inner Realm vanished.
⸻
Instinct gasped.
His eyes flew open.
The cave returned all at once.
The dying fire.
The stone walls.
The darkness beyond the entrance.
The elf lying before him.
His hand was still wrapped around hers.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
For several seconds, he simply breathed.
Nyx’s presence returned clearly.
” THAT WAS FOOLISH.
”
“I know.”
A pause.
” YOUR DETERMINATION IS… NOTEWORTHY.
”
Instinct almost smiled.
Coming from Nyx, that was practically praise.
Then something moved against his palm.
Instinct looked down.
The elf’s fingers had shifted weakly against his hand.
He watched her face.
Nothing.
Her eyes remained closed.
The fever hadn’t broken.
Her wounds hadn’t healed.
But her breathing seemed steadier.
The long, frightening pauses were gone.
Instinct studied her shoulder.
The corruption was still there.
Whether it had actually stopped spreading, he couldn’t tell.
“Did I do that?”
Nyx was quiet for a moment.
” I DON’T KNOW.
”
“Entering her Inner Realm?”
” MAYBE.
OR MAYBE HER BODY SIMPLY STABILIZED FOR THE MOMENT.
I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO TELL YOU.
”
Instinct looked down at the sleeping elf.
Perhaps reaching her had helped.
Perhaps it had changed nothing.
He didn’t know.
For now, it didn’t matter.
She was still alive.
And somewhere inside that vast, dark ocean, she had heard him.
Instinct kept hold of her hand.
For now, that was enough.