Every tree looked the same, their bark blending into a monotonous wall of shadow, every root a trap for her aching feet.
The sun had set long ago, and the sky above the canopy was ink-black, pierced only by cold, distant stars that offered no guidance.
She'd been running for so long that even her S-Class stamina faltered, her legs screaming with each step, her chest heaving as she sucked in sharp, ragged breaths.
Lightning sparked weakly at her ankles with each stride, the blue arcs sputtering from fatigue, flickering like a dying flame.
Her body needed fuel to maintain the high-output bursts she'd been chaining together—hours of sprinting without pause—but she hadn't eaten since morning, her reserves running on fumes.
Still, she couldn't stop.
Kael's out there.
Every time her mind whispered to quit, to take a moment, to rest—his face flashed in her thoughts, his steady hazel eyes, his quiet resolve, pushing her forward again.
