Yue Lin didn't look at him when she spoke.
"I think they're reacting to sound."
Riven's eyes flicked to the worms circling below. She might be right.
The first time they'd been chased, it was when the slab had collapsed — loud, jarring. This time, it was when Yue Lin's blade struck the ground. Another sudden impact.
Both times… noise.
He stayed quiet, turning the idea over.
It made sense.
"We could throw something," Yue Lin said quietly. "Make a sound far away. Maybe they'll follow it."
Riven gave a small nod. Then frowned. "…We don't really have anything to throw."
A brief silence stretched between them — hot, dry, brittle.
Then Riven muttered, "My needles."
Yue Lin looked over.
"I can detonate the qi inside," he said. "It might be enough to make some noise."
"But it's not loud," he added after a second. "Velvet Touch is meant for internal — internal damage, not outward. I don't think I could break much of the ground to make noise."
And then there was the other problem. "I only have five."
She was quiet. Then lifted her nearly-empty flask.
"Then make this explode."
Riven blinked.
"Put the needle inside," she said. "If it detonates while the flask's still intact, it should shatter. Louder than just a needle."
He hesitated.
The needle would be gone for good.
Yue Lin saw the pause in his face and said, "You won't be able to get it back."
"I know." He sighed. "Still better than rotting here."
She handed it over without another word.
Riven took it gently, they rested a bit more and then he reached for one of his needles, letting his qi wrap tightly around it. Dense and still.
He stabbed it slighty inside the flask lying on the stone, just deep enough to not fall out easily.
It was fragile. But it would hold.
He let the heat wash over him. Centered his breathing.
Yue Lin stretched out a cramp in her leg, then crouched beside him, shoulders taut.
They didn't have much time.
Riven opened his eyes.
"Ready?" he asked.
Yue Lin gave a single nod.
He stood slowly, hand gripping the flask.
They had one shot.
Riven turned, eyes narrowing toward the trail they'd come from.
Then he pulled back his arm and threw.
The flask arced through the air — before it hit the ground far out.
For a second he thought back to when he tried to hit the Icefang Bear with a stone.
At least this time I didn't miss.
He waited one second.
Then — a pulse of qi.
The qi inside the needle detonated, causing a sharp pop, the flask exploding with air pressure that echoed through the dry expanse like a pebble in a canyon.
It wasn't loud.
But it was enough.
The worms on that side reacted immediately, jerking toward the sound. A writhing tide of pale bodies slithered toward the blast site, clicking and scraping as they went.
The others twitched — confused — then followed after them in uncertain swirls, slowly centering toward the side of the explosion, leaving the path forward empty.
Not all.
But enough.
"Go," Riven said.
They jumped from the stone, boots hitting cracked earth.
Dust burst under their feet.
They ran.
Some of the worms turned — late, delayed — heads snapping toward the fresh vibrations, but it was too scattered now. Too disorganized.
And Yue Lin and Riven were already past.
The chase didn't stop immediately.
They could still hear the clicks behind them — but it was growing fainter.
A hundred meters.
Two.
Eventually, silence again.
They didn't stop running.
Only when their legs finally gave that dangerous hint of collapsing did they slow. Gasping, bent over, hands on knees. Breathing burned. Their flasks were long empty now, or rather Riven's was, and the dryness in their throats had turned painful.
Riven exhaled shakily.
I really liked those needles, he thought.
Then—
"Look!" Yue Lin's voice cut through his haze.
He followed her gaze.
Ahead, at the edge of the horizon — a glimmer of something new.
Not green.
Not lush.
But pale.
Pale and tall.
Trees — or things shaped like trees — rose in the distance. Not made of wood, but of bone-white limbs, twisting and towering.
It wasn't beautiful. Not really.
But after miles of stone and heat?
It looked like paradise.
Without speaking, they started running again.
Toward the white woods.
And the plume of smoke coming from inside it.
The bone-white trees loomed closer, their trunks coiling upward like skeletal vines, bark pale as ash and branching in silent angles.
Riven slowed first, boots hitting softer earth.
Yue Lin followed a breath later, her steps faltering as the stone gave way to something that wasn't desert.
They had made it.
The desert was behind them.
Neither spoke, but the relief came in the way they stood — just stood — for a few long moments, breathing hard, letting the shade touch their skin again for the first time in what felt like hours.
The lack of direct heat feeling like a blessing.
But they weren't well.
Riven's mouth felt lined with sand. Yue Lin's eyes were red at the corners, skin pale beneath the dust. Muscles heavy. And they still had no water.
They looked up at the direction of the smoke, but neither of them moved.
"Let's find water first." Riven muttered.
Whoever had made that smoke was not guarranteed to be friendly.
It wasn't wise to confront them in their current state.
Besides.
He just really wanted to drink some water.
Yue Lin nodded.
They slipped quietly into the pale forest — eyes scanning for the sound of water, the shimmer of light on still surface, walking toward a direction a bit away from the smoke.
The forest here was quiet . Just the soft crunch of pale roots beneath their feet and the distant wind threading through branches that didn't sway.
Time passed. Minutes or maybe more.
Then—
A flicker of movement to their right.
Both stopped instantly.
Through the tangle of pale limbs, they saw a familiar shape.
A stag.
Its coat was pale gray again, crystalline antlers catching the light — but it was larger than the last one, muscles taut beneath its hide, ears flicking like it had already sensed them.
Riven tensed.
Yue Lin held her breath.
But the beast only stared deeper into the forest. A long, still moment.
Then it turned.
And walked away.
It didn't seem to have noticed them.
They didn't follow.
Neither had the strength to risk it — not now.
So they kept walking.
And finally, the sound came.
Water.
Riven's head snapped up, steps quickening.
Yue Lin darted ahead without hesitation, boots thudding lightly as she broke into a sprint through the bone-pale trees.
The sound grew louder.
And then—light.
Through a gap in the branches, a small pond shimmered softly in a hollow between the roots.
Yue Lin reached the edge — one step away from diving straight in—
When the chain jerked taut behind her.
"Wait," Riven said, voice rough. "Check if it's safe first."
The caution grinded into him by his experiences wasn't gone completely yet.
The desire for water hadn't fully won over.
Yue Lin froze, the edge of her boot hovering over the water.
Then she exhaled, shoulders slumping as awareness returned.
"…Right. My bad."
They circled the edge carefully, eyes scanning the waterline for anything off — any waiting movement beneath the surface.
Nothing.
Just water.
Still and cool, dark with the reflection of pale branches above.
Then they both took off their boots and entered, no longer caring about anything else.
It was safe enough.
Right now they just wanted water.
They jumped in.
Cold.
Blessedly cold.
Riven dropped his head under the water, drinking without hesitation.
Yue Lin followed beside him, hands cupping water until she could drink directly, breath stuttering as the first splash hit her tongue.
Relief hit like a wave.
It wasn't sweet. Not pure. But it was real.
Their cracked lips pressed to the water's surface again and again.
Just thirst meeting what it had begged for across endless burning stone.
For several long minutes, they just stayed there — letting the tension bleed out of their limbs with every sip.
Eventually, they pulled themselves out again, dripping and unhurried.
Riven knelt near the edge, grabbing the lone flask.
He filled it slowly.
Cool water trickled down the sides as he capped it — only then realizing what it meant.
They only had one now.
For both of them.
He stared at the flask for a beat longer than he needed to.
Then glanced over his shoulder.
His gaze brushed past Yue Lin's lips — still damp from the water, slightly parted as she exhaled, hair clinging to her neck.