Sitting in the small cavern with the girl he had followed down here, Elias realized he had dropped his bag when he fled from the giant rat. Just another thing to add to the growing list of mistakes.
The cavern was cramped — only about a dozen meters across, rough walls curling inward like a clenched fist around them. A small fire flickered at the center, fed by a strange device: a small metal canister that produced a steady flame above it, burning without wood or smoke.
The girl, her blonde hair catching the firelight like a halo, was hunched a few meters away. She fed the canister small bursts of mana every few minutes to keep it alive. From what little she'd shared so far, it was an item she'd received from her family before the Trial — a keepsake, maybe. Along with it, she had a dagger from her parents, and the faint impression of a life Elias could only imagine.
He sighed quietly, arms crossed over his knees. So far, she'd barely spoken to him. Stonewalling him every time he tried to start a conversation.
But Elias wasn't exactly known for his patience.
"So, do you mind explaining what happened back there? Or, I don't know, what the hell is happening now?" he asked, his voice rough from thirst.
The girl lifted her head just enough to glare at him, her blue eyes flashing in the firelight.
"If I explain," she said slowly, "will you be quiet?"
"Probably not," Elias admitted without missing a beat.
The girl stared at him for a long second, then sighed heavily, a sound like the crumbling of stone.
"My ability lets me manifest and manipulate emotions — fear, anger, whatever someone or something is already feeling. I can push it, amplify it. I can also project my emotions onto others. It's… automatic. I can't really turn it off."
Her voice was low, almost like she was afraid saying too much might break something inside her.
"I figured it out a few hours ago when I saw you," she continued. "I forced that monster to feel fear. Made it hesitate. I ran out of mana right after you started running. Lucky it didn't chase us. The other thing — the passive — that's why you're picking up weird emotions around me."
That was easily the most she'd spoken since he'd known her — and they'd shared a classroom for almost two months before the Shattering forced them into this nightmare.
Elias leaned back against the rough stone wall, considering. It made sense now. The odd flickers of emotions he'd been feeling that didn't seem like his. The irrational anger earlier, the misplaced fear.
"Okay. That tracks," he said simply.
The girl blinked at him, almost surprised he wasn't pressing harder. She turned back to the fire, her small frame casting long shadows against the cavern walls.
"I'm Elias, by the way," he said after a moment. "Illusions are my thing. My passive lets me blend into shadows and see in the dark."
He paused, giving her a moment to respond. When she didn't, he pressed on.
"So. What's the plan?"
The girl snorted quietly. "You can leave if you want. I'm staying here at night. Wander during the day. Maybe find a way out."
Her words were casual, but Elias heard the tightness underneath. She didn't expect him to stay. Probably didn't want to hope.
Elias sighed. He decided he'd think about it more later. Right now, he was too damn tired to argue.
His body ached — from the running, the fear, the endless heat pounding down on him all day. His muscles felt like rubber bands stretched to the snapping point.
He closed his eyes, leaning his head back. Listening to the crackle of the fire. He heard the girl move — a small, shuffling sound.
Opening his eyes slightly, he saw her limping.
Frowning, he pushed himself upright and walked over.
"What happened?" he asked.
She looked up at him warily. "What do you mean?"
"You're limping," Elias said flatly. "You won't survive out there if your ankle's busted. Won't last long even if you just stay here."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. For a moment, Elias thought she might lie. But then her shoulders slumped, and she mumbled, "Twisted it. When I fell down here the first time."
Elias sighed. "You got any bandages?"
She shook her head.
"Figures," he muttered. "Mine were in my bag too. Great."
Thinking fast, he held out his hand. "Let me see your dagger."
Suspicion flickered across her face. "Why?"
"I'm gonna make something. We need to treat that ankle. We're not exactly overflowing with resources."
After a tense pause, she huffed and summoned the dagger — the silver blade appearing in her hand with a soft shimmer — and handed it to him.
Elias wasted no time. He crouched down and placed the dagger on the ground, then pulled off his hoodie and shirt, leaving him bare-chested in the firelight.
The girl made a startled noise and immediately turned around, her cheeks reddening.
"You don't have to turn around, you know," Elias said with a smirk. "I know I'm too handsome to resist."
He said it half-joking, expecting her to roll her eyes, but he caught something odd instead — a confused sputter, almost a cough. She felt the confidence radiating off him through her passive ability, and it stunned her. He wasn't lying. He genuinely believed it.
'Cocky idiot,' she thought, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.
Meanwhile, Elias worked methodically. His lean muscles flexed as he cut long strips from his shirt, creating makeshift bandages. His pale skin, marred with old scars, caught the firelight strangely. Slashes across his ribs, his arms — a map of old wounds and tougher battles survived. He looked like someone used to pain. Used to patching himself up with whatever he had on hand.
Lira — though she hadn't told him her name yet — stole a glance over her shoulder.
She hadn't expected him to be so…scarred. It clashed with the aloof, sarcastic persona he wore like armor.
'How much has he already survived?' she wondered.
Finally, Elias walked back over to her, kneeling down.
"Let me see it," he said simply.
"I can do it," she muttered stubbornly.
"It'll heal wrong if you wrap it yourself at a bad angle," he pointed out. "You'll be a sitting duck. Let me."
She hesitated, then sighed and lifted her foot, placing it on his knee.
Elias worked quickly and efficiently, gently but firmly wrapping the twisted ankle. The bandages were rough, but they'd stabilize the joint enough to prevent more damage.
When he finished, he sat back on his heels and said, "There. That should hold for now."
The girl looked at him, her mouth working like she wanted to say something. Finally, she muttered, "Thank you."
Elias just shrugged. "Don't mention it."
She yawned, the exhaustion catching up with her, and shifted to lay her head against her bag.
"I'm Lira," The tired girl quietly muttered.
"I'll take first watch," Elias said. "Make sure the fire doesn't go out."
She nodded wordlessly, her body relaxing almost instantly now that someone else was keeping an eye out. Within minutes, she was asleep — her breathing slow and steady.
Elias leaned back against the wall, staring into the fire.
He told himself he wasn't staying for her. That he couldn't trust her. That he'd leave her behind the second she became a liability.
But deep down…he wasn't so sure.
She'd saved his life. Whether by accident or not.
And it had been a long time since anyone had done anything for him without expecting something in return.
His eyelids drooped. Against his better judgment, he dozed off — just for a little while.
When Elias woke again, the fire was burning low, and the girl — Lira, he reminded himself — was sitting next to it, poking at the coals with a stick.
Stretching, he stood up, grimacing as his back cracked.
"Morning," he muttered. "What's the plan? We're still low on water. No food. We'll die if we don't move."
Lira looked up at him, her face unreadable in the dim light.
"I don't know," she admitted. "We could look around. Find a weaker monster to hunt."
Elias thought about it, pacing slowly.
Then an idea hit him. Risky. Reckless. But maybe their best shot.
"The rat monster," he said slowly. "It didn't come out until night, right?"
Lira nodded cautiously.
"So it's nocturnal. Which means it sleeps during the day. Deep down in the tunnels."
She blinked, catching on. "You're not suggesting—"
"I am," Elias said, grinning slightly. "We kill it while it's sleeping."
Lira looked at him like he'd lost his mind.
"You think we can kill that thing?!" she hissed. "We barely survived running away from it!"
"It was fast because it was awake. Alert. Fighting us at its strongest," Elias pointed out. "If we find it asleep, and hit it before it even wakes up…"
"It's still three meters long and covered in spikes," she said flatly.
Elias shrugged. "Which is why we'll need a plan."
Lira covered her face with her hands for a second, as if trying to will patience into existence.
"You're insane," she muttered. "Absolutely insane."
"Yeah, well," Elias said, "we're gonna die anyway if we don't get food. Might as well die doing something badass."
He said it with a grin, but underneath…he was serious. Dead serious.
And judging by the reluctant spark in Lira's blue eyes, she knew it too.
She blew out a long breath.
"Fine," she said. "But if we die, it's your fault."
Elias laughed quietly.
"Deal."
And so, they began planning the most suicidal hunt either of them could imagine — two half-starved kids, armed with nothing but a dagger, an illusion, and a little bit of reckless desperation.
But in the shattered world they'd been thrown into, sometimes desperation was the only thing left