With three days left, they decided to go for one more hunt.
Just like before, they targeted one of the stronger but solitary stags — broad-shouldered, gold-threaded antlers gleaming faintly through the trees.
But this time, they knew better.
A single needle wouldn't be enough.
They didn't rush the opening. Yue Lin engaged first, careful — controlled. Her dagger flashed in short arcs, grey qi flickering just enough to test the stag's reactions. She kept it busy. Kept it turning.
Riven waited at the side, looking for openings to insert his needles.
When the stag blink-stepped once, trying to crush Yue Lin's guard, he saw his first chance.
The first needle sank beneath the shoulder.
The second followed moments later, swiftly followed by the third and fourth as Yue Lin kept distracting it.
Then he detonated all four at once.
The internal reaction was violent. Not a ripple — not even a rupture — but a contained implosion of qi that tore through muscle fibers from within. The stag convulsed, legs locking as a raw sound ripped from its throat.
This time it froze properly.
Yue Lin stepped in and struck.
Her blade plunged deep into the compromised wound, grey qi widening the devastation Riven had created. Blood burst across the forest floor.
And then Riven joined fully.
Qi flowed through him as he drove his palm into its flank.
The difference was immediate.
Compared to before, he felt his impact.
His attack instantly adding another wound.
The stag tried to retaliate, but its movements were uneven, blood leaking with every step. Yue Lin carved at its legs, tendons weakening.
Within moments, it collapsed.
They quickly carried it back toward the cave before checking its body.
No core.
Unlucky.
But at least the carcass was massive. Dense meat. Enough.
For the next two days, they stayed hidden.
None of the beasts found them in their cave.
But something changed.
The day after they killed the second stronger stag, the birds grew louder.
Calls echoed through the forest at irregular intervals — sharp trills, low croaks, strange mechanical shrieks. They didn't come from one direction. They came from everywhere. East. West. Deep in the trees. High above the canopy.
And they moved.
The cries never stayed in one place for long.
Riven noticed it first when he stepped outside briefly to refill the flask.
"They're more active," he murmured.
Yue Lin had noticed too.
Before, the birds had felt incidental. Reactive.
Now they got active.
As if they took the initiative.
With only one day remaining — then half a day — then hours — they didn't go out to hunt again. An injury now could be fatal on the next island, whatever waited there.
So when the time grew close, they packed what little they had and moved toward the stone slab.
The forest felt wrong.
Bird calls were still ringing through the forest, some of them getting closer and closer to them.
When the slab came into view, the numbers glowed:
[00:12:44]
They took position near the island's edge, eyes scanning the treeline.
Ten minutes.
The calls grew closer.
Five minutes.
Branches rustled deeper in the forest.
Three.
Riven's jaw tightened. He had a bad feeling.
Two minutes.
A shape landed on a low branch nearby.
A bird.
Milky eyes.
Then it gave a short cry, before sharply turning toward them.
It stilled.
For a single second, it faced them directly.
Then it screamed.
Not the short cry from before.
A long, piercing shriek that seemed to split the air in half.
And the forest answered.
A cacophony erupted from every direction — dozens of calls overlapping, bouncing between trees.
Then—
Heavier sounds.
Hooves.
Many of them.
"They were hunting for us," Yue Lin breathed.
Through the trees, antlers appeared.
One.
Three.
Five.
More.
The ground trembled.
[00:00:27]
The air in front of the cliff shimmered.
Grey light stretched outward from the slab, forming a narrow bridge of translucent stone that extended into the void.
The first stag burst from the treeline.
Then another.
Then a wall of antlers.
[00:00:01]
"Now!" Riven shouted.
They sprinted.
The nearest stag blink-stepped forward, almost intercepting them, but Riven drove his palm into its snout just strong enough to break its stride. Yue Lin cut across its foreleg as they passed.
They leapt onto the forming bridge together.
Behind them, the herd surged.
One massive stag launched after them—
Its hooves struck the glowing surface—
And passed right through.
The stag fell.
Its body dropped soundlessly into the void below.
The rest skidded to a halt at the cliff's edge, unwilling to leap.
Riven didn't look back again.
They ran across the bridge toward the next island as the forest behind them erupted in furious, echoing cries.
Eventually they reached the other side.
The final island was smaller than the others. No forests stretching endlessly. No wandering beasts. Just a single narrow path leading upward toward a low hill, and beyond it—
The statue.
Humanoid. Warped. Limbs far too long, almost spindled. Strands of stone — or something that looked like it — stretched from its back to the far cavern walls, taut and silent like webbing in a forgotten lair.
Its foot alone was larger than the caves they had sheltered in. Stone toes dug into the island's surface as if gripping it, as if afraid of falling into the void.
Riven glanced around, avoiding the statue.
"…No slab," he muttered.
Yue Lin noticed it too. The entrance to the island was bare. Different from before. No instructions. No nothing.
But before either of them could comment further, the chain around their waists grew warm.
They both looked down.
The pale metal glowed softly, cracks of gold spreading across its surface like veins of light.
And then—
It dissolved.
No snap. No recoil.
Just light.
The weight around his waist vanished.
For the first time in two months, there was nothing binding them together.
Riven looked down.
"…Feels weird," Yue Lin said after a moment, flexing her shoulders slightly. "Without it."
"Yeah," Riven replied.
But he didn't move farther away.
Neither did she.
After a second, they continued walking.
Still in close proximity.
The path up the hill was quiet.
No bone-twisted trees. No oppressive silence.
Halfway up, they found something unexpected—a small pond fed by a thin stream of clear water. Real trees grew beside it. Leaves. Bark. Shade. Fish flickered beneath the surface.
Riven slowed.
"…This is new."
Yue Lin crouched by the water, fingers brushing the surface. "It's normal."
They both felt it.
The tension of the previous islands wasn't here.
They continued on.
At the top of the hill stood the statue's foot. And in front of it—
A stone slab.
And a stone door leading into the statue behind it.
They approached.
Carved into the slab were simple words:
FINAL TRIAL AHEAD.
NO RETURN ONCE ENTERED.
PREPARE YOURSELVES.
Riven stared at it for a moment.
"…No return once entered," he muttered dryly. "As if we've had the option to turn back this whole time."
Yue Lin huffed softly.
But they didn't step forward.
The trial had never given them time to prepare themselves.
Ignoring it now certainly didn't seem like a smart choice.
They went back down to the pond.
The plan was to take a small break, refresh themselves and start upon the final trial in top form.
It almost felt peaceful here.
The water ripple as they caught some small fish.
Then they built a small fire beneath the trees.
A quiet meal. No rushing.
Both of them sat next to each other.
Riven found his eyes drifting to her more than once.
The way she tucked her hair behind her ear.
The way the firelight caught the red of her dress.
The way she leaned forward slightly while talking.
"…Can I borrow the flask?" she asked suddenly.
He blinked. "We're literally next to a pond."
"I know."
He tossed it to her anyway.
She drank slowly.
When she lowered it, her lips were faintly wet in the firelight.
And he stared.
Again.
"Hello?" she said, tilting her head slightly.
He blinked, snapping back. "What?"
She smiled faintly and tossed the flask back. "You're staring."
"I wasn't."
"Sure."
He looked away quickly, uncorking the flask and taking a sip himself, seemingly forgetting his previous statement about being next to a pond.
Yue Lin watched him over the rim of her lashes, a knowing look in her eyes.
Of course she'd noticed.
Since the trial started.
And especially since she'd lost her flask.
His gaze found her more often than before. He probably thought he was subtle.
He wasn't.
And she didn't mind.
In fact… at some point she'd started asking for the flask more often on purpose.
The way he stared and then went quiet for a second after drinking from it himself was—
She hid the smile before it fully formed.
Cute.
A little ridiculous.
But cute.
The fire crackled softly between them.
Eventually, the food was gone.
Silence settled in again.
Riven stood first.
"…Ready?"
Yue Lin rose beside him.
Without thinking, they stepped forward together.
Toward the slab.
Toward the statue's foot.
And whatever waited inside.