"Hey… shouldn't they be back by now?"
Rai's voice barely rises above a whisper, meant for Kaelen alone.
As she speaks, a thin veil of Criole spreads around them like transparent silk drifting through water. The sound barrier forms instantly, subtle enough that nobody nearby would notice unless they knew what to look for.
Just in case Lia is listening.
Rai-Ella, the eldest of the sisters, carries authority so naturally it feels stitched into her existence. Everything about her is composed. Regal. Controlled. Even Kaelen, whose tongue is usually quicker than her restraint, unconsciously eases around her.
"He's with Terrene," Kaelen replies casually, waving the concern away. "He'll be fine."
Though even she glances away afterwards.
The two sisters look towards Lia.
She leans against what appears to be a gigantic floating metal egg, one boot crossed over the other. The machine hovers silently several feet above the ground, polished black metal reflecting the pale light around it. A section near the front shifts open and closed rhythmically, resembling a blinking mechanical eye.
Before it stand two colossal beasts.
Motionless.
Silent.
Each creature is nearly half the size of the vessel itself.
Four-legged.
Scaled.
Armoured.
Their bodies resemble wolves distorted through something ancient and draconic. Massive claws dig into the earth while glowing restraints of light connect them to the ship's harnesses. Their armour gleams faintly beneath the night sky, engraved with symbols too old for even Rai to recognise.
Despite their monstrous appearance, they radiate calm rather than aggression.
Like ancient kings pretending to be beasts.
Far below them, in the darkness beneath the world—
Why is it so dark?
Myles floats weightlessly through a void so black it feels endless.
No light.
No sound.
No sensation.
Just emptiness.
He knew the pit would be deep.
But this?
This feels less like lying in darkness and more like being erased.
"Maybe jumping into a random abyss wasn't my best decision," he thinks dryly.
His mind drifts inevitably towards Terrene.
Why did she try to cushion his fall?
Two years of fractured memories paint her as someone who barely tolerated his existence. She always looked irritated whenever Lia touched him. At first, he assumed jealousy.
But then he remembers something else.
A moment where he accidentally brushed against her arm.
The way she recoiled instantly.
The defensive stance.
The cold glare. Her eyes were closed but they still gave of the same cold effect.
Back then, he had barely been a person. Just hormones, violence, and instinct wearing human skin.
Which only makes the question worse.
What the hell does Lia even see in me? What did she see in me then?
A low growl interrupts his thoughts.
His vision suddenly returns.
A grotesque rodent-like creature sniffs at him curiously.
It is enormous.
Its twitching ears are torn and ragged while rows of jagged yellow teeth jut from an oversized mouth. It resembles a rat and a feral dog stitched together incorrectly.
Thankfully—
It has not noticed him properly yet.
Myles tries to move.
Nothing happens.
Then he sees it.
His body.
Or rather—
What remains of it.
Headless.
Broken.
Being casually devoured by the creature.
Myles stares at the scene in complete silence.
Oddly calm.
"Am I okay mentally?" he wonders.
He closes his eyes and tries to pray.
At least that helped calm him.
Then, because apparently his brain refuses to function normally in life-threatening situations, he finds himself making a joke internally about how selective the monster's appetite is.
At least it left my clothes alone.
Then he remembers something.
The sensation from earlier.
The strange feeling when Terrene made him float.
Concentrate.
Focus.
Suddenly—
His head launches forward violently.
And slams directly onto the beast's skull.
"...Right. Definitely need practice."
The creature barely reacts.
Myles somehow feels both relieved and offended.
Nearby, hidden within the shadows of twisted rock and overgrown brush—
Terrene stares blankly at the scene before her.
"What… is that?" she whispers.
She crouches low, having followed the sounds of movement through the darkness.
And now she witnesses something truly ridiculous:
Myles' detached floating head awkwardly scrambling away from two relatively smaller yet giant rodent-beasts while his half-eaten body is being devoured nearby.
Terrene covers her mouth.
A tiny laugh escapes despite herself.
"Wow," she says flatly.
Myles notices her instantly.
"Hey! Are you seriously just gonna stand there?!"
"Yes."
His annoyance disappears almost immediately when he realises something important.
He is speaking.
His neck has already regenerated.
He turns awkwardly towards her.
"Can you grab that?" he asks, gesturing with his face towards the remains of his ruined tracksuit.
Terrene lifts the clothing effortlessly with Criole, floating it beside her with a flick of her fingers.
She already knows what will happen next.
The larger beast notices the movement immediately.
The smaller creatures turn to her too.
Every eye turns towards Terrene.
She glances once at Myles.
Then runs.
A streak of violet light trails behind her as she disappears deeper into the cavern.
Myles waits quietly while his vision adjusts again.
His body has regenerated down to the chest now.
Head.
Shoulders.
Torso.
Still no left arm.
"Why does it feel like my abilities are actively mocking me?" he mutters.
Then another thought hits him.
Need to find Terrene.
A pause.
Also, she has my boxers.
Elsewhere in the cavern—
Terrene does not scream when the creatures bite her.
But the pain—
sharp and sudden—
shoots through her arm like burning electricity.
Another beast clamps onto her leg.
Her breath catches violently.
Tears instantly gather in her eyes.
"No… no, no…"
Her voice shakes as she stumbles through the darkness, half-running and half-falling towards a narrow hollow in the stone.
She dives inside.
Seals the entrance with Criole.
Then curls into herself, trembling.
Pain.
Not damage.
Nothing can truly break her body.
But the sensation itself—
raw, invasive pain—
is something Terrene rarely experiences.
And because she rarely experiences it—
it terrifies her.
"Where did she—"
Myles cuts himself off abruptly as several piranha-mouthed creatures suddenly leap towards him.
His right hand has regenerated now.
Still no left.
One creature lunges.
Myles punches it instinctively.
The impact launches the beast across the cavern hard enough to shatter its teeth against the wall. "Whoa, that's new. "
Another charges.
He punches it into a rock formation with enough force to crack stone.
More swarm him.
But now his body moves differently.
Sharper.
Faster.
Every movement brutal and efficient.
One monster crashes through a rocky outcrop—
revealing Terrene hidden inside.
Myles rushes towards her immediately.
By the time he reaches her, his entire body has regenerated fully.
Terrene looks up at him.
Her expression remains flat as always.
But her cheeks are noticeably red.
"Wow," she says blankly.
It is the first expression Myles has ever seen from her that is not irritation, disgust, or cold judgment.
Then he looks down.
And realises—
He is completely naked.
"Oh, God."
He instantly covers her eyes in a calm panic.
"Where are my clothes?" His voice does not hide his annoyance.
"I dropped them," Terrene replies calmly.
A beat passes.
"You look good without them, though."
Before Myles can even process that sentence—
a monstrous roar erupts through the cavern.
The ground explodes beside them.
Terrene visibly flinches.
Not because she fears death.
But because she fears pain.
"Myles…" Her voice cracks weakly. "No… I don't want to feel it."
Without hesitation, Myles lifts her onto his back and runs.
The cavern erupts behind them.
Massive tentacles tear through stone as a bloated monstrosity barrels after them with horrifying speed. Its flesh pulses unnaturally while metal-like growths protrude from its body like armour forged from rot.
Too fast.
Too precise.
Myles dodges instinctively now.
Every movement sharper than before.
His muscles react before thought can catch up.
Tentacles crash against walls mere inches from them.
"Do you remember where you dropped my clothes?!" he shouts in frustration.
Terrene remains suspiciously quiet.
Her arms tighten around his chest slightly.
Her face remains bright red.
And somehow—
She is smiling.
Myles sighs heavily.
"Fantastic. Completely useless."
Then something slams into him.
A metallic beast shaped like a hound crashes into his side hard enough to crater the cavern wall.
"That's not fair, shooting out babies on command as an attack is crazy work."
Stone explodes outward.
Terrene is thrown clear just before another impact.
Myles collapses unconscious.
The massive creature slowly turns towards Terrene.
She stands trembling.
Expressionless.
But her entire body shakes faintly with fear.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of hurting.
A single tear slips from her eye.
Then—
BOOM.
The cavern shakes violently.
The beast is launched sideways across the chamber.
Terrene looks up.
Myles stands at the opposite end of the cavern.
Crimson eyes glowing.
Black flames curling around his body like living shadows.
His hair moves weightlessly, drifting like ink suspended underwater.
Terrene stares quietly.
Part of her is annoyed that he is reckless. They are in a cavern for crying out loud.
Another part is overwhelmingly relieved he is alive.
The beast roars furiously and unleashes a swarm of metallic hounds towards them.
Myles moves like lightning.
He tears through creatures approaching him while intercepting every attack aimed at Terrene.
Even so—
Some still break through.
His flames erupt hotter.
Darker.
Bolts of black fire launch from his hands with terrifying precision, vaporising monsters instantly. The air itself bends beneath the heat.
Then he vanishes.
And reappears directly before the massive creature.
One upward slash.
Clean.
Effortless.
The monster splits in half.
Silence crashes down across the cavern.
The black flames fade slowly afterwards.
Myles walks towards Terrene without a word, lifts her carefully into his arms, then leaps upward.
The ceiling explodes apart above them as he tears through layers of stone towards the surface.
Moments later, they emerge beneath the night sky.
Fresh air.
Moonlight.
Silence.
Myles gently lays Terrene down upon the grass.
Then immediately collapses beside her from exhaustion.
Terrene quietly lifts his head onto her lap.
For a long moment, she simply looks at him.
Then she smiles softly.
With a small gesture, his clothes float back into her hands.
She cleans them carefully with Criole before beginning to dress him herself, movements strangely gentle compared to her usual coldness.
"I'm sorry, little sister Lia," she whispers quietly to herself.
Her fingers brush lightly against Myles' hair.
"But… I want your black knight for myself."