The battlefield had fallen silent.
Not peaceful.
Just… empty.
Like something sacred had been torn apart—and the world didn't know how to breathe again.
Elaris didn't move.
She was still kneeling on the fractured ground, Kael in her arms, her fingers trembling as faint pulses of unstable energy flickered from her into him.
"Stay…" she whispered, voice breaking,"just stay…"
But Kael didn't respond.
His breathing—
Too shallow.
Too slow.
Too close to nothing.
"Elaris."
A voice cut through the silence.
Xyren.
He stepped forward, scanning Kael's condition, his expression tightening almost instantly.
"…He's fading."
Those two words—
Hit harder than any attack.
Elaris's grip tightened.
"No."
Flat. Immediate. Refusing reality.
Xyren knelt beside them, activating a faint diagnostic field—symbols and energy lines forming briefly around Kael's body.
They flickered.
Then glitched.
Then destabilized.
"…His core is collapsing," Xyren said quietly.
Silence.
Elaris shook her head.
"I can fix it."
She placed both hands over Kael's chest, forcing more of her power into him—
Light surged.
Wild. Uncontrolled.
But instead of healing—
Kael's body reacted violently.
A sharp pulse threw her back slightly.
Xyren grabbed her wrist.
"Stop."
Elaris looked at him—eyes burning.
"I won't let him die."
Xyren's voice didn't rise.
But it hardened.
"If you keep forcing unstable energy into him… you'll be the one who kills him."
That
Finally
Made her freeze.
Her hands slowly lowered.
Shaking.
Helpless.
"…Then tell me what to do," she whispered.
Xyren hesitated.
For the first time
Uncertain.
"…There is one way," he said slowly.
"But it's not here."
Elaris looked up instantly.
"Where?"
Xyren's gaze shifted—distant, calculating.
"His homeland."
The word carried weight.
Something deeper.
Older.
"Kael isn't just… what you see," Xyren continued."His body—his energy system—it's partially bonded to a bio-magical ecosystem from where he was created."
Elaris frowned slightly.
"…Created?"
Xyren ignored that part—for now.
"There's a plant… rare. Almost extinct."
"A regenerative core organism."
Elaris's heart pounded.
"Then we go."
Xyren didn't move.
"…It's not that simple."
Of course it wasn't.
"That place doesn't allow outsiders easily," he said."And even if it did…"
He looked at Kael.
"…there are consequences."
Elaris didn't care.
"What consequences?"
Xyren paused.
Then—
"…The plant doesn't just heal."
A faint wind passed through the broken battlefield.
Cold.
Uncertain.
"It amplifies."
Elaris's expression shifted.
"Amplifies what?"
Xyren's eyes met hers.
Direct.
Unfiltered.
"Everything."
💀
"His power.His instincts.His emotional responses."
A beat of silence.
"…If he survives," Xyren added quietly,
"he won't come back the same."
Elaris looked down at Kael.
His face pale.
Still.
Too still.
Her fingers brushed lightly against his cheek.
"…I don't need him to be the same," she whispered.
Her voice steadied.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
"I just need him alive."
Behind them—
A soft step.
Bloomfall.
She didn't come close.
Didn't interrupt.
But her voice—low, hesitant—finally broke through.
"…That place…"
Elaris didn't turn.
"…I know it," Bloomfall continued.
Now—
Xyren looked at her.
Interested.
Bloomfall's gaze dropped slightly.
"…Kael showed me. Once."
A pause.
Heavy.
Unspoken things lingering between all of them.
Elaris finally spoke.
Cold.
"You're not coming."
Bloomfall flinched slightly.
But didn't argue.
Didn't beg.
Didn't defend herself.
"…Then at least let me fix what I can," she said quietly.
Elaris's jaw tightened.
But before she could refuse—
Kael's body suddenly jerked.
A faint… unstable pulse surged through him.
Dark.
Sharp.
Wrong.
Everyone froze.
Xyren's eyes narrowed.
"…It's starting."
Elaris's heart dropped.
"What is?"
Xyren looked at Kael.
"The reaction."
Kael's fingers twitched.
Barely.
But enough.
A faint whisper escaped his lips—
Broken.
Unconscious.
Uncontrolled.
"…Elaris…"
💔🔥
Elaris immediately leaned closer.
"I'm here."
Her voice softer now.
Desperate.
Another pulse ran through him—
Stronger.
More violent.
Xyren stood.
"We don't have time anymore."
Elaris didn't hesitate.
"Then we move."
She slowly lifted Kael into her arms—
Careful.
Protective.
Like he was something she couldn't afford to lose again.
Behind them—
Bloomfall watched.
Silent.
Unmoving.
Her fingers tightened.
Eyes filled with something she didn't deserve to feel—
And yet couldn't stop.
"…Don't let him break because of me," she whispered.
No one answered.
They didn't need to.
Because the truth already hung in the air—
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
The war was over.
But what came next—
Would change everything.