Kyle's breathing had somewhat stabilized, but the tension in the air hadn't eased at all. Arin, who had been lying motionless on the snow, slowly pushed herself up onto her knees. Her face was pale, and even standing seemed like a struggle. But the moment her eyes fell on Lyra, they turned cold and sharp. Without a word, Arin's hand moved toward her magic bow. Though her fingers trembled, she slightly pulled the string.
"Stop," Arin's voice was dry and rough. "You… who are you? And what is a healer doing in a place like this?"
Lyra, who had just exhausted herself saving Kyle, flinched. She saw the clear distrust in Arin's eyes. She tightened her grip on her staff—not to attack, but to defend herself. "I just saved your companion's life," Lyra replied, her voice carrying both fatigue and a hint of bitterness. "Is this how you show gratitude?"
Grommash stepped in, placing a hand over Arin's bow. "Let it go, Arin… she really helped him. If she hadn't been here, Kyle would be frozen by now."
Arin didn't lower her weapon. "There's a thin line between help and deception, Grommash. Anyone can wear the mark of the Lumina Ascendants and lie. The Umbra Conclave are masters of disguise."
A painful smile appeared on Lyra's face. She touched the golden emblem on her robe. "Don't speak Umbra's name in front of me… they… they took everything from me."
Her voice softened as her gaze drifted away. A memory flickered in her eyes. "My father… he was a healer too. He spent his life healing others. But one night… they came. Shadows… like living darkness…"
Her voice broke, unable to finish the sentence. "I know what Umbra's cruelty looks like. I didn't come here just to help someone… I came chasing the shadow that burned my home."
A strange silence filled the fog. Arin studied her carefully. There was no lie in her expression—only the same emptiness and anger she herself carried deep inside. Slowly, Arin loosened the bowstring, though she didn't fully lower her guard.
"My name is Arin," she said coldly. "And I won't trust your story until we reach a safe place. Standing here is inviting death."
Lyra adjusted her mask and stood up, her legs still slightly unsteady. "I don't need your trust. Just know this— the Draken corruption inside that boy is like a beacon for Umbra hunters. They will come."
Grommash lifted Kyle onto his broad shoulders as if he weighed nothing. Kyle was still semi-conscious, a faint groan escaping his lips.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Grommash growled. "If they're coming, we move now."
Arin and Lyra exchanged a glance. The distrust between them hadn't vanished—it had merely been buried. Their alliance was one of necessity. Lyra cast one last look at Kyle, whose face had become a battlefield between holy light and dark corruption.
The fog thickened further, swallowing even the faint sunlight. Grommash carried Kyle through it, his body limp, his head hanging lifelessly. His face had turned pale with sweat. He was in a deep unconsciousness—not a sleep for healing wounds of the body, but for enduring the scars of the soul.
"When will he wake up?" Arin asked, unable to hide the concern in her voice. She tried to keep pace despite her injuries.
Lyra studied Kyle carefully. "Two days… maybe three. His body has endured a massive shock. The healing mended his flesh, but the battle inside him will take time to settle."
They stopped inside the shelter of a hidden cave. Grommash gently laid Kyle down on a bed of dry hides. Waves of pain still flickered across Kyle's face, as if even in unconsciousness he was fighting something unseen.
Lyra called Grommash and Arin closer. The fear in her eyes had now turned into deep concern.
"Listen carefully," she said. "Kyle's life isn't only in danger from those hunters."
Grommash rested his axe on the ground. "What do you mean? Speak clearly."
"Draken…" Lyra pointed toward Kyle. "That 10% corruption is no longer just a stain. It has awakened. My holy light tried to suppress it—but instead, it made it more violent. Kyle's body is now like a vessel holding both fire and water at once."
Arin frowned. "So you're saying he'll lose control over his powers?"
"Yes," Lyra's voice grew heavy. "Right now, he's weak, so the corruption is quiet. But as his strength grows, the Draken corruption will spread through his veins like poison. One day, it will crush him under its own weight. If he loses his mental balance… he will become a monster. One that neither your axe… nor my magic can stop."
Grommash fell silent. He looked at his large hands—hands that only knew how to crush enemies. "Then what do we do? Should he stop fighting?"
"We must keep him away from danger… as much as possible," Lyra warned. "But Umbra hunters will find him. My light has already revealed his presence in the fog. You two must protect him—not just from external enemies… but from the darkness within him."
She sat beside Kyle and placed a cold cloth on his forehead. "If he fails to control himself… he could become a threat to the entire world. And then… there will be only one way to stop him."
She left the sentence unfinished—but both Arin and Grommash understood.
Outside, the winds howled louder. Inside the cave, the silence deepened. They were no longer just companions… they had become guardians of a boy who carried a sleeping volcano within him.
At the cave's entrance, the fog had grown so dense that even one's own hand was hard to see. But Grommash's senses caught something else—the smell of burnt sulfur… and death. Umbra scouts were near.
"Arin… right side," Grommash whispered, his voice low and heavy like grinding stone. He tightened his grip on his axe, his warrior instincts returning.
Arin said nothing. She simply nocked an arrow onto her magic bow. Her eyes sharpened with discipline.
Suddenly—
Two dark figures burst out of the fog at lightning speed. They were Umbra Scouts—masked, with poisoned black daggers in hand.
"The boy's information… must be taken back…" one of them hissed like a snake.
Before he could move further, Grommash exploded forward like a cannon. His axe sliced through the air with terrifying force.
"You're going nowhere!" he roared.
The scout tried to block with his daggers—but against Grommash's raw strength, they were nothing. Crack! The blades shattered, and in the next instant, the axe tore through the scout's chest. Black blood splattered across the snow.
On the other side, Arin moved like a shadow, dodging the second scout's rapid strikes. The assassin was swift, aiming repeatedly for her neck. Arin's breathing was heavy, but her focus remained sharp.
As the scout lunged for a heavy strike, Arin slammed the end of her bow into his throat, stepped back, and fired an arrow. It struck his leg—but instead of slowing him, it drove him into a frenzy. He staggered forward, dagger raised.
Then—
A massive shadow loomed behind him.
Thud!
Grommash grabbed the scout from behind, locking his neck in an iron grip. The man struggled, but it was useless.
"Arin… finish it," Grommash said coldly.
Without hesitation, Arin fired a magic arrow straight between the scout's eyes. His body went limp instantly.
"Hmph… they had already tracked us," Grommash muttered, throwing the corpse aside. He wiped his axe clean on the snow, his hands trembling slightly—not from fear, but from the thrill of unfinished battle. "If even one had escaped, an entire Umbra force would've been here within hours."
Arin slung her bow over her back, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "They'll come again, Grommash. And next time… it won't just be scouts."
The two exchanged a glance. They knew Kyle was still unconscious—and they were trapped inside this cave.
Silence returned… but this time, it felt far more terrifying.
Cliffhanger:–
"The enemy scouts are dead… but the real danger lies within Kyle himself. If Lyra is right, will Kyle even recognize himself when he awakens? Can Grommash and Arin protect someone who has become a walking volcano? And the biggest question—when the full force of Umbra arrives, will they protect a
guardian… or destroy a rising monster? What do you think—will Kyle's corruption reduce him to ashes?"