Approaching the makeshift tent, I noticed Ella and Emily fashioning a stretcher from sturdy vines. "Need a hand?" I offered.
"We're almost done, don't worry about it," Ella replied, waving me off.
Inside, I found Benjamin reclining in his makeshift bed, quietly watching the scene unfold. I settled down in the dirt beside him, trying to gauge how he was holding up. "How are you feeling?" I asked gently, not sure what else to say.
He hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I'll live, and I suppose that's what matters most right now." Despite his attempt at reassurance, I could hear the hollowness behind his words.
Trying to lighten the mood, I forced a smile. "Well… at least you don't have to deal with my cooking anymore. That's a blessing, right?" I let out a half-hearted laugh, but the joke fell flat.
Benjamin's brow twitched, but he didn't answer.
"Okay, tough crowd," I muttered, then tried again. "Look on the bright side, you get to be carried around like royalty now."
That earned the faintest smirk. "Carried, huh? I guess there's some upside to it."
I leaned into the moment. "And who knows? With all the crazy things we've seen, maybe there's some magic vegetable out there that'll fix you right up."
This time, Benjamin actually chuckled, some of the weight in his expression lifting. "As long as you don't cook it, then I suppose it could work."
I clutched my chest, letting out a dramatic gasp. "Ouch. Low blow." I shook my head, feigning deep offense. "You know, words can cut deeper than blades."
Benjamin rolled his eyes, though the faint smirk lingered. "You'll live." Then his gaze shifted, a bit more serious. "Anyway, how's your arm? Turn a bit so I can see how well it healed."
Sighing, I twisted toward him. Peeling back the bandages, I blinked in surprise; the skin had already sealed over the stub. And all that was left was just a scared reminder of what I'd lost.
"That's amazing, the healing abilities these cores give. What I would give to be able to bring something like this back to Earth. It would help so many people," Benjamin marveled.
That was a nice way of thinking about it, but I doubted it would make its way into the hands of the people that needed it… It would just be another weapon.
Once Ella and Emily finished the stretcher, Amelia arrived with Henry, and we gathered to discuss our next steps. Henry suggested heading back to the crater to see if there was anything useful. Benjamin was hesitant but thought it was a good idea.
With our plans set, we packed up camp, and with Amelia and Henry carrying Benjamin on the stretcher, we headed to the crater. As we descended the slope, the stench of battle overwhelmed our senses. "Oh man, this smells bad," Henry remarked, covering his nose.
Looking around, I observed smaller Creatures feasting on the fallen around us, adding a grim backdrop to our search.
"Ella, that's gruesome," Emily said, her tone filled with distaste, as Ella approached a corpse and began cutting away at it using a void knife I gave her. Ella shrugged off Emily's comment. "How else are we going to determine if a core will match with anyone? We need to check if there's an intact one."
However, her optimism was short-lived. A second later, disappointment shadowed her features as she lifted the cracked husk of a core. It had shattered within, glittering fragments spilling between her fingers.
"I'll have to find an intact one," Ella muttered, a little disheartened. Still, she pushed on, moving to the next corpse with steady determination.
I let her work. The mecarb rhythm of her search wasn't something I wanted to dwell on, and my feet carried me almost without thinking toward the center of the crater.
The silver stone loomed there, untouched by the chaos, as if the battlefield itself had simply bent around its presence. Up close, it looked even stranger. I reached out, running my fingers along its cold, smooth surface. This thing had fallen from the sky, slammed into the earth hard enough to carve a crater this big. Yet it didn't even bear a scratch.
Inside, there was nothing left of the monster. Just emptiness.
That was the part that unsettled me the most. The interior wasn't jagged, not broken or torn apart as I expected. It was a perfect circle. Too clean. Like something had carved it out… or made it.
What even was it?
The core called it an "apocalypse-class beast." But was that a name? Or just some ranking system the cores invented? And how could a core even know what it was?
The more I thought about it, the worse it got. Every answer only spun off two more questions, circling tighter and tighter in my head until it felt like a vice clamped around my temples. Maybe it was the questions. Maybe it was just the foul stench of blood and ash still hanging in the air. Either way, a headache bloomed behind my eyes.
I pulled my hand back and turned away. Enough. I'd drive myself mad trying to unravel this here.
When I looked ahead, Ella had already gathered a small pile of intact cores, neatly stacked in a pile, and was back at it, picking through the corpses like she was sifting through rubble.
But none of the cores responded. Not to her. Not to anyone. Just empty stones, as far as we were concerned.
Reluctantly, I joined in the grim task. Not because I wanted to, but because the sooner we found something, the sooner we could get out of this pit. The stench alone was enough to make me gag. Bugs buzzed around the heaps of rotting flesh, and bile rose in my throat at the thought of touching any of it.
So I cheated. I summoned the Void to my hand, shaping it into a simple glove that reached far up my arm. It was strange how natural it felt. I was just making things up on the fly when I needed them. I guess I should be grateful to have this small luxury in the middle of a nightmare.
Even so, the work was slow, and the pile of intact cores kept growing with nothing to show for it. No resonance. No spark. Just lifeless stones.
I was about ready to give up when Emily's voice rang out, sharp and electric against the dull silence.
"Yes! I found one!"
All of us turned. She was kneeling by a collapsed mass of flesh, half-buried in gore. With both hands, she pointed to a core lodged deep inside. Unlike the others, this one pulsed with light, a mesmerizing blend of pale blue and soft green, shifting like ripples across water.
The creature it had come from was unrecognizable, reduced to little more than sludge and bone. But the core… the core was alive.
We gathered around as Emily reached out. The moment her fingers brushed its surface, the glow intensified, wrapping her in its radiance. Then, like ice melting under sunlight, the core liquefied and seeped into her skin, dissolving into nothing.
Emily gasped, then squealed with pure delight. The glow reflected in her pupils as she turned to us, practically trembling with joy.
"I'm at level 1, and my stats are hanging around the average mark for now, but the exciting part is my two skills!" Emily burst out, practically bouncing with energy. "There's Telekinesis, and then there's something called Wind's Protection. I haven't gotten any titles yet, though," she added, still grinning.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Henry said, waving his hands. "You've got telekinesis? Like... move stuff with your mind, telekinesis?"
Emily nodded eagerly. "I think so! I haven't tried it yet, I mean, I don't even know how to, but just the name... It's exactly what I hoped for."
"That's insane," he said, clearly impressed. "You're gonna be terrifying once you figure that out."
Emily smiled, eyes glowing with anticipation, but said nothing more. She glanced at her hand like she half-expected something magical to just happen, but the moment passed in silence.
While she quietly mulled over the possibilities, the rest of us continued checking the corpses for anything useful. Unfortunately, by the time we finished with the last body, there wasn't a single core for Ella or Benjamin.
Henry, already looking queasy, didn't wait for the final verdict. "Ugh, this place reeks," he groaned, and without another word, scrambled up the incline of the pit. Loose soil and small rocks slipped underfoot, but he made it to the top and took a dramatic breath. "Finally…fresh air!"
"Henry!" Amelia barked from below. "Get back down here and help me carry Benjamin out!"
"Oh–right! Sorry!" he called, spinning around so fast he lost his footing. With a yelp, he slid back down the slope in a shower of dust and landed with a grunt beside her.
"Nice job," she muttered dryly.
"Totally meant to do that," he said, brushing dirt off his arms and moving to lift Benjamin. "Let's get him out of here."
Together, they hoisted Benjamin carefully and began the slow climb. I reached down and helped Ella as she neared the top, making sure her footing was steady.
Once we were all out, I paused to take a deep breath. The air up here felt clean, almost refreshing after the rot and dampness below.
Emily stood near the edge, still quiet, staring at her hands with wide, thoughtful eyes.
"Try it when we're somewhere safe," I said gently. "You'll have time."
She gave a small nod, the corners of her mouth lifting.
"All right," Amelia said, stepping forward and brushing the dirt from her pants. "Let's keep moving. We're not safe just because we're out of the hole."
Slowly guiding the group, I headed toward where I'd last seen the shadow. Fortunately, it matched the direction of the radio signal, so I didn't have to waste breath convincing anyone to follow. Still, the weight of the day pressed in, thoughts circling no matter how hard I tried to shake them off.
Then my mind drifted to Emily's new power. Telekinesis.
I stooped to pick up a small rock, rolling its weight in my palm. "Alright," I muttered, half to myself, "let's see what you can do." With a flick of my finger, I launched it lightly toward her.
I never even had time to brace for what happened next.
The rock snapped back at me faster than my eyes could track, slamming into my forehead with a sharp crack. A burst of air followed, whipping my hair back and nearly knocking me off balance.
"Gah!" I staggered, clutching my face. Of course. Brilliant idea, Atlas. Test the psychic by throwing rocks at her. Genius.
Ahead of me, I could already hear Emily's stifled giggle.
My friends burst into laughter at my expense, and even though I was nursing a bruised ego along with my throbbing cheek, I couldn't help but join in. Emily's powers were nothing short of amazing.
"Did you use telekinesis?" I asked, curious.
"No, that actually wasn't. It must have been my wind protection," Emily said. Then, a rock was flung at me from behind, smacking my head.
"That was my telekinesis," she said with a smile.
"Okay, I get it. Sorry," I said, rubbing my head.
As we pressed forward, the density of the forest seemed to conspire against our progress. The tightly packed trees created an almost impenetrable barrier, challenging us at every turn. Frustrated by our futile attempts to navigate through the thick vegetation, we opted for a more direct approach: cutting our way through the dense foliage.
As Amelia led the way, conjuring molten rock from the earth, I marveled at how effortlessly she shaped the lava, clearing a path through the dense forest. "Doesn't that exhaust you?" I asked, catching up to her.
She grinned, her eyes gleaming with determination. "It's like building muscle. The more you use it, the stronger and more enduring it becomes. It's good practice."
"Just don't push yourself too hard," I cautioned.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a heads-up when I start feeling the burn," she reassured with a nod.
With Henry trailing behind, assisting Ella with Benjamin, our group moved forward. Emily's gentle breezes swept through, clearing obstacles and lightening our load. Each breath of fresh air brought relief, making our journey through the dense forest a bit easier to bear.
Playing my part, I summoned the Void to craft simple tools to aid our progress. While I couldn't create anything close to modern machinery, I managed to shape makeshift blades and cutters, just enough to help us clear the path ahead.
As we pushed deeper into the thick forest, it became clear that something violent had happened here. The trees bore scorch marks, the ground was torn up in places, and twisted vines seemed to have grown over everything like they'd tried to smother something out of existence.
The steady rhythm of my sword hacking through the dense brush filled the air, each swing tearing at the tangled foliage. I shoved aside another curtain of leaves and swung down hard at a stubborn thicket.
The blade bit through with a sharp whack, and the bush shuddered.
Something moved beneath it.
I froze, staring as the branches parted to reveal not more greenery, but eyes. Glossy, inhuman eyes staring straight back at me from the shadows. A creature crouched low to the ground, muscles coiled, its gaze locked onto mine with unsettling focus.
Before I could even move, it lunged.
Its teeth clamped down on my right arm as I instinctively threw it up to shield my neck. I was a little too stunned to feel the pain as I looked it over.
The thing was an interesting fusion of serpent and bird with four wings, feathered scales, and a jaw that glowed with inner fire.
For half a heartbeat, I just stared, stunned at the sight of it.
Then its jaws glowed brighter. Heat swelled, building in its throat, and suddenly I was engulfed in fire.
Flames erupted, a torrent of searing heat wrapping me in a suffocating furnace. The roar drowned everything, air itself burning in my lungs. My thoughts scattered, panic clawing up my chest.
Crap, do something!? With a frantic thought, the Void answered at last. A shield snapped into existence around my arm, diverting the blast away from my face. But my arm took the brunt of it, cooking alive inside the barrier. The smell of scorched flesh hit me, sharp and nauseating, as agony tore up my nerves.
Snarling, I shoved power into my arm, electricity crackling outward in a violent surge. The creature shrieked, body convulsing as the current ripped through it. Its jaws snapped open, releasing me as it thrashed, trying to flee.
But I didn't let go.
I clamped down harder, fury burning hotter than its fire, and forced another surge through it. Sparks lit the clearing as it writhed, eyes wide with terror.
Before it could recover, I shaped a part of the shield into a spike and drove it through the serpent's neck. Its body seized, wings shuddering violently, until finally it went limp, smoke rising off its charred form.
I let it drop to the forest floor, a blackened husk.
Breath tore from my lungs in a ragged exhale, my pulse thundering in my ears. "Wow… that was something," I managed, voice shaking with leftover adrenaline.
Henry broke the silence, his tone half awe, half unease. "You're kinda scary sometimes, you know that, man?"
I couldn't help but chuckle despite the pain radiating from my burns. "Is that so? Well, I'll just sit here for a bit," I replied, shifting to a more comfortable position.
Emily offered her assistance. "Would you like me to cool your burns down?"
I nodded gratefully. "Yes, I would appreciate that."
Just then, a gentle, soothing breeze caressed my scorched skin, and I closed my eyes, relishing the relief that washed over me.
"I think this is a good spot to make camp," Amelia suggested.
Henry started gathering wood for a fire while I sat with Emily, who was cooling my burns.
A little while later, Benjamin called me over. As I approached, he reached into his bag and pulled out a plant.
"What is that?" I asked, puzzled.
"I found it a couple of days ago, and it should help with burns," he explained. Breaking it open, he extracted some of the slimy goo. Then, he paused. "Get lower down; you know I can't stand," he said, amused.
"Oh, sorry," I chuckled.
"Who are you laughing at?" he retorted, smacking my burns.
"Ouch, don't smack it!" I yelped.
"Don't laugh about my injury, and respect your elder," he said with a smile that shifted into a coughing fit.
"Ok, I'll stop joking, I wouldn't want you to die on us," I promised. As he rubbed the substance on my burns, it felt much better, even heavenly when Emily used her skill on me.
Soon enough, Amelia had a sizable stack of wood in a pile and used her lava to light the fire. Within no time, we had a functioning camp. Henry took the first watch while the rest of us relaxed. Ella prepared a meal from the snake, and Emily tasted it with a confused expression.
"That's weird… It kinda tastes like fish but extremely elastic," Emily explained.
Raising a brow at the description, she held some out to me. "Here, try some."
Biting into it, she was right; it tasted like tilapia but made of rubber. I had to chew for a bit before swallowing. "That's… interesting."
As night fell and the forest enveloped us, a twisted nightmare haunted my attempts to find comfort. The absence of my left arm made every movement a struggle, and rolling over sent waves of agony through my burned body as it rubbed against the pelt. Eventually, defeated, I settled into a stone chair, tending to the fire.
I fed another log into the flames, watching the embers crackle and spit.
"Mind if I sit?"
I looked up.
Amelia stood across the fire, already shaping a second chair beside mine with a subtle flick of her hand. Her expression was unreadable, but quieter than usual.
"Go ahead," I murmured.
She sat, brushing a loose curl from her face as the firelight played across her features. For a while, we didn't speak. The crackling of the flames filled the silence between us before she softly spoke up."How are you holding up?"
It was the kind of question people asked out of politeness. But her voice didn't sound casual. She meant it.
I exhaled, leaning back as much as my injuries allowed. "Honestly? I don't even know. Feels like my head's still trying to catch up to everything. The powers. Losing Owen and Ethan. The fighting. Some moments I think I'm fine… and then I move wrong and…yeah."
She gave a quiet nod. "Yeah. I get that."
Her gaze drifted to the fire. "I don't know how we're even still functioning. Half the time it feels like I'm just waiting for something else to go wrong."
"Ya, no kidding. It's been rough," I sighed. Losing my arm was one thing, but then Benjamin… it was a lot.
"Honestly? I'm concerned about everything, and how, in every encounter, we're utterly unprepared for it," she muttered, slouching a little. "I've been thinking… maybe it's time we slow down."
I looked at her, a bit surprised. That wasn't something she'd normally say.
"I know how it might sound," she went on, "but I think it could help. We could set up a more permanent camp, maybe even fortify it. It wouldn't hurt. Everyone needs a break. I know people want to reach the city, but if we keep pushing forward this unprepared, what's the point if half of us don't make it?"
She wasn't wrong. We all needed time to breathe, especially with Benjamin. All this traveling wasn't doing him any favors. "I get it," I muttered. "With Benjamin down, and not knowing whether he'll ever walk again… yeah, we need to take some time."
She nodded. "It's not just him, either. I'm also worried about Emily."
"Emily?" I asked, confused. "What about her?"
Amelia sighed, staring into the flames before answering. "Have you ever heard of the Ashfall Event?"
"I do. It's one of the worst structural collapses ever. Kinda hard not to have heard of it."
"Well," she continued, "when Emily was young, her whole family died in that tragedy. She was the only one who made it out, crawling through those collapsed tunnels for weeks, feeding on… whatever she could… before she was finally rescued."
"I… I didn't know." I hesitated, unsure what else to say as I glanced toward Emily, lying curled beneath a blanket at the edge of the firelight, her back to us.
"She seems so… fine. I never would've guessed she'd been through something like that," I said quietly.
"That's the thing," Amelia murmured, still watching her. "That's what she wants you to see."
I looked back at Amelia. She sounded tired, not physically, but in a way that went deeper, like something grinding her down from the inside.
"She hides it," she said quietly. "But I see it sometimes. The way her hands shake when she thinks no one's looking. How she avoids tight spaces. How her smile slips the second she's alone."
My chest tightened, a flicker of guilt slipping through me. I hadn't noticed any of that.
"This whole disaster of a mission has been building on all of us," she continued. "But with her… I don't know how much more she can take. I'm scared one day she'll just… snap." Amelia's voice softened even more. "I was hesitant from the start about bringing her. When we were selecting the team, I honestly didn't think she was ready. But her flight skills are some of the best I've ever seen. She thrives when she's in control. That's why she made the cut."
I glanced toward Emily again, still curled across the fire, arms wrapped around her knees.
"But now…?" I asked, already knowing.
Amelia exhaled, her gaze sinking. "Now I think we're asking too much of her. Everything happening… it's dredging up things she never really buried. She learned to function through the trauma, sure, but the panic attacks? Those never went away. She just learned how to hide them."
I shook my head slowly. "She hides it too well."
"She always has," Amelia murmured. "But the event never really let her go. Not fully. It's still there, just under the surface."
We fell quiet. The fire cracked softly between us, and the forest around us felt heavier than it had an hour ago, like the darkness had crept closer.
I tossed another log onto the flames and watched sparks twist upward.
"I'm not really… great at this sort of thing," I admitted, keeping my eyes on the fire. "Supporting people. I've seen a lot of death. I've gotten used to it, probably more than I should've. Between the army and… my childhood…"
Amelia glanced at me, waiting. I didn't give her anything else.
"I never know what to say," I continued. "But sometimes it's not about the words. Sometimes just being there matters more."
She let out a faint laugh. "You got that from Ella, didn't you?"
I smirked. "Yeah. You caught me."
We sat in silence again, watching the fire chew through the new log. The heat was steady, comforting in a distant way, but the woods around us felt like they were holding their breath.
After a long pause, Amelia spoke again, softer this time. "Just barely… You mentioned your childhood. Mind if I ask what you meant?"
I hesitated, my gaze drifting up to the unfamiliar stars. Easier to look at those than at her.
"It's not something I talk about much," I said finally.
Amelia didn't press. She just waited, giving me the space.
"I was in the system," I said. "Foster care. Since I was four, but I don't really remember much before that."
I shifted in my seat, shrugging with one shoulder.
"Never stayed anywhere long. Some homes were fine, some… not so much. Either way, they never lasted."
I left out the rest. The homes that ended in tragedy, the whispers that followed me, and the way people started to look at me after a while.
"I learned not to expect much," I went on. "Got good at leaving before I got too comfortable."
"That's rough," she said softly. "I'm sorry."
I nodded once. "It was a long time ago."
We fell quiet. The fire crackled steadily, chewing through the fresh log as embers drifted upward like fading stars. Amelia rubbed her eyes and let out a tired sigh.
"I think I'm actually going to try and get some sleep," she said, standing with a slow stretch. "You okay to keep watch for a bit?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Not like I'm sleeping much anyway."
She gave me a weary but grateful smile. "Goodnight, Atlas."
"Night…"
She slipped into the shadows, her footsteps fading into the underbrush.
I leaned back in the stone chair, letting the fire's warmth settle into my skin as the forest pressed close around camp. My thoughts drifted back to what she'd said about Emily, how much she'd been carrying, how many signs I'd missed. For Amelia to worry that much… it said something.
But even as I thought about that, there was something Amelia hadn't considered. Something this world had given Emily, too. I'd seen it every time she used her powers, that bright spark in her eyes. The way she tried to lift herself off the ground, as if with just a little more strength she might actually fly and escape everything weighing her down.
And in a strange way, that applied to me too.
This world had taken so much from us, but it had given just as much, maybe more.
I felt it in the strength gathering in my hand, enough to crush stone. In the speed that surged through my legs when I ran. In the way the very air felt charged, alive.
This world was so much more than Amelia gave it credit for…
In the morning, the enticing aroma of sizzling meat jolted me awake. "What's that smell?" I called out.
"It's bug meat!" Ella's enthusiastic response echoed back. "Ugh…" I grumbled. Rubbing my eyes, I beheld the surprise that awaited me. A fire blazing in the middle of a round table, surrounded by stone skewers adorned with cooking meat. "Wow, Amelia, how long did this take to set up?" I asked, genuinely surprised.
"Not too long. I just thought it might be nice to have a decent breakfast," Amelia replied, pouring water into rock cups.
After an enjoyable breakfast, we decided to stay in that location for a couple of days to get our bearings straight. By the end of the first day, Amelia had erected stone walls after discovering the area was infested with fire snakes, which I had named, as Ella had already given them a different moniker in her journal. With each passing day, we gradually became more comfortable with our surroundings.
"So, Benjamin, what are you sketching?" I inquired as he sat back, engrossed in his journal.
"It's a secret," he said with a mischievous grin.
"Oh, come on, tell me!" I complained, attempting to peek at his sketch.
"You'll know when I finish," he teased, shielding it from my prying eyes.
"Trying to hide something, are we?" I playfully wiggled my eyebrows.
He let out a laugh that was cut short by a sudden cough. It started small but quickly turned rough. He covered his mouth with his hand, and when he pulled it away, I saw the faint trace of red.
"Benjamin…" I stepped closer, my tone shifting to worry. "Are you alright?"
"Don't start," he said sharply, his voice low and tense. "It's nothing."
"That's blood," I hissed. "You're pushing yourself too hard. Maybe we should stay another night–"
"No," he said quickly, his voice firm despite the strain. "We need to keep moving. That ruined city we saw from the ridge. If there's anything out here that can help us, it's there."
I hesitated. "You really think we'll find something?"
"I don't just think it," he said, locking eyes with me. "I know it's a chance. We're low on supplies, half of us are injured or recovering, and we don't even understand half the threats in this place. But that city... someone built it. And if they survived here, maybe they left something behind that can give us a real shot."
I looked around our makeshift camp, the stone walls, the burn marks, the constant creature attacks.
He wasn't wrong.
"But what about you?" I asked. "You're not okay. What happens if we keep going and you get worse?"
He shook his head. "Then I'll be worse at the steps of something that might save us. That's better than rotting in this snake-infested pit, hoping for a miracle that's never coming."
His words hit harder than I expected. There was no anger in them, just tired conviction.
I gave a slow nod. "Alright. I'll talk to the others."
He managed a weak smile. "Thanks."
We packed up camp not long after and pushed back into the forest. The flying snakes were relentless, darting through the trees in bursts of fire and fury, but we pressed on. I took a few more burns along the way, but with Emily's help, the pain dulled enough to keep moving. Oddly, the wounds healed faster than I expected, small victories in an otherwise losing battle.
For two more days, the forest grew denser, more suffocating. The snakes came in greater numbers, and the tightly packed trees forced us to chop our way forward. Each step felt like a fight. The thought of turning back flickered in my mind more than once, but we'd come too far, and the city was still out there, just beyond the canopy.
And Benjamin was getting worse.
The fever hadn't faded. If anything, it had only gotten stronger. Each day, his breathing grew more strained, his skin paler, his movements slower. He barely spoke. The occasional cough turned into long, rattling fits that left him hunched over, trembling.
It became clear we were running out of time.
That's when Amelia changed.
Gone was the measured, deliberate pace she usually kept. Instead, she pushed harder, faster, cutting through underbrush with increasing urgency. She barely slept, barely ate. It was like she believed that if she could just get us to the city, everything would be okay. That maybe we could save him.
But her drive came at a cost.
By the third day, she stumbled more than once. Her breathing turned ragged, and the circles under her eyes deepened. Then she slipped on a damp root during a steep descent and slammed her shoulder hard against a rock. She brushed it off with gritted teeth, but I could tell she was hurt.
We tried to keep pace, but hope was thinning. The forest, once overwhelming in its chaos, now felt like a prison slowly tightening around us.
That night, Benjamin looked worse than ever. He lay on his side, drenched in sweat, eyes half-lidded and unfocused. I sat beside him, struggling with the words.
"It's getting worse, Benjamin," I said quietly, the fire casting flickering shadows across his face. "We should head back…find something, anything, that might help."
He gave me a tired smile, weak but sincere. "I appreciate it. But going back won't save me. If there's something that can help, it's in that city."
Amelia turned sharply at that, her voice breaking with desperation. "Then we move. We push through this forest, and we get there. We're close, I know we're close."
"We can't keep going like this," I said, glancing between them. "You're running yourself into the ground, and Benjamin... he can't even sit up anymore."
Benjamin surprised us all by speaking up, his voice steadier than it had been all day. "We're stopping here," he said. "Just for a while. We need rest. All of us."
Amelia looked like she might argue, but the strain in her expression cracked. Her shoulders slumped, and for a moment, she looked just as lost as the rest of us. "I can't just sit here and do nothing," she whispered, fists clenched at her sides.
"You're not," Benjamin said gently. "But if we fall apart now, we'll never make it."
His words sank into the silence that followed, heavy and undeniable.
So we stopped.
And in that quiet, as the forest creaked and whispered around us, we were left with nothing but fading strength and the fragile hope that the ruined city, still unseen, would be worth the price we were paying to reach it.
While setting up camp, Emily and Ella tended to Benjamin while the mood lingered somber, disturbed only by his frequent coughing. As the hours passed, Amelia, grappling with her own thoughts, ventured into the forest alone, returning exhausted after attempting to create a path. My mind swirled with thoughts as I observed Benjamin's deteriorating condition, knowing that there was little we could do. As night descended, sleep eluded me, burdened by the weight of Benjamin's fragile health.
The hazy morning was broken by Ella's piercing scream, jolting me from the fog of fatigue. My body moved before my mind could catch up, my boots crunching against the damp earth as I ran toward the sound. Ella was on her knees over Benjamin's still form, her movements frantic as she pressed down on his chest in a desperate attempt at CPR.
I stopped short, my breath caught in my throat. His face was pale, his eyes shut, and his body unnaturally motionless. I couldn't bring myself to take another step.
Amelia arrived, her face carved from stone, but her hands shook as she crouched beside Ella and gently took over. Her composure was brittle, held together by sheer will. Deep down, though, we all knew. Benjamin had been gone for hours.
Time seemed to bend around us. The air grew heavy, pressing down like an invisible weight, and the earth beneath my feet quivered as if sharing in the grief that hung in the air. I blinked, and for a moment, it felt as though the fabric of reality itself rippled, distorting the edges of my vision. A faint hum buzzed in my ears, almost like static, and then–
The mark on my neck burned faintly, sending a pulse through my body. A low vibration hummed in sync with the distortion, each pulse eroding the clarity of my thoughts. My hand instinctively moved to touch it, but as soon as my fingers brushed the mark, Benjamin's form began to blur.
The details of his face twisted, smearing like ink washed away by water. A dull ache pressed against my mind, and I felt something slipping, memories dissolving into nothingness. The harder I tried to focus on him, the more elusive he became.
His features faded into shadow, then darkness, until there was nothing left but a void. The memory of his face, his voice, his laugh, it all slipped through my fingers. My chest tightened, a hollow emptiness filling the space where Benjamin's memory had once been.
I blinked hard, struggling to anchor myself. Why was Amelia on the ground? Why was Ella crying? My heart thudded in my chest as confusion twisted in my gut. Someone had…
Someone had died.
The realization struck like a bolt of lightning, tearing through the haze. My gaze snapped back to the group, Amelia's trembling hands, Ella's silent tears carving paths down her cheeks, and Henry standing rigid, his fists clenched. But when I looked at the figure lying motionless on the ground, a strange emptiness filled me. No matter how hard I stared, I couldn't place him; his face was a void, black and featureless in my mind.
Amelia's voice cut through the oppressive silence like a blade, sharp and raw. I barely caught the tail end of her response to a question I hadn't heard. "I'm not burying him in this fucking place." Each word trembled with a restrained fury, her voice rasping under the weight of her grief.
Without waiting for a response, she lifted her hand, the motion stiff and deliberate. The ground trembled slightly, and with a sharp flick of her wrist, stone rose and encased the body in a crude but solid coffin. The sound of grinding rock echoed briefly before fading into the stillness.
Amelia straightened slowly, her movements jerky as though held together by sheer willpower. Her shoulders were taut, her frame rigid with unspoken emotion. "I need to get out of this place," she muttered, the words slipping from her lips in a strained whisper. Her eyes remained fixed ahead as she turned and started down the path she'd carved the day before, the stone coffin floating silently behind her.
The group remained rooted in place, stunned into a heavy silence. The air felt weighted, thick with unspoken grief. Henry shifted beside me, his body tensing as he took a hesitant step forward, clearly ready to follow.
I reached out and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him mid-stride. When he turned to me, his expression torn, I simply shook my head. No words were necessary. He hesitated for a moment before relenting, his gaze dropping to the ground.
I turned to the others, my chest tight as I took them in. Ella stood a few paces away, wiping at her tear-streaked face with trembling hands. Her eyes were distant, staring at something none of us could see. Nearby, Emily sat slumped against a tree, her knees drawn to her chest as she rocked slightly. Mumbled words spilled from her lips, unintelligible and frantic, her fingers clutching the fabric of her sleeves as though grounding herself.
No one spoke. The silence stretched, oppressive and suffocating, as if the weight of loss had stolen every sound from the world.