The woods around Nevermore Cemetery groaned with the weight of silence. Bare branches clawed at the sky, skeletal against the pale moon, while fog coiled through the gravestones like restless spirits. The air reeked of iron and damp soil, as though the earth itself hungered for fresh blood.
Just moments before the rapier snapped, Valen's thoughts spiraled in a storm of panic and grim clarity.
This man was dangerous... And... he could die.
Caught in Silas's crushing grip, Valen's mind churned. He had to act. But how? He could feel his own heartbeat hammering against the inevitable.
What he didn't know, what he couldn't possibly know, was that Silas, too, was straining.
The husk he wore was breaking down, buckling beneath the unnatural energy he forced into it. Einar's body was breaking, due to over-using the powers which he still hadn't freed from the pendant.
The pendant's power, so intoxicating and so devastating, was unraveling him from the inside.
Worse still, the barrier he had woven was fraying like rotted cloth.
Its weakening edges had allowed Fitts, to slip through.
Silas had to end it. Now.
The boy's death would lift half the chains. He had to gut him before the husk collapsed.
But then, disaster struck.
The rapier cracked with a shrill cry, snapping in Silas's hand. His eyes widened, not at the ruined blade, but at the boy's sudden feral smile.
Valen's fingers had clamped around his arm.
The broken thrust had carried Silas's arm too close, the momentum betraying him. And now Valen held him in a vice-like grip, refusing to let go.
A chilling smile spread across Valen's face, eerie, unnatural, as if death itself had smirked through his lips. "Got you…" he whispered.
Silas's eyes flashed with fury. Something was very wrong!
He summoned what little strength remained, trying to conjure the barrier, but the magic sputtered, flickering like a candle in a storm.
It's too slow!
Valen knew this was it. He didn't have the luxury of hesitation. And he couldn't lose this god given opportunity!
It was do or die.
His last, forbidden card. One of the Eidolons technique, one laced with agony.
His eyes lowered, shadowed, as his voice broke into a growl. "...fuck you."
"YOU-!" Silas roared, but the words never finished.
The blast detonated.
The woods screamed with the sound of shattering air and tearing flesh. Blood sprayed into the fog, hot and metallic, as gore splattered against the skeletal trees.
The explosion of forbidden power swallowed them both in light and ruin.
Silas's body ruptured mid-motion. The husk split apart in a grotesque display, raining fragments of bone and sinew across the cursed woods.
Valen fell through it all, his consciousness slipping away. His bloodied body tumbled out of the sky and down through the mist. The last thing he felt was the cold embrace of earth rushing up to meet him.
And then- darkness.
*
[Valen's POV]
My eyelids fluttered open, stinging under the sterile brightness above me. The ceiling was a pale blur, and the air smelled of antiseptic and iron.
The room swam into focus- white walls, a faint antiseptic smell, the steady rhythm of machines.
A hospital?
(Image of the room, Ignore wednesday and Imagine it's Valen lying there, instead of Eugene)
"Ugh…" The groan slipped out before I could stop it. Every muscle in my body ached, but my left hand screamed the loudest, pulsing with raw pain. I shifted to sit up, only to feel the sharp tug of tubes and wires embedded in my skin.
The door creaked and nurse stepped in. Relief flickered in my chest.
"Excu-" I tried to call, but before the word left my mouth, she froze- eyes wide- then turned and bolted out as if she had seen a ghost.
I looked down at my bandaged hand. Thick wrappings encased it like a shroud.
Still regenerating, I guess.
But then it hit me.
Enid.
My heart stuttered, beating so violently it hurt more than the wounds. Enid. Where was she? She must be alright, right?
I ripped the wires and tubes from my skin. Each tug sent fire up my veins, but I didn't care. I had to find her. No matter what.
Please! Please, let her be okay!
The door burst open again, this time with a doctor storming in, his face pale.
"Hey! You shouldn't- what do you think you're doing?!" He hurried toward me, hands raised to press me back.
"Where's Enid?" I rasped, ignoring his hands.
"She's alright. You should worry about yourself."
His words bounced off me like stones. My gaze locked on him, cold and unflinching.
"I respect that you care for my well-being," I said slowly, "and I'll do as you say- but first, take me to Enid."
The man froze. My tone must have unsettled him, because his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. Finally, he nodded.
"…I'll take you to her."
Relief eased the sharpness of my chest as he slowly removed all the tubes and needles.
I followed him through the hospital corridor, the air heavy with the stench of bleach and muted cries from behind closed doors. My mind tried to knit the scattered threads of memory together.
Where's Alex though? He hadn't come. Maybe handling the wreckage I'd left behind. Well, he must be alright.
We stopped. A door stood before me, a brass tag glinting under the fluorescent light-
ENID SINCLAIR.
My breath caught.
The doctor pushed the door open, and there she was.
Enid sat on the hospital bed, a tray of untouched food in front of her. She idly poked at it with a fork, her shoulders slumped. A bandage circled her head, stark against her pale skin.
She didn't even notice us.
"…Enid," I whispered. My throat felt raw, every word dragging against it.
Her head snapped toward me. For a second her eyes widened, and then she moved. With a cry that cracked into a sob, she launched from the bed and into my chest, her arms wrapping tight around me like chains.
"Valen!"
But then she pulled back just enough to look me over, her hands frantic. Her fingers skimmed over my shoulders, my arms, my face, touching, searching, as though making sure I wasn't an illusion that might vanish if she blinked.
Her brows pinched, her lips trembled. "You're..." she whispered, scanning me again, her hands trembling against my bandaged arm.
I didn't stop her. I let her look, let her convince herself I was alright. The more she found nothing fatal, the more her composure cracked.
Her chest heaved once. Twice. And then it broke.
The sob tore free, raw and helpless, as tears welled in her eyes and spilled over. She buried her face into my chest again, shaking, clutching me tighter as though she'd never let go.
"Vaaaleeeeen!" Her arms locked around me again, trembling. "Waaaahhh-hic-I'm sorry! Hicc-I'm so sorry!"
She was crying so hard her words broke into hiccups, her tears soaking through my shirt.
I wrapped my good arm around her, steadying her shaking frame, and glanced at the doctor. "Can we have a few moments of privacy?"
He hesitated, lips parting as if to object. But something in my expression must have changed his mind, because with a resigned sigh, he gestured to the others. "Only a few minutes… and please, don't strain yourselves."
The door clicked shut, leaving us in silence except for Enid's sobs.
I lifted her with my right arm- it was difficult, my muscles still raw and trembling, but I managed. She curled onto my lap, her face buried against me.
I'd learned these months together that words only made her cry harder. When she spiraled like this, all she needed was a steady hand, a quiet rhythm against her back. So I stroked her hair in silence, letting her tears run their course.
Finally, her sobs softened into ragged breaths. Her hands still clutched my shirt, but the storm was passing. I poured her a glass of water, holding it out to her gently.
"Here. Stay hydrated," I murmured.
Her cheeks flushed as she took it, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
I smiled faintly, but it didn't reach my chest.
Guilt gnawed there instead, heavy and merciless.
"You know… it's me who should be sorry," I said quietly. "I couldn't protect you. It was my responsibility. And I failed. I'm sorry, Enid."
She shook her head immediately, pulling back just enough to meet my eyes. Her cheeks were still wet, but her gaze burned with stubborn fire.
"No, Valen. You don't get to say that. You almost died-because of me. And you still think you failed?"
I kissed her.
Her fingers tightened against my gown, trembling, as if she feared I'd slip away again.
As we parted, I stayed quiet, the silence stretching between us, until she finally looked down and whispered, "You've been out for more than a week."
But I wasn't surprised. "A week…huh" I glanced down at my bandaged arm.
She forced herself to explain. "You… lost your hand. Completely. The doctors said it was gone for good, but-" She hesitated, swallowing hard. "But then… it started coming back. Slowly. The tissue, the bone. They don't understand it, but… maybe it's your powers."
My lips pressed into a thin line, but I nodded. "…Yeah, it's kind of a forbidden technique which made me lose this. haha."
An awkward silence lingered for a beat, until I forced the next words out. "What about you?"
Her smile was weak, almost fragile. She tapped the bandage around her head. "Concussion. But since I'm… y'know, a werewolf, my body's already healed most of it. I'll be fine." She tried to laugh it off.
I exhaled slowly, tension easing slightly, "What about Alex and the others?"
That one made her flinch. Her shoulders stiffened. The smile she had tried to keep cracked, fading altogether.
She dropped her gaze to the floor, voice quiet, almost reluctant.
"…Alex... he lost his powers."