Rhen had made himself comfortable among the ruins of the hut as if he'd owned the place long before any of them. Sitting cross-legged atop a fallen beam, eating with a wooden spoon, he watched Ellie with bright, attentive amusement. Infront of him, the fire crackled weakly in the half-collapsed hearth. Veyr stood silently against the wall, arms folded — ready to kill.
"You're staring at me like I'm some rare kind of insect," Rhen said cheerfully to Ellie.
"You are a rare kind of insect," Veyr growled.
Rhen grinned broadly. "Ah, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."
"Who are you?" Veyr didn't bother hiding the tension in his voice. "And what do you want from us?"
"I'm Rhen," he answered casually, as if that was explanation enough. He popped a piece of dried meat into his mouth. "And I want you not to die pointlessly. Is that a problem?"
Ellie said nothing, yet something about him drew her in. That calmness. That absurd confidence — as if sitting among smoldering wreckage was the most natural thing in the world.
Her gaze slipped to his arm — where a symbol glimmered faintly beneath the skin, like light etched into flesh.
"Is that… a glyph?" she asked quietly.
Rhen raised an eyebrow. "Sharp eyes." He extended the arm, letting the symbol pulse briefly. "I use it to create shields. Invisible, flexible — almost alive, you could say."
"So it wasn't… magic?" she whispered.
"Just controlled chaos." He gave her a warm smile. "That shield kept you alive through the blast. It reacts to will, movement… and sometimes instinct. Very handy when dealing with raving nightmares."
"Does it have weaknesses?" Veyr asked immediately.
Rhen's laugh rang lightly. "Of course. Everything has weaknesses. But I'd be a very stupid boy if I told you about them now, wouldn't I?"
Veyr stayed silent.
Rhen set the spoon aside and his face grew more serious. "You want to know why this happened. Why your home was torn apart tonight by Type-1 and Type-2 Wanderers." He gestured at the ruins behind him. "Well. That comes down to Vitra."
Ellie held her breath. "So it's real?"
"Real?" Rhen tapped his chest. "It breathes. It lies under our skin, in its own system. Almost every second person carries a flicker of it without knowing. Most never notice it. Sometimes, though, it condenses — under pain, or when something deep inside is set free." He nodded gently toward her. "In your case, Ellie… that power solidified last night. No more dust. A core."
She pressed her hand instinctively to her stomach, startled.
"And him?" she murmured, looking at Veyr.
"Condensed," Rhen said calmly. "But blocked. He doesn't use it. Maybe by choice, maybe because he's afraid of what happens when he uses it."
Ellie's eyes flickered to Veyr — he didn't react, though his posture had become even more rigid.
"So that's why we were attacked?" she whispered.
"Yes." Rhen nodded slowly. "Shadow Wanderers devour anything that smells of Rifts. But Type-3s, 4s, and even 5s have started reacting more strongly to Vitra. And yours, Ellie…" — he lifted the wooden fork again, pointing at her like a scepter — "…may even be stronger than mine."
Ellie flushed. "That… that's impossible."
"Not at all," Rhen said kindly. "You're awakening. And that draws them in."
Veyr's shoulders tensed. "So what do you want? Use us? Take us?"
"Take you, yes. Use you, no." Rhen tilted his head. For a moment, something serious flickered behind his smile. "You have potential. More than most I've seen. Stay here, and you'll die — or become something you never wanted to be."
"Where would you even take us?" Ellie asked warily.
"South," Rhen answered lightly. "There are others like you there. People who've learned how to use their Vitra. People who prepare, because they know this was only the beginning."
Ellie swallowed. Veyr said nothing, but his gaze burned with doubt, fear, anger — all at once.
Rhen looked between them in silence for a long moment. Then he broke into that dazzling, sunny grin and tapped the air with his fork.
"So?" he asked far too cheerfully. "Are you packing? Or do I need to roll you up in a sleeping bag and drag you like two stubborn little rabbits?"
Ellie tried not to smile.
Veyr didn't move at all.But for the first time his eyes no longer held a simple refusal — there was a spark of decision inside them.