Jelo stared at the empty patch of ground before him, his mind a chaotic swirl of confusion and dread. He stood frozen, his body tense, his fists still clenched at his sides.
The sand beneath his feet was disturbed, scuffed from the earlier struggle. The blood from the Dabba he'd killed was still visible, dark and dry against the pale ground.
But Mira was gone.
She'd been right here. Unconscious. Helpless. Lying face-down in the sand where he'd left her after knocking her out. And now there was nothing. No body. No sign of her. Just empty space.
Jelo tried to make sense of it, his thoughts racing.
Did she wake up? Had she somehow regained consciousness, staggered to her feet, and left on her own? If so, where had she gone? Back to the class to report him? Into the wasteland to… what? Hide? Run?
Or was it something worse?
Had she been dragged away by a Dabba while she was unconscious? Those giant wolves he'd seen earlier, what if they'd caught her scent? What if they'd found her lying there, defenseless, and…
Jelo's stomach twisted at the thought. If a Dabba had taken her, there wouldn't be much left. Maybe some blood. Maybe scraps of her uniform. But she'd be gone. Dead.
And it would be his fault.
He stood there, his breathing uneven, trying to decide what to do. Should he search for her? Should he go back to the class and report her missing? Should he…
Before he could settle on any explanation, he sensed movement behind him.
His instincts flared like a warning bell going off in his head. Without thinking, Jelo whirled around, his arms coming up just in time to block an incoming strike.
The impact was sudden and brutal. A fist slammed into his crossed forearms with enough force to send him skidding backward across the sand. His feet dug trenches into the ground as he struggled to keep his balance.
When he looked up, his eyes widened.
It was Mira.
She landed lightly a few feet away, already dropping into a fighting stance. Her knees were bent, her weight on the balls of her feet, her fists raised. Her expression was sharp, her eyes blazing with anger and something else , fear, maybe, or determination.
She was awake. And she was ready to fight.
Jelo steadied himself, his own stance mirroring hers. His heart pounded in his chest, not from exertion but from the sheer shock of seeing her standing there, alive and conscious.
For a moment, neither of them moved. They just stared at each other across the sand, the tension thick between them.
Then Mira spoke, her voice sharp and cutting. "Are you planning to kill me?"
Jelo was stunned. The words hit him like a slap to the face. "What? No! I.."
"Don't lie to me!" Mira snapped, cutting him off. "You knocked me out cold, Jelo. You attacked me without warning and left me unconscious in the middle of a Dabba-infested wasteland. So forgive me if I think assumptions like that aren't exactly wild."
Jelo opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn't know what to say. She wasn't wrong. From her perspective, what he'd done looked terrible. More than terrible, it looked like attempted murder.
"I don't want to kill you," Jelo said finally, his voice quieter now, more earnest. "I swear. I panicked. You saw… things. Things I didn't want anyone to see. And I didn't know what else to do."
Mira's eyes narrowed. "So your solution was to punch me in the head?"
"I wasn't thinking!" Jelo said, his frustration bubbling up. "I just, I reacted. I didn't mean to hurt you. Not like that."
Mira didn't lower her guard. She stayed in her fighting stance, watching him carefully, her body coiled and ready to move. "Then what do you want?"
Jelo took a breath, trying to steady himself. "I want to negotiate."
"Negotiate?" Mira repeated, her tone skeptical.
"Yeah," Jelo said, nodding. "I need you to keep my secret. What you saw, the Dabba heart, the abilities I used, all of it, I need you to keep it to yourself. And in exchange, I'll do whatever you want."
Mira's expression didn't change, but Jelo could see the gears turning in her head. She was weighing his words, considering his offer, trying to decide if he was serious or if this was some kind of trick.
After a long moment, she asked, "Anything?"
Jelo nodded without hesitation. "Yes. Whatever you want."
Mira studied him for another moment, her eyes searching his face for any sign of deception. Then she lowered her fists slightly, though she didn't fully relax. "Is this Dabba-heart thing going to happen again?" she asked. "Or does it end today?"
Jelo hesitated. He thought about the system, the warnings it had given him, the constant hunger that gnawed at him from the inside. He thought about the notification that had appeared after he'd eaten the heart, the way his stats had increased, the way his body had changed.
He couldn't lie to her. Not about this.
"It'll probably happen again," he admitted quietly.
Mira absorbed that, her expression unreadable. She crossed her arms over her chest, her posture shifting from aggressive to thoughtful. "So you're going to need to hunt Dabba regularly," she said. "And you won't always have the convenience of a class field trip to cover for you."
Jelo nodded slowly, not sure where she was going with this. "Yeah. That's… that's a problem."
Mira was silent for a moment, her gaze drifting past him toward the ruins in the distance. Then she looked back at him, and when she spoke, her voice was firm and decisive.
"Alright," she said. "I'll keep your secret."
Jelo felt a rush of relief so strong it almost made his knees weak. "Thank you. I…"
"But I have a condition," Mira continued, cutting him off.
Jelo's relief faltered slightly. "What condition?"
Mira's eyes locked onto his, sharp and unwavering. "The next time you come here to hunt a Dabba, you have to take me with you."
Jelo blinked, confused. "What?"
"You heard me," Mira said. "Next time you need a Dabba heart, I'm coming with you."
Jelo stared at her, his mind struggling to process what she was saying. "Why?" he blurted out. "Why would you want to come? What do you need Dabba for?"
Mira's expression hardened instantly. "Mind your business," she said sharply.
Jelo opened his mouth to press further, but the look in her eyes stopped him. It was clear she wasn't going to explain. Whatever her reasons were, they were her own, and she had no intention of sharing them with him.
He thought about her offer. Taking her with him would be risky. It would mean revealing more of his abilities, more of his secrets. It would mean trusting her not to betray him even after seeing everything.
But what choice did he have?
If he refused, she could go straight to the teachers and tell them everything. She could expose him. Ruin him. And even if she didn't do it out of malice, even if she just told someone because she thought it was the right thing to do, the result would be the same.
He needed her cooperation.
And if the price for that was bringing her along on his next hunt… well, it wasn't ideal, but it was manageable.
"Alright," Jelo said finally. "I agree. Next time I come here to hunt a Dabba, I'll bring you with me."