The smoke hadn't even cleared, and the world was still ringing from the explosion when Khael staggered forward, coughing through the dust. The air tasted like iron and burning stone. Chunks of shattered ground were still falling from the sky like heavy rain.
He wiped the blood from his brow, vision struggling to stabilize. Then he saw the silhouettes broken, trembling, refusing to fall.
"Everyone!!" Khael's voice cracked, raw with fear more than pain.
The debris settled just enough to reveal their shapes.
Ryn and Mari whipped their heads toward the sound, their eyes wide, hands clawing through fallen rubble. The siblings were trembling not from exhaustion, but because the blast had sent them tumbling apart. Mari's fingers were bloody as she pushed off a cracked slab of earth.
"Ryn, there!" she pointed, voice shaking.
Ryn stumbled to his feet, coughing. His skin was burnt, his hair singed, but his eyes were alive. Desperately alive.
They saw Juno first.
