The attack came wrong. It didn't have the oily stench of a rift or the predictable roar of a shadow-beast. It was a sudden, surgical rupture of force—clean, silent, and terrifyingly fast.
Ember was the first to move. Her instincts were always half a second ahead of everyone else's. And for the first time, she was the first to fall.
A blade of condensed energy tore through the morning mist, grazing past Kai's defensive wind-shield and striking Ember mid-turn. She staggered. At first, there was no cry of pain, only the wide-eyed shock of someone who hadn't been hit in years.
Then, deep crimson bloomed against her sleeve. Not the glowing orange of her fire, but the dark, heavy reality of blood.
"Ember!" Melissa's voice broke the silence, sharp and panicked.
Ember tried to straighten, her jaw clenched tight enough to crack bone. Her temper flared even through the shock, her eyes sparking. "I'm fine—"
Her knees buckled. The world tilted.
She didn't hit the ground.
Aurelius caught her. His movements were instant and precise—one arm steadying her weight, the other snapping a defensive sigil into the air. The barrier he conjured shattered under the next wave of force, but it held just long enough for the group to reset.
"Fall back!" Aurelius ordered, his voice dropping the courier's charm for the grit of a commander. "Now! Into the tree line!"
Kai covered them without a word, his arrows raining down with deadly accuracy. Felix's usual laughter was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp focus as he drove the unseen attackers back.
Leo stood rooted—not frozen by fear, but acting as the Anchor. He forced the space around Ember to stabilize, hardening the air itself to keep the energy blades at bay.
The enemy retreated. Again. Too cleanly. Like they had accomplished exactly what they came for.
Inside the safe house, the air was thick with the smell of iron and medicinal herbs. Ember was conscious, but her face was the color of ash.
"I said I'm fine," she muttered, her voice a gravelly rasp as she tried to pull away from the group.
"You're bleeding through your tunic, Ember,"
Melissa said, her hands shaking as she pressed a clean cloth over the wound. "You don't get to decide if you're fine. I do."
Ember scoffed weakly, leaning her head back against the wall. "Bossy."
"Shut up," Melissa whispered. Her voice cracked, and for a second, the mask of the stoic Earth Leader slipped.
Aurelius knelt beside them, his expression grave. "The cut isn't fatal, but the energy was tainted. It drained her. She lost more strength than she's admitting."
Ember glared at him, her eyes flicking with a dying ember. "I always do."
Aurelius met her gaze calmly, his eyes unblinking. "And that's why you would've collapsed in another minute if I hadn't caught you. Pride doesn't stop blood loss."
He helped them reach the inner room, never once drawing attention to his own speed, never once asking for a thank you. Kai watched him go, his silver eyes narrowed. The suspicion was still there, but it was being drowned out by a reluctant, dangerous debt.
Melissa dismissed everyone else. "I'll handle the stitching," she said firmly, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Go. Watch the perimeter."
Felix hesitated at the door. "You sure, Mel?"
Melissa nodded, her back to him. "Please."
The room was quiet. Too quiet. Ember sat on the edge of the bed, her jaw tight as Melissa carefully peeled back the blood-soaked fabric. Melissa's hands were no longer shaking; they were gentle, almost reverent, as she began to clean the wound.
"You should've let me shield first," Melissa said softly, the words catching in her throat.
Ember huffed, wincing as the antiseptic touched her skin. "You were exposed. I saw the line of sight."
"That's not an excuse to take a hit for me."
Ember turned her head away, looking at the shadows on the wall. "I don't regret it."
Melissa's hands stilled. She looked at the woman who had spent her whole life being a wall of fire for everyone else.
"You always do this," Melissa said, her voice dropping to a low, pained murmur. "You protect everyone like you're expendable.
Like your life is just a resource to be spent."
Ember snapped back, the fire returning to her voice. "Someone has to stand in front, Melissa! That's what I was built for!"
"And someone has to come back," Melissa said, her eyes meeting Ember's. "I need you to come back."
Silence fell heavy between them, the only sound the flickering of a nearby candle.
Then Ember spoke—quieter this time, more honest than she had been in years.
"It hurt more seeing you panic than the blade did."
Melissa's breath hitched. She tied the final bandage with painstaking care, then rested her forehead against Ember's shoulder—not quite an embrace, but close enough for their breaths to mingle.
"Don't scare me like that again," she murmured into the fabric of Ember's cloak.
Ember didn't joke. She didn't deflect with a sarcastic comment. She just let out a slow, tired breath.
"…I'll try," she said.
For a woman like Ember, "I'll try" was the same as a blood-oath.
Aurelius stood in the corridor, his arms folded loosely over his chest. His expression was a perfect mask of concern, but his eyes were far away, calculating.
Felix approached him, his voice subdued. "You saved her back there. Thanks, Aurelius. Truly."
Aurelius inclined his head. "Anyone would've done the same for a teammate."
Felix smiled faintly. "Maybe. But not everyone moves that fast. You're more than a courier, aren't you?"
Aurelius didn't answer. He just looked toward the door where the two women were.
Kai watched the interaction from the end of the hall, his bow gripped tight. Trust was settling over the group again—unwanted, dangerous, and thick as fog.
Inside the room, the fire had dimmed to embers. Melissa stayed by the bed, her hand never leaving Ember's. And Leo, standing by the window, felt the realm steady itself. It felt as if the world had almost lost its heartbeat... and decided, at the last possible second, to keep fighting.