---
The sky was quiet again. Not peaceful. Not healed. Just quiet. The kind of quiet that made the stars blink slower, like they too had held their breath for too long and were now unsure what came next.
Kai's body lay still in the crater, legs sprawled, chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. A halo of scorched earth circled him like a battlefield crown, the air above still shimmering with the remnants of burned aura. His antennae twitched once. Then stopped.
"He's alright," Vel whispered.
"Barely," Sha added, crouching at his side. She gently pressed two fingers to his temple ridge, where faint pulses of energy flickered like a dying candle.
Naaro's arms were crossed as always, but her knuckles were white. "We need to move him. This place is unstable."
Akayoroi scanned the sky. "It is not unstable. It is cursed now. This land has witnessed a monster tier predator fall. The balance of fear will shift."
