The wind had stopped.
Not because of magic. Not because of omen.
Just stillness.
For the first time since stepping beneath the shattered arch, there was no humming. No laughter in the stone. No pulsing pressure behind their eyes.
Just silence.
The Hollowborn was gone. The chamber broken. The spiral shattered.
And all that remained was breath.
They camped just outside the ruins, near the edge of the dune line. The sun was beginning to rise, painting thin orange streaks across the sky. Calla sat near a slow-burning fire, feeding it slivers of wood from a half-buried crate they'd salvaged.
Across from her, Talon scribbled carefully in a worn leather journal, his injured arm wrapped tight with clean bandages.
Calla raised an eyebrow. "You're writing already?"
"Memory fades," Talon said. "I want the Leech recorded before we start forgetting the details."
Selene stood nearby, her back to them, eyes on the horizon. Kieran approached her quietly.
"She hasn't said a word since we left the chamber," he noted.
"She's thinking," Selene replied. "We all are."
He nodded. "How's Rei?"
"Broken rib. Maybe two. He won't admit it."
Kieran glanced toward the edge of the clearing. Rei sat alone, arms crossed, eyes closed, jaw clenched. He looked less like someone meditating and more like someone trying not to punch a rock.
"He's angry," Kieran said.
"He's always angry," Selene replied.
"But this time it's different."
Selene didn't answer. She just turned and walked toward the others.
Sera sat near the fire, unmoving.
Nova had given her half of her canteen. She hadn't drunk it.
Calla broke the quiet. "She'll be okay, right?"
"She's not injured," Nova said, wiping a blade clean. "Not physically."
"She hasn't said anything," Talon added.
"She never does."
Kieran sat down slowly, setting something on the ground between them.
The crimson feather.
It glowed faintly less like fire, more like memory.
Calla stared. "You kept it?"
Kieran nodded. "Didn't want to leave it behind."
"What is it?" Nova asked.
"No idea," Kieran admitted.
Selene crouched, studying it. "It's not active. Not like the gold one. And it didn't trigger anything when you picked it up?"
"No whispers. No shadows."
"Just warmth," he added. "Like it knows it's not finished."
They fell into silence again.
The fire cracked.
Later that morning, Corvan's voice crackled briefly through their field relay stone — a communication charm built into Talon's journal. The signal was weak, but clear enough.
"reports of interference from the Forgotten World edge. If you're receiving this, do not remain in one place. Find a stable point and wait for retrieval or move toward known coordinates. Umbravale still stands. Repeat: Umbravale still"
The message cut.
Talon looked up. "That's the first time the relay's worked since we crossed into the arch."
"Which means the distortion's clearing," Selene said. "The Trial is truly over."
Kieran stood. "Then we leave."
Rei didn't move. "You're sure there's a path back?"
"There has to be."
"And if there isn't?"
Kieran looked at him evenly. "Then we make one."
They gathered their supplies, checked weapons, and helped Talon onto his feet.
The old man from the village didn't appear again. The settlement was silent, as if its purpose had ended.
The spiral was gone.
Whatever had nested in it was dead.
And the weight that had clung to them since they entered it… had lifted.
By midday, they left the ruins behind.
No ceremony. No closing words.
Just footprints in sand, heading east.
They didn't know exactly where the doorway was.
But they knew it had to be somewhere beyond the dunes.
And for now, that was enough.