I sank down onto the ground, Velea and Thea settling beside me.

I gave Thea’s hand a gentle squeeze, leaning closer to whisper, “How’ve you been? We haven’t really talked about—”

She rested her head on my shoulder. “It’s okay. As long as everyone, and you're here.”

“Of course,” I said softly, then turned to her sister.

“I’m not going to lean on you,” Velea stated flatly.

I rolled my eyes. “How’s my favorite student holding up?”

“Your core disciple,” she corrected, speaking her new title with great care. “Has been doing okay.”

“Just okay?” I nudged her arm.

“Still working hard.”

“She really has,” Thea added. “Every time I tried showing her something back home, she just ignored me completely.”

She sighed, surrendering. “I guess only a sect master can handle such a difficult case.”

I let myself lean into Thea a little, my muscles heavy all at once. Technically, I’d slept plenty before, but maybe that transformation, or the weight of everything else, was finally catching up to me.

The discoveries. The visions. The battles. Yeah... it was hitting me now. Maybe Mister Ironscribe had the right idea after all.

“Just close your eyes,” Thea said softly, voice like a lullaby.

“Hm?” I mumbled, eyelids already starting to droop.

“I know you,” she said. “We’re safe. Just rest, okay?”

My eyes shut completely. “And you?”

She answered I think. Or maybe it was Velea. Either way, it drifted past me, lost in the dark tide of sleep.

#

“I didn’t know he actually recorded it… What a silly man.”

The traveler’s voice trickled in, faint but soaked with sorrow. “I never wanted to come back. I never would’ve known if not for you. All I can offer you is this one piece of knowledge.”

The scene opened like a window in my head. Rows of houses, oddly shaped, half-formed... Wait, no, not built strangely. They were destroyed.

Wood splintered and trampled over. Charred edges clung to blackened frames, and burn scars streaked across what used to be home.

But people still walked.

Some faces carried grief while others had the tight-set jaws of determination. But they were there.

A young man stood stiffly, surrounded by figures in dark uniforms. He wasn’t among the mourners, but separated. An observer.

Someone taller, holding a glowing tablet, stepped up to him.

“What was the breakout?” he asked.

The teen wiped grime and sweat from his forehead, smearing a streak of purple fluid across his skin. “Three large-class beasts. Two killed. One captured.”

The interviewer tapped the tablet and continued in a clinical manner. “Understood. We’ll run our own tests, but how would you rank the threat?”

The teen gestured to the wreckage around them, his voice hard. “Dangerous enough for this. Most people got out in time.”

“Yes, but—”

“I’m done,” the young man cut him off. “Like I said. One captured. Do whatever you need.”

“Apologies. One last question. It’s necessary,” the bureaucrat pressed.

“What?”

“Your blessing?”

“Transformation,” he snapped. “Now go away.”

And then it was gone. The image, the voices, all of it slipped away into black.

“Did that help?” the traveler’s voice returned, quieter now.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “What was that?”

“Oh! Sorry.” She sounded embarrassed. “Even with all my power, targeting a place through just your aura is tough. But it should’ve been near where you lived.”

“My home?”

“I don’t know if you recognized anyone,” she said. “But I wanted to show you. As thanks. Just so you know… it’s not all gone.”

Then it hit me. The clothing. The uniform fences. Those boxy patches of grass like checkerboard lawns.

That was my street.

I couldn’t wrap my head around the scope of billions dead. That kind of number didn’t feel real. But I seriously doubted there’d be people just walking around like that if true extinction had happened.

Still... “There was destruction.”

“I’m sure. And monsters. But now, at least, you won’t be held back by guesses,” the traveler said, her voice starting to fade. “I hope this helped, even if it didn’t make you feel better…”

She didn’t speak again.

“Thank you,” I whispered into the dark.

She was right. I hadn’t seen anyone I knew, but the mystery was over. The disaster was real. The damage was probably enormous. Maybe Trevor’s family was gone. Maybe mine too.

But there were survivors, and it seemed, even fighters.

I didn’t know if that was a good thing. What did it cost to gain the strength to fight back?

My thoughts thinned. I felt my consciousness slip away.

#

“Peter?”

“You’re being too gentle, Thea!”

“Don’t shake him, Vel.”

“He won’t mind! Peeeeeteer!” Velea shouted. “There’s something here to see you!”

“Why do I even bother sleeping,” I muttered, cracking one eye open. I shifted slightly and realized that at some point, I’d ended up with my head in Thea’s lap.

She twirled her finger through my hair like she was absentmindedly playing with grass. “I think you need a haircut.”

“It has been a few months,” I admitted. “You got experience?”

Velea leaned in, whispering, “Don’t trust her.”

Naturally, Thea heard her.

“I am great at cutting hair!” she protested.

“I let you once and—” Velea started, but I cut her off.

“I wouldn’t mind you doing it.”

“Really?” Thea asked, a little shyly.

I shrugged from her lap. “Why not? Worst case, it’s just uneven. Or... more uneven.”

She looked down at me like I’d just given her a priceless gift. The happiness in her eyes didn’t match the simplicity of the moment. It kind of stunned me.

Then, with at least a few others watching, though I wasn’t really paying attention, she leaned in and kissed me.

I braced for Velea to groan or say something sarcastic, but... nothing. She stayed quiet, even as Thea pulled away.

Though I did notice she’d scooted a bit farther off, loose gravel shifting under her hands.

“Outside,” she mumbled. “That big lizard thing’s back. Everyone else is out there too.”

I blinked, realizing it was just the three of us here. No wonder Thea had gone for it.

“Did it do anything?” I asked.

Thea shook her head.

“Let’s go out then.”

“I’ll stay h—AH!” Velea shrieked as I swept her up and jumped with all the strength I had.

We soared high. I glimpsed the scene below as we climbed, but I ignored it for now.

“Is your sister seriously gonna ruin my hair?” I asked on the descent.

She didn’t answer. Too busy trying not to squeal, but I think she nodded.

I sighed, channeling a silencing current into my palm. Just before we hit the ground, I let it loose.

“Heh... hehheh.” Velea erupted in a strange little giggle fit. “I can’t—” more laughter, “wait to do that myself. Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Thea had landed before us. The others were already gathered, eyes scanning the ground where the Goldmanes still lingered. They weren't as dense as before, but still enough to make a forest of scales and tails.

At the front stood Bristle, squared up in a full-on stare-down with a beast three times his size. His siblings flanked him on either side, tails still, ears alert.

I tensed. This was looking a little too close to a fight, but I was proven wrong with a single sound.

“Ruff!”

The alpha Goldmane blinked once, then drew in a slow, deep breath. The lesser ones around it seemed to understand something in that gesture. One by one, they lowered their heads.

I leaned toward Elric. “What’s happening?”

“No idea. You only missed a couple minutes.”

Bristle padded forward, tiny in comparison to the towering beast in front of him. His ears twitched and his face shifted, testing reactions like he was talking without words. Then he let out a low, grumbly huff.

The alpha blinked again.

They sniffed each other cautiously then the massive creature lowered its head too.

And just like that, Bristle’s tail started wagging. His siblings followed suit. He turned and bounded toward me like he hadn’t just stared down a mountain-sized reptile.

“Good boy,” I said, kneeling to rub his head. Then I turned to Marcus.

He spoke first. “So… dogs are in charge now?”

I shrugged. “Apparently.” I glanced back at the pups, who were now enthusiastically playing with a few of the slimy sect guards. “I don’t want to give them too much direction. Might end up like it did with Bristle.”

Marcus gave an easy shrug in return. “As long as it follows orders while you’re away, I’m not picky. Sure, I’d love a powerful familiar like that, but I can handle things on my end.”

“Ugh—what is that?” Trevor gagged.

The rest of us caught it a second later.

Everyone recoiled, covering their noses.

“It smells awful,” Thea said through a scrunched-up face. “It’s like when we... oh.”

We were surrounded. Not just by Goldmanes, with their eyes shut, exuding an overwhelming, wet-fur-meets-rot smell.

“Their eyes are closed…” Thea started.

“I know,” I said, not looking at her, but at Bristle.

He had done the same to his brothers. He had understood my instructions... maybe. Either way, he was teaching them.

Bristle had just made his own first generation disciples of body refining monsters.

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