The ground heaved again, a violent lurch that knocked all of them to their knees. Dust rose in choking clouds, turning the world into a haze of red.
"Up!" Jonas shouted, hauling Mara by the arm. "Don't stop moving!"
They stumbled forward, but the land wasn't still anymore—it was breaking apart. Fissures opened like jagged mouths, swallowing rocks and spitting out heat. The Martian surface cracked and shifted, forcing them to leap from one unstable stretch of ground to the next.
Selene lifted her staff, its tip glowing faintly, forming a ward that stabilized the slope just long enough for them to cross. Liora followed, clutching the straps of her satchel as she whispered frantic incantations, keeping shards of stone from striking them.
Eris lagged a step behind, the pulsing glow in his chest burning hotter with every quake. His breath came ragged, sweat streaking through the dust on his face. He knew what none of them wanted to say—Mars wasn't just collapsing. It was calling.
Mara caught his arm when he stumbled. "Don't fall back now. We're almost there."
"Almost?" Jonas barked, pointing ahead.
Through the haze, the ship was visible at last—resting on a plateau of fractured stone. Its hull gleamed faintly under the weak Martian sun, battered but intact.
Relief surged through the group—until the ground split wide between them and the plateau.
The fissure tore open with a sound like thunder, glowing veins of light spilling up from the depths. The gap stretched wider, wider, until it spanned almost thirty meters. A gulf of heat and dust.
Jonas cursed. "Well, that's it. We're dead."
"No," Selene snapped, her eyes burning with defiance. "We jump. Or we make a bridge. Either way, we do not stop here."
Liora shook her head in disbelief. "A bridge out of what? The ground won't hold for ten seconds!"
Eris stood at the edge, staring into the glowing chasm. The pulse in his chest thrummed harder, the same rhythm as the veins of light below. His hands shook as he clenched them into fists.
"It's me," he whispered.
Mara stepped closer. "What?"
He turned, his eyes glowing faintly now. "It's me. The Heart knows I touched it. That's why this is happening. If I give it what it wants—just for a moment—it might stabilize the path."
Mara grabbed his wrist. "Or it might tear you apart."
Eris's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Better me than all of us."
The ground shook again, dust raining from the cliffs above. The fissure widened another foot. Their ship seemed both painfully close and impossibly far.
They had seconds to decide.