The soldiers didn't escort them.
They herded them.
Flashlights cut through the forest as the armored unit guided Rheon, Elara, and Kael along a narrow, concealed path. The woman with glowing eyes stayed in front, her posture rigid and calculated.
Rheon didn't like the way she kept glancing at Elara.
Like she wasn't a person—
but a variable.
Kael walked behind Elara, his presence radiating focus, tension, and a readiness to kill if needed. Rheon trailed on Elara's left, close enough to steady her if her resonance flared again.
Their heartbeats were synced.
Every shift in emotion rippled through all three.
After twenty minutes of silent movement, the troop reached a rock wall covered in vines. The woman pressed her palm to a hidden scanner.
The ground vibrated.
The rock split open.
A dark passage yawned before them.
Rheon muttered, "Sure. Secret cave. Totally normal."
Kael murmured, "Stay alert."
Elara reached back instinctively.
Both boys took her hand at the exact same moment.
Her breath caught.
Rheon's heart lurched.
Kael's pulse spiked.
The Spiral reacted—
a warm, electric jolt running down their arms.
Rheon released her first.
Kael guided her inside.
The stone door slammed shut.
A lock clicked.
They were trapped.
The Shelter
The passage led to a bunker—small, dim, lined with stone and reinforced metal. A lantern illuminated the center. Bedrolls. Medical supplies. Nothing else.
"Stay here," the woman said. "You need to stabilize before Phase Three."
Kael stepped forward. "Explain Phase—"
The door slammed shut in his face.
Rheon exhaled sharply. "Fantastic. Cave prison. Love that for us."
Kael pressed a hand to the stone wall, jaw tight. "They're not protecting us. They're containing us."
Elara trembled, sinking down onto a bedroll. "I can't—sort your emotions—everything's blending—"
Rheon rushed to her side. "Hey—look at me."
Elara looked up—
But the moment their eyes met, the emotional sync punched through them:
Her panic
Kael's jealousy
Rheon's fear for her
All tangled.
Elara flinched in pain. "Stop—stop feeling so much—"
Kael was instantly beside them, his shadow falling over Rheon, posture protective, voice low.
"Elara. Breathe. One second at a time."
Rheon bristled at how gently Kael spoke to her.
Elara felt that bristle.
Kael felt it too.
A pulse of tension rippled through the room.
Elara gasped, clutching her head. "Please—don't fight. Not here."
Rheon stepped back, fists clenched.
Kael stayed beside her, too close, anchoring her with presence alone.
Rheon hated how effective that was.
Elara drew in trembling breaths, trying to steady her resonance.
When she finally lay back, exhausted, the three were forced to settle in the tiny bunker:
Elara in the middle.
Rheon on her left.
Kael on her right.
The silence was unbearably intimate.
Rheon stared at the wall.
Kael stared at the floor.
Elara stared at the ceiling.
Their heartbeats synced slowly, reluctantly, painfully.
Finally, Elara whispered:
"What if I'm the reason we survive…
and also the reason we die?"
Neither boy hesitated.
Rheon: "We survive because of you."
Kael: "We don't die with you."
Elara's breath hitched.
The Spiral hummed beneath their skin.
Then—
A distant alarm shrieked through the base.
INTRUSION DETECTED.
PHASE THREE ACTIVATING.
Kael was on his feet instantly.
Rheon followed a heartbeat later.
Elara scrambled up, fear spiking—sending a backlash into both boys.
The bunker door vibrated violently.
A shadow appeared under the crack.
A human shape—
but bent wrong,
twisted,
shaking like a corrupted signal.
A voice whispered from the other side, distorted and hungry:
"Found you…"
Elara's fingers crushed the boys' hands.
Kael stepped forward.
Rheon pulled her behind him.
Their pulses surged as one.
The door bulged.
Cracks formed.
The Spiral awakened in all three.
Phase Three had arrived.
And whatever was outside…
…wasn't human anymore.