The sky wept molten ash as they fled the battlefield.
Each step away from the Veil's gaping wound felt like dragging themselves through an invisible storm, in which darkness gnawed at their heels, while hissing lies and fears that burrowed into the marrow of their bones.
"Move!" Kael barked while he shoved aside a branch that burned with black flames.
Veyna stayed close to her twin blades while she sliced through shadow creatures that lunged from the smoking underbrush, which she wielded as silent and deadly shadows.
Zaire forged a path through the corrupted mist, his shields of celestial blue fire carved through to reach the ground, which appeared to be living decay.
Father Delran followed the path while he murmured steady prayers under his breath to create protections which he crafted so fine that they were nearly invisible.
Sylen struck down creatures at the rear with his brutal efficiency. His sword flashed like a dying star, and it cut down anything that dared approach too closely.
Esme stumbled through the retreating crowd because her wings were flickering like dying embers. Her body jerked unnaturally because it looked like a puppet that was dragged by invisible strings that were frayed beyond repair.
Jules bit back a curse while she threw Esme's arm over her shoulder to drag her forward.
"Come on, damn it," Jules hissed under her breath. "You're not breaking now."
Sylen glanced toward them once; his sharp gaze flickered with something unreadable, which contained a mixture of admiration and resentment before his usual scowl settled back into place.
The corrupted forces behind them howled with fury because their enemies escaped. Yet the searing boundary Zaire left behind stopped all attackers from crossing.
The group passed through the final border of the ruined forest while Dusken and his companions departed without speaking.
Kael, Crenna, Veyna, Dusken and the twins disappeared into the chaos beyond the trees to approach the core of the corruption under Zaire's calm, unyielding authority.
"Find the source. Cut off its heart, or none of these matters."
Jules only looked back one time because her chest felt tight and her heart pounded like a hammering drum, yet she kept moving.
The situation demanded immediate action because it left no time for people to say farewell.
* * *
The Safe Zone was no sanctuary.
The ancient way stone hidden within the cavern, which had thick moss and silver mist, barely functioned as a haven because its runes pulsed faintly against the weight of the corrupted world outside.
It wasn't safe. But it was safer than anything else left.
They stumbled into its cold embrace while they struggled to breathe, and their bodies suffered from exhaustion.
Jules carried Esme while she held the girl's body which twitched weakly. Zaire and Sylen entered the cavern to strengthen the stone wards by using fire and precision.
Elira collapsed to the ground because her hands were bloody, and her hands trembled from excessive use of her sigil magic.
Father Delran wasted no time; he knelt beside Esme while he spoke with a steady, deep voice to perform a ritual which he began.
Esme spasmed violently, her flickering wings twitched before slowly, agonisingly, settling into something resembling calm. Zaire remained close because his body stood strong while his eyes showed the worry he kept quiet.
Jules didn't leave Esme's side.
She sat cross-legged next to her while her hand wrapped tightly around Esme's wrist to keep her grounded.
Sylen paced like a caged animal because his movements remained sharp and restless. He threw sharp, sideways glances at Jules because he wanted to see the way how someone so ordinary could matter so much to his life.
And he hated the answer.
Their tensions boiled over once sharp words were thrown like knives across the cavern's stale air space. The anger beneath the surface began to create a different feeling. The slow death of easy hatred.
Father Delran leaned back as his face turned pale with fatigue, and he wiped sweat from his brow.
"She'll live," he rasped, his voice hollowed out by weariness. "But it's only the beginning. She's fighting a war inside her blood now."
Jules tightened her grip on Esme's wrist until her knuckles became white. She said firmly that they were not leaving her while her voice echoed through space like a stone dropped into a cavernous abyss, and no one objected.
The small company gathered around the faint flickering pulse of the way stone.
The corrupted world outside screamed in frustration.
Inside a fragile flame of hope flickered, but despair battered it, yet it remained unbroken.
* * *