The heavy footsteps grew louder, each one a drumbeat of tension pounding in their chests. The group turned as one, weapons raised and breath held.
They silently prayed that their friend Elijah had safely caught up to them.
But in the back of every mind lurked the darker possibility, a possibility they couldn't brush due to the seriousness of the situation—what if it was Aldric, returned with bloodied hands and Elijah's fate sealed?
Then, from the passage's dim mouth, a figure emerged. For a moment, shadows clung to him like a second skin—then the group exhaled in unison.
It was Elijah.
Chloe let out a soft cry of relief. Ava's knees nearly buckled. Chris and Lumien dropped their blades a little, tension giving way to joy.
But that joy quickly curdled.
Elijah gave them a weak smile, eyes dulled by pain. His right hand clutched his left side, crimson leaking through his fingers. "Did… did you find a way out yet?" he asked, voice strained.
They rushed toward him. Yusuf and Allen caught him just as his knees gave way. Gently, they helped him to sit against a stone outcrop.
"Elijah!" Merry's voice cracked. "What happened to you?"
He inhaled sharply. "That bastard Aldric… truly didn't hold back." He said with a pained chuckle. "I barely got away when the monsters swarmed him again. That gave me an opening. It should provide us some time." His words were labored, each breath a struggle. "But it won't buy us much. We need to move." He tried to stand up, but it was clear that the pain was too much for him to move.
"You're in no condition to move," Chloe protested, already digging through their salvaged supplies. "You need to stay put, let the wound start healing."
"There's no time," Elijah snapped, then grimaced, his tone softening. "Sorry. I just… we can't stay here."
Mia knelt beside him, brushing his soaked hand aside to get a better look at the injury.
Jasmin tried to reason with him "You can't move like this, we have enough time, Aldric should still be busy with those things, he's not stupid enough like you to put his life in danger just for a chance to catch us"
"She's right, our bodies… they're different now, me and Lumianhealed pretty fast when we had some rest, yours should heal even faster, just give it a little time." Ava said with her reassuring smile.
The others nodded, clinging to the hope that whatever had changed them when they woke up in that cave—whatever strange gift their bodies had acquired—would work its magic again.
But Elijah was quiet. Then he looked up at them all, calm and certain. "I don't think that would work."
The words hit like a stone in still water.
"What… do you mean?" Isla asked, voice barely a whisper.
He took a second to look at all of them before explaining "When we first woke up in this place, you all could barely move. You were weak, tired. I was, different. I felt… energized. Strong. Like I was already used to this place. At first I thought maybe I adapted faster, but now I think... there may be more differences."
He painfully tried to move, holding his wound with his left hand for support. "I am stronger and faster than I used to back on Earth. But that may just be about it. I believe I lack the healing factor you have."
Silence took hold. Chloe clutched her arms tightly. Chris looked away. Mia's gaze fixed on the spreading stain on his side.
"If that's true…" Allen began, but didn't finish. None of them could.
"What does that mean for you?" Ava asked, though she dreaded the answer.
Elijah smiled faintly. "I think I'm built to take the hit. Not to recover from it."
They all froze, the implications settling like dust in their throats. He was the spearhead, the one who charged ahead, shielded them, bought time—and paid the price in full.
"How do we help you?" Merry asked.
"Hey, don't go looking down on me with those pitiful eyes, I could still run circles around all of you in this condition," he said with an overconfident smirk. "For now we need to keep moving, we'll figure out everything once we're safe, out of this place."
He let it settle for a few seconds, then he raised his for Allen and Yusuf to help him back on his feet "Now with that settled let's hurry and get out of here, I don't know about you but this place is starting to hurt my eyes"
Allen supported him to walk making sure not to touch the wound "What's all that talk about running circles around us big boy" he said with a smile trying to ease the atmosphere.
Elijah chuckled "I can't regenerate stamina like you freaks"