The air was thick with burnt wire and dust. Mara dropped the bent rod, hands trembling as she stumbled toward Jonas. His uniform was torn where the remnant's blow had landed, ribs visibly bruised beneath darkening flesh.
"Stay with me," she muttered, pressing her hands against his side.
Jonas coughed, blood flecking his lips. "I've… had worse." His voice cracked, but he forced a grim smile. "Don't bury me yet."
Liora knelt beside him, her small hands glowing faintly. The aura of her touch seeped into his wounds, easing the swelling though not fully mending the broken ribs. Sweat gathered on her brow with the effort.
Eris watched in silence. His eyes weren't on Jonas, nor the others, but on the jagged gap in the wall. The forest beyond pulsed with that same red light, slow and steady, as though it were breathing.
"They're connected," he said finally.
Mara looked up, frowning. "What do you mean?"
"The remnants. The forest. The soil itself. It's not just corruption—it's alive, aware. And it wants us."
The words sent a chill through the corridor.
Jonas groaned, forcing himself upright despite Mara's protests. "Then we hit it back. Whatever that thing was, it bled. If it bleeds, it can die."
Eris shook his head. "Killing one doesn't end it. You saw what happened—it remembered. It fought itself. That means there's more to them than monsters. They're… fragments of something larger."
Silence stretched, heavy with implication.
Mara's jaw tightened. "Fragments or not, if they come for us again, we won't survive another fight in this condition. We need a plan."
Liora's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "The soil's voice isn't just theirs. I hear it too… but faintly, like an echo. Maybe I can reach them."
Everyone turned to her.
Jonas grimaced. "Or maybe it'll swallow you whole."
Eris crouched beside her, his tone steady. "If she can hear it, then she can guide us. Whatever is spreading out there, it's not unstoppable. But we'll need to risk everything to touch it."
A low rumble shook the outpost then, dust raining from the ceiling. Somewhere deep in the forest, a chorus of distant shrieks echoed—more remnants stirring.
Mara cursed under her breath. "Looks like we're out of time for debates."
Eris stood tall, his voice calm, resolute. "Then we move. If we wait, they'll surround us. The only way forward… is into the soil itself."
Jonas chuckled darkly, clutching his ribs. "Figures. From one deathtrap to another."
But none of them disagreed.
Beyond the shattered wall, the forest glowed like a living wound, waiting.