The fires in Bellmare were finally dying.
The creature's remains had begun to rot — not like a corpse, but like a wound in the world. The air was thick, sticky. The sky was still gray.
But the screaming had stopped.
Xin leaned against a crushed van, wrapping his arm in gauze. His muscles ached from the fight, his bones even more. His breath came slow and even, but his mind wouldn't shut off.
Harper's death played again.
So did Kaila's.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
Scene: Rion's Campfire Talk
They built a fire in the corner of a collapsed drugstore. Nothing fancy. Burnt shelves, ripped posters, old prescription bottles. Alaric was checking radiation levels while Tara paced like a guard dog.
Rion sat near the flames, sword resting across his lap.
Xin finally spoke. "So. You gonna explain how the hell you did that?"
Rion shrugged. "Technique I learned years ago. It's not from Earth. It's from... the thing living in me."
Tara narrowed her eyes. "You're possessed?"
"Not exactly. More like partnered. It didn't ask. I didn't agree. But now it's here."
Alaric stopped scanning. "Entity?"
"Yeah," Rion said. "It calls itself 'Kurai.' I've had it since I was thirteen."
Talla looked disturbed. "You've had a demon inside you since you were a kid?"
"Yeah. Took me three years to stop dreaming of blood every night."
Scene: Why He's Here
Rion tossed a pebble into the fire.
"I've been hunting for ways to remove it. Or at least weaken its grip."
Xin asked, "And you thought the Black Bloom might be that?"
"Looked alive," Rion said. "Looked like it hated everything around it. Felt familiar."
"So you just wandered into a warzone?" Tara snapped. "On a hunch?"
Rion didn't answer. His eyes stared into the flames.
"I'm tired of being a weapon," he said.
That made Xin pause.
He knew that feeling too well.
Scene: Trust and Tension
Tara leaned in. "You show up out of nowhere. Kill something that nearly wiped us out. Say you've got a demon in your head. Now you wanna join us?"
Rion looked at her. "No. I want answers. If following you gets me closer to them, I'll help. But the second you slow me down, I'm gone."
Tara scoffed. "Nice to know you're all about teamwork."
Xin stood.
"I trust him," he said.
Tara turned sharply. "You trust too easily."
"He didn't have to save me. Or any of us."
Rion stood too, stretching his neck.
"I'm not asking to be your friend," he said to Tara. "But if you want things dead, I can help."
Scene: Pact by Fire
Later that night, while the rest of the team slept, Xin and Rion sat on a broken bench outside the ruin. The wind was cold. The city was quiet.
"You miss her?" Rion asked.
Xin didn't answer at first.
Then, "She was all I had left."
"I get it."
"You lose someone?"
Rion nodded. "Yeah. Before Kurai, I had a brother. He died protecting me. Then the demon came. I don't remember much after that."
Xin stared at the stars.
"Then we're both carrying ghosts."
Rion looked up too.
"Maybe we bury them. Or maybe we burn the whole world trying."