"Please, please, please," Klein pleaded, kneeling in the middle of the girls' room. His fingers clutched desperately at the small wooden horse they had been playing with earlier. His thumb traced over the worn edges, the same way they had when tiny hands held it. The warmth of their laughter still lingered in the room, but their beds remained empty.
Just one more time.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Nothing. No voices. No giggles. Just the hollow ache that came with knowing they were gone.
"Klein," Lina spoke softly, her voice cutting through the silence.
"I know!" he snapped, his grip on the horse loosening as he placed it back on the floor, exactly where it had been when he woke up before.
"If this helps any," Lina said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "as you develop your powers, you'll be able to control this space more effortlessly. That means you'll be able to see them again."
Klein let out the breath he'd been holding and rose to his feet. He didn't respond to Lina directly, instead asking, "Did anyone else get pulled in here?" as he turned to face her.
Lina paused, her expression unreadable, though her hesitation betrayed her surprise. "I was the farthest from you when you activated it. So, if I'm here…"
"Then everyone else is too," Klein finished for her, stepping past her. The weight of the situation pressed heavily on his shoulders as he made his way across the living room toward the front door.
"Not just that, however," Lina added, stopping him just a few feet from the door. Klein's hand froze on the handle as she continued, "That thing is most likely here as well."
Klein's eyes widened at her words, his grip on the handle slackening. "How are we supposed to beat that thing?" he asked, his voice trembling with apprehension.
Lina stepped closer, her tone steady. "You're stronger than you think, Klein. You're gauging your strength based on how you were when you were human."
Klein exhaled slowly, pressing his hand against the doorframe. His fingers curled, tightening into a fist before relaxing. The memory of his last failure still burned in his chest, but his grip on the handle didn't waver this time.
"Can I beat that thing?" he asked, his voice steady now.
"If you fight without holding back?" Lina countered.
"Yes. No hesitation. No holding back."
"Without a doubt," Lina said firmly.
Klein twisted the handle and pushed the door open, stepping outside into the familiar ruins of Falkridge. His eyes swept over the desolate landscape, lingering for only a moment before he asked, "Where is everyone?"
"I'm not sure," Lina replied. "Everything in here is an extension of your mind. Close your eyes. Focus. Even the smallest sound should be able to tell you."
Klein glanced at her before closing his eyes, trying to attune himself to the space around him. At first, there was nothing—just silence stretching endlessly in every direction. He furrowed his brow, frustration creeping in as he pushed harder, reaching out past the void of his own thoughts. The ruins, the trees, the wind—everything felt like noise, muddled and indistinct.
Then, slowly, the chaos settled. A ripple against the ground. A shift in the air. A faint snap of a twig off to the right. Klein's eyes snapped open, but when he looked, there was only the dense forest of the Tovar woodlands.
"Focus," Lina urged. "Who is it? How far away are they?"
Klein poured all his energy into the direction of the sound. Another snap echoed in his mind. Whoever it was, they were small. He could feel every step against the ground as if he were part of the earth itself. Their movements were quick, their footsteps soft and deliberate.
"It's Astrid," he said.
"Can you see her?" Lina asked.
"No, but I can tell by how small they are," Klein replied, taking a step toward the forest.
Lina's arm shot out, stopping him. "Take us to her," she said, her gaze steady. "You can't affect the people you pull into this space, but everything else is under your control."
Klein turned his gaze toward the treeline and closed his eyes again. He focused on Astrid's position, willing himself and Lina to move to where she stood. The air thickened around him, pressing against his body like unseen currents resisting the shift. A dull pressure settled in his chest—a reminder that this space, his space, was still not effortless to control. His breaths grew heavier as he concentrated, bending the distance between them.
The ground beneath his feet rippled. The world tilted.
"Ah!" A scream pierced the air.
Klein's eyes snapped open to find himself in the middle of the dense forest. Astrid stood in front of them, crouched low with her arms spread wide. Her eyes darted between him and Lina, wide with alarm. She blinked once. Then twice.
"You scared me!" Astrid exclaimed, still frozen in her defensive stance.
Klein shook his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips despite the tension. "Should I find everyone else?" he asked, turning to Lina.
"No," Lina said, her gaze shifting to Astrid. "We need to conserve your energy. Astrid and I will take point. You can support us. You need to gain more control over this ability, and that will only happen with practice." She turned back to Klein. "Now, can you locate that thing?"
Klein's focus shifted toward the river. A void pulsed in that direction—an absence of life so absolute it felt like a wound in the world itself. The air around it hung unnaturally still, untouched by wind or sound. Even the forest seemed to recoil, the trees bending away as if they, too, sensed its darkness.
A low, guttural hum. Deep. Uneven. Like something inhaling through broken lungs.
The weight of the air pressed in around him, thick and suffocating. Klein's muscles tensed on instinct. He exhaled slowly before pointing toward the river.
"It's near the river," he said. "There's a void—something I can't sense at all, and it's dark. Which means it has to be there."
Lina's expression sharpened as she followed his gaze. "Can you move us to the tree line near it? Close enough to see, but not so close we're spotted right away."
Klein nodded. "I can do that."
Astrid's ears perked up. She tapped her dagger against her palm, tilting her head. "Okay, but hear me out—what if we drop in from the sky? Ultimate surprise attack!"
Klein slowly shook his head, his expression a mix of disbelief and amusement. Lina just stared at her, unimpressed.
Lina sighed. "Or instant death."
"Yeah, but like… a cool one," Astrid said with a grin.
She dropped into an exaggerated squat, bouncing on her toes. "Alright! Let's get the goblin energy flowing."
Lina stared. "What… are you doing?"
"Getting limber." Astrid flashed a sharp-toothed grin. "Can't have Klein teleporting me into battle stiff. What if I pull something?"
Lina rubbed her temples. "Aren't goblins supposed to be naturally flexible?"
Astrid gasped. "Bold of you to assume I'm not the pinnacle of goblin flexibility!" She punctuated her statement with a dramatic high kick, her leg slicing through the air with surprising precision.
Lina rolled her eyes, cutting her off. "We need to hurry." Her voice turned sharp, urgent. "That thing is feeding on the energy you used to open this space."
Klein's brow furrowed. "Meaning it's getting stronger?"
"Meaning it's healing itself," Lina corrected. She turned to Astrid. "You ready?"
Astrid grinned, twirling her dagger. "Always."
Lina met Klein's gaze, then turned toward the tree line. "Klein, can you move us closer? Somewhere near the river, but not too close." She adjusted her stance, her voice steady.
Klein nodded, his gaze locking onto the void near the river. The empty space pulsed faintly against his senses, unnatural and wrong. He exhaled, steadying himself as energy rippled outward from his core, stretching into the world around him. This time, there was no hesitation. The air vibrated slightly, the space between them and the creature subtly shifting in response to his will.
A look of determination settled on his face. "No more waiting." His grip tightened. "It's time to end this."