The morning sun filtered weakly through the trees, casting pale shafts of light across the moss-covered forest floor. It felt too quiet. The kind of silence that made you listen harder, that made your own breathing sound too loud.
Kazi leaned against the thick trunk of a tree, her cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders to block the chill. A slow, steady wind moved through the leaves overhead. She stared up into the swaying canopy, lost in thought, her muscles sore from the past few days.
Dakarai sat a few feet away, channeling sparks through his fingertips in slow, deliberate pulses. The soft crackle of energy was the only sound between them.
They hadn't said much since leaving the fracture.
There was too much to say and none of it easy.
Kazi exhaled slowly, letting the breath steady her nerves. Her body was healing, but her spirit, her trust? Both were still cracked, still unsure.
"I think we're far enough now," Rhazir's voice came from the other side of their small camp. He emerged from the trees, having scouted ahead again. "The residual energy from the fracture is behind us."
"Good," Dakarai said without looking up. "The sooner we put distance between us and that place, the better."
Rhazir's gaze flicked toward Kazi. "We need to plan our next move."
Kazi nodded, stepping forward. "We still have to find the next bearer."
"Right," Dakarai added. "Before Luma does."
Rhazir knelt and pulled a thin, flat device from his satchel, one Kazi hadn't seen before. The surface glowed faintly with shifting lines and glyphs. A pulse disc, but modified.
He placed it on a rock and tapped the center.
Light flared, forming a three-dimensional map of the surrounding region in the air above them. Kazi leaned in, her breath catching slightly. The details were precise; rivers, hills, even the faint movement of birds or wildlife nearby.
But more importantly, a handful of glowing dots hovered over the map; slowly pulsing with rhythm.
They were resonance points.
"These," Rhazir said, pointing, "are trace signatures left behind by bearers. Some faint, some more recent. They're scattered, but one of them could be our next lead."
Dakarai raised an eyebrow. "You've had this?"
"I built it from an old Extractor scanner," Rhazir replied. "Refined it with what I learned from the fracture. It's not perfect, but it can pick up ambient resonance where a bearer has awakened or trained."
Kazi studied the glowing points. "Which is the closest?"
Rhazir zoomed in with a gesture. One of the pulses grew slightly brighter, further northeast, near a dense forest range bordering a low valley.
"This one," he said. "It's older than the rest, but strong enough to suggest recent activity. Someone's been there… someone awakened."
Kazi stared at the dot.
It could be anyone.
A friend. A rival. Another Luma.
"How long to get there?" she asked.
"Four, maybe five days," Rhazir said. "If the terrain doesn't shift on us."
Kazi's lips tightened. "Then we leave tomorrow."
Dakarai nodded in agreement. "We'll need to be stronger before we meet whoever's waiting at the end of that trail."
That afternoon, the training resumed.
It wasn't formal. There were no instructions. Just movement, sweat, and the raw need to be better than they were yesterday.
Kazi stood across from Dakarai in a clearing littered with fallen leaves. Her hands glowed faintly with ember light, her mark pulsing steady. Dakarai's arms sparked with flickering arcs, crackling softly in the dry air.
They circled each other in silence.
Then Dakarai struck first; fast and low, a sweeping kick laced with energy. Kazi leapt, twisting midair, and countered with a burst of flame from her palm. Dakarai rolled, the fire licking past him harmlessly.
They kept going; moving faster, syncing better. Each clash sharper than the last. Their past battles with Luma had taught them the cost of hesitation. Of sloppy teamwork.
They wouldn't make the same mistake again.
When the sun finally dipped behind the trees, casting gold light across the clearing, both of them dropped to the ground, panting, drenched in sweat, but smiling through the exhaustion.
"You're improving," Dakarai said, lying flat in the leaves.
"You too," Kazi replied, staring up at the sky.
They didn't speak of Luma.
But they were preparing for her.
That night, while the others slept, Rhazir stood alone on the outskirts of the camp.
The scanner hovered in front of him, the map still glowing faintly.
But his eyes weren't on the resonance pulses.
They were on the shadows beyond the trees.
The mist formed first, coiling like smoke, dark and unnatural. Then a shape emerged within it.
Luma.
She stepped out of the shadows without sound, her corrupted Mark pulsing dimly.
"How are things going here?" she ask.
"I needed to see how close they were to understanding my intentions," Rhazir replied.
"Do they suspect you?"
"They're starting doubt me," he corrected. "But not enough to act on it yet."
Luma tilted her head, her expression unreadable. "They'll more than likely try to find another bearer and confront you then."
"I know," Rhazir said. "And that's exactly what we want."
He stepped closer, his voice lower now.
"Let them seek allies. Let them feel strong again. It makes the betrayal sweeter when they finally realize it was all part of my plan."
Luma's lips curled slightly, her smile ghost-like. "You enjoy this, huh."
"I enjoy control," he responded.
The mist shifted around them, cloaking their meeting once more.
"When the time comes," Rhazir continued, "you'll need to test the next bearer we find before we arrive. Make sure they're… moldable."
"And if they aren't?"
Rhazir's eyes gleamed.
"Then break them."
Luma nodded once.
Then she vanished, fading into mist.
Rhazir turned back to the camp, his eyes colder than the night wind.
Back near the fire, Kazi stirred in her sleep, her Mark glowing faintly beneath the skin.
She sat up, heart racing, looking out toward the trees.
Something had changed.
She didn't know what.
But she felt it.
And deep down, she knew:
The path ahead wouldn't just lead to the next bearer.
It would lead to another choice.
And this time, it might break something they couldn't put back.