Eris stepped closer to the edge, the glow in his chest spilling into his veins, lighting them like molten rivers. His breath came heavy, but his eyes blazed with grim resolve.
"Eris, don't," Mara warned, her voice sharp. She grabbed his arm, but the heat beneath his skin seared her palm, forcing her to recoil.
Selene's staff flared, her voice low but urgent. "He's right. The resonance is with him. If anyone can command this fissure, it's him."
"Or the planet consumes him," Jonas shot back, rifle slung uselessly at his side. "We've seen what this world does when it's angry. You think it'll stop at him?"
Eris dropped to one knee, pressing his hand against the ground. The veins of light below answered instantly, pulsing brighter, rising in rhythm with his heartbeat. The fissure's edges trembled as though listening.
The pain was immediate—searing through his bones like fire. His vision blurred, but he forced the words out through clenched teeth. "Hold… together…"
The light surged.
The fissure shuddered, its sides grinding like tectonic plates. Fragments of rock floated upward, suspended in the glow, bridging the gap with trembling platforms of stone and dust.
Liora gasped, clutching her satchel. "He's shaping it—he's making a path!"
Mara's heart hammered in her chest. She wanted to drag him away, to stop him, but the look on his face froze her. This wasn't desperation—it was will.
Jonas cursed under his breath. "Fine. But if he drops dead, I'm not carrying his glowing body."
"Move!" Selene snapped, shoving him toward the forming bridge. "Before it collapses!"
One by one, they dashed across—Jonas first, leaping from one floating slab to the next; Liora stumbling after, whispering protective charms as she ran; Selene steady and sure, her staff balancing her steps.
Mara lingered. She crouched beside Eris, her voice fierce. "You're not staying here. Do you hear me? You're not."
He managed a pained smirk, sweat streaking his face. "Then run fast… because I can't hold it long."
Mara swallowed hard, then sprinted across the glowing bridge, her boots striking the unstable slabs. Behind her, the light began to falter.
Eris gritted his teeth, forcing one final surge of power through his chest. The last slab rose just high enough for him to stumble onto it. He ran, each step pulling the glow from his veins, until he collapsed on the plateau beside the others.
The bridge behind them shattered, crashing into the chasm in a storm of dust and fire.
The group gathered around him, his chest still faintly glowing, his breathing ragged. Mara knelt, her voice breaking. "You idiot. You nearly killed yourself."
Eris opened his eyes weakly, a shadow of a grin on his lips. "But we made it."
Above them, the Martian sky rumbled, as though the planet had felt his defiance.