The wind across the plain had teeth that morning, biting through my new jacket and finding every gap to sink into my bones. Four days of walking had turned my legs to lead, my stomach to a constant, gnawing hollow. The supplies we'd scavenged from Vesper's victims were running low,bars halved, then quartered, water sipped in careful swallows that never quite quenched the thirst. Hunger wasn't sharp anymore; it was dull, endless, a companion that whispered you're weakening with every step.
We walked north, following the twins' route, the black sky unchanging above us. No dawn, no dusk,just the same gray nothing pressing down.
Xeno had recovered fully by the second day. The medicine Amie gave him worked miracles; the fever broke, the spasms stopped, and he was back to his silent, watchful self. But something lingered in him,a distance, a deeper thoughtfulness. He walked at the rear now, shovel ready, blindfold in place, but his gaze (hidden as it was) seemed to scan farther, as if he saw things the rest of us couldn't.
Lira walked ahead with Kai most days, scouting. Her grief was a quiet storm; she spoke little, but when she did, her voice was steady, edged with purpose. Vengeance had been stolen from her, but it had been replaced by something colder: determination.
Amie walked with me, her hand often in mine when the ground was rough. She didn't push Xeno anymore after his refusals, but she watched him with quiet curiosity, like a puzzle she hadn't solved yet.
Kael limped in the middle, his broken hand splinted and slung, pain etched in every line of his face. But he joined the twins in their research whenever we stopped, poring over the tissue samples they'd taken from Vesper's body.
It was on the third night, huddled around a small, smokeless stove, that Xeno finally spoke about Vesper.
We were sharing the last of a protein bar, passing it around like it was gold. The conversation had turned to the corpse,the gouged eyes, the missing scroll, the mystery of who had killed him so soon after our fight.
Xeno stared into the low flame, voice low and even.
"Once a person indulges too much in sin," he said, "they become corrupted. The body changes. Heals too fast. Grows stronger. But the eyes... they show it first."
We all looked at him.
"The pupils fracture," he continued. "Like shattered glass. Blue shards in Vesper's case. It's the mark. The sign they're no longer fully human."
Kael leaned forward, wincing as his hand shifted. "That's why the eyes were gouged. His killer knew. Eyes are the weak point,the source of the corruption. Remove them, and the regeneration stops."
Amie nodded slowly, holding a slide of Vesper's tissue up to the firelight. "The cells are... wrong. Hyper-regenerative, but unstable. Like they're feeding on something internal. Sin manifesting physically."
Kai, unusually serious, added, "Lady luck on our side for once. Vesper had resources,food, water purifiers, ammo. Enough to keep us going a week, maybe two."
I managed a small smile at that. It felt like a gift from the dead, bitter but necessary.
The twins worked on the samples whenever we rested. Kael joined them, his good hand steady as he helped prepare slides, sketch notes. They whispered about cellular structures, sin markers, possible antidotes. I didn't understand most of it, but their focus was comforting,like proof the world could still be studied, understood, maybe even fixed.
It was late on the fourth day,though time felt meaningless under the black sky,when we heard the crying.
Soft at first, carried on the wind. A child's sob, high and broken.
We crested a rise and saw her.
A little girl, no older than me, sitting on a rock amid the rubble. She was extremely cute,adorably so, in a way that made my heart ache. Chubby cheeks flushed with tears, big round eyes brimming with sorrow, dark curls tangled around her face like a halo. Her skin was smooth and soft-looking, like she hadn't been touched by the world's harshness. She wore a torn dress, too big for her, the fabric dirty but patterned with faded flowers. Her feet were bare and dirty, toes curling into the dust as she rocked herself, sobbing for her mother.
"Mama... Mama, where are you?"
The sound pierced me. I started forward without thinking. "Hey... it's okay. We'll help you."
But Kai moved faster.
His gun was out, pointed steady at the girl's head.
"I really don't fancy pointing a gun at a little girl like you," he said, voice calm but hard, "but I guess I have no choice."
I froze. "Kai? What are you—"
Kael's eyes widened. "What the hell, Kai?"
Lira's hand went to her knife, face pale with shock.
But Amie and Xeno remained calm, faces unreadable. Amie even stepped back slightly, hand on her own pistol.
The girl looked up, tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. She tugged at Kai's pant leg, small hands desperate. "Please, big brother... don't kill me. Please. I'm only looking for my mother. I'm begging you."
Her voice was tiny, trembling, the picture of innocence. Big eyes pleaded, curls bouncing with each sob. She was so cute, so helpless, it hurt to see her cry.
Kai's eyes softened—just for a moment. His finger tightened on the trigger, but his face twisted with pain.
"God," he murmured, eyes closing, "please forgive me for what I'm about to do."
The shot rang out.
The girl's head snapped back, a neat hole blooming red in her forehead. She slumped sideways, lifeless.
I screamed.
Kael staggered back. "Kai, what the hell—"
Lira's knife was half-drawn, face pale with shock.
But then... the wound began to heal.
Flesh knitted together, blood reversing flow, hole closing like time running backward. The girl sat up slowly, head tilting with unnatural grace.
A wicked grin spread across her face,too wide, too sharp, teeth glinting in a way no child's should. The innocence melted away, replaced by something ancient and hungry.
"Well, well, well," she purred, voice layered and mocking. "Seems like cute little faces have lost their credibility."
Kai lowered the gun slightly, face grim. "And it seems like Xenophores have become quite intelligent. Good with speech too."
The girl's eyes opened fully,beautiful, piercing blue like Vesper's, but the pupils... black roses, petals unfurling in fractal patterns, endless and hypnotic. Each "petal" was a void, drawing light in and swallowing it, like staring into a flower made of nightmares. The blue irises shimmered around them, refracting light in ways that made my head hurt, as if the eyes were alive, blooming and withering in seconds.
She stood, small body moving with predatory grace. The dress hung loose, but her stance was wrong,too balanced, too ready. The chubby cheeks that had seemed so adorable now twisted into something grotesque with that grin.
The fight erupted.
She lunged at Kai first, speed blurring. He fired again, bullets punching into her chest, but she laughed, wounds closing instantly. Lira slashed with her knife, carving a deep gash across the girl's arm. Black ichor sprayed, but the cut sealed.
Kael swung a rock, cracking it against her side. She hissed, grabbing his splinted hand and twisting. He screamed as bones ground together.
I backed away, heart pounding, shovel raised but useless.
Xeno moved like lightning, shovel blade whistling. It bit deep into the girl's shoulder, nearly severing the arm. She shrieked, spinning, small fist connecting with his chest and sending him flying into a boulder.
Amie fired her pistol, rounds tearing into the girl's legs. She stumbled, but rose, grinning wider.
"Ooo," she cooed, eyes locking on Xeno as he rose, coughing blood. "You're wearing a blindfold. Could it be... you're corrupted too?"
Xeno didn't answer. He charged again, silent, shovel swinging in brutal arcs. The girl dodged, laughing, small body twisting unnaturally.
Lira joined, knife flashing. Together they drove her back, wounds opening faster than they healed now,overtaxed regeneration.
Kai reloaded, firing into her back. Amie flanked, knife plunging into the girl's side.
The girl snarled, wings,small, bat-like,bursting from her back, knocking them away. She rose into the air, hovering, black-rose eyes glowing.
But we were too many.
Xeno leaped, shovel impaling her wing, dragging her down. Lira tackled her, knife at throat. Kai and Amie pinned limbs.
She thrashed, but weakened.
We didn't kill her.
Kai handcuffed her wrists with reinforced cuffs from his pack,designed for Xenophores.
We dragged her to a rock, binding her tight.
"Who are you?" Lira demanded.
The girl grinned wickedly. "No name. Just hunger."
"Did you kill Vesper?" Amie asked, voice clinical.
The girl laughed. "Vesper? who the hell is that? No. That was probably Lord Azael's work."
Lord Azael.
The name hung heavy.
We had a bigger enemy.