The night was still, cloaked in the quiet hum of the med-bay's systems and the distant hush of wind skimming past the window panels. Outside, the stars drifted in the ocean of black, blinking in and out like forgotten memories.
The city beyond was silent, reeling from the earlier chaos, but inside the dimly lit room, time seemed to move more slowly. Ahcehera sat unmoving beside Eros's bedside, her posture rigid yet oddly calm.
She hadn't shifted for hours, eyes locked on the man sleeping soundly, his wounds finally showing signs of sealing. His face was no longer taut with pain. Instead, it carried a rare serenity she hadn't seen in him since they were children.
She should have felt peace. Instead, her body was tense, her thoughts spiraling. The images from earlier wouldn't leave her mind. The portal, the Zergs, the dark shard pulsing like a second heart, and the strange presence that lingered like a whisper behind her skull.
