How long had it been since the rift opened?
They didn't know anymore. Time had bled away—lost somewhere between the screaming, the carnage, and the unrelenting waves.
Carcasses littered the forest floor, twisted and half-mangled. The stench of rot hung heavy in the air, thick and metallic. Blood painted the trees in grotesque smears, pooling at their roots, soaking the earth beneath.
They had survived.
Barely.
Ezra's chest rose and fell in jagged rhythm as he staggered to a halt. His limbs trembled under the weight of exhaustion. His clothes were torn, soaked in blood—some his, most not. Behind them, the last creature twitched once before falling still.
But the rift still pulsed above them.
A jagged tear in the sky.
Breathing. Beating. Open.
Still bleeding monsters into their world.
Ezra stared up at it, his vision swaying, blurred by fatigue and lingering adrenaline.
"Someone has to close the gate," he thought, distantly. But his body felt like it belonged to someone else—drained from pushing past every limit. Reclaiming and channeling his aether had left him hollow. His resonance had flickered dangerously close to collapse.
He slumped against a blood-slicked tree, his breath ragged. His muscles screamed with every twitch. His skin felt too tight, too burned. Every part of him wanted to give in. Just for a moment.
He turned his head, forcing himself to check on the others.
Nora stood a few feet away, bruised but upright. Her flames still shimmered faintly beneath her skin, casting a dull, golden glow across the clearing. Scratches crisscrossed her arms. Blood dripped from a cut above her brow. But she didn't waver. She was still standing.
Asli, though—
Ezra's gaze dropped.
A vicious gash had torn through Asli's thigh, deep enough to expose raw flesh beneath torn fabric. Blood soaked his leg, trailing down into the churned-up mud. His jaw was locked, body tense, fighting through the pain.
Ezra pushed off the tree, stumbling toward him.
"Sit," he rasped. "You're bleeding too much."
But Asli brushed him off with a wince.
"It won't kill me. I'm fine."
Too calm. Too casual. Like the pain didn't belong to him.
He dropped onto a rock with a grunt, peeled off his hoodie, and tied it tightly around his thigh. The makeshift tourniquet darkened fast.
Ezra hovered beside him, unsure. Too tired to argue. But too scared to walk away.
He didn't want him to die.
His hand twitched. A thought surfaced, unbidden.
What if I used the flames again?
But his stomach churned at the idea. His aether was coiled tight and fraying at the edges.
He felt sick.
Empty.
Asli didn't seem to notice. Still silent, he pulled a cracked phone from somewhere—Ezra had no idea where it had come from. Its screen flickered, blood smudged across the glass.
Ezra blinked.
A phone? Here? Now?
Asli held it to his ear, thumbing in a message with steady fingers despite the blood coating them.
"Are you coming?" he murmured.
Ezra stared. He couldn't make out all the words from the other side, but fragments broke through the static:
"…safe…"
"…okay…"
Then softer—almost tender:
"…yeah. I love you too."
Ezra's mind buzzed, too exhausted to form the question he wanted to ask.
Who was he talking to?
Before he could speak, Nora groaned, trudging over with heavy steps. She dropped beside them, limbs dragging, sweat glistening across her brow.
Without a word, she leaned her head against Asli's shoulder, eyes fluttering shut.
And just like that, the three of them sat together.
Bruised. Bleeding. Breathing.
The rift still pulsed above. But for a moment, none of them moved.
Ezra blinked down at his wrist. His tracker glowed dimly. A second feed flickered open beneath it—one he hadn't noticed before.
[Resonance Archive Updating…]
Soul Core: Awakening (Incomplete)
Aether Circulation: 39% (Limited Flow)
Aether Capacity: 100 / 2000
Synchronization: Unstable (21%)
Lightflow Control: 17% (Weak)
Abilities Unlocked: [2 / 7]
Soul Sanctuary: [Locked]
Soul Realm: [Undiscovered]
Ezra squinted at the numbers.
His stats had risen.
Slightly.
But enough.
His aether circulation was improving.
His lightflow control—still weak, but no longer at the floor.
And his synchronization… creeping higher.
Something inside him stirred.
A flicker of potential.
Of something deeper waiting to be born.
But even that hope felt heavy now.
Like it would crush him if he reached too soon.
He slumped back against the tree, eyes drifting toward the sky, the rift still glowing faintly above them.
"Just let us rest," he whispered. "Just for a little while."