The world was quiet again.
Too quiet.
The roar of beasts that had shaken the heavens only hours ago was gone. The earth no longer trembled. But the silence that replaced it was not peace — it was heavy, suffocating, the silence of a graveyard.
Kaen and Riku stepped out of the broken house together. Neither spoke at first. The blood on Kaen's hands still hadn't dried; the warmth of Riku's embrace lingered faintly against his chest. Both carried unspoken fear in their eyes — fear of what they would find next.
The morning sun stretched higher now, spilling golden light across the ruins of Orvale. But the light only made the destruction clearer. Houses lay in heaps of ash and stone. The streets that once carried laughter now carried only shadows of death.
Riku held her hands close to her chest, glancing nervously around.
"Kaen… do you think… anyone else made it?"
Her voice was fragile, trembling at the edges.
Kaen clenched his jaw, fingers tightening around the strange glowing stone in his pocket. He wanted to answer with hope. He wanted to tell her that their friends were alive, that they weren't the only ones left.
"…We'll find them," he said at last, his voice low but steady. "We have to."
The Old Tree
The two walked through broken streets, stepping over collapsed beams and shattered walls. At every corner, Kaen's eyes searched desperately for familiar faces.
Then — Riku froze.
"Kaen… look!"
Far ahead, by the remnants of the village square, a tall, ancient tree still stood — its roots twisted deep into the earth, its branches reaching stubbornly toward the sky.
And beneath that tree, two figures leaned against its bark.
Kaen's chest tightened. He recognized them instantly.
"Daren!"
The older boy looked up weakly. His face was pale, drenched in sweat, and his leg was bent at an unnatural angle. Blood soaked through torn fabric, staining the ground beneath him.
Beside him, another friend — a wiry, sharp-eyed boy named Ren — held Daren upright, struggling to keep him from collapsing entirely.
The moment Ren saw Kaen and Riku, his expression broke — relief flooding over his face.
"Kaen! Riku! You're alive!"
Riku let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and ran ahead, tears already welling in her eyes.
"Daren! Oh gods, you're hurt—"
Kaen followed quickly, his heart pounding as he dropped to his knees beside them.
The Reunion
Daren's lips curled into the faintest smile, though his eyes were heavy with pain.
"Tch… figured you two wouldn't die so easily…"
Kaen's throat tightened at the sight. He wanted to laugh at Daren's usual stubbornness, but the sound wouldn't come.
"You idiot," Kaen muttered, fighting to steady his voice. "Look at you. You should be resting, not making jokes."
Ren huffed, exhaustion clear in his face. "He wouldn't stop trying to move. Said he had to find you two. I barely managed to drag him this far."
Daren smirked faintly, though it quickly faltered into a wince.
"Couldn't… just sit and wait. Didn't know if you were alive…"
Riku knelt, brushing dirt from his sweat-soaked hair with trembling fingers. Her eyes brimmed with tears.
"You're bleeding so much… what if— what if we're too late?"
Kaen grabbed her hand gently, steadying her. "We're not too late. He's alive. That's what matters. We'll get him treated."
The Shared Grief
For a moment, none of them spoke. The silence hung heavy, only broken by Daren's shallow breaths.
Finally, Ren's voice cracked through it.
"…Our parents. They didn't make it."
The words stabbed like knives. Riku's hands froze. Kaen's chest tightened, his breath catching.
Ren's eyes glistened, but he forced a crooked grin. "They fought till the end… bought us enough time to escape. I guess… that's all we can ask for."
Riku lowered her head, shoulders shaking. Daren shut his eyes, his jaw tightening.
And Kaen… Kaen could only sit in silence, staring at the ground. The memory of his own family's faces — his brother's grin, his sisters' laughter, his mother's final smile — all rose like ghosts before him.
For a long moment, the four of them simply sat together beneath the old tree — a small island of survivors in a sea of ruin.
Moving Forward
At last, Kaen stood, his fists clenched. His voice came quiet, but steady, carrying an edge of determination.
"We can't stay here. Daren needs medicine. And there might still be others out there who need help."
Ren nodded, though his expression was weary. "Most of the village is gone… but I saw some people still alive, trying to crawl from the rubble."
Kaen turned to Riku. Her eyes were still red from crying, but she nodded firmly.
"Then we help them. Just like… just like our parents would have wanted."
Daren gave a strained chuckle. "Hah… didn't think I'd see Kaen playing hero…"
Kaen looked at him, a flicker of fire behind his grief-stricken eyes.
"I'm not playing. If I can still stand, then I won't let anyone else die when I can stop it."
The words hung heavy, echoing with his mother's voice in his memory:
"Stand for the weak. Protect them. You will always be my ember."
The Path
And so, slowly, they moved.
Kaen supported Daren on one side, Ren on the other, while Riku walked ahead, clearing the path. The streets were treacherous — collapsed beams blocked the way, shattered glass glistened under the sunlight, and the faint stench of smoke and blood lingered everywhere.
But they walked on.
Each step felt like dragging the weight of the dead with them. Yet at the same time, every step was proof — proof that they were still alive, that the ember still burned.
Along the way, they stopped again and again. To lift rubble off a crying child. To bind the wounds of a man who could no longer walk. To guide the weak toward the remains of the village square.
The dinosaurs were gone, having left nothing but ruin in their wake. But the aftermath — the cries of the injured, the silence of the dead — was its own battlefield.
Kaen's hands shook as he worked, as he tied bandages with strips of cloth, as he lifted broken bodies from shattered homes. But still, he worked. And each time, he repeated silently to himself:
"I won't fail again. Not again."
Closing Scene
By the time the sun reached its peak, the four friends had managed to gather survivors into a small group near the old tree. The once lively square was now a makeshift refuge, filled with wounded bodies and silent prayers.
Kaen looked around at the destruction, at the people leaning on each other to stand, at the children clutching tightly to strangers because their parents were gone.
His chest ached. His grief had not faded — it never would. But something new sparked within him, fragile yet steady.
Resolve.
He tightened his grip on the glowing stone in his pocket, feeling its warmth pulse faintly against his skin.
Mother… I'll carry it. I'll carry your ember.
And so, beneath the broken sky, the four survivors stood together — scarred, grieving, but alive.
The ember burned on.