Nyx
I don’t know when my body moved.
One second I was standing frozen at the edge of the clearing, watching the tension between Thorne and Ashriel coil tighter and tighter like a live wire stretched to its breaking point, thick, electric, and ready to snap with devastating consequences.
The next...
I was there. Literally standing in front of Thorne, my smaller fra positioned like a fragile shield between two storms of raw power and simring resentnt.
My brain lagged several frantic heartbeats behind my body. *What the hell am I doing?*
It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t logical. It wasn’t even smart. It just... happened. An instinctive, reckless impulse that overrode every survival instinct screaming in my head.
And I hated how quickly the reason crystallized in my mind.
Because no matter how loudly I told myself I didn’t care about any of them, that I was just trying to survive this nightmare place, a stubborn, stupid part of still did. A part of still rembered that Thorne had been the very first person in this strange, brutal world to show sothing that almost resembled kindness. But a gruff, reluctant acknowledgnt of my existence when everyone else seed content to let fade into the background.
Apparently, that fleeting scrap of humanity was enough for my traitorous body to throw itself into the line of fire.
Fantastic. Truly stellar decision-making, Nyx.
"Ashriel, what the hell are you doing?" I snapped, forcing my voice to remain steady even as adrenaline surged through my veins like liquid fire.
My heart hamred too fast, too loud, a frantic drumbeat echoing in my ears and vibrating through my chest. Now that I was actually standing here, the full weight of my impulsive action crashed over .
If Ashriel decided to unleash whatever dark, terrifying force had been building between him and Thorne...
I would be the first one in its path.
Not Thorne.
But .
Cold fear slithered up my spine, deliberate and icy, wrapping around each vertebra with slow precision.
What if he turned that empty, ancient gaze on instead? What if I beca the target? What if one wrong breath, one misplaced word, and everything ended right here in this blood-soaked clearing?
I swallowed hard, throat tight and dry.
Too late to step back now. Too late to pretend I hadn’t just inserted myself into a conflict I barely understood.
Ashriel didn’t answer imdiately.
He simply started walking toward , slow, unhurried, each step asured and deliberate, as if none of us were worth the effort of haste. Every footfall seed to press down on the air itself, making it heavier, thicker, harder to breathe. The forest around us grew unnaturally quiet, as though even the trees and shadows were holding their breath in anticipation.
I held my ground.
Barely.
My legs felt rooted to the spot by sheer stubbornness and the knowledge that retreating now would only make look weaker than I already felt.
He stopped directly in front of .
Dangerously close.
The heat radiating from his powerful fra brushed against my skin, carrying the faint tallic scent of blood and sothing darker, smoke and ancient stone and unspoken secrets. For one breathless second, I wondered if I had just made the worst, and possibly final, decision of my life.
Then he reached for my hand.
I stiffened instinctively, every muscle locking tight, but I didn’t pull away. I didn’t dare.
He placed sothing cool and familiar into my palm.
My blade.
The twin blade I had thrown to him earlier in the chaos of battle.
My fingers closed around the hilt automatically, the grip grounding , familiar weight anchoring my spinning thoughts back to reality.
His voice, when it finally ca, was quiet, flat, and utterly empty of emotion.
"Now I owe you nothing."
Oh.
Sothing sharp and unexpected dropped in my chest, like a stone sinking into deep water. A sting I hadn’t anticipated blood behind my ribs, raw, foolish, and entirely unwelco.
I hadn’t been expecting gratitude. Or loyalty. Or even basic acknowledgnt. Not from soone like Ashriel. The cold finality of those words still hurt more than I wanted to admit. It felt like a door slamming shut before I even realized I’d been hoping it might stay open.
I hated that it affected at all.
He released my hand as if it ant nothing.
As if I ant nothing.
Then he turned and walked away without hesitation, without a second glance, without any acknowledgnt of the heavy silence he left in his wake. His broad back disappeared into the shadowy treeline, swallowed by the forest like a ghost returning to whatever haunted realm he truly belonged to.
I stood there motionless for several long seconds, staring after him, trying desperately to unravel why his departure bothered far more than it should have. Why the sting lingered. Why part of felt strangely... abandoned.
And failing miserably.
Then....
Warmth brushed my cheek.
Soft. Sudden. Unexpected.
Elion.
"You’re so brave, Gorgeous," he murmured, his voice light and effortless, as if we weren’t standing in the middle of a deadly forest surrounded by creatures that wanted us dead and alliances that seed ready to fracture at any mont.
I didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away. Didn’t even react outwardly.
I simply let it happen.
Because compared to the whirlwind of Ashriel’s cold indifference, and the suffocating tension still lingering in the air, Elion’s casual affection felt... normal.
Strangely, dangerously normal.
But then I felt it.
Another gaze.
Cold. Sharp. Piercing straight through like a blade between the ribs.
I didn’t need to turn my head to know it belonged to Ivy. If looks could kill, I would have collapsed on the spot, bleeding out from a hundred invisible wounds.
I glanced slightly to the side.
Just enough to catch movent.
Thorne.
He was already walking away, shoulders rigid, steps purposeful and unyielding. No pause. No words. Not even a simple, grudging thank you for stepping between him and whatever violence had been brewing.
Just... gone.
Like what I had done didn’t matter in the slightest.
Or maybe, like it mattered too much for him to acknowledge.
I wasn’t sure which possibility cut deeper.
Ivy followed him imdiately, of course. The others weren’t far behind. One by one, they began to move again, spreading out in a loose, cautious formation to search the surrounding area without venturing too deep into the treacherous forest.
Careful now. Wary.
As if the earlier chaos with the Ape had finally taught them that recklessness here ca with a brutal price.
And food.
We still needed food.
Because apparently surviving a rampaging monster wasn’t enough of a challenge for one day. Now we also had to battle hunger, exhaustion, and the creeping realization that Morvalis seed determined to break us in every possible way.
I exhaled slowly, adjusting my grip on the blade until the familiar ridges pressed comfortingly into my palm. The weight felt reassuring. Solid. A small reminder that I wasn’t completely defenseless.
Then I felt it.
Elion’s hand sliding into mine.
Warm. Firm. Intentional.
His fingers intertwined with mine as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I glanced up at him briefly.
He simply smiled, that easy, charming smile that seed capable of disarming almost anyone.
Like everything was fine.
Like nothing was wrong.
Like he hadn’t just casually kissed my cheek in front of the entire group after watching step into the middle of a potential bloodbath.
I should have pulled away.
I should have said sothing sharp, set a boundary, done anything to reclaim so control over the chaos swirling inside .
But I didn’t.
Because right now, in this mont, he was the only one still standing beside . The only one who hadn’t walked away. The only one who felt undeniably, comfortingly present.
So I let him hold my hand.
Just for now.
Just until the trembling in my legs subsided.
Just until I could breathe without feeling the ghost of Ashriel’s indifference or Thorne’s silence pressing down on my shoulders.
Just until I figured out what the hell I was doing in this place.
Because if there was one thing I was beginning to understand with painful clarity, it was this:
Morvalis wasn’t rely testing our strength, our survival skills, or our ability to fight monsters.
It was testing everything else, our loyalties, our hearts, our sanity, the fragile threads connecting us to one another.
And I had a terrible feeling we were only just getting started.
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