The road to Droplin stretched long and broken ahead of them.
Rion drove with both hands steady on the wheel, eyes forward, posture calm like he was carved into the seat itself. The jeep rattled every few seconds as it passed over cracked asphalt and old debris, but it kept moving.
Xin sat beside him, elbow resting against the window frame, watching the world slide past. Burned buildings. Empty fields. Signs that still pointed to places no one lived anymore.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The silence felt earned.
"Droplin should be quiet," Xin said finally. "People there don't ask questions."
Rion nodded once. "That is why it survived."
Xin smirked faintly. "Kaila used to say the same thing. She said noisy cities die first."
The jeep passed a rusted checkpoint. No guards. No lights. Just a collapsed gate and old bullet marks in concrete.
Then Kurai stirred.
Not violently. Not screaming.
Just a slow pressure behind Rion's eyes.
Something is wrong.
Rion's grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel. "We are not alone."
Xin turned toward him. "Dive."
"No," Rion replied. "This feels… hungrier."
The air shifted.
Not wind. Not weather.
Pressure.
Xin felt it next, a crawling sensation along his spine, like someone had just noticed him from very far away. His heartbeat slowed instead of racing, instinct screaming danger before his mind could catch up.
He looked up at the sky.
Clouds drifted lazily, thick and gray.
Nothing there.
"Tell me you feel that too," Xin said.
Rion nodded. "Yes."
Kurai's voice came again, quieter now.
He smells blood. Not spilled blood. Potential.
The jeep engine sputtered for a second, then recovered. Rion adjusted the throttle, keeping speed even. No sudden movements.
Far above them, beyond clouds and distance and logic, something turned its attention.
Zane stood on the edge of the atmosphere, arms loose at his sides, cape drifting behind him like a living thing. Below him, the planet curved gently, beautiful and fragile.
Two signals burned bright on its surface.
One stubborn. One cursed.
Zane smiled.
"So you're still breathing," he murmured. "Good."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"And you brought a friend."
He did not move yet.
Predators who rushed ruined the taste.
Back on the road, Xin leaned back in his seat and exhaled slowly.
"Whatever this is," he said, "it's not Andy."
"No," Rion agreed. "Andy wants control. This wants consumption."
The road ahead dipped toward a valley.
Droplin lay beyond it.
Unaware.
Xin stared forward, jaw set. "If something's coming for us, it picked the wrong day."
Rion did not answer.
Kurai whispered one last time before falling silent.
The hunt has begun.
The jeep kept moving.
Above them, unseen, the sky watched back.