Aeris's POV:
The Oracle didn't wake.
Aeris's breath hitched as he shook him again, harder this time, panic clawing up his throat. "Come on— please— open your eyes—"
Nothing.
Not even a flicker.
Behind them, the forest trembled with a low, bone‑deep growl that made the leaves shiver and the ground pulse beneath their feet.
The Hollow had found them.
Rowan staggered to his feet, one hand pressed to his bleeding side. "Aeris… we have to move."
"No," Aeris snapped, voice cracking. "He's not waking up. He's not— he won't—"
Another growl rolled through the trees, closer this time. Too close.
Noctis's wings unfurled in a burst of shadow, his eyes narrowing. "It's hunting us. We need to go. Now."
Aeris looked down at the Oracle — limp, pale, glowing faintly like a dying ember. Too still. Too quiet. Too fragile.
His chest tightened painfully.
"I'll carry him," Aeris said, voice shaking. "Just— just tell me where to go."
Rowan tried to take a step and nearly collapsed. Noctis caught him with one arm, steady and silent.
"I'll guide," Rowan said through clenched teeth. "Aeris, use your wind. Keep him steady."
Aeris nodded, swallowing hard.
He slid his arms under the Oracle's small body, lifting him gently. The boy's head fell against his shoulder, soft hair brushing Aeris's cheek. Too light. Too cold.
Wind surged instinctively around Aeris's legs, lifting him just enough to take the weight off his arms. He held the Oracle close, cradling him as if he might break.
"Stay with me," Aeris whispered, voice trembling. "Please. Just… stay with me."
A branch snapped behind them.
Not from weight.
From claws.
Noctis's shadows flared. "Move!"
Aeris didn't need to be told twice.
He ran.
Wind swirled beneath his feet, carrying him forward in long, gliding strides. Rowan limped beside Noctis, guided by the shadow prince's steady grip. The forest blurred around them — streaks of silver bark, glowing moss, and trembling leaves.
The Hollow wailed overhead, a sound like a thousand voices crying out at once.
Aeris tightened his hold on the Oracle, pressing his forehead to the boy's temple for a heartbeat.
"You're not allowed to leave," he whispered. "Not when I just found you. Not when you finally— finally looked at me."
His voice cracked.
"I won't let you slip away. Not now. Not ever."
A roar tore through the trees behind them.
Aeris didn't look back.
He didn't need to.
He could feel it — the creature's breath, hot and rancid, sweeping through the branches. The ground shook with every step it took, cracking roots and sending leaves spiraling into the air.
Noctis hissed, "Left— now!"
Aeris veered sharply, wind catching him and the Oracle like a sail. Rowan stumbled but kept moving, teeth gritted, blood dripping down his arm.
The creature lunged.
Aeris felt the air shift — a pressure wave, a shadow, a hunger.
He threw himself forward, wind exploding beneath him, lifting him off the ground for a split second. The Oracle's body pressed against his chest as they soared over a fallen log.
Behind them, claws slammed into the earth where Aeris had been standing.
The impact shook the forest.
"Faster!" Rowan shouted, voice strained.
"I'm trying!" Aeris yelled back, breath ragged. "I'm not a storm—!"
Another roar.
Closer.
Too close.
Noctis spun, shadows coiling around his arms. "I'll slow it down—"
"Don't you dare!" Aeris snapped. "We stay together!"
Noctis's jaw tightened, but he didn't argue.
They ran.
Branches whipped past. The Hollow's light flickered overhead. The creature crashed through the trees behind them, unstoppable, relentless.
Aeris's legs burned. His lungs screamed. His magic surged and sputtered, barely holding.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't.
Not with the Oracle limp in his arms.
Not with Rowan bleeding beside him.
Not with Noctis fighting shadows and fear at the same time.
Not when he'd just met the boy who made something inside him go quiet for the first time in his life.
Aeris pushed harder, wind swirling around him in a frantic, protective spiral.
"Hold on," he whispered to the unconscious boy. "Just hold on. I'll get you out. I swear it."
The forest opened ahead — a narrow ravine, steep but passable.
Rowan pointed. "There! Down the slope!"
Aeris didn't hesitate.
He leapt.
Wind caught him, carrying him and the Oracle down the incline in a controlled slide. Rowan and Noctis followed, stumbling but staying upright.
The creature roared above them, unable to fit through the narrow gap.
For now.
Aeris didn't stop running until the sound faded into the distance.
Only then did he collapse to his knees, still clutching the Oracle to his chest, breath shaking, heart pounding.
"Please," he whispered, voice breaking. "Wake up. Please wake up."
The Oracle didn't stir.
And Aeris felt the wind around him tremble.
He forced himself up again, legs shaking, and pushed forward through the thinning trees. Rowan and Noctis followed, exhausted, wounded, barely holding together.
The forest suddenly opened into a wide clearing.
Aeris froze.
Rowan froze.
Noctis's wings snapped open in alarm.
The clearing was surrounded by jagged stone and thick, impassable bramble — a natural bowl. A dead end. A trap.
Aeris's stomach dropped. "No… no, no, no—"
The ground trembled.
The creature's roar split the night, shaking the clearing.
It was coming.
It was almost here.
They had nowhere left to run.
Rowan braced himself, blood dripping down his arm. "Aeris… get behind me."
"No," Aeris whispered, voice cracking. "I can't protect him from that. I can't—"
Noctis stepped forward, shadows rising like a shield. "Then we stand together."
The trees at the edge of the clearing shuddered violently.
The monster was seconds away.
Aeris clutched the Oracle tighter, burying his face in the boy's hair.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. I tried. I really tried."
The forest howled.
And then—
A different sound.
A voice.
Carried on the wind.
Desperate. Urgent. Fierce.
"Hold on—!"
Aeris's head snapped up.
The wind shifted — not his wind.
Something older.
Stronger.
Rooted in the earth itself.
Branches bent toward the clearing.
Leaves spiraled upward.
The air thickened with power.
The voice came again, closer now, almost breaking with urgency.
"I'm coming—!"
The creature lunged from the trees—