In the thick of night, with the cold pressing down almost as heavily as the silence, four young Awakened searched through the remains of the Void Creatures they had just defeated, those ghost-like beings wrapped in shifting black shrouds. The scene felt unreal. It was hard to believe that creatures capable of reforming only moments ago now lay still like ordinary corpses.
Kneeling beside one of them, Kenzo frowned.
— « I didn't think they'd leave bodies behind… »
He had muttered it under his breath, almost to himself. A part of him had expected the specters to dissolve into smoke the moment they were destroyed. The idea that he could actually touch one, and even search inside it, felt fundamentally wrong.
He pushed his hands into the dark mass. The texture was strange, halfway between flesh and liquid, as though the body could not decide what it wanted to be. Still, compared to the Young Shoot, this was far easier. There was no shell, no bark, no hard outer layer resisting him. Just soft, unstable matter, like cloth soaked in corrupted energy.
Guided by that same disturbing hunger that always rose inside him around dead Void Creatures, Kenzo searched for the heart. He found it quickly: a small black sphere, cold and smooth, no larger than a polished stone. He pulled it free, set it aside in the storage space of Ananta's artifact, then went back to the corpse in search of the prana fragment.
That part was much harder.
He searched by touch, trying to identify some difference in texture, temperature, or vibration, but nothing stood out. Everything felt equally wrong cold, damp, and unsettling. The seconds dragged by.
At last, he felt the faintest tremor in the palm of his hand. A prana fragment. Small. Fragile. Almost like catching a breath before it vanished.
He stood up, wiped his hands against his bark armor, and walked over to Ananta, who was examining the remains of the specter she had defeated.
— « Ananta… I think Ophelia was right. I should handle the hearts myself. I can't detect the prana fragments properly, so it takes me too long. »
She looked up, considered it for a moment, then nodded.
— « True. For us, hearts are easy enough to find they're always in the same place. Fragments are different. They shift from creature to creature. Alright. You take care of the hearts. »
Kenzo nodded and went back to work.
One by one, he moved from corpse to corpse, repeating the same motion eleven times. The hearts were easy for him now. He could almost feel them calling to him, each one giving off that faint pulse he had learned to recognize. He collected them, held back the urge to consume them immediately, and stored them all inside the artifact Ananta had produced.
Once the harvesting was done, the four of them climbed onto Madame's back. The giant white spider set off at once, carrying them south and farther away from the Gargantuan Tree. Around them, the forest seemed to sink deeper into darkness with every passing minute.
Sitting on the spider's back, Kenzo finally asked the question that had been on his mind.
— « Did you two arrive in the Fragment together? »
Ananta stayed quiet for a few seconds, choosing her words.
— « No. I appeared much farther south. Very far from here. I met Ophie the day after I arrived. We started moving together, and eventually we spotted smoke. We decided to follow it. »
Lucian lowered his head, embarrassed.
— « That was me… »
Ananta blinked. Ophélia let out a long, irritated sigh.
— « That was stupid. Especially considering you don't exactly look capable of surviving on your own. »
Lucian shrank in on himself at once, clearly expecting that response.
— « What about you two? » Ananta asked. « Have you been together since the beginning? »
Kenzo opened his mouth to answer, but instinct cut him off.
A chill moved down the back of his neck.
Void Creatures.
Not close. Not yet. But near enough for him to feel them.
— « Lucian, we should avoid that area. There are Void Creatures nearby. »
For the first time since they had met, Ophélia looked genuinely intrigued. Ananta gave him a slow nod.
— « That's a very useful ability. »
Kenzo kept his eyes on the darkness ahead.
— « You can ask questions when we're safe. Right now, I need to stay focused. »
The rest of the journey passed under a silence so heavy it felt almost physical. Night inside the Fragment was different from ordinary darkness. It did not simply cover the forest—it swallowed it. Light died quickly here. Sounds faded too fast. Even colors seemed drained away, leaving only shades of black, gray, and the pale white of Madame's body moving through the gloom.
And Madame moved fast. Far too fast for something her size. Each of her legs touched the ground with unnatural precision, slipping between roots, rocks, and hollows as though she had memorized the forest itself. The four Awakened had to lean forward and hold on tightly just to avoid being thrown off.
The wind came in uneven bursts, shaking the higher branches overhead. Now and then, strange noises echoed in the distance. The crack of wood. A drawn-out hiss. Something that sounded almost like breathing.
Throughout the ride, Kenzo kept watching the path ahead and the shadows to either side. Every so often, he would gesture lightly.
— « Left. »
Madame turned at once.
— « Through that gap. Between the two trunks. The darker part. »
Again, she obeyed instantly.
By now, both Ananta and Ophélia were watching him differently. Not with trust, not yet—but with interest. They were trying to understand what exactly he could sense, and how far that instinct extended.
The journey lasted far longer than Kenzo expected. Two full hours of darkness, detours, and oppressive silence. Two hours in which the only constant sounds were the faint, almost soundless movement of Madame's legs and the breathing of the four teenagers riding her.
Lucian was nearly pressed flat against Madame's back, as though contact with her helped keep him calm. Kenzo kept one hand wrapped around what remained of his broken spear. Ophélia repeatedly tapped her daggers against her fingers out of habit. Ananta simply watched everything.
And then, at last, something emerged from the darkness ahead.
A shape in the rock.
An opening.
A wide black hollow carved into the base of a natural cliff.
A cave.
Their shelter for the night.