Snow still clung to the edges of the field, crusted and uneven beneath their boots as Gray and Korr trudged toward the truck. Each step was slow, careful, weighed down by exhaustion and the lingering tension in the air. Varik stumbled slightly, a hand pressed to his stomach, before doubling over and vomiting a streak of blood onto the snow. The sharp, metallic scent hung in the frozen air.
Two of the nearby guards rushed forward instinctively, reaching out to support him, but he waved them off, brushing their hands away with quiet authority. Even in his weakened state, there was a weight to him that brooked no interference. He straightened, grimacing faintly as he wiped at his mouth, then started moving toward the truck on his own.
Gray leaned forward, concern tightening his chest. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
Varik only nodded, his eyes fixed ahead. "I'll manage," he said simply. No further explanation, but Gray understood. The fight had taken a toll on him far more than it had on anyone else.
Korr and Gray followed behind him, the snow crunching under their boots. The truck sat waiting at the edge of the clearing, its engine off and cold, but already it felt like a vessel to something safer, something further from the memory of the Pale Maw sprawled grotesquely near the lone, splintered tree. Gray's gaze flicked toward the corpse, his chest tightening at the unnatural angles of its limbs and the dull, almost imperceptible twitch of its jaw.
As they climbed in, the atmosphere inside the truck was heavy with unspoken tension. Varik stayed near the front, gripping the edge of the truck bed, his body still visibly stiff, every movement causing him to flinch slightly. The engine roared to life and the vehicle began to roll slowly away, carrying them from the scene.
Gray finally broke the silence. "You...you mentioned a name before finishing the Pale Maw, was... was the Pale Maw part of your group?" His hand rested lightly against the cold metal of the truck as he leaned forward, peering out at the remains of the monster, or rather, Ryn.
Varik hesitated, eyes narrowing slightly before drifting down to the corpse. "Yes...she was part of our team once. Ryn… she had a place among us. Her strain became unstable, and she changed. She became...this."
Gray's chest tightened. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally, after a while he muttered, "I… I'm sorry."
Varik shook his head, dismissing it with a faint motion of his hand. "Do not waste words. What is done is done."
Korr, sitting next to Gray, leaned back and crossed his arms. "So… are we going to bury it, or just leave it lying there?"
"No," Varik said simply. "Staying will attract unnecessary attention. We leave. The cold has seen enough."
Gray turned his gaze back to the fading silhouette of Ryn's body and the broken tree, the image blurring as the truck put distance between them and the snowfield. Silence returned, heavy and suffocating, broken only by the slow rumble of the engine.
Gray's eyes shifted back to Varik, noticing the tightness in his jaw, the faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, the way his steps had faltered on the way back and how he had vomited blood. Finally, unable to hold back curiosity, he asked, "Are...are you alright? What's wrong?"
Varik's gaze dropped slightly, and the stoicism faltered for the first time. "My core… it is damaged," he admitted quietly. "From a previous encounter with the Pale Maw."
Korr's heart sank. "Damaged… how?"
Varik exhaled slowly. "I forcefully absorbed Vyre. Too much, too quickly. It fractured my core, and recovery… is impossible."
"Although I can still channel Vyre, it causes excruciating pain and risks what's left of my core to shatter and explode. Not a very...pleasant experience." He stopped himself from saying anymore.
Gray's chest tightened with dread as the words filled his ears. Memories of his own reckless actions flashed before him. The times he had overextended his core, channeling Vyre until it burned, until it screamed in protest, he had been lucky. Had he tried something similar in the same manner, he could have shattered his core as well. The thought left a cold weight in his stomach.
Varik straightened slightly, though the strain was still visible in the stiff set of his shoulders. The truck continued rolling, carrying them away from the snowfield.
Gray exhaled slowly, letting the tension in his chest ease just a little, though unease lingered at the edges of his thoughts.
After a pause, Gray's attention shifted to Korr. "What about you? What exactly did you do back there?"
Korr's lips twitched faintly. "I can turn parts of my body into iron. Durable, stronger. I can infuse it with Vyre too, but it only amplifies my strength." He flexed a hand briefly, the faintest shimmer of red-hot metal glinting under the cabin light in memory. "That is all..."
Gray's brow furrowed. That was it? That simple? He doubted it heavily, but didn't wish to continue on the topic. He knew Korr's power was intrinsic, amplified naturally by Vyre and naturally high strain resonance.
He was, as much as he hated to admit, talented.
'Stupid talent, who needs it anyway.'
Korr tilted his head toward Gray. "So… why didn't you fight? You barely had Vyre, sure, but you could've tried." There was a teasing edge, almost mocking in the way he phrased it.
Gray exhaled, inwardly critiquing Frozen Veins. It kept him alive, yes, but at great cost. It turned the cold into Vyre, but the yield was weak. Maintaining it drained him almost entirely, and it required Vyre to use, unlike Severing Bloom. He remained silent on the topic, letting his thoughts stew.
Korr shook his head at Gray's unresponsive expression and then turned toward Varik. "Were we right? About your affinity?"
Varik's lips curved into the faintest of smiles, almost imperceptible. "Yes...You were right."
Gray tilted his head.
'He...he just admitted it?' Gray almost couldn't believe it. Almost everyone in his group held secrets. Even he had tried to hide the fact he had awakened his affinity but had failed.
However something else caught his mind.
His affinity of weight was something he couldn't understand. Every affinity he had seen or heard of with the exception of Korr's or Renn's were an element of sort. Lira had flame, Orrin steam, Adel mist and he himself had darkness. Weight however, wasn't an element.
Varik's gaze flicked to him, as if reading his mind. "Affinity is how you shape your Vyre. Its properties. Weight, density, form. That is the key."
Gray's brow furrowed. "So it isn't just elements?"
"No," Varik said softly. "Elements are a fraction of what can be done. The rest is control. For me, I manipulate the weight of my Vyre. Every movement, every strike, is altered by density I impose."
Korr let out a low whistle. "Everything… all of it, every move, every swing… just your Vyre?"
"Yes," Varik said, his tone minimal but instructive. "The weight, the density, the control. I coated my body and the surrounding air in my Vyre. Certain parts, like my foot or weapon, I made heavier. That explains the arm falling the moment it was thrown. The thread around the Pale Maw's neck was also Vyre, shaped and manipulated like rope."
'He shaped his Vyre into a physical object...' Gray thought back to his own shadow armor, wondering if he could replicate such precision. His mind turned to the possibilities, the future, and the mastery he would need.
Korr however didn't understand how he had turned his Vyre into a physical object, and Varik didn't explain.
Varik's voice quickly cut through his thoughts. "Focus. Control the substance and its density. Everything else follows. You will understand with experience."
Korr smirked faintly. "Still seems complicated."
Gray remained quiet, thinking of Frozen Veins, of the limits he had tested, and the trials ahead. Perhaps, he considered, mastery was only beginning.
Varik's stoicism returned as the truck rolled steadily. Gray leaned back, lost in thought, while Korr sat opposite, expression quiet but attentive. The snowfield, the corpse, and the broken tree faded behind them, swallowed by distance and the muted light of the afternoon.
Gray finally murmured to Korr, barely audible. "I hope… I can get there someday."
Korr gave a faint glance. "I...hope so too."
Varik remained near the front, silent, stoic, as if the road demanded nothing more than forward motion. His presence alone carried weight, a lesson in control, resilience, and the quiet authority of strength tempered by experience.
'I'm sorry Ryn...but... do you think you can forgive me now?' His mouth twitched, his stoic expression wasn't something he wished to hold. He wanted to let it break, so others could see his true self.
But that would show his weakness.
And he promised to Ryn he wouldn't be weak. He would help the weak.
The truck continued its slow journey toward the village, the snowfield behind them now only a memory, the echoes of what had been lost, and what had been learned, pressing heavily on all three.