Khael rose slowly, his cloak still wrapped protectively around Mari, the fabric whipping gently in the storm-torn wind. The world around them felt muted like even the night itself held its breath out of respect for the fallen.
Juno stayed kneeling between Vince and Ryn, his trembling hands hovering above them as if afraid that touching them would confirm the truth. Vince's final words still echoed in his skull, "Emotion, Juno… that's the gate they can't close."
He swallowed hard. Emotion. He finally understood.
K descended from the ridge with measured steps, each footfall impossibly calm for someone who had just witnessed two titans fall. His void-touched eyes glimmered faintly in the darkness, analytical, cold, dissecting everything he saw.
He stopped only a few meters behind Juno.
For a long moment, silence.
Then K tilted his head slightly, as though examining an insect that had somehow surprised him.
