Elliot stepped back, wiping his hands on a clean cloth as he examined his work. The bandages around Lyris’ shoulder were
tight, precise
, the salve beneath already working to
knit flesh and ease pain
.
"Aight…"
He exhaled, rolling the stiffness from his own shoulders.
"I think you should be healed by next week."
Selene would’ve done better—
faster, cleaner
—but countless times of watching her work had left their mark. He’d picked up
just enough
to keep someone from bleeding out.
Lyris tested the bandage with careful fingers, then nodded.
"Thanks…"
Her gaze drifted to the infirmary door, where distant shouts still
echoed like thunder
.
"We should go back. I believe the trouble should have stopped."
Elliot’s lips quirked.
"Yeah."
He didn’t voice the rest—
Towan better not have done anything stupid while I was gone.
But he wasn’t worried.
Not really.
"I’m sure he’s fine,"
he said instead, pushing the door open.
The hallway beyond was
littered with signs of battle
scorch marks, shattered stone, the occasional smear of violet-tinged blood
.
Elliot’s steps
didn’t falter
.
Lyris matched his pace, her breath steady.
Somewhere ahead,
the others were waiting.
Rellie’s instincts
screamed
before her eyes even registered the movement.
Her dagger
left her hand in a flash of silver
, streaking toward the
shadowed figure crouched beside Haeren’s fallen form
.
"Be careful!"
she shouted, the warning tearing from her throat.
The woman
caught the blade mid-air
bare-handed
.
Steel
bit deep into her palm
, blood welling dark and thick, but she
didn’t flinch
. Didn’t even
glance at the wound
.
Alira’s voice
cracked like a whip
.
"What—? Who’s
that
?"
Len didn’t wait for an answer.
Water and fire erupted in unison
—a
beam of pressurized liquid
from Len, a
roaring fireball
from Alira—both streaking toward the stranger with
deadly intent
.
(No questions. No hesitation.)
The woman
lifted her other hand
, fingers splayed.
Earth Essentia surged.
The ground
heaved upward
, a
wall of blackened dirt and stone
exploding between them. The attacks
slammed into it
—water
scattering harmlessly
, fire
snuffing out on contact
.
Corruption pulsed through the barrier
,
veins of violet and black
writhing across its surface like
infected roots
.
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Towan
forced himself upright
, his grip on his shoulder
white-knuckled
.
(Damn it—!)
The woman
tilted her head
, her eyes
glinting from behind the corrupted wall
.
"Interesting,"
she murmured.
A sudden
breeze sharpened into a whisper
—then a
roar
.
A
compressed orb of wind
, no larger than a fist,
streaked through the air
with terrifying precision. It didn’t just
hit
the corrupted wall—it
sliced through it like a blade through parchment
, the force
detonating on impact
.
BOOM.
Dirt and stone
erupted outward
, the shockwave kicking up a
whirlwind of debris
. From the chaos,
Sylra stepped forward
, her silver hair whipping around her like a banner, her
palm still outstretched
from the attack.
The smoke cleared.
The woman stood—
half her torso vaporized
, ribs glistening where wind had
sheared through flesh and bone
. Yet, even as they watched,
Corruption surged
, tendrils of violet-black Essentia
knitting her back together
with grotesque efficiency.
"Sylra?"
Towan rasped, his voice raw with disbelief.
She didn’t look at him. Not yet. Her smirk was
all teeth, all challenge
.
"I’m not too late, right?"
Len
let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding
.
(Thank god.)
The strongest person she knew had
finally arrived
.
"Tsk."
The dark figure
leapt backward
, her form
blurring into the treeline
like ink spilled into water. In seconds, she was
gone
—swallowed by the shadows of the forest.
Sylra didn’t hesitate.
"Sorry, guys,"
she called over her shoulder, already turning.
"But I can’t let that thing get away."
Her eyes
snapped to Ryn
, sharp and assessing.
"Let’s go—you know how to track people, right?"
No greeting. No explanation. Just
cold certainty
. They’d only had a brief encounter before, but she
knew
—knew the slums carved
certain skills
into those who survived them.
Knew he’d understand.
Ryn
nodded once
, his usual guarded expression
replaced by grim focus
. In an instant, he was
moving
, vanishing into the undergrowth
without a sound
.
(Finally—something I can do.)
Wind
coiled around Sylra’s boots
, the air itself
bending to her will
.
"I’ll be right back."
Then—
she was gone
, her form
a silver streak
tearing through the trees.
Silence
hung heavy for a heartbeat
.
Then—
"What the hell was that attack?"
Alira demanded, gesturing wildly at the shattered remnants of the corrupted wall.
Towan winced as he adjusted his shoulder, but his voice was steady.
"
Elemental compression. Sylra explained it to me a while ago." A pause. "It’s… not easy to do."
Len nodded slowly, her scholar’s mind already dissecting what she’d seen.
"I’ve read about it. I knew she was good with wind, but this is just…"
She trailed off, shaking her head.
"Something else."
But Rellie wasn’t listening.
Her gaze
remained locked on Haeren’s motionless form
, her fingers
twitching at her sides
.
(Something’s… wrong.)
A
shiver clawed up Towan’s spine
—sharp, instinctive, the kind that
precedes a predator’s strike
.
"What the—?"
He turned.
Haeren
stood
.
Not the
smirking, taunting rival
from moments ago. Not even the
reckless vessel of Corruption
they’d fought.
This was
something else
.
His eyes were
void of pupils
, the sockets
filled with pulsing violet light
. His mouth hung
slightly open
, but no breath escaped. No words. No sound at all.
Rellie’s hand
trembled violently
at her side.
"That… that’s not Haeren anymore."
Her voice was
barely a whisper
, but it carried the weight of
absolute certainty
.
This thing had
no intent
. No
anger
, no
hatred
, no
purpose
she could grasp.
It was just…
empty
.
And that
terrified her more than anything
.
Alira and Len
whirled
, their bodies tensing—
—only to
freeze
.
"No.
Fucking
. Way,"
Alira breathed, her fingers
tightening around her axe
. But for the first time, her usual fire
flickered
.
Len’s stance was
perfect
, her water Essentia
coiling defensively
around her arms. But even she
couldn’t stop the tremor
in her knees.