The clearing stood quiet, save for the gentle creak of waterlogged branches and the hiss of retreating steam. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, leaving behind the thick scent of wet bark and turned soil. Raif stood before the orb, his chest still tight from the chase, the mud along his legs drying in flecks.
The orb shimmered faintly, pulsing with a subtle green-white glow. Not loud or dramatic, but undeniable. Its light cast thin shadows across the ruined shelters and scattered weapons. There was something new beneath its surface, depth, like layers of glass slowly shifting.
A system message bloomed above it:
[System Quest Complete – "Jungle Assault"]
[All Hostile Entities Repelled]
[Reward: +40 KE]
[New Total KE: 220 / 200]
Raif's breath caught. The number flickered to life in his mind.
He turned slightly. "We're over," he said quietly.
As if reacting to the words, the orb pulsed again, and a second system message unfurled:
[Kingdom Core - LEVEL 3]
[Summoning Pool (Normal, Common, Uncommon] Cost: 150 KE]
[Territory Interface Expanded – "Verdant Wastes"]
[Zone Hold: 50% Secured]
[New Passive Structure Unlocked: Vein of Resonance – +1 KE daily]
[Blueprint Acquired: Junglewater Cistern – Enables safe storage and collection of filtered water]
[KE Storage Capacity Increased: 400]
[KE: 220 / 400]
The orb began to shift internally. Not transforming exactly, but expanding inward. A subtle reshaping. Rix stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"Map's changed," he murmured. "It's showing territory by name now. Verdant Wastes. We're also at fifty percent hold. Does that mean the jungle holds the other fifty?"
Goss let out a low whistle. "Means we're in its bones now."
Raif remained silent, watching as faint lines and markings swirled beneath the orb's surface. It was not for show. It was for understanding.
Behind him, movement stirred the camp. Mira helped Naera to sit beneath the repaired bark shelter, her hands steady but tired. Naera winced, one arm bound tightly with clean bark and moss. Eloin was stacking stones into makeshift bracing near the southern fence, pausing now and then to glance toward the trees. He was already hard at work, despite not needed to be.
Lira sat by Syl's side, one hand wrapped around a damp cloth she used to press against the girl's fevered brow. Syl's breaths were shallow, but she muttered in sleep. Nothing coherent, only fragments of memory and names.
"Rina," she whispered, barely audible.
Lira blinked. Her hand stilled. She was unsure about what to do, what can she do. Instead she stared and waited. Prayed silently in her heart.
Kael crouched not far from the orb, his back to the group. He hadn't spoken since returning, but his head was angled toward the jungle. Listening. Still not settled.
The survivors had not yet come together but they were nearby and waiting. Waiting for their leader.
Raif looked around. For a moment, he was quiet. Then he stepped forward.
"Everyone," he said.
The word cut through the stillness. The group turned, gradually drifting closer, some limping, others stiff, all exhausted.
"We made it through," Raif said, voice even. "It cost us. But we held. The jungle pushed. We pushed back."
No one cheered. No one clapped. But heads nodded. Eyes stayed on him.
"Kael, Rix, and I went after the spirals. We destroyed four. The last is still out there, buried under vines, guarded. We don't know what it means yet. But the system's recognised our hold. Territory control is growing. I think we need to make some decisions, but I also want to let us rest. Tomorrow let's discuss together what we need to do."
A few more murmurs passed between them.
"The Core's given us more, a few extra things on our to-do list. A structure that generates KE daily. A water system, clean storage. We'll need them both, but we also need to construct that kiln we acquired not too long ago."
Rix spoke next, voice quieter than usual. "This isn't over. You all know that. But we've put a mark down. It'll feel this."
Mira glanced at Naera, then back to Raif. "And what now?"
Raif looked to the orb again. "Now… we prepare. We rest. We rebuild. And we wait for whatever comes next. Tomorrow... For now, sleep. "
For a time, the group said nothing. They stood beneath the silver light of the orb, surrounded by smoke, rain, and the bones of their defence.
Then they moved, slowly, naturally. To each their own.
Kael vanished toward the outer edge of the clearing, his silhouette merging with the trees. He was already on the look out. Goss helped Hennick to shift the last of the broken bark spears into a pile. The both o them were tired and injured but they still worked. Mira took Naera back into the shelter, the damage she took was a more severe than they had noticed. Adrenaline played a part in keeping her alive. Eloin and Lira shared a brief look, then returned to Syl's side, moving her into the shelter next to Naera.
Dusk crept into the clearing like smoke, staining the treetops in greys and bruised purple. The fire pit flickered low, fed by the last dry kindling they'd salvaged after the downpour. The heat reached no further than a metre out. Beyond that, wet chill. A brief warmth, but just enough to let them know they were still alive.
Raif sat on an overturned crate near the fire, staring at the flames but not really seeing them. The battle, the spirals, the map, he knew it was behind them now. But something hadn't clicked back into place. Not yet.
Rix approached, holding a short stick with slow-turning roasted roots skewered along its length. He tossed one toward Raif without looking. "They taste like dirt, but they'll keep you upright."
Raif caught it one-handed. "Cheers."
A moment of quiet passed before Rix sat beside him. He was chewing already, eyes on the orb still faintly glowing behind the bark shelter.
"We've got 220 KE," Raif said, voice low. "More than we've ever had. But the Core hasn't asked us to spend it. Not yet."
Rix didn't nod, but didn't argue either. "That last spiral, it's the reason."
Raif looked over. "Jungle's not done. Not yet."
"I think that thing is the key. We knocked out its limbs. The heart's still beating."
Kael approached without a sound. He sat cross-legged on the ground, just within the fire's reach. His eyes, as ever, were unreadable, but they flicked toward Rix, then Raif.
Raif studied him. "You felt something near it, didn't you?"
Kael said nothing, but after a moment, he tapped two fingers to his chest, then slowly curled them inward. A pulse. A pressure.
"Like it's waiting," Rix translated softly.
They sat there for a while, the fire crackling gently between them. Behind them, voices murmured faintly, Goss and Eloin patching fence beams. Lira's voice rose now and then, likely sarcastic, followed by a quieter chuckle from Mira. Somewhere further back, Syl muttered again in sleep.
"It won't wait forever," Rix said.
Raif rubbed a hand down his face. "No. But we'll be ready when it moves. I think we have to summon more people."
He said the words, but his chest felt tight.
Rix stood first, brushing off his palms. "I think so too. We are only nine. Not a lot compared to how many of these creatures it sent at us. At some point, we will be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. I'll check the stockpile. We'll need to decide soon what to build as well."
Kael lingered a few seconds longer. Then, without a sound, he rose and returned to the shadows.
Raif stared into the fire again.
This wasn't victory. It was survival, bought at a high cost. And whatever came next was already breathing down their necks.
But still, they were here.
And the Core was watching.
The camp remained silent. But the silence had changed. It wasn't fear anymore. It was weariness. The bone-deep kind. Mira crouched just outside the shelter, watching the flicker of firelight against Naera's sleeping form. She didn't speak. She didn't move. But her eyes, usually sharp and alert, had dulled into something heavy and lingering.
Goss sat beside Hennick at the edge of the fence. They weren't talking. Hennick was staring at the ground, his shoulder still bound in layers of bark. Goss glanced at him now and then, frowning, like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Or didn't think they mattered.
Lira was alone now beside Syl. She didn't speak. She just sat there, humming softly, occasionally adjusting the bark blanket covering Syl's legs. Her sarcasm had faded for the night, replaced by a kind of quiet attentiveness.
Kael hadn't returned to the fire. But Raif could see the faint outline of his form standing just beyond the fence, watching the jungle. Listening.
The orb pulsed one last time that evening. Not a message. Just light. A calm breath through the dark.
And then nothing.
The jungle beyond remained quiet. But it wasn't a peaceful silence. It was the kind of quiet that followed a scream.
Raif looked once more at the flame, then at the shelters, then the faint silver threads of the orb's glow.
"We're still breathing," he muttered to himself. "So we keep moving."
He stood, stretched his back, and moved toward the others.
The night didn't promise rest. But it didn't demand blood either.